Pittsboro Archives ~ NC Triangle Dining Food Blog

Entry to the Plant in Pittsboro - nctriangledining.com — Entry to the Plant in Pittsboro – nctriangledining.com

While the Triangle continues to grow in popularity and population, interesting food and beverage type businesses are putting down stakes in a variety of interesting locations. Giving zoning restrictions, you’ll usually find breweries and distilleries in odd pockets around our major cities and off the beaten path. One spot that’s worth visiting is The Plant out in Pittsboro! Self-described as an eco-industrial park and in the Chatham Beverage District, The Plant offers up some interesting places to visit for a fun weekend: Fair Game Beverage and Starrlight Mead amongst several business options.

Front of Fair Game Beverage in Pittsboro - nctriangledining.com — Front of Fair Game Beverage in Pittsboro – nctriangledining.com

Tasting area at Fair Game Beverage in Pittsboro - nctriangledining.com — Tasting area at Fair Game Beverage in Pittsboro – nctriangledining.com

First up is the classic, Fair Game Beverage! This distillery offers up a short factory tour showing off its distilling operations, it’s a pretty quick visit. There’s a couple of distilling machines, aging room and shipping-packing room since Fair Game Beverage is a smaller, local spirits producer. They also do gift boxes which might be perfect for your favorite person this holiday season!

Gift boxes at Fair Game Beverage in Pittsboro - nctriangledining.com — Gift boxes at Fair Game Beverage in Pittsboro – nctriangledining.com

Tour of distillery at Fair Game Beverage in Pittsboro - nctriangledining.com — Tour of distillery at Fair Game Beverage in Pittsboro – nctriangledining.com

Barrel aging at Fair Game Beverage in Pittsboro - nctriangledining.com — Barrel aging at Fair Game Beverage in Pittsboro – nctriangledining.com

But what’s more fun is the tasting bar up front! Cozy and small, you’ll get to sample a variety of their liquors which is a BIT different then sampling beer or wine. Fair Game produces bottles like Flying Pepper vodka, apple brandy, No’lasses rum and more so you’ll have to drink and sip it slowly. Grab a couple of bottles on the way out to mix up some cocktails at home, Fair Game makes some good booze!

Bottles at Fair Game Beverage in Pittsboro - nctriangledining.com — Bottles at Fair Game Beverage in Pittsboro – nctriangledining.com

Front of Starrlight Mead in Pittsboro - nctriangledining.com — Front of Starrlight Mead in Pittsboro – nctriangledining.com

After you’re done at Fair Game, head on over to Starrlight Mead which sits in a house at the front of the Plant’s entrance. If feels like a little cottage in the woods but it’s actually anything but that.

Starrlight Mead in Pittsboro - nctriangledining.com — Starrlight Mead in Pittsboro – nctriangledining.com

Inside Starrlight Mead you’ll find a large, open space with high ceilings showing of a mix of rustic and modern. Apparently they use this space for events in addition to a tasting room. Several retail areas are scattered throughout the large space where you can peruse and pick up a delicious bottle of mead. The tasting bar sits to the far right where you can sample 8 meads with souvenir glass for $10 which is a lot of fun. As a honey wine, mead is a lot easier on the throat compared to the liquors at Fair Game Beverage which makes for easier dranking!

Starrlight Mead makes their mead in bulk and then creates separate varieties by flavoring the mead with herbs, fruit and whatever else fancies the meadmaker! And they are all quite delicious and easy to drink but I’m sure you’ll have a favorite flavor and bottle to bring home. It’s all a very leisurely experience and worth the trip out here.

Tasting glass at Starrlight Mead in Pittsboro - nctriangledining.com — Tasting glass at Starrlight Mead in Pittsboro – nctriangledining.com

After a visit to Fair Game Beverage and Starrlight Mead, you might want to consider Postal Fish Company or Capps Pizzeria which offer up great seafood and pizza. Over the past two years, I’ve been spending more time out this way which is super interesting. Pittsboro and S. Chapel Hill are both starting to develop and new, cool businesses are popping up including Fair Game Beverage and Starrlight Mead. Which give you just another fun spot to explore in the Triangle, enjoy!

Fair Game Beverage and Starrlight Mead

192 and 130 Lorax Lane

Pittsboro, NC

Location on Google maps

When it comes to a flourishing food scene, you’ll often find that cool and great new restaurants don’t open up in the usual hot areas. Over time, Durham and Raleigh have become increasingly expensive and as people move further out of the core downtown areas, the restaurants follow. Over the past year or so, I’ve seen this activity accelerate and the Postal Fish Company is one example of that trend! A recent media invite had me driving out to Pittsboro for a wonderful meal and dining experience at this new seafood restaurant on the outskirts of Chapel Hill. And even with the 40 minute ride out, it was definitely worth it. Here’s how this delicious dining experience went down…

Dining room at Postal Fish Company in Pittsboro - nctriangledining.com — Dining room at Postal Fish Company in Pittsboro – nctriangledining.com

Heading over to downtown Pittsboro on a Wednesday night, Postal Fish Company is located right off of Hillsboro Street and near City Tap, an old-school beer bar. It was a wet and cold night, Postal Fish Company is well lit up on this quiet street, beckoning like a foodie beacon! Converted from an older post office, you’ll immediately recognize the retro stone facing and ranch-style construction up front. Inside, the space is open and slightly industrial with a polished concrete floor, open faced beams overhead and a bar to the right. The space reminds me a bit of the Piedmont in Durham, a rustic but modern cafe set-up. To the left you’ll find a small kitchen and oyster bar manned by owners James Clark and Bill Hartley. A small group of bloggers are greeted by the two and we’re seated right near the kitchen to catch all the action.

At the oyster bar, Bill and James provide us the back-story to the restaurant. Working together for over 10 years at various restaurants in the Carolinas, Bill and James had worked on this local seafood concept for over four years. Their vision in bringing fresh, under-utilized seafood to the Triangle and being part of the growing food community was finally crystallized in October of 2017 in this converted post office. Both men live nearby in Pittsboro and outside of regular forays to the coast for fresh fish and seafood, spend a lot of time right in the neighborhood! And while they considered opening up in Chapel Hill given their experience at the Carolina Inn, it just made more sense to start their dream right here in downtown Pittsboro. Much of the fresh seafood is cooked at a wood grill in back which must be constantly tended to. And their seasonal menu changes regularly which means that it sometimes must be printed on a daily basis.

Smoked catfish and fried saltines at Postal Fish Company in Pittsboro - nctriangledining.com — Smoked catfish and fried saltines at Postal Fish Company in Pittsboro – nctriangledining.com

Garlic shrimp app at Postal Fish Company in Pittsboro - nctriangledining.com — Garlic shrimp app at Postal Fish Company in Pittsboro – nctriangledining.com

I had been warned to come hungry to this media event and it’s because we were about to be treated to a multi-course meal, highlighting many of the favorites from Postal Fish Company’s menu. Bring on the stretchy pants! Over the course of the next two hours, Bill and James treated the group to an amazing array of seafood dishes. Some highlights for me included a fantastic smoked catfish dip and fried saltines, simple but a wonderful presentation. And their garlic shrimp?! Fantastically pungent garlic highlighting the fresh, sweet meat of Carolina shrimp, loved it.

Fried grits with mushroom chowder at Postal Fish Company in Pittsboro - nctriangledining.com — Fried grits with mushroom chowder at Postal Fish Company in Pittsboro – nctriangledining.com

Scotch oysters at Postal Fish Company in Pittsboro - nctriangledining.com — Scotch oysters at Postal Fish Company in Pittsboro – nctriangledining.com

I’d also highly recommend the Scottish oysters, a play on the Scottish egg! But instead of an egg, Postal Fish Company inserts a soft, plump oyster into a sausage and bread crumb wrap, delicious! The fried grits are served up as lightly browned sticks and alongside “mushroom chowder”, a fun and savory play on fried risotto. We were also able to sample some fresh Sounders oysters, SC mussels in a lemon-thyme cream sauce and Jolthead porgy crudo, wow!

Triggerfish and brussels sprouts at Postal Fish Company in Pittsboro - nctriangledining.com — Triggerfish and brussels sprouts at Postal Fish Company in Pittsboro – nctriangledining.com

Tilefish and brussels sprouts at Postal Fish Company in Pittsboro - nctriangledining.com — Tilefish, pureed parsnips, butternut squash at Postal Fish Company in Pittsboro – nctriangledining.com

Given the seasonal menu and creativity in the kitchen, you may not find exactly the same dishes on the menu if you’re to visit Postal Fish Company but I’m pretty certain you’ll get some variation on the deliciousness we experienced. Our main fish dishes included a triggerfish served over brussels sprouts along with a tilefish dish which was my favorite. The lightly grilled tilefish was served on top of pureed parsnips along with soft butternut squash which brought a wonderful sweetness to the palate. One thing’s for sure, Bill and James know their way around good fish and how to prepare it, properly.

Vanilla-coconut cake at Postal Fish Company in Pittsboro - nctriangledining.com — Vanilla-coconut cake at Postal Fish Company in Pittsboro – nctriangledining.com

And even after this enormous meal, Bill and James wanted to make sure we tried the desserts at Postal Fish Company. We were treated to a chocolate cake with stout frosting along with a fantastic vanilla cake with coconut cream. The vanilla cake is composed of thinner layers of cake stacked with soft, coconut-custard making for a rich and creamy bite! Big thumbs up here, apparently the desserts are baked by James’ wife, Postal Fish Company is truly a family business.

Downtown Pittsboro at night - nctriangledining.com — Downtown Pittsboro at night – nctriangledining.com

As we finished our dinner at Postal Fish Company, we thanked Bill and James for their hospitality and wonderful seafood. The restaurant was quiet on a rainy Wednesday night and I suspect that not everyone knows about this hidden gem of a seafood restaurant out here in Pittsboro. While the food would qualify in my book as upscale seafood, prices at Postal Fish Company are quite reasonable with appetizers in the $7 to $14 range and entrees in the $18 to $25 range. A great dining deal for what you get here! But I am thankful for having such a great restaurant out in Pittsboro. While I may not get out this way that often, Postal Fish Company is a great example of the vibrancy of the local food and restaurant scene. When you’re getting great dining experiences in even the quieter areas of the Triangle, you know that things are going great! So thank you Bill and James, it was a wonderful treat exploring downtown Pittsboro and the fresh seafood at Postal Fish Company!