Skip to content

615-294-1886

d@clairemontcommunications.com

Clairemont Communications

Clairemont Communications

  • About Us
  • Awards
  • Blog
  • Our Work
  • Services
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Awards
  • Blog
  • Our Work
  • Services
  • Contact Us

Earth Day Goodness – Part 3

April 19, 2010July 15, 2022 Dana PhelpsBlog, In Our Community, SustainabilityBriar Chapel, Earth Day, Irregardless Cafe

In working with Clairemont client, Briar Chapel, I recently had the great honor of interviewing Chef Arthur Gordon of Irregardless Cafe. As you will learn from the Q&A below, Arthur pioneered cooking with local ingredients and supporting area farmers in Raleigh. I love his food, and I think he would be as equally as successful at the comedy club next door to the cafe!

1. What’s it like to be the chef at Irregardless Café? In French, the word chef means chief, so it’s a real pleasure to be the chief, the head, the operating honcho of a group of people who are like-minded. I like to think that Irregardless Café is an oasis in Raleigh – no TV, live music, fresh food – and to be able to provide this to the community at large is a real honor. This concept is the vision I had 35 years ago, when I began Irregardless, and it’s a real blessing to see it realized.
2. When did you know you wanted to be a chef? From an early age. When my mom and dad got married, my mom said to him, “I’m going to be good in one room in this house, you pick it.” So, as a dysfunctional family, I learned how to cook. Dad was happy, and I learned to cook. French toast was my forte. We grew up in Durham, and we owned a ladies dress shop, where dad bought the clothes and mom sold them. You see the room dad picked was actually the dress shop – see, it wasn’t what you were thinking.
3. Where did you start your career as a full-time chef? In 1972, I graduated from UNC, and I wrote to the Culinary Institute of America, the CIA, about coming to be trained as a professional chef. They wanted everyone to have at least one year of experience first, so I thought I’d open a restaurant for a year or two. Well, I haven’t gotten to cooking school yet. I started here in 1974. I built the building by converting it from a laundry into a restaurant, and I just kept expanding over the years. In 1994, we had a fire, so when I rebuilt, I made the kitchen as large as the dining room. I figured if I was going to spend my life in that kitchen, I would make it big, and it’s worked out well. It’s allowed us to be able to have a catering business, and not bog down the kitchen that’s also serving the dining room.
4. Why is it important to you to use local ingredients? It just makes sense on every level I can think of. First the ingredients are a lot fresher. Organic ingredients are good to use, because you know they were grown free of pesticides and chemicals, but you may not know where they come from. The longer the distance from picking to table, the more the produce loses valuable nutrients and taste. We try to get produce, cheeses, meats and flour within a 30 mile radius. Second, the food tastes better because the person producing the food really cares about it, and I’m a big believer that the customer doesn’t necessarily care about the words you put on foods, but they care about the taste, and using local ingredients makes the food taste so much better. Third, it helps the local economy. The most important person in the food chain is the farmer. I’ve evolved as a business man over the years with this in mind. I used to haggle prices with farmers – I like to haggle a lot – but now I understand that those extra few dollars may keep that farmer in business, and so it means a lot more to him. I also used to buy in bulk – I would buy nine cases of sweet potatoes to get a better price – but now I realize that fresh foods need to be eaten when they are fresh. That tomato you enjoy needs to be eaten the day or the day after it’s picked, and no later. So buying local just works. These are things I think about with local products and local foods.
5. What is the most popular dish served in your restaurant that is made from local or organic ingredients? Probably our warm goat cheese salad. We get the goat cheese from Celebrity Dairy in Chatham County. It’s really just spectacular cheese.
6. What is your favorite thing/ingredient to buy local and where do you get it? Well I mentioned the cheese from Celebrity Dairy, but right now the longest thing we have used – and maybe the best – is flour from Lindley Mills in Graham, N.C. It’s probably twice as expensive as flour from the big guys, but we have been using it to make our whole wheat bread for 35 years, and you can just tell the difference. I think any restaurant’s signature is the bread, and so we use flour that is locally grown, locally milled – by hand at that – and it shows. You know everyone these days is talking about healthy eating, and that includes whole grains. Well, you can come to Irregardless, have a fresh salad and some of our whole wheat bread, and you’ve accomplished a well-balanced meal. So yes, Lindley Mills is the longest, most consistent local relationship I’ve had.
7. What can we expect to see from you at the Briar Chapel’s Earth Day Celebrity Chef Charity Event on April 18? We’ll be doing a breakfast nacho, featuring local Johnston County potatoes and eggs from Chatham County. We’ll also be doing some assorted salads, with our signature lemon tahini dressing. We’re starting to do a weekday breakfast this month, so we’ll be giving everyone a taste of those new menu items.
8. What advice can you offer to Triangle residents who would like to incorporate more local produce, meats and poultry into their at-home cooking? Well, the most obvious and definitely easiest thing to do is to join a co-op, where you put the money upfront. This way, the farmer knows what he’s getting, and then when the products are ready you get your share. This also forces you to get creative with the ingredients. That’s the other thing I recommend – don’t be so rigid with your recipes. Try to move things around. Don’t look at a recipe to determine what you need – look at the ingredients you have and then determine what you can make from them.
9. As you may know, this is the 40th anniversary of Earth Day. In celebration of this day, can you share what things you do (beyond cooking with local ingredients) either in your restaurant or at home to “go green”? Here at Irregardless, we are intentionally separating our scraps, so that we can send all of our edible scraps to a pig farmer in Wake County. And then you see, I have a Jewish dilemma. He asked me if I want a free ham! But really, it’s funny the pigs get extremely excited when they see our truck arrive.
10. What charity will you be supporting through your participation in Briar Chapel’s Earth Day Celebrity Chef Charity Event? The Abundance Foundation.

Comments

comments

Read More

Post navigation

Previous: Green Day
Next: More Earth Day Goodness

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Categories

  • APR
  • Awards
  • Blog
  • Case Studies
  • Clairemont Client News
  • Copy Cat
  • Counselors Academy
  • Entry-Level PR Job
  • Fashion
  • Free Advice
  • Furniture PR
  • Hiring a PR Firm
  • In Our Community
  • Inspirational
  • Internal Communications
  • Marketing
  • Oh Momma Monday
  • On the Record
  • Owning a Business
  • Photo of the Week
  • PR People
  • Professional Development
  • Public Relations
  • Raleigh PR Agency
  • Real Estate PR
  • Restaurant PR + Hospitality PR
  • Social Media + Influencer Engagement
  • Starting a business
  • Sustainability
  • The Clairemont Team
  • Travel
  • Trends
  • Wonderfully Random

clairemontcommunications

Yep, our town is pretty cool. #raleigh Yep, our town is pretty cool. #raleigh
Who wants to have a Friday afternoon porch meeting Who wants to have a Friday afternoon porch meeting?
Congrats to our new neighbor on Bloodworth Street Congrats to our new neighbor on Bloodworth Street South @raleighwineshop ! @blah2voila was there today representing Clairemont at the grand opening festivities and enjoying the @grandchamphospitality sandwich pop up. Yum! 🍷🥪
It’s National Volunteer Month, and volunteers ar It’s National Volunteer Month, and volunteers are needed more than ever! Many organizations with scarce resources rely on volunteers and would not exist without them. Visit our recent blog post to read about the organizations Clairemont has supported and how you can make a difference in your community!
Authenticity is trending, and research shows that Authenticity is trending, and research shows that consumers are 2.4 times more likely to view user-generated content as authentic. Read our recent blog post to learn about UGC, how it can benefit your brand and how to use it in your marketing strategy.
From social values to behavior patterns, COVID-19 From social values to behavior patterns, COVID-19 has left an impact on every sector of life, including marketing. Read our blog on marketing in a post-COVID world to learn how things have changed and how that should impact your business strategy.
We are so excited to share that Clairemont earned We are so excited to share that Clairemont earned eight awards, five gold🥇and three silver🥈, at this year's Sir Walter Raleigh Awards hosted by the Raleigh Public Relations Society!🎉 We are beyond grateful to work with so many amazing partners, clients and industry friends!
This spring, Ali de la Vega is joining the Clairem This spring, Ali de la Vega is joining the Clairemont team as an intern! Ali is a Junior at NC State who prides herself in being a daughter and a Christian as well as an amateur athlete, overachiever and older sister. Learn more about her background and how she found a love for PR on our website!
If you could change one thing about Instagram, wha If you could change one thing about Instagram, what would it be? Comment 🙋🏼‍♀️🙋🏿‍♀️🙋🏽‍♀️ if you said, “I’d bring back the chronological feed.” Well, the chronological feed could be returning in 2022! Visit our blog to read the 2022 recent Instagram updates and how your Instagram strategy should change.
Many people don’t realize it, but a lot of behin Many people don’t realize it, but a lot of behind-the-scenes work goes into creating a successful blog post. Visit our blog to learn the 11 blogging mistakes you’re making, why these mistakes are hurting your blog and how to fix them.
Since TikTok’s success, short-form video has tak Since TikTok’s success, short-form video has taken over social media. With how easy it is to reach new audiences, you should be using short-form video in your business’s social media strategy. Visit our blog to learn how TikTok took over and how to use short-form video for business.
Clairemont is currently seeking smart, responsible Clairemont is currently seeking smart, responsible, creative and hard-working public relations practitioners who are ready to tackle any assignment for an account strategist position! Check out our latest blog post for the job description and further information. #raleighpr #clairemontcommunications #pragency
From new employees to outstanding awards, Clairemo From new employees to outstanding awards, Clairemont has had an amazing 2021. Visit the blog to read Clairemont’s 2021 year in review.
To celebrate the holiday season, the Clairemont te To celebrate the holiday season, the Clairemont team dined at @angusbarn and played a regifted version of White Elephant, a game that has been a Clairemont tradition for years. Visit our blog to read more about the Clairemont team holiday traditions and how they came about.
While you may feel the need to capitalize the word While you may feel the need to capitalize the word “merry” when wishing someone a merry Christmas, merry is not a proper noun, name or event and should only be capitalized when at the beginning of a sentence.
This year, Clairemont was the only agency headquar This year, Clairemont was the only agency headquartered in NC to receive a 2021 Silver Anvil Award on top of two Best in Show awards from NCPRSA and a Queen City award from PRSA Charlotte. Visit our blog and read about the recognition we received in 2021.
Claus is Santa’s last name. A clause is a group Claus is Santa’s last name. A clause is a group of words that contains a subject and a verb. For example, “When he comes to our home, we get gifts.”
Giving back to the Raleigh community is important Giving back to the Raleigh community is important to our team, especially around the holidays. Check out our blog and read about how our team gives back to the community.
Not only are these holiday words often miswritten Not only are these holiday words often miswritten as two words, many are also frequently misspelled. Mistletoe has a silent T and sugarplum is spelled with an A, not an E. Other commonly misspelled holiday words include poinsettia, reindeer, angel, hot cocoa and boughs (of holly). #holidaygram #grammar_tips #grammartips
Chief Mosley is more than just a client and collea Chief Mosley is more than just a client and colleague, he is also a true friend with the kindest soul. He has dedicated most of his life to the fire service, starting as a volunteer and continuing on to roles from firefighter to deputy fire chief. 

While working with the North Carolina Association of Fire Chiefs on a two-year campaign to recruit and retain volunteer firefighters across 15 of the most at-risk agencies in North Carolina, Chief Mosley helped secure 474 new recruits. Visit our blog to learn more about Chief Mosley’s career in the fire service.
Load More Follow on Instagram
Proudly powered by WordPress | Theme: realy-store by inverstheme.