Got to be N.C.
From D.C. we drove until we landed in North Carolina (another one of Rene’s old stomping grounds and a new destination for me.) October 16th we arrived on the doorstep of Chad Blackwelder. Rene and Chad worked together at the James Beard awarded Magnolia Grill in Durham, N.C. some 20ish years ago. Chad was the sous chef and Rene was just starting out as a prep cook. Chad now works as a marketing specialist and chef for an amazing organization called Got to be N.C., This subset of the NC department of agriculture is all about promoting small farms, the products they create and connecting farms with restaurants. In classic food love form, Chad had three deli containers of hot sauce open within 5 minutes of entering their house in Sanford, NC. Before the he could finish the request of “give these a taste and tell me what you think.” Rene was already sampling away.
It was fun to watch from the sidelines as Rene and Chad easily slipped back into a kitchen repertoire. And wow did we eat well. So get ready for some amazing food stories in the photo comments.
To our dismay, our stay was only a few nights. (But we ate enough for at least a week!) The reason for our quick departure was that our amazing hosts in West Virginia, Jen Allen and Shoji Satake arranged for us to stay at Studio Touya in Seagrove N.C.
On arrival, we could barely believe our eyes at the amazing life Hitome and Takuro have created for themselves. It was very inspiring for Rene and I. Being there helped us further define the future we want to create for ourselves. Despite very busy schedules, Hitomi made dinner for the four of us (after feeding her kids), and they made time to sit down and eat with us as well. Their generosity is matched by the beautiful work they create. While there, Hitomi gave us an amazing tour of their property and incredible Japanese wood fired kiln (anagama) they built by hand, The massive kiln is fired 4 times a year, where each firing requires approximately three days of feeding the kiln and monitoring the process.
Seagrove is a small town, yet a treasure trove of ceramics and holds an incredibly rich history of clay. While there we toured some of the iconic studios like Ben Owen and Jugtown. The North Carolina Pottery Center also holds a well curated history of clay and does well to spotlight the clay workings from the original people of the Carolinas and the important role women have played in ceramics. While on our pottery tour we were enamored with the new creations coming out of Seagrove such as Studio Touya, The Triangle Studio and the artists featured at STARworks where Takuro is the director of STARworks Ceramics. Using his degree in Chemistry, he is focused on a clay program with identifies and refines local N.C. clay. While there we were lucky enough to be given a tour of the Starworks facilities and were nothing short of inspired by what has been accomplished and what is to come. We were sad to leave Studio Touya and hope to be back and at some point return the hospitality we were shown.
