(Carroll’s Kitchen Grand Opening, September 2016)
If you’re a food lover like I am, you may have heard about Carroll’s Kitchen in Raleigh. I had seen mentions of their upcoming launch party in April at HQ Raleigh so my curiosity was piqued. I mean how can you go wrong with good food and doing good? I wasn’t sure exactly what Carroll’s Kitchen was about but it was a great opportunity to find out!
I headed on over to HQ Raleigh on a quiet Wednesday night and the party was just getting started. Check in, get a name badge and I start wandering around a bit. HQ Raleigh is a shared work-space so it’s got a start-up feel but it also has a large canteen and bar area where Carroll’s Kitchen has set up a full counter of beverages and snacks. I grab a glass of vino and continue exploring. On the first floor they’ve got a couple of buffet tables set up full of hand-foods and hors douerves.
I spy a great looking table and mosey on over. There’s signage for Brine Haus meats and provisions along with some lovely looking pate on chicarrones and pork butter on levain. Chef Steven Goff is searing the tops of the pork butter bites so I’m like a hungry moth drawn to a foodie flame! Chef Goff used to work as the butcher at Standard Foods and is working on a new food truck. Love both the bites I tried and I’m looking forward to when he gets his meat-focused food truck on the road!
Brine Haus Provisions at launch party for Carroll’s Kitchen in Raleigh- NC Triangle DiningI head on back to the main room where the Carroll’s Kitchen presentation is getting set up. I bump into Jim Freeze, Executive Director of Carroll’s Kitchen along with Vicky Ismail, who brings many years of restaurant experience to the organization. Vicky used to own and run the popular Cary Cafe and semi-retired but had a vision for Carroll’s Kitchen and helping out the less fortunate in the area. They’re both super-excited to get Carroll’s Kitchen launched for the Raleigh community.
Jim does the introductions and kicks off his presentation with the goals for Carroll’s Kitchen: ending homelessness for women in Raleigh, feeding the community and doing good overall. Pragmatic and lofty ideas all at once but certainly achievable! The goal is to create a restaurant at 19 E. Martin where women can learn life and work skills working at Carroll’s Kitchen and then move on to other jobs or open their own businesses. Or they can stay at Carroll’s Kitchen but the vision is to empower at risk women to move their lives forward by giving them the skills to succeed. Carroll’s Kitchen is a Christian and faith-based organization looking to improve lots of things in Raleigh but they’re starting with homeless women in the area.
The presentation is brief but well-received and while the launch party is organized to generate awareness and buzz around this new non-profit, they do have other goals to raise money for their restaurant launch this summer. Check out the new Carroll’s Kitchen website if you’re curious and certainly donate to support the cause if their mission resonates with you.
All in all I was pleasantly pleased by the event and look forward to the opening of Carroll’s Kitchen AND Brine Haus Provisions. While there’s still a lot to be decided about the type of restaurant it will be, Carroll’s Kitchen certainly knows exactly what it wants to accomplish and how it wants to impact the greater Raleigh community for years to come.
19 E. Martin Street
Raleigh, NC 27601
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