Cary – Missy and Lionel Vatinet, owners of La Farm Bakery, opened the doors to their new production facility in downtown Cary at 220 West Chatham Street on June 15th. “Our team of bakers have already had their hands in the dough for several weeks, and now we welcome our community to join us as we break bread together in celebration of our newest location,” explained Lionel Vatinet.

La Farm Bakery opened in Cary, NC in 1999 serving 9 handmade European breads and cinnamon buns – and offering “IOU’s” to curious new customers. Word-of-mouth praise fueled La Farm Bakery’s early growth, and in 2009, husband and wife team Lionel and Missy Vatinet, expanded with a café, a bread truck, and began selling breads to all 5 Triangle area Whole Foods Markets.

“It’s time for us to grow so that our bakers – who shape every single loaf by hand – have room to explore new ideas and produce breads to meet the demand of our customers,” explained Master Baker Lionel Vatinet, a three-time James Beard Foundation “Outstanding Baker” semifinalist, who is dedicating more of his time to developing new breads using healthy grains grown and milled regionally and in North Carolina.

With the opening of the Vatinet’s new production facility, they are fulfilling their mission to maximize their bakers’ talents by providing additional space and equipment and further supporting the growth of the local grain industry in North Carolina. This marks the first phase of the development of their new production facility. The new Chatham Street location, designed to give a full view of the bakers in action – mixing, shaping and baking breads by hand – will be open Monday through Saturday from 7am to 5pm and will offer the “grab-and-go” style service of freshly baked breads and pastries that Lionel experienced in the French bakeries of his youth. The coffee and retail offering will increase in the coming months with lattes, cappuccinos and sandwiches. The La Farm Bread Truck will also be on-site Monday through Saturday from 10:30 to 2:30 offering its regular breakfast and lunch items, including sandwiches and more.

This state-of-the-art bread and pastry production facility features:

• A superior Denmark fabric duct system, which uses no chemicals and circulates air throughout the facility to ensure crust doesn’t form on dough during production. (This product has been awarded international sustainable certifications from Cradle to Cradle and Oeko-Tex Association.)Design elements courtesy of LMHT Associates and numerous friends and talented professional bakers including bakery consultant Michelle Saus
• Ample cooler space to store grains (to preserve and support the freshest product possible)
• Several new proofing coolers for breads to rise 12 to 18 hours (to fully develop depth of flavor and complexity of fermentation) and store large variety of fresh grain
• Specific “lab” space to support extensive work in and experimentation with fermentation, with the intention of creating many new breads, establishing new techniques and increasing grain variety
• Separate, temperature-controlled pastry room to support work with sensitive products (bread bakers require a warmer environment to foster fermentation and proofing of bread than pastry)

The original Preston Corners location will now be able to offer warm breads and pastries throughout the day. As La Farm has greatly expanded their space, they will bake throughout the day. Look for crusty loaves and croissants to be pulled from the oven just in time for breakfast, hot out-of-the oven breads for lunch, and warm baguettes to pick up on your drive home after work. “This is where are heart is! We have grown such a family with our customers here, and look forward to serving them and visiting with them every day as we have for 18 years,” explained Missy Vatinet.

The Vatinet’s are have an additional 5600 feet available to lease in “the Sorrell building.” They are currently recruiting like-minded food and beverage retailers, chefs and restaurateurs for leasing opportunities for this new food destination. “We are overjoyed to be contributing to downtown Cary’s renaissance,” explained Missy Vatinet about their expansion to Downtown which is poised to transform a key corner on Chatham Street.

Upcoming events for Lionel Vatinet and La Farm Bakery:
October 11, TerraVITA Food & Drink, Chapel Hill, NC

La Farm Bakery is owned by Lionel Vatinet – author of A PASSION FOR BREAD: LESSONS FROM A MASTER BAKER (Little, Brown & Co.) – emerged from France’s prestigious “Les Compagnons du Devoir” Guild in 1990 with the distinguished title of Maitre Boulanger, and pledged to devote his life to teaching, sharing and preserving the ancient art and science of bread baking. Vatinet has consulted for many of the most well-known artisanal bread brands in the US, and abroad, and was the founding instructor at San Francisco Baking Institute. He continues to teach professional and home bakers at his bakery and in his home kitchen, and in classes throughout the country. Since he and his wife and partner Missy Vatinet opened La Farm Bakery in Cary, NC in 1999, they have received praise in Food & Wine, Saveur, Our State, Garden & Gun and O Magazine. La Farm Bakery is a realization of Lionel Vatinet’s lifelong dream – a modern bakery that continues the centuries-old baking traditions and techniques, honoring the ordinary yet extraordinary boulangeries that once flourished in every little town in France. At La Farm Bakery they produce over 35 different styles of artisan bread throughout the year for their bakery, area Whole Foods Markets, farmers markets, and for their Bread Truck. La Farm Bakery also ships nationwide. www.lafarmbakery.com

Garland – “. . . folks in the South know that breaking bread with others is the time-honored approach to cultivating new friendships and deepening old ones.” ~ Southern Living

That southern tradition is what Southern Smoke BBQ owner Matthew Register adopted when he began his South Supper Series in 2015. He wanted to “start an event where people from various places and walks of life could gather together in a relaxed, backyard atmosphere.” Where folks sit at long community tables, enjoy local food prepared by Matthew, guest chefs, and his kitchen team while hanging out with new and old friends.

PIC and I had a May trip planned to visit family in Southport and Oak Island. Lucky for us, the timing worked perfectly to stop in the Garland area for a couple days on our way to the coast. That meant we could accept Matthew’s gracious invitation to his May 20th South Supper, themed “Taste and Color“.

Southern Smoke BBQ is a small affair in a small southern town on a side street behind a gas station. As we parked in the grass lot across the street, we could see folks lining up. We joined the smart group standing in the shade of SSB’s food truck.

These dinners are BYOB affairs. Coolers on wheels gave away the veterans.

A magical space strung with lights, and fences hung with local art greet those who pass under an old beam and through four weathered reclaimed doors.

After mingling a bit and getting self-serve drinks of iced tea or water, we chose seats and settled in. Introductions were easy and comfortable.

Starters were served buffet style. Hate to say this, but if you go and you’re hungry, get in line quickly so you’re toward the front of what can be a long wait.

Starters:

• “Heritage Farms Cheshire Pork” Porchetta
• Grilled Ramps with preserved lemon vinaigrette and creamed parmesan in gougers
• Pickled Summer Squash
• Baked Harker’s Island Oysters with roasted shrimp butter, chili’s, panko, and palm oil

Supper (also via buffet line):

• “Heritage Farms Cheshire Pork” whole hog (pulled meat served from a tray)
• Shrimp and Okra with sungold tomatoes, corn, and dark roux
• “Carolina Gold” Rice and squash pudding
• Grilled Spring Asparagus and Wild Mushrooms over garlic leek-creamed grits and a coddled farm egg

Photos of all the food didn’t happen. There was just too much going on and my plate piled with all that food wouldn’t have photographed well. See lots of great pics in the slide show at the bottom of this page.

Desserts were served at each table. The one half way decent food pic I got was of the Strawberry Tarts as they arrived. There were also Blueberry Tarts.

During dessert, Chef Register thanked everyone, including his mom and dad who helped all evening. He talked about the food we’d enjoyed that evening and a little of what happens behind the scenes in the kitchen during a dinner like this.

Guest Chef this evening was the talented Dean Neff, Executive Chef and Owner of Pinpoint Restaurant in Wilmington. He described his dishes in detail. Of particular interest to me was the cooking method he used to create the “coddled eggs” – a very long cooking time at low heat. And amazingly enough, he cracked and served each and every egg himself, placing them gently on plates held out by diners as they reached his buffet station! That’s dedication to the experience!

I can’t help but think that this is a prime example of “build it and they will come”. There were locals as well as those that had come in from out of town.

We decided to spend a couple nights at Cape Fear Vineyard and Winery in nearby Elizabethtown before heading to the coast. Watch for details soon on our stay at the winery, breakfast in Elizabethtown, and the White Lake Water Festival.

Epicurean Notes:

• If you’re interested in attending a future South Supper Series, send an e-mail to southsupperseries@southernsmokebbqnc.com and you will be notified when the next series has been planned.
• Tickets for this dinner were $60
• Not sure what happens if it rains? You might want to ask if you’re are planning on going to one of the dinners.

Southern Smoke BBQ
29 Warren St.
Garland, NC 28441
(910) 549-7484