The State You're In

ALRIGHT Y'ALL... 👀🍟

The wait is over.

NEW MENU starts TOMORROW Draft & Vine 🔥

Featuring our collaboration with The State You're In
🧀 The State You're In Pimento Cheese Fries

We are donating $2 of every order of this dish to Adelaide's Army of Hope.

Sooo y'all ready?👇💙

Quick lunch at Claytun!

Empanadas from Sauceinator and The Staions got Waynesville Soda Jerks!!

I've become mighty fond of these kinds of events over the last few years.

You look at the ticket price at first and think, "That's a little salty." Then you realize you're getting several chefs in one spot, each serving up their own creation, often paired with beverages, live music filling the air, and the chance to try more dishes in two hours than most folks eat in a weekend.

And then you remember the most important part.

It's all for a good cause.

Last night at Rocky Mount Mills, Ripe For Revival hosted its fourth annual Chef Rival, bringing together some of North Carolina's finest chefs for a friendly culinary showdown. The challenge was simple, create globally inspired dishes using ingredients grown and raised right here in North Carolina.

The result? A lineup full of incredible food, good people, and plenty of reminders that our state's farmers can hold their own with flavors from anywhere in the world.

Even better, every ticket helps support Ripe for Revival and their work fighting food insecurity across Eastern and Central North Carolina through mobile markets that bring affordable local food directly into communities that need it most.

Congratulations to Chef Kyle Fletcher of Glasshouse Kitchen in Durham, who took home this year's Chef Rival title with a dish that impressed the judges and the crowd alike.

Good food. Good folks. A great cause.

That's a combination that'll get us out of the house every time.

Sunset cruises on a boat are cool and all.

But have you ever made your rounds on a golf cart across a farm, saying goodnight to all the animals as they settle in for the evening?

There was a moment when the crunch of gravel beneath the tires became the soundtrack of the day fading away. We found peace in the fences stretching toward the horizon, comfort in the still waters of the ponds, and joy in the curious faces looking back from pastures and paddocks. The breeze carried the scent of summer fields while the sun slowly slipped behind the trees, painting everything in shades of gold.

There was a gentler time when the only thing on the schedule was slowing down long enough to notice it all. A time when waving at a donkey, watching a camel wander off toward supper, and feeling the wind on your face from the seat of a golf cart seemed like enough.

It was a magnificent time.

It was last weekend..

At Sweet Valley Ranch. 🌞🫏