Next on North Carolina Weekend, we're tasting our way across the state.

We'll try authentic Thai cuisine in Goldsboro, New York style Chinese food in Asheville, and creative pizza in Carrboro.

Coming up next.

- Funding for North Carolina Weekend is provided in part by Visit NC, dedicated to highlighting our state's natural scenic beauty, unique history, and diverse cultural attractions.

From the Blue Ridge and the Great Smoky Mountains across the Piedmont to 300 miles of Barrier Island beaches, you're invited to experience all the adventure and charm our state has to offer.

[Music] Welcome to North Carolina Weekend, everyone.

I'm Deborah Holt-Noel, and this week's show is all about the flavors.

We're in Carrboro at Pizzeria Mercato, and for decades Durham's Magnolia Grill was synonymous with the best in southern cooking.

Behind it were James Beard award-winning chefs Ben and Karen Barker.

Now, their son Gabe is taking that family tradition into a new generation.

Let's check it out.

[Music] - My name is Gabe Barker, and I am the chef and owner here at Pizzeria Mercato in Carrboro, North Carolina.

Most of my formative memories revolved around food.

I just was taught from a young age what really good, well seasoned food tastes like, and it just built a huge base for me.

I remember going to the farmers market with my parents as a kid and them kind of being in the moment and what was available.

And I think when the grill was originally open in the late 80s, they brought an attention to detail a thirst for learning.

I think it's one of the biggest things, maybe that that restaurant kind of like that helps set them apart, but they were so inquisitive about reading that they were cooking with ingredients or combinations of flavors that around here just weren't happening at that time.

I'm not sure if I was ever expected to be a chef when I was growing up.

If anything, I think my parents almost tried to dissuade me from the industry because these are hard jobs.

You're on your feet.

You are working long hours, it's nights, it's weekends, it's holidays, but they also were running a wildly successful, busy restaurant that kind of was a juggernaut there for a long stretch of time and it required a ton of his attention.

And so I remember really concretely probably as a junior in high school and kind of thinking about what the next steps were.

Nothing really was catching my thirst to just really strive for and that's when I told my dad, I was like, "What do you think about going to culinary school?"

And they're like, "You sure you really want to do that?"

[music transitions to upbeat] - You must be out of your mind, you grew up with us being in the restaurant business, you know what it requires to be successful.

So we suggested that you go work for someone else, not us, for a year.

And if he still felt convinced that that was the track, he wanted to follow them and support him in that.

We set him up with a friend of mine who had restaurants in San Francisco and sent him off to cut and burn himself.

[jaunty music] - They introduced the idea of going to work for Annie and Craig Stoll, who owned the Delfina Restaurant Group, which was a really, really well-run business.

They did a great job of building culture there.

You know, I had an opportunity to work because they had multiple restaurants in the city and I just fell in love with how casual their pizza place was.

So seasonally focused with a huge high standard for consistency.

You know, we took the recipe that I had learned when I was out in California and really kind of made it our own when I moved back home.

My mom had a sourdough starter that was a couple years older than me and we like tinkered around with that a little bit while we were adjusting the recipe.

There is something special about pizza because I feel like it can be so representative of somebody's thought process and style and it's all kind of the same thing, right?

It's bread with stuff on top of it at the end of the day.

But within that, there's just so many different layers.

I think what makes a great pizza, and this is where like the versatility of what pizza is, I think plays such a big factor.

I think at the end of the day, if you've got somebody that is passionate about making the pizza, that's what makes the best pizza.

Then I think that's where the biggest learning curve is, is people seeing the difference between the chain brand that is pumping out, you know, machine-created product versus the people that are really in there doing and like making those sorts of adjustments every day to try and give you the best possible product.

But you know, like my main pizza guy, Joey, he's been with me for 10 years and he is a master at his craft.

You could put him anywhere in the world right now, he could pick up and move and go probably be one of the best pizza I always in wherever he was living.

I mean, you can see him when he's working during lunch and he knows how much time he has to like stretch pizza dough before he needs to turn around and move things around in the oven.

[joyful Italian music] So when we first opened in 2016, I wanted to be, I guess, almost a little bit more authentically Italian.

That sort of less is more mentality.

And as I've grown as a chef personally and as the restaurant is growing older, I've tried to let myself be a little less restrained by traditional Italian cooking.

So now when I read in particular, I'm looking for like jumping off points and how I can take that very inherently classic dish and then give it my love and my inspiration.

And that's really fun to kind of take a dish that is very classic, just completely spinning on his head and have it still be received and loved the way that maybe that classic dish is really kind of rewarding.

[piano music] We always keep at least one fresh pasta on the menu and then we always keep at least one baked pasta on the menu and that is one skill that I still am in love with to this day.

Every day in our restaurant and operation, I still like to make the pasta.

It's just something that I enjoy the process of that transformation of like, again, very humble raw ingredients into something that truly displays someone's skill.

We play things pretty rustically here at Mercato.

I am not a tweezers guy.

I never have been.

I can value and appreciate it and I've been fortunate enough to eat some really talented chefs work throughout my life where things are very carefully plated and kind of ornate.

But I want to take really good base ingredients, let those be the beautiful part.

[transition to upbeat music] And Carrboro is a wonderful community.

I feel really fortunate to have landed here on the way back.

People around here are invested in the food they eat.

It matters to them for a lot of people that live in the community.

They appreciate our vegetable driven approach to cooking at Mercato that, you know, we're not going to shy away from cheese and butter and all the things that make restaurant food fun.

But I don't want you to ever walk out of here feeling gross, unless it's gross with pleasure.

[rap music] The Carrboro of Farmers Market, which is the reason why I chose this very unattractive brick shotgun building, which is directly across the street from us, is a wonderful farmer's market.

I mean, the growers that we have around here are very invested and very talented.

- You know, I patronized the Carrboro Farmers Market even though our restaurant was in Durham because it's the market I had grown up with as a cook starting in 1981.

I was leaving the market one Saturday and there was a for rent sign in the window of this building.

It just struck me as its proximity, its corner location.

We absolutely glorious vista of two gas station seven-elevens, all those things that to me, just what could be a better place.

[upbeat music] - It was one of the most exciting parts of opening this business with my parents 10 years ago, was I've always enjoyed pastry and I never knew how to bake.

And my mom was such a prolifically skilled baker.

So when we first opened, having that person work with me on our dessert menu and then even like training, you know, our first dessert pastry person was a leg up that I feel very thankful for.

And so trying to keep her as a part of what we do here is obviously a pretty powerful thing to me.

It's a way that I get to still be with her every day.

♪ - The really special thing for me to see is how his mother left him with a litany of her desserts that fit this place and he's continued to develop his own skill set with that.

He cares about the whole package and that's notable.

[gentle guitar] - Considering we're on a four day schedule here in Mercato and only operate those four days a week.

There are people that eat here once or more per week is the greatest compliment.

I think I feel on a regular basis.

There are certain couples that walk in here and, you know, Joe will look over at me and tell me what they're going to order before they ever put their order in.

Those are like, those are pretty powerful moments because that person is so invested in what we do.

It makes me feel really prideful of my team for creating an environment that people want to be here that often.

So we're really lucky that people choose to work here for as long as they do because it just gives them, it gives the guests someone other than me to be excited to see when they come in.

And I think that's cool because it's more, then it becomes more than about just the food.

And you have that person that you're excited to see.

♪ - There's a Yiddish word called "kvelling".

It's super, super proud of your kid.

I know that his mom would be and I know that I really am.

He's a great leader and a really good cook.

Those are big things.

And so to be successful in your chosen profession is a good measure.

To be successful and to be one of the anchors in your community is a, that's a decidedly profound and special place to me.

And so that really does, it makes him distinguished to me.

It makes this restaurant distinguished.

It's cool.

♪ - Pizzaria Mercato is at 408 West Weaver Street in Carrboro.

To learn more about their menu or make a reservation, visit pizzeriamercatonc.com.

Our next stop is in Goldsboro, where a local restaurant is combining authentic Thai cuisine with fresh ingredients to create something truly special.

Producer Seraphim Smith digs in.

♪ - While Goldsboro is well known for the Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, the arts in Goldsboro is taking off, attracting visitors and residents to downtown with eateries, murals and outdoor sculpture.

Center Street has plenty to wet your palate.

But my favorite art of the edible variety is just down the road, and yet thousands of miles away.

A husband and wife, Larry and Pick Balliou, along with her Thai sisters, have been delighting customers for over 10 years.

People love their authentic curry and so much more.

The tom kha that you all make is my favorite tom kha - Mine too.

All her recipes are that way.

My wife is adamant about producing food that she grew up with.

Everything she made for me at home was phenomenal.

I would invite friends over, they would eat her food, and they're like, "Man, you guys need to open a restaurant."

- Speaking about the food that she grew up with, the papaya salad that her mom made.

- That's a cool story, you want to hear it?

- I do.

- Okay, I'm going to tell you.

Her mom in Thailand sold papaya salad to Thais, and if you can sell a papaya salad to a Thai, you're doing pretty good.

And all four of her daughters went to college to have degrees, and she paid for those colleges by selling papaya salad on the street to Thai people.

The Thai community is small, so they're really tight.

They're very, I don't want to say secretive, but they don't need to look at a recipe.

This is how I grew up making it.

- They're DNA, right?

- Yeah, it's in their DNA.

They know what they're doing.

So trying to get that information out of them is not always easy.

So... - Well, I don't want to give away your secrets, but I am interested in finding out a lot about the ingredients and the methods and how maybe some of the flavors are obtained.

- If I had to go back there and do it, we probably wouldn't be in business right now.

- So it's good that you do the dishes then.

- Yeah (laughs).

- It starts with lime leaves, tamarind, palm sugar, and salt, steeped in coconut broth overnight.

- We're going to turn the heat up.

We're going to pour in the coconut milk in here.

I already pre-made it.

We're going to go next with galangal.

And then we're going to go next with lemon grass in here.

- Is that a lime leaf I see in there?

- Yeah, the lime leaves too.

When I do the best, we're going to cook with salt, sugar, tamarind juice, and then kaffir lime, or lemon leaves.

Yeah.

After that, we're going to put protein.

So we're going to do with chicken today, white meat chicken.

Okay.

Next, we're going to do all the vegetables.

They come with a tom kha.

We have mushroom, onion, and tomato.

So we throw in here.

You see, when the heat up like this, all the galangal, and lemon glass, they're cooking, and then you smell them now.

You smell really good when they're cooking.

- Yeah.

They heat up now, and then now, okay, we pretty much done.

We're going to put in the pot, and then we heat up on the bottom with the light candle.

It smells good.

Aroma from the galangal and lemon grass.

Cilantro, - Uh-huh.

- And chopped green onion.

You're going to put on here.

Smells so good.

- Yeah?

- Oh, it's my favorite.

This is the way how it is a tom kha.

I use chili oil.

Yeah.

Get the color, but it's not the spice taste.

Just a color.

Yeah, make it pretty.

- It's very pretty.

[light Thai music in background] It takes just over a minute for the wok's molten crucible to transform the Thai flavors of sweet, sour, and salty into smoky, complex, mouthwatering umami.

[sizzling] - A lot of people will call it krapow.

It's a Thai basil, and I probably eat it at least four times a week.

- I can tell you're salivating.

I just saw that.

- (laughs) It's a good stuff.

- Everything's home cooked, and it's really great, especially the weeping tiger.

It's their steak and the special sauce that they make.

I always have to get two tubs.

- Well, I especially love the orange chicken because it comes with rice and everything.

Everything on the menu with the tofu is amazing.

Now I'm addicted, and I'm here all the time.

- The aromas coming off of this food are just so tantalizing.

I can't wait to dig in.

What do you suggest we go for first?

- So this one, the khao soi over here, is something you cannot find anywhere else.

Coconut milk, palm sugar, and tamarind paste makes up the base of it.

And then you have the egg noodles.

And then you have the fresh bean sprouts, the fried noodles, red onion, cilantro, and a little bit of lime, put a little squeeze on there.

- Mm, mm mm mm.

- Yeah, that tamarind paste gives that a different kind of flavor, especially when you get the coconut milk in there.

- It's such a unique sweet and sour at the same time, you know?

- It's the balance.

It's that dance.

- What's been the reaction of the Goldsboro community to your restaurant?

- The community, like we started never dreaming that we were going to be able to expand to three or four restaurants, an Asia mini mart, a boba shop.

Like that was never part of the plan.

But to see the community support us in such a way that we've been able to grow and provide more offerings and different offerings, it's mind blowing, you know?

Try to do the right thing, treat people how I want to be treated, and go from there.

- Sounds like you have a recipe that's working for you.

- We're going to tie it.

(laughs) - Well on that note, I'm going to let myself out.

Before I go, I want to encourage you to try a new to you Thai dish or to experiment in your own kitchen with Thai ingredients and techniques.

A world of incredible flavor awaits you.

- Nai Thai 2 is at 1804 North Berkeley Boulevard in Goldsboro.

For more information about their menu and hours, visit naithai.com.

One restaurant in Asheville is bringing the taste of New York City's Chinatown to the mountains and they've created their own take on classic Chinese takeout.

Let's head to The Majestic.

[Chinese zitherÑ - I look for things that will evoke emotions in people and will remind people of things in their pasts and like growing up as a kid in New York.

Chinese, American food really was part of my life growing up in New York and it's what we did every Sunday and on holidays and so I knew that Asheville needed something like this because everybody would always be talking about what we need in Asheville is a really good Chinese restaurant.

I was originally going to call it Lucky Rabbit and the rabbit, as you'll see around the restaurant, we kept and that was because it was sort of a nod to my daughter that's her Chinese zodiac sign.

I found out that Lucky Rabbit was already taken and I was walking around the building with my wife one day and on the back of the building there's an old cold chute and on that cold chute it says majestic and my wife says that says majestic.

I said what a great name for this restaurant right very dynastic it works.

I've been on two trips with both Kaya and Chef Ray up to New York and I took him to Chinatown in New York to some of my places I've been going to since I was like five or six years old and so they could be really steeped into not only the food but the texture of what you felt when you went into these restaurants.

- [Kaya] Compared to some of the places that Eric took me when we were in New York I would say our flavors are a bit like bolder, you know, a little more salt, a little more sugars kind of more in your face.

I think the offerings are a big part of it.

I mean I'm accustomed to what we have in Asheville, you know, North Carolina Chinese takeout.

This is New York Chinese takeout.

It's different dishes, you know, the one that I've never tried until we went to New York or never even heard of salt and pepper shrimp and honestly it's one of my favorite things on the menu.

You know it's one of those things we have to taste it before you can replicate it.

Every time we went out to eat Eric and I are sitting there like, alright.

What spices did you think they put in this, you know, what's going on in this sauce, like trying to dissect everything so that we could come home and replicate it as accurately as possible.

- The beef is very crispy and it's got a hint, it's got spice on the back end, it's very flavorful and then you can't go wrong with combination fried rice.

It's like childhood memories.

I would describe them majestic as New York meets Asheville Chinese food.

It's not your typical order takeout, very nice seating.

It's nice to have a sit down Chinese food restaurant, it's something new and different.

- Okay, we've got the sweet and sour pork, the chicken wantons, the szechuan green beans and the sesame noodles.

I mean the depth of flavor is absolutely amazing.

I think every dish feels really different but really cohesive as a meal.

- It's fresh, it's clean and it's just done really well.

So I think it's approachable for anybody, anybody would enjoy this food.

- The environment at the majestic here is supposed to be very reminiscent of old school, you know, Chinese classics from New York kind of buzzing but also the neighborhood vibe.

When people come here I hope they get not only a feeling of family and familiarity but also like they came into a special event that we are here for them, that we are going to be a comfort for them, whatever experience they're going through in life.

- I'm a pretty good cook so to go out it has to be like bring something to the table that like feels really fun and this place is just bright, it's happy, so really friendly and welcoming.

- I'm from New Jersey, okay so I have a very very high bar when it comes to Chinese food and it tastes just like it's from the Northeast.

It tastes very like that authentic, like a classy hole-in-the-wall type joint.

I love the vibes in here, I love all the decor, I love these vintage posters that are hanging over here.

It just has a very like comfortable homey feeling.

The whole cycle of it from like conceptualizing a dish coming up with a recipe and getting it approved and then like teaching my guys how to make it, watching them try it the first time to get excited about it, you know, and then just like watching them execute it and the customer enjoy it.

The whole cycle is, it's very fulfilling, yeah, I mean that's why we do this.

The Majestic is at 321, Merrimon Avenue in Asheville.

For more information about the menu and hours visit themajesticavl.com.

And that's it for tonight's show.

We have had fun experiencing new flavors across our state.

There's always something delicious to discover in North Carolina and if you've missed anything in tonight's show remember you can always watch us again online at pbsnc.org and you can find all of our stories on our YouTube channel.

Have a great North Carolina weekend everyone.

(upbeat music) ♪ - Funding for North Carolina Weekend is provided in part by Visit NC, dedicated to highlighting our state's natural scenic beauty, unique history, and diverse cultural attractions.

From the Blue Ridge and the Great Smoky Mountains across the Piedmont to 300 miles of Barrier Island beaches, you're invited to experience all the adventure and charm our state has to offer.

[Music] [upbeat logo music]