Just added - a second wine dinner! I will be there to share tomato stories and information and will have my books for sale. Please contact the restaurant for info and to book.
Info on the dinner from Kevin's newsletter
July 5, 2018
Greetings from Carrboro,
It wasn’t very far. A half-hour drive at most. Once into South Carolina, the roadside stands appeared one after the other. Peaches and fireworks. My mother was born in peach country - York County to be exact - and was deeply skeptical of any stand too close to a highway. She did not want to buy trucked-in Georgia peaches masquerading as local fruit. My singular focus was the fireworks. It was our pre-July 4th ritual.
We always ate outside on Independence Day. Hamburgers. Potato salad. Baked beans. Peach cobbler with Cool-Whip. Friends came over. It was the only time of year that my mother would buy the gallon jugs of fruit punch from the grocery store. Once it was dark, we'd light sparklers and bottle rockets first. Then, roman candles pushed into Coke bottles set in the middle of the yard.
There was always a certain amount of hand-wringing hysteria around the roman candles. Primarily because one year a bottle fell over after the roman candle in it was lit. And the barrage of colorful flaming balls shot directly into our neighbor’s backyard and nearly lit their Pomeranian on fire. But every year the final pièce de résistance of our aerial display was always whatever outlandish Chinese miracle rocket I could goad my mother into buying. Everyone would gather around. And every year I envisioned such grandeur! Such majesty! And every year the sucker just whistled up into the sky only to explode with a loud and deeply uninspiring pop. Oh well. Such is life.
At Acme, our summer ritual doesn’t involve any fiery fanfare of Chinese import. No sir. We rely instead on the grace and fortitude of our local farmers. And the downright deliciousness of our summer bounty of tomatoes. The 17th Annual Acme Tomato Festival will kick off next Thursday, July 12th with a wine dinner featuring our good friend, Craig LeHoullier, the NC Tomato Man. He’s the person that discovered the famed Cherokee Purple tomato grown on farms and in backyards across America. His book, Epic Tomatoes, is pretty spectacular. If you’ve got gardening questions, he’s probably got the answers.
The Acme Tomato Festival Wine Dinner. It’s five courses and five wines. Think of it as summertime, squared. Reservations are required by phone for the dinner (919 929 2263). We’ll get started @ 6:30. Price is $65 per person. Menu is below. A credit card number will be required to reserve your seat. We expect the dinner to sell out quickly as the number of seats is limited. It’s going to be a great night. And don’t worry, the only fireworks will involve your taste buds.
This weekend at Acme: The Acme BLT. Rosé all day. Grilled bone-in ribeyes. Pan-seared Atlantic haddock. The Acme tomato plate (yes, it’s back). Market melon salad. Eggs in paradise. Blueberry shortcake. Pecan-crusted fried chicken. Blackened Salmon. Chilled Cucumber soup with pickled shrimp. Overnight beef shortribs. Forever roasted pig. Classic wedge salad. Fried okra and shishito peppers. Blackberry ice cream. Grilled Caesar salad with pan-seared scallops. Watermelon sangria. Cheeseburgers. Clams Casino. Cherry pie à la mode. Shooting Point Oysters on the half-shell (halfy hour every thursday. half-shells for half price. ooh la la.)
Well, that’s all the news from Carrboro. The staff at Acme look forward to serving you soon.
Cheers,
The Staff at Acme
Reservations 919-929-2263 or online
The Acme Tomato Festival Wine Dinner
1st
oven dried Blush & yellow Roma tomatoes
Chapel Hill Creamery Pheta, Georgia olive oil, pickled shrimp
Cava Avinyo Rosado
2nd
Southern tomato pie
2017 Chateau Thivin Beaujolais Rosé
3rd
pan-seared yellowfin tuna
tomato chutney, coconut sticky rice
2016 Chehalem Winery Grüner Veltliner
4th
grilled beef tenderloin
smoked tomato jam, corn pudding
2015 COS Nero d'Avola "Nero di Lupo"
5th
heirloom tomato spice cake
basil & cream cheese icing
El Maestro Sierra Pedro Ximénez