This article was written by our client, Chapel Hill CVB
"When people sit together to share a meal, food becomes a bridge between cultures, lifestyles and backgrounds," says Laurie Paolicelli, Director of the Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau. The greater Chapel Hill area – always welcoming ways to bridge our divides – boasts some 200 restaurants, with many serving authentic foods from other countries. Paolicelli said each night, restaurants are filled with family and friends enjoying a meal, coming together in a warm, inviting and jovial atmosphere. Looking to try something new? Here are five immigrant-run restaurants to check out in 2023.
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Mediterranean Deli
Jamil Kadoura, owner of Med Deli restaurant and grocery market on Franklin Street, immigrated to the United States to study business management at the Minnesota School of Business. Afterwards he began working in the Food and Beverage industry.
"I immigrated to the U.S. in 1982 seeking education," he said. "I worked in the hotel and restaurant business starting as a dishwasher and getting one promotion after another."
Today Jamil operates several restaurant locations, a public meeting and event venue, The Story on Franklin Street, and a thriving catering business.
"Good food always brings good people together," he said. The restaurant is packed daily.
Talulla’s
A few doors down Franklin Street is Talulla’s. Established in 2004, Talulla’s quickly became a favorite dining and late night destination.
To an infrequent visitor, the changes at Talulla's might have gone unnoticed when the Chapel Hill restaurant changed hands in 2007. The menu remained Turkish, after all, and the place continued to look like a Turkish restaurant.
Moorish parchment chandeliers still hang from the high ceilings, giving a warm glow to everything from the colorful rugs covering the walls to the honeyed tones of well-worn hardwood floors. The restaurant's current owners wanted to maintain the feel of the restaurant so many have grown to love, so they kept much of the same decor and menu items while adding their own personal enhancements.
Some favorite dishes include Mücver, for starters, crunchy disk-shaped fritters of zucchini, feta and egg punctuated with fresh herbs. Sigara böregi, deep-fried phyllo "cigars'' filled with Turkish feta and parsley, served with a smoky pepper dipping sauce.
Vimala’s Curryblossom Cafe
Around the corner from Talullas is Vimala's Curryblossom Cafe. Opened in 2010 by Vimala Rajendran, the restaurant purveys home-style Indian cuisine, and Southern food with local produce and pasture-raised meats.
Vimala Rajendran was born in Kerala and raised in Mumbai. She traveled to Ann Arbor, Michigan, at age 19, to join her husband while pregnant with her first child. After a brief return to India, she settled in Chapel Hill and later opened her cafe in 1985.
Rajendran cooks many of her mother’s recipes of the Kerala cuisine, such as sambar, but she is also inspired by the Maharashtrian cuisine of her childhood in, and Punjabi cuisine, especially samosas. The restaurant’s menu also includes tandoori chicken, pulled pork, chole, dosas, collard greens, chai, and cardamom-chocolate brownies.
Red Lotus
Since 2006, Kevin Zhu has owned and operated Red Lotus restaurant in Chapel Hill, near Whole Foods on Elliot Road. Zhu originally worked in kitchens while living in Shanghai, building the knowledge base that he would use when his family moved to the States.
His parents, Wanly and "Ping" Zhu, were originally bankers, but the poor living conditions in the heavily populated city of Shanghai forced them to set their sights elsewhere. His father was the original momentum behind the restaurant business, as he was a self-proclaimed "worshiper of food” and easily picked up the trade. Zhu’s parents still help and are often seen smiling and talking with guests at lunch and dinner time.
Many regulars to Red Lotus know that Kevin Zhu added a separate menu to showcase the cuisine of Shanghai, where he lived and cooked before coming to America. With that addition, Red Lotus became one of only a handful of area restaurants offering an authentic Chinese menu, and one of just a few serving Shanghai cuisine.
Many of these specialty dishes must be ordered 24-hours in advance.
Nomad - Hillsborough
Up the street in neighboring Hillsborough, you’ll want to dine at Nomad.
Located on King Street in Hillsborough, this cozy spot calls itself "the travelers home" and offers a global dining experience unlike anything else in the area.
B.J. Patel co-owns the restaurant with his wife, Smita, his brother, Sejal, and his their business partner, Nick Singh.
"With its proximity to Chapel Hill, Durham, and Carrboro we definitely bring in an educated palate," he said. "People are more open to different cuisines. Not just meat and potatoes. I definitely think that once they get in here and try the flavors, they’ll keep coming back."
Nomad boasts a plethora of flavors.
"We take tastes from India, Korea, Thailand, South America, and Europe and infuse all the flavors with modern day dishes. It might be a Korean nacho. It could be a curried korma poutine."
The Nomad concept stemmed from the group’s diverse backgrounds and the different foods that each of them grew up eating. Sejal and BJ were introduced to various cultures and foods because of their parents’ nomadic lifestyle, a passion that blossomed into adulthood with their own travels. They opened Nomad to share their love and appreciation for various cultures with fellow North Carolinians.
For more information on these or any of the great offerings of Chapel Hill, visit: www.visitchapelhill.org or www.chapelhilldiversity.com
This article was written by our client, Chapel Hill CVB