There's a good chance you've never heard of Saxapahaw, a village in Alamance County that's so small you have to use the name of the nearest sizable town when you Google an address. It's nearly an hour's drive from Raleigh. And that's just one of the reasons why you might never bother to go to Saxapahaw General Store.
But for each reason not to make the trip, there's a more compelling reason to go. It's a pleasant drive, for starters, much of it through rolling farmland and culminating at a picturesque village on the Haw River. The restaurant is, as the name implies, tucked inside a low-slung brick building attached to a Shell station that doubles as the town's general store.
But it's a general store unlike any other, selling a jaw-dropping variety of naturally raised meats and organic produce - much of it delivered directly from nearby farms - alongside traditional country store wares ranging from Vienna sausages and Goody's headache powder to chain-saw oil and camo gloves. You'll need to select your wine or beer (a quirky selection that includes a few craft brews you'd be hard-pressed to find in the Triangle) from the refrigerated cases before you get in line to place your order at the counter.
Culinary wonderland
The line is apt to be long, especially on weekends. In the two years since butcher and self-taught chef Jeff Barney opened the restaurant with his partner, self-taught baker Cameron Ratliff, its fame has spread far beyond Saxapahaw. On Saturday nights, when Barney fills a blackboard near the order counter with the dinner specials that have earned a cult-like following among foodies, the wait can be a half hour or more.
The time passes quickly. Once you've placed your order and staked your claim to one of the fast food restaurant-style booths - or, if you're lucky enough to snag one, an umbrella-shaded picnic table outside - you can amble among shelves and refrigerated cases, exploring a culinary wonderland from Cane Creek pork belly to Benjamin Vineyards muscadine jelly. You may find yourself chatting with other customers; even when the place is at its busiest, there's a communal vibe about the place that tends to make quick friends of strangers.
If your name still hasn't been called, mosey over and watch chef Barney work his magic, turning out an impressively varied offering in an impossibly tiny, cramped kitchen. The selection evolves seasonally, with the one constant being the word "local" sprinkled liberally throughout the descriptions.
One weekend last winter, among the 16 options crammed onto the blackboard were wild striped bass over a creamy succotash punctuated with applewood-smoked bacon; coconut milk-braised Cane Creek Farm pork spareribs over leek risotto with braised collards; duck breast on baguette with roasted figs and arugula; and grilled local sirloin steak with home fries cooked in duck fat (you didn't think the chef would let that liquid gold go to waste, did you?).
House-baked pastries
More recently, choices included a crisp-skinned chicken leg quarter with Dijon potato salad and green beans; whole roasted pompano with ginger and lemon; lump crab cakes with anise slaw (and more of those addictive duck fat fries); and roasted local vegetable lasagna. Apple galette, key lime pie, cream horns and other house-baked pastries tempted the sweet tooth from a display case near the cash register.
Wild king salmon was irreproachably fresh-tasting and expertly cooked that night, served over tomato risotto with grilled young asparagus spears. Braised beef short ribs were fork tender and succulent, resting on a mound of buttery mashed potatoes with a delightfully surprising pan-crisped underside.
Committed to local
Misfires are commendably rare, which is especially impressive given the cramped kitchen quarters. Over the course of two visits, the only disappointment I experienced - and a minor one at that - was a risotto that was less than ideally moist.
Granted, there are plenty of restaurants closer to home that incorporate the farm-to-table philosophy into their menus. Few are as thoroughly committed to the philosophy as Saxapahaw General Store, however (a philosophy that extends to weekend brunch, I might add, when attractions include house-brined local beef brisket with eggs any style, homemade English muffins and a stellar rendition of North Carolina shrimp and grits). And, for some reason, the food just seems to taste better when the table is so close to the farm.
