Even in Hard Times, New Places to Eat
In tomorrow’s relish you’ll be able to read about my thoughts on Ombu, an ambitious and beautifully-done up restaurant that opened late last month in yet another new shopping center along Hanes Mall Boulevard.
September 22, let’s see…what happened that week and the one before? The stock market rocked and rolled. Congress was negotiating over the bailout. And companies’ cash flow - their short term loans - locked up, making it impossible for them to borrow money. NPR called the week of Sept. 14 “The Week America’s Economy Almost Died.” Cheerful!
Maybe that explained quite a few empty tables during my recent two visits. On the other hand, it’s hard to tell when your restaurant has nearly 300 seats. It’s not just the menu that I’m talking about when I call this place ambitious.
Ombu probably couldn’t have opened at a worse time, though I’ve had at least one restaurant owner tell me that generally summer is a bad time, too. So perhaps there could always be a worse time…that is, summertime, and the worse economic crisis in generations.
What amazes me is that even given the tough economy, people continue to pursue the very fragile restaurant dream. This fall, several restaurants have or are planning on opening in Winston-Salem. On Fourth Street alone, there’s two - Noma, a casual bar from the owners of Sixth and Vine, and Mozelle’s, a new bistro in that slip of a building near Grace Court Park that used to house Camel City Cafe, and for a blink, Scooters. Sal Bravo, the owner of Las Estrellas, is opening a second Mexican restaurant on South Marshall Street, in the former South By Southwest location. And workmen seem to be making daily progress at Bib’s, a barbecue restaurant across from Central Library on Fifth Street. Journal reporter Fran Daniel talked to several businesses for her recent story on restaurants downtown and the economy. A lot of restaurants have closed in the past year, but it gives me hope - and something to eat - that the restaurant dream is alive and well…or perhaps still coasting off better times.
Ombu may look like a chain from the outside, but it’s not, though Darla Kirkeeng, wife of chef and co-owner Eric Kirkeeng, told me in an e-mail that there are plans to expand. The restaurant’s website says it all - omburestaurants.com, not omburestaurant.com (though that will get you to an early promo for the place).
