
{"id":1470,"date":"2007-12-20T00:08:53","date_gmt":"2007-12-20T08:08:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/2007\/12\/20\/nothing-fancy\/"},"modified":"2007-12-21T09:33:27","modified_gmt":"2007-12-21T17:33:27","slug":"nothing-fancy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/2007\/12\/20\/nothing-fancy\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Nothing fancy&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/neals2.jpg\" title=\"Matt and Sheila Neal contemplate the work ahead getting Neal\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Deli ready to open. Photo by Kirk Ross\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/neals2.jpg\" alt=\"Matt and Sheila Neal contemplate the work ahead getting Neal\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Deli ready to open. Photo by Kirk Ross\" align=\"left\" height=\"158\" width=\"213\" \/><\/a><em>Matt and Sheila planning to open Neal&#8217;s Deli<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>By Kirk Ross<\/strong><br \/>\nStaff Writer<\/em><\/p>\n<p>From the intersection of Main and Greensboro, you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll take the sidewalk along the east side and veer onto the ramp. Further down the sidewalk, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll also be a short flight of stairs to the porch and entryway.<\/p>\n<p>That how to get to Neal\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Deli, due to open in \u00e2\u20ac\u0153early 2008\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u201d and judging from the buzz already going on around town, if you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re planning on heading there around lunchtime, expect some company. <!--more--><br \/>\nRight now, though, the roughly 700-square-foot space at 100C South Greensboro Street is being stripped down and rebuilt. The framing is up where the counter will be and only a temporary table sits where there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be a line of fourtops. The vision, though, is pretty clear \u00e2\u20ac\u201d classic deli. The Neals, freshly returned from a tour of neighborhood delis in New York City, are determined to create for Carrboro the kind of places they saw there \u00e2\u20ac\u201d community institutions with regulars lined up each lunch out the door.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We walked through Italian, Jewish and Chinese neighborhoods,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Matt  Neal said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We ate pickles on the Lower East Side, right on the sidewalk.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re borrowing from the traditions of those Italian, Jewish, Chinese and Vietnamese neighborhood delis, but not trying to mimic them. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why the name made sense \u00e2\u20ac\u201d this is our take on the deli,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Sheila Neal said.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Our favorite places have family names,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d her husband added.<\/p>\n<p>The exact menu has been in evolution over the past four years, since the idea of starting a deli first took hold. Now, with the opening not far away, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s started to come together. First, a few absolutes: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We are definitely going to make our own corned beef,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Matt Neal says.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153And pastrami,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Sheila Neal adds.<\/p>\n<p>Pickles, though, are going to be tough. Because of concerns about a good steady supply of cucumbers, they might be seasonal. A pickle barrel, however, is already on the list of regular fixtures.<\/p>\n<p>The couple has been experimenting with pickling for some time \u00e2\u20ac\u201d Matt makes a mean kimchi \u00e2\u20ac\u201d and plenty of pickled condiments are planned. Sides will include slaws and greens.<\/p>\n<p>Naturally, a selection of meats and featured local cheeses will be available by the pound as well.<br \/>\nFor Sheila Neal, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an especially hectic time as she prepares to leave her job as manager of the Carrboro Farmers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Market.<\/p>\n<p>Then there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Hank, the couple\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s occasionally rambunctious two year old, who keeps his parents busy.<br \/>\nMatt Neal literally grew up in the food business and could often be found at his mother Moreton Neal\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s place, La Residence, or at Crooks Corner, where his father, chef Bill Neal, honed his now-legendary take on southern cooking.<\/p>\n<p>And though Matt\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s spent most of his time in the business as a bartender at Crooks and the Orange County Social Club, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s never lost touch with his roots in the kitchen. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not a Carrboro native, but he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s lived here most of his childhood and, though he lived occasionally in Chapel Hill, Carrboro is home, and Matt\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s especially proud to have the chance to cook for the town.<\/p>\n<p>Sheila and Matt say the response already has been a boost, and say it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s coming together thanks to the town\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s revolving loan program and help from friends like Cray Gunn, a childhood chum of Matt\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s whose Custom Carpentry is handling construction, and veteran restaurant designer John Lindsey, who came out of retirement to work on the design and is said to already be waiting for a liverwurst on rye.<\/p>\n<p>And while there are plenty of local examples of more elaborate cooking, one of Neal\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s early mottos is \u00e2\u20ac\u0153nothing fancy.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d The price point, Sheila Neal said, is a good lunch for a little more than $8 so that Neal\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s will become the kind of place you return to on a regular basis. Neither Neal is willing to guess when that first lunch rush will come, saying only that it should happen long before spring. Both of them agree, though, on what the vision is for a typical noon hour at Neal\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153What\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll it be like?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Sheila Neal said, repeating the question, then sweeping her arm from the counter to the sidewalk on Greensboro Street, adding: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Lined up out the door.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Matt and Sheila planning to open Neal&#8217;s Deli By Kirk Ross Staff Writer From the intersection of Main and Greensboro, you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll take the sidewalk along the east side and veer onto the ramp. Further down the sidewalk, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll also be a short flight of stairs to the porch and entryway. That how to get to&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1470","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-community","category-top-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1470","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1470"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1470\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1470"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1470"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1470"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}