Lemon Pound Cake
lemon icing, macerated berries, whipped cream...
Lucky 32 Southern Kitchen features exceptional renderings of classic Southern dishes made with plenty of local ingredients. It’s also possible to get the same great Lucky 32 hospitality, quality, value and convenience when you order curbside takeout with Get Lucky & Go.
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Lunch | Dinner | Brunch | Dessert | Get Lucky and Go
lemon icing, macerated berries, whipped cream...
spinach, blueberries, toasted almonds, Meyer lemon vinaigrette...
blue cheese aïoli, bacon, green onion, Voodoo Sauce™...
fire soda crackers...
artichoke relish, macaroni & cheese, ham hock collards...
pimento cheese, smoked trout spread, sorghum salami, bread & butter pickles, fresh...
basil pesto, mashed potatoes, green beans...
crumbled goat cheese, toasted almonds, chives, sunny-side egg...
bibb lettuce, shaved red onion, fresh strawberries, blueberries, toasted almonds, strawberry...
chilled smoked salmon, English muffin, dill-bearnaise, seasonal fruit...
basil pesto or Texas Pete® glaze, creamy grits, green beans...
garlic, herbs, Parmesan, chive aioli, smoked sea salt...
hot honey, mashed potatoes, ham-hock collards...
dill creme fraiche, chives...
spicy remoulade, L32 coleslaw, hand-cut fries...
wild rice, spinach, toasted almonds, crumbled goat cheese...
strawberry chutney, toasted almonds, creamy grits, chilled asparagus salad...
wheatberry bread, creole mayonnaise, hand-cut fries...
strawberry chutney, crostini...
grilled 9 grain bread, crumbled goat cheese, avocado mash, poached local farm eggs, seasonal fruit...
cocktail sauce, L32 coleslaw, hand-cut fries...
macerated berries, all-natural bacon...
wheatberry toast, lettuce, tomato, hand-cut fries...
cup 7 bowl 8...
pepper jelly...
cup 5 bowl 6...
™ & © 2021 Property of Quaintance-Weaver Restaurants, LLC., and unauthorized commercial use is forbidden.
By
Our State Magazine | October 2020
Photography by Stacey Van Berkel
Growing up on a farm in Guilford County, Nancy King Quaintance ate a lot of grits. But when she and her husband, Dennis, opened Lucky 32 more than 30 years ago, Southern cuisine was not as widely known and celebrated as it is today. Instead, the Quaintances put together a New American menu inspired by their travels. But the perception of what Southern food is — and can be — was beginning to evolve, and the couple soon pivoted to a regional approach. “We know the South,” Nancy says. “That’s what we grew up with, what we’re good at cooking.” Her mother had always stocked the pantry with grits from the Old Mill of Guilford, so that’s where Lucky 32 sourced its grits, and still does. Nancy’s flavorful takes on local staples soon converted folks who thought there was no such thing as Piedmont cuisine. “There is,” she says. “You just need to look in your mama’s cookbook.”
When you go to the trouble of getting really good ingredients, Nancy King Quaintance says, it doesn’t make sense to prepare them just one way. So the Old Mill of Guilford’s grits appear often on Lucky 32’s ever-evolving menu: in shrimp and grits, grit cakes, and more.
March 14 is a day where foodies and math lovers find common ground. Sure, it’s National Pi (or 3.14159265359….) Day but it is mostly a great excuse to have a slice of pie. As pie enthusiasts, we wanted to share a few pie baking tips, a plethora of pie recipes and a few fun tidbits!
According to a survey by the American Pie Council (yes, it’s a thing), when asked what dessert folks wanted to have visting guests bring to a gathering, pie was the prefered choice. So, next time you have a picnic or gather you can whip up our Frozen Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie or choose different one our collection of recipes!
Frozen Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie
Soften cream cheese at room temperature. Add cream cheese, peanut butter, and sugar to the bowl of an electric mixer. On medium speed, blend until mixture is light and fluffy. Using a rubber spatula, fold the Cool Whip into peanut butter mixture. Add chocolate chips and blend thoroughly with the rubber spatula. Pile filling into pie crust and place in freezer to harden overnight. Serve with chocolate syrup and nuts on top.
Additional Recipes
Fillings & Crusts
If you don’t feel like baking, you can order a Peanut Butter, Chocolate Chess or Buttermilk Pie with Get Lucky and Go. Just give us a 24 hour notice and we’ll have a whole pie ready for you to pick up. It’s easy as…well you know. See the Get Lucky and Go menu.
The ancient Egyptians are credited with inventing pie. They often enjoyed a pastry of wheat or oats around a filling of honey.
America’s favorite pies are Apple, Pumpkin, Pecan, Banana Cream and Cherry.
February is National Pie Month and January 23 is the offical National Pie Day (but most celebrate it on March 14)
Let us know what your favorite is by voting in our Pie Poll below! We’ll post the results below in a pie graph as they come in!
Disclaimer: All our recipes were originally designed for much larger batch size. This recipe has been reduced – but not tested at this scale. Please adjust as to your taste and portion size.
© 1989-2020. This recipe is the property of Quaintance-Weaver Restaurants, LLC. Unauthorized commercial use is forbidden.
For more about our seasonal recipes, see our current menu at Lucky 32 Southern Kitchen and our Blog Recipe Index.
To learn more about the American Pie Council visit http://www.piecouncil.org/.
This Greensboro beaut took two weeks off to, shall we say, get some spa treatments. She’s back and looking great! The Greensboro Lucky’s will look like this in about two years. The Boston Ivy is in and ought to sleep, creep, then leap!
Thirty years ago, with Bill Carlisle and Don Rives as our key resources, we designed a restaurant that has gracefully adapted to each update that we’ve thrown her way. We so respect those two as collaborators and friends that Nancy’s and my son’s middle name is Carlisle and the Cloister Garden off the Social Lobby at the O.Henry is named for Don. Those facts are testimonials for how important collaboration is for this team. Tearing into Lucky’s with these extensive improvements caused us to feel immense gratitude for the careful design of this three-decade-old place and for the people who helped us in the beginning.
Talk about a team effort! Collaboration to the Nth! In the two weeks that Lucky’s was off line, the team transitioned from cooking and serving to cleaning, sanding and staining. The teamwork and camaraderie was something to behold. And it wasn’t just the team from Lucky’s: Folk from QW’s communications collaborative and our administrative team were also there each day…and night.
Inspired by the flower shadows at the Greensboro Lucky 32 and by the silhouettes in the light fixtures in Cary, we are working with a Broadway theatrical lighting guru who is helping with the Triad Stage production of “Dracula”. We are hoping to figure out an interesting and enjoyable projection art installation for Lucky 32 in Greensboro.
What’s better eye candy, the flowers or the shadow?
© 1989-2019. This recipe is the property of Quaintance-Weaver Restaurants, LLC. Unauthorized commercial use is forbidden.
With every season or holiday you’ll notice different silhouettes in each of the amazing sand dollar lights that are the work of Raleigh artist Matt McConnell. Here’s where that started:
Most Sundays, David and Karen have brunch at Lucky’s. One winter we put some snowflake cut-outs in the fixtures. They noticed them and mentioned to Greg Miller, the GM, that they enjoyed the detail and had ideas for other silhouettes. Now they design and make playful cutouts throughout the year. This is really cool.
Great collaboration doesn’t begin or end with folk who work with QW. It goes far beyond, as this wonderful story illustrates.
It all started with a dilemma in the mid-1920’s. An Alabama railroad man and pitmaster “Big” Bob Gibson (nicknamed so for his over 6 foot and 300-pound stature) found that his North Carolina-style bbq sauce worked well with his pork shoulders, but after 3 hours in the pit whole chickens began to dry out. He needed something to lock in the moisture.
The answer was mayonnaise.
Gibson modified his beloved tomato vinegar-based bbq sauce with mayonnaise instead. It succeeded in keeping the chicken moist, it gave the meat a new “peppery, vinegary flavor”.
Armed with two trademark sauces (The Carolinian and white sauce), Gibson grew his operation from a hand-dug pit in his backyard to his first restaurant in Decatur, Alabama in 1925. Soon after, the popularity of his Alabama white sauce skyrocketed and made it’s way to New York, Chicago, Europe and of course, Lucky 32 Southern Kitchen.
At Lucky’s, we know and love our own signature Voodoo Sauce. But once a year on our Winter’s Hearth menu, we feature a version of the Alabama BBQ sauce on our Alabama Chicken Bread. As one of the most popular seasonal features, we wanted to share the recipe that has been the secret to our sauce-cess.
WHITE BBQ SAUCE
In a storage container, combine all ingredients, whisking together well. Refrigerate. Makes: 30 fl oz
North Alabama Chicken Bread
Cut ciabatta loaf in half lengthwise. Place in a hot saute pan or on griddle and flatten with a spatula. Spread 1 1⁄2 ounces of White BBQ Sauce on each piece of ciabatta. Top with pulled chicken and salt & pepper to taste. Layer cheese and mushrooms on top of chicken. Bake in moderate oven until cheese is browned and the center is hot. Remove from oven and drizzle each piece with 1/2 fluid ounce of White BBQ Sauce. Cut each piece in thirds and arrange on plate with a side of Pickled Onions. Makes – 2 serving
Disclaimer: All our recipes were originally designed for much larger batch size. This recipe has been reduced – but not tested at this scale. Please adjust as to your taste and portion size.
© 1989-2020. This recipe is the property of Quaintance-Weaver Restaurants, LLC. Unauthorized commercial use is forbidden.
For more about our seasonal recipes, see our current menu at Lucky 32 Southern Kitchen and our Blog Recipe Index.
Learn more about “Big” Bob Gibson and the original white sauce at:
Local eateries put them back on the menu — and not just for breakfast
By David McCreary, Cary Magazine
Photos by Jonathan Fredin
For years, we have been warned about eggs.
The conventional thinking has been that they are high in cholesterol and should therefore be avoided or eaten infrequently. Now, recent scientific research indicates that eating eggs won’t increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, and one egg a day can actually lower the possibility of stroke.
“Not only are eggs low-calorie, but each egg contains six grams of protein, vitamin D, choline, lutein and other nutrients with only 1.5 grams of saturated fat,” said Kari Garner, a registered dietician with UNC Physicians Network.
This is good news for those of us who enjoy eating eggs.
What’s more, we discovered three local restaurants serving up satisfying egg-centric dishes for lunch and dinner.
Before you go, just remember the “everything in moderation” mantra!
Lucky 32’s Voodoo Deviled Eggs rely on a few quality ingredients such as cage-free, local eggs, locally sourced bacon and the restaurant’s signature Voodoo Sauce.
At venerable farm-to-table eatery Lucky 32 Southern Kitchen, keeping things simple ensures delicious outcomes. Take the Voodoo Deviled Eggs, an occasional side item containing only six ingredients, including bacon, mustard and mayonnaise. They are easy enough to make at home, as long as you have the provided recipe and the right ingredients.
“Sometimes it’s good to let flavors stand out for themselves,” said New Jersey native Dan Hoskins, Lucky 32’s chef de cuisine. “Our signature Voodoo Sauce adds some zest to the overall taste.”
Cage-free eggs are sourced from Cherokee County’s Andrews, N.C. Bacon comes from Hickory Nut Gap Farm in Fairview.
“The deviled eggs show up on the menu at various times throughout the year,” Hoskins said.
They appear on the Southern Snacks menu every Sunday and frequently are available on the spring seasonal menu.
“We get kind of funky with local produce in the spring,” he said, adding that the Interfaith Food Shuttle Farm grows many of the restaurant’s vegetables.
Lucky 32 accepts lunch and dinner reservations online or by phone. Consider enjoying your meal on the restaurant’s serene outdoor patio.
7307 Tryon Road, Cary
(919) 233-1632
lucky32.com
Voodoo Deviled Eggs
Courtesy of Lucky 32 Southern Kitchen
Yield: 24 egg halves
Using a sharp knife, cut all eggs in half lengthwise and remove the yolks to a mixing bowl. Arrange the egg whites on a serving platter.
Combine Voodoo Sauce, mayonnaise, mustard and egg yolks; mix until smooth. Place mixture in a pastry bag, and pipe into egg whites. Garnish eggs with crispy crumbled bacon and chopped chives.
Notes: Lusty Monk mustard is available at lustymonk.com.
All recipes were originally designed for much larger batch size. This recipe has been reduced but not tested at this scale. Please adjust as to your taste.
© 1989-2018. This recipe is the property of Quaintance-Weaver Restaurants, LLC. Unauthorized commercial use is forbidden.
Grits. Just the sound of the word brings a warm feeling across the South.
The topic of grits is something of a sacred cow among Southern cooks and chefs. Grits are a staple in many rural Southern homes, and many conversations revolve around the subject. There’s a lot of passion and opinion about the revered grits. We’re a part this Southern foodway history. We have a deep affinity for our beloved grits, and this post is to celebrate them! Be sure to share your own history about this most Southern of foods on our facebook (Greensboro or Cary) or instagram (Greensboro or Cary) pages.
Add a dollop of butter and lots of heavy cream, smother them in cheese or dress them up with bacon, shrimp or red-eye gravy. You would think there’s not much you can do to mess up a bowl of grits—but you can. True Southern grits aficionados will tell you that though there are thousands of recipes, it’s rarely the recipe that makes the grits. It’s the love you put into standing there, stirring the pot: You know you can’t walk away from a pot of cooking grits very long or they stick to the bottom of the pan and scorch (we’ve all done it!). It’s also the right pot plus the right stove temperature (electric or gas factors into this as well). It’s taken some folks nearly a lifetime to get it right.
While it may not seem there are many things more inherently Southern than grits, they were originally a Native American food. History of Grits tells us that Sir Walter Raleigh and his men were likely offered a dish much like today’s grits in 1584 by Native Americans local to what’s now Roanoke, Virginia.
At Lucky’s we take pride in our grits, whether they are deep-fried, twice-baked or just plain creamy. We hope our friends who want to give grits a try for the first time—and those who are already fans—stop by to taste our versions. We don’t just serve them at brunch, you can get them at lunch and dinner too!
As venerable as their history is, our Deep Fried Grit Cakes were inspired a little closer to home (and just a bit more recently!). As Nancy King Quaintance’s mother, Joan King, tells it, laughing:
“On our honeymoon at Holden Beach, I was going to make my first meal. Jim asked me to make grits with dinner, but I didn’t know how to make them and the bag of grits didn’t come with directions. I thought to myself, oh this will be easy, just make them like rice. In the process of learning, I made the mistake of adding way too many grits and not enough water, and Jim had no idea either (we were very young when we got married). Not only did I end up with a LOT of leftover grits, the grits ended up all over the ceiling, walls and cabinets as they bubbled everywhere! There were pots and pots of grits leftover. When I wondered what to do with them all, Jim told me about how his Aunt Fanny refrigerated leftover grits and used them the next day to make grits cakes.”
In fact, Jim King’s family had a long tradition of grits-based cuisine, from the standard porridge-like preparation to fried grits cakes— a family favorite known today as “Fanny Grits.” In times of hardship from the Civil War though the Great Depression, grits—like rice and potatoes—were an inexpensive, filling staple in kitchens across the Deep South. Frugal cooks would not waste any leftovers, but instead re-purpose them in new dishes later the same day or the next.
The most recent addition to the family’s recipe history is courtesy of the late Fanny Nicholson, who was one of Nancy King Quaintance’s grandfather’s cousins—that’s a mouth full. Reportedly a fantastic cook, Fanny concocted her special soufflé-like grits recipe as a way to use leftovers and stretch supplies longer for a large extended family. The recipe is still a staple of King family meals and a frequent and beloved side dish at family gatherings.
Let us note that the Old Mill of Guilford, the local grist mill that we get our grits from, has been around since 1767. The Old Mill has been operating since the 1970s, making it a true Guilford County icon. Folks driving north on Highway 68 through Oak Ridge, NC, can see the mill’s big red waterwheel spinning out in front, and visitors are always welcome. It’s worth a trip up the road to see how the Old Mill operates and pick up some flour, cornmeal, pancake mix or other delectable from the store there. (Old Mill products also are available all over town, too, at places like the Greensboro Farmers Curb Market.)
Now that you know where to get your grits in Guilford County, what do you do with them? Here are a couple of recipes, from our kitchen to yours. We’ll start with our basic recipe for Creamy Yellow Grits, then show you how to deep-fry them or serve them up with shrimp in a way that’ll have the whole neighborhood coming over for a taste! (And if you’re feeling experimental, why not try the aforementioned Fanny Grits. Yes, they are that delicious!)
Lucky 32 Creamy Yellow Grits
Add cream, water, butter, salt and pepper to sauce pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer and stir in the grits. Stir with wire whisk continuously to keep grits from clumping up. Once all the grits are blended, continue to stir for 2-3 minutes. Reduce heat and cook for about 15- 20 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in cheddar cheese.
makes 1 quart
Lucky 32 Shrimp and Grits
Heat oil in sauté pan, then sauté half of the green onion. Add sausage, cook, then add shrimp and cook until done. Add Tasso Gravy, tossing to coat and heat all the way through. Place serving of hot Creamy Grits in pasta bowls and pour a portion of the shrimp mixture over the grits. Garnish each dish with remaining green onions.
makes 4 servings
Lucky 32 Tasso Gravy
Melt butter, then add onions and thyme, sautéing gently until very soft and caramelized. Add Tasso and sauté for 5 minutes, stirring regularly to distribute seasoning. Add chicken stock and salt, bring to simmer, then cook 10 minutes. Stir in roux and simmer 10 more minutes. Remove from heat, stir in parsley. Serve.
Lucky 32 Deep Fried Grit Cakes
In a large sauce pot, bring chicken stock, heavy cream and butter to a boil. Stir in grits and reduce to medium heat. Cook, stirring frequently, until grits are cooked and liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat and stir in cheeses, beaten eggs, salt and pepper. Spread mixture onto a greased sheet pan or cookie sheet and cool completely. Grits may be refrigerated overnight. When cooled, cut grits into desired shape and set aside. Meanwhile, blend cornmeal, flour and Cajun spices in a shallow baking dish. Heat oil for deep frying to 350º F. Dredge grit cakes in cornmeal mixture and fry in hot oil until brown on both sides. Drain fried grits on paper towels.
King Family “Fanny Grits” Recipe
Beat eggs with a beater and add a pinch or two of salt, then add in the grits. The mixture should have a consistency similar to pancake batter. If you want to add cheese, add grated cheese. Pour into a casserole dish and bake as you would a soufflé in a slow oven (around 325º F) until just set. The mixture will puff up, then collapse while cooling.
Makes 4-6 servings as a side dish
Disclaimer: All our recipes were originally designed for much larger batch size. This recipe has been reduced – but not tested at this scale. Please adjust as to your taste and portion size.
© 1989-2021. This recipe is the property of Quaintance-Weaver Restaurants, LLC. Unauthorized commercial use is forbidden.
For more about our seasonal recipes, see our current menu at Lucky 32 Southern Kitchen and our Blog Recipe Index.
By Chris Burritt, Business North Carolina
Photos by Stacey Van Berkel
Edgar Lujan, right, has worked for three Quaintance-Weaver properties since 1998. He now is a server at Print Works Bistro
Back in 1978, Sister Sledge’s “We Are Family’’ reverberated through Dennis Quaintance’s first restaurant in Greensboro. Franklin’s Off Friendly had just opened, and the disco music was intended to pump up the waitstaff.
A year ago, Quaintance dusted off the ’70s hit for an even bigger employee gathering. He and his partners had decided to sell their company, Quaintance-Weaver Restaurants & Hotels, operator of some of Greensboro’s best-known upscale establishments. The O.Henry Hotel is attached to the Green Valley Grill, while Print Works Bistro adjoins another boutique hotel, the Proximity. Lucky 32 Southern Kitchen operates two restaurants, one in Greensboro and the other in Cary, after closing eateries in Winston-Salem and Raleigh about nine years ago.
Quaintance, 60, was planning for the future — and not just his own. Rebuffing queries from larger hospitality companies wanting to buy the businesses — if they had followed that course, the partners could have pocketed a higher valuation, he says — Quaintance and his partners had something different in mind.
One morning last November, after the Sister Sledge tune had revved up the standing-room-only crowd of employees, Quaintance said they were now the owners of the company he and his wife, Nancy, had started 28 years earlier with Greensboro real-estate developer and business investor Mike Weaver. The three had sold the business to an employee stock ownership plan, with the trust borrowing 100% of the transaction’s value. The owners collected no money at closing, while no bank financing was involved.
Among the first people Dennis Quaintance, right, met after moving to Greensboro in 1978 were Mike Weaver, a civic-minded real-estate developer and investor, and Nancy King, who later became his wife. Weaver backed Quaintance as he built a hospitality company that includes the Proximity Hotel, which opened in 2007.
Authorized by Congress in 1974, ESOPs enable employees to own the companies where they work. The upside for workers is that company profits are plowed into employee retirement plans, while avoiding conventional corporate income tax.
“Every time we do something to make the company worth $1 more, we all share in it,’’ says Quaintance, who heads operations, while Nancy is part of the marketing, sales, operations and culinary teams. “Every time the value of the company goes down, we all share in that. Our interests are 100% aligned.’’
ESOPs remain rarities in a business world dominated by closely held, family-owned companies. Only one of the 100 largest ESOPs in the U.S. is based in North Carolina: hardwood-veneer and plywood maker Columbia Forest Products Inc., of Greensboro, according to the nonprofit National Center for Employee Ownership. Many public companies encourage workers to hold shares. But the center defines ESOPs as businesses in which at least half of all employees are eligible to participate in plans — and those employees collectively hold at least 50% ownership.
To take part, workers must be 18 years or older, have worked for the company for more than a year and gotten paid for at least 1,000 hours yearly. Vesting occurs after three years. (Weaver can’t participate in the ESOP because he’s not an employee.) How quickly retirement benefits accumulate for Quaintance-Weaver’s 620 employees — from managers to porters, cooks to housekeepers — depends upon the company’s profitability. The more money generated by operations, the quicker the debt shrinks, leaving more money for employees’ golden years.
Seller financing of ESOPs is a rarity among business owners, who typically prefer selling to the highest bidder rather than risking their own retirement savings on an employee plan, says Dale Gillmore, principal of Make An Impact Consulting Inc. in Cornelius. Much of the net worth of most owners of privately held companies is tied up in their businesses, and their ownership stakes typically represent most of a company’s value.
Owners typically don’t want to wager that a company’s value can be sustained or increase, says Gillmore, who wasn’t involved in the Greensboro deal. Weaver and the Quaintance family “are betting on themselves and the employees to maintain and improve the company’s culture. It’s a gamble they’re willing to take. They are not getting rich with an ESOP.’’
Selling the business to an independent party “would have broken my heart,” Quaintance says. The couple’s 19-year-old twins, Dennis and Kathleen, are not interested in working for the company. “We sold the business, but we did not sell the culture. In fact, we enhanced the culture.’’
To be sure, the trust bought the restaurant and hotel operating company, not the real estate. The couple, Weaver and three other partners own both hotel properties and lease them to the operating company. They are valued at more than $32 million, county records show. Separately, Quaintance and Weaver own the real estate for Green Valley Grill, Print Works Bistro and the Lucky 32 locations.
Like other employees, the Quaintances are entitled to ESOP retirement units, akin to shares in a company. But annual awards of retirement units are capped for highly compensated managers because federal laws — enforced by the Department of Labor and Internal Revenue Service — prohibit the use of ESOPs as tax-avoidance schemes. Plans are intended to favor younger employees who stay with the company for many years.
Quaintance started working in the hospitality business at 15 as a housekeeper’s assistant at a Missoula, Mont., hotel. After high school, he worked at several hotels in the Northwest before moving to Greensboro in 1979. Sipping a sparkling water on the patio of the Proximity Hotel, a cool space shaded by magnolias and tucked between the tall darkened windows and white brick of the hotel and Print Works Bistro, he asks a server to turn up the volume of a Roberta Flack song streaming over the sound system. Walking past a shrub, he plucks a stray dead leaf and tosses it out of sight.
Quaintance’s meticulous style stretches back to his early days in the industry. Just weeks after partnering with Bill Sherrill to open Franklin’s Off Friendly 38 years ago, he spotted a college-age waiter goofing off while emptying ash trays. Quaintance grabbed the waiter — this writer — by the necktie and told him loafing on the job was unacceptable. I worked there in the summer of 1979 and the following Christmas break. Mary Lacklen, also a former server at Franklin’s, is now director of Red Oak Brewery’s beer hall in eastern Guilford County, opening later this year. “He always believed in training his staff and setting them up for success,’’ says Lacklen. “He has a methodical approach to everything he does.’’
During his stint at Franklin’s, Quaintance met Weaver, a regular customer, and his future wife, Nancy King, who worked at the restaurant while on Christmas break from Cornell University. After leaving the restaurant in 1981, Quaintance had stints in business planning, wine importing and managing chain restaurants. Nancy worked for Marriott Corp. in Charlotte.
On a trip to Europe in the mid-’80s they decided it was time to plan their future. Riding a train on the Brenner Pass between Italy and Austria, they settled on three possible choices: “Mr. and Mrs. Hotel and Restaurant” in Greensboro; “barefoot and pregnant” in New Mexico, where Nancy would teach and Dennis would buy, fix and resell airplanes; or move to Europe, with Nancy working for Marriott in London or Amsterdam.
Both wrote “Greensboro” on slips of paper. “It sounded so typical,” Quaintance recalls, “but why should we sacrifice what’s exciting to us?”
Lucky 32 was Quaintance-Weaver’s entry into restaurants in 1989.
Returning to North Carolina, Quaintance joined the Greensboro-based Tripps chain of casual, restaurants. By 28, he was overseeing five sites. He then circled back to Weaver, asking for a $500,000 loan to start his own restaurant. Instead, Weaver proposed a 50-50 partnership, with Quaintance running their first restaurant venture, the Lucky 32 on Westover Terrace in Greensboro. It debuted in 1989.
Almost a decade later, they opened the O.Henry Hotel, named and designed after the first modern Greensboro hotel that was built in 1919 and razed 80 years later. Both were named for native son William Sydney Porter, who in the early 1900s wrote short stories with surprise endings under the pen name O. Henry.
The Proximity Hotel, which opened in 2007, is named after one of Greensboro’s first textile mills. One hundred rooftop solar panels give a nod to a modern-day achievement: It was the nation’s first hotel to receive the highest environmentally friendly honors from the U.S. Green Building Council. To retain its uniqueness, Quaintance has never signed a franchise agreement with a major hotel company. The goal is to provide a memorable stay for travelers while also entertaining neighborhood folks, much like the old hotels that were centers of community life.
On a recent afternoon in June, Quaintance wore khaki shorts, a blue-and-white-striped shirt and sandals. The look is in keeping with his hotels, which are high-brow but comfortable with unexpected touches reflecting the CEO’s personality.
Two bikes propped inside the entrance to the Proximity Hotel are available for guests. An afternoon tea at the O.Henry attracts locals, while refurbished London taxis provide transportation for hotel guests, including complimentary rides to the company’s three restaurants. In Quaintance’s view, the ESOP is like one of those taxis: He figures to keep driving for at least a decade, unless “I notice I’m slipping, or people tell me I’m slipping, or if I lose my mojo,’’ he says. Shared ownership is a fuel additive, boosting morale and productivity that will result in more satisfied patrons.
Selling Quaintance-Weaver to employees addresses one of the biggest headaches for the hospitality industry, which has a high turnover rate: “How do you get people to stay?’’ Greensboro restaurant critic John Batchelor says. “You make it in their interest to stay by making them partners in the enterprise.’’
Given wage rates in hospitality, motivating workers is a constant challenge. Half of Quaintance-Weaver workers leave within a year, typical for the industry. Another four in 10 leave in the first four years. “If their hearts aren’t into it, we’d rather they go off and find their bliss,’’ Quaintance says. “If our dream is a 10, we’re at a six,’’ he said. “We’re still unfolding.’’
The ESOP also helps Quaintance move toward his goal of creating a meritocracy. “We don’t [care] about what your gender is, whether you are skinny or chubby, if you are black or white, gay or straight, Muslim or Christian,’’ he says. “What we care about is how you behave when you’re here. We are professionals. We don’t need to be friends. We want to be colleagues. We wind up with these amazingly rich relationships without the complications.’’
The company has expanded with two hotels in Greensboro’s Friendly Shopping Center area, including the O.Henry, which opened in 1998.
Since announcing the ESOP, Quaintance has coached CEOs of seven companies on the process. “I’m sold on ESOPs,’’ Quaintance says. “I’m big on doing whatever I can to further the notion and reality of economic justice. Don’t hear me being pious. I just think the wealth gap and its growth is not sustainable, and since we don’t seem to have a better idea than free-market democracy, we might as well do all we can to make it work.’’
How much employees will receive in retirement payouts is hard to estimate because so many variables exist, Quaintance says. He offers two scenarios: A 26-year-old employee works for the company from 2016 until retirement at age 65. If her current pay of $25,000 increases by 2.5% a year, she receives about 2.5% of her annual pay in retirement units and the value of the units increases by 2.5% yearly, her account would total about $70,000 at 65. But if the percentages double to 5%, her retirement fund might swell to around $325,000, aided by the power of compound interest.
While employees do not invest their own money into the ESOP, Quaintance-Weaver also offers a 401(k) plan that enables more retirement savings.
“We have no idea what the value of those retirement units will be in the future,’’ Quaintance says. “They could be really low; they could be significant. It all depends on how well we take care of our guests and colleagues and if we are lucky enough to have at least somewhat favorable market conditions.”
Edgar Lujan, a server at Print Works Bistro, is betting on his company’s success. The ESOP is “like a cherry on top of the cake,’’ he says. “We work at a place that enables us to pay our bills, buy a house and take care of our families. It’s hard for me to think about working for another hotel or restaurant.’’
In the 22 years since he moved to the U.S. from Mexico City, Lujan, 45, has worked in restaurants and construction, sometimes two jobs at a time. Moving to Greensboro 20 years ago, he worked initially as a dishwasher at Red Lobster.
He joined the O.Henry Hotel as a porter when it opened, then became a waiter at the adjacent Green Valley Grill. He shifted to the waitstaff of Print Works Bistro in 2007. “There is stability — that is what I love about this place,’’ Lujan says. “If you perform well, you will be successful. Having retirement, that’s awesome.’’
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Quaintance-Weaver joins other ESOP-owned companies active in North Carolina, including Valdese-based Valdese Weavers LLC, San Francisco-based design firm Gensler; Milwaukee, Wis.-based money manager Robert W. Baird & Co.; and Omaha, Neb.-based engineering and architecture firm HDR Inc. As of 2014, 126 ESOPs were based in North Carolina, according to the Oakland, Calif.-based National Center for Employee Ownership.
The largest U.S. ESOP, Lakeland, Fla.-based Publix Super Markets Inc., entered the state in 2014 and now operates 27 stores that collectively employ more than 3,000 people. More than 80% of company shares are owned by staff, with the balance held by the founder’s family. Shares equal to about 8% of annual pay is distributed to those who have worked for the company for at least one year. Many long-term employees accrue hundreds of thousands of dollars of Publix stock over their careers, perhaps explaining why turnover is a fraction of the retail industry’s average, Fortune noted in a 2016 story. With about 1,150 stores from Florida to Virginia, the company had profit of $2 billion on revenue of $34 billion last year.
I’ve always heard that Southerners were passionate about their food. It wasn’t until I uprooted from my Northern home and planted myself in the Piedmont that I realized how inseparable food is to the South’s culture. After exploring traditional Southern dishes and wondering if there was anything that didn’t go with grits, I came to understand why Southern food is as rich as the history it reflects.
In the fast-paced North, time is a precious commodity, and I never wanted to spend it on prepping and cooking meals. Convenient, quick meals that required minimal effort were a staple in my cupboard. Less time in the kitchen means more time for family, fun or work. This mindset is spreading to the South, and many of the region’s rich culinary traditions are getting lost. I can say, though, at Lucky’s we’re proud to do our part in honoring and preserving the culinary legacies that have been passed down from generation to generation, serving the dishes that are near and dear to our hearts…and we hope creating new traditions, too.
While there are certainly exciting culinary developments in restaurant and home kitchens all over the world, in most homes, cooking has become a lost art. We want to help folks explore this lost art and learn more about the rich Southern foodways that are our heritage in the Piedmont. (In case you don’t know the term, foodway refers to the practices, rituals, and habits of a particular region, culture, or time period.) By taking a look at the first victual adventures of European settlers as they interacted with Native people, plus the food traditions of various slave populations, we can get insight into how we think about nourishing ourselves in the present.
So buckle your seat belts: We are going back to our Southern roots.
Southern food was the result of many cultures colliding together. Native Americans planted the seeds (quite literally) that became Southern food’s roots. When the English settlers arrived, they were ignorant of the ways of the land. Natives were instrumental in teaching them how to grow, prepare and eat a variety of produce.
In particular, the Natives’ mastery of the many uses of corn saved the settlers from starvation and allowed them to establish settlements. You can even trace the origins of our beloved cornbread back to the people we now refer to as Native Americans, who combined nuts, berries and water with corn and then roasted it into a cake. When the Natives passed this technique on, the English experimented with it to create the many versions of cornbread we have today. I prefer the sweeter cornbread over savory, but that’s a debate in and of itself.
Combine all dry ingredients and set aside.
Combine all wet ingredients and whisk until well combined.
Slowly add dry mixture to wet mixture until just combined.
Pour into greased pans.
Bake at 350 degrees until golden (25-30 minutes).
Makes one 9 x 12″ pan.
The immigrant Europeans left their own stamps on Southern foodways. The English influenced the baking and pastries of the region: Pound cake is based on an old English recipe. Louisiana foodways have been heavily influenced by French cuisine (see etouffee and jambalaya, just to name two of my favorite dishes). The Scottish brought over their fondness for fried foods; and the Irish, their love of a large, hearty breakfast.
While many European foods earned their place in the new “American” culinary experience, it was African traditions that made the most impact on the flavors and methods of Southern cooking. In attempting to reproduce the cuisines of their own native cultures, slaves had to learn from the Native Americans’ agricultural expertise to combine local ingredients using African culinary techniques into foods palatable for European tastes. The resulting dishes give us the first snapshot of the Southern food we know and love today.
This unique and evolving cuisine spread quickly simply because slaves did most of the cooking in Southern kitchens: Everyone ate what they cooked. The food was so popular that by 1824, a few recipes directly from these kitchens made it into the nation’s earliest cookbook, The Virginia Housewife, by Mary Randolph. In fact, cookbooks like this provide a clear view of our Southern foodways. The lives of entire cultures and communities are imprinted across the splattered pages of recipes within them. Southern cookbooks feature dishes that were born from the South’s history of hardships and successes.
Early Americans’ foods define them and tell their stories. So what defines us today? Will we forget years of careful culinary experience and methods passed on from cook to cook through generations and replace it with an easy cup of noodles? Or will we choose to use what has been passed down to us so that the next generation will choose to continue exploring the art of cooking?
At Lucky’s, we are passionate about cooking and exploring Southern foodways. Join us for a delicious meal informed by what we’ve learned about our region’s culinary traditions, try our recipes (like our cornbread), join us for special events, and share your Southern food stories with us via Facebook (Greensboro or Cary).
If you interested in reading more about the origins of Southern food, visit:
About the Author: Lexus Lomison is a member of the QW Communications Collaborative team (A team of enthusiastic folk that share news, happenings and a lot of fun stuff about Quaintance-Weaver Restaurants and Hotels).
Disclaimer: All our recipes were originally designed for much larger batch size. This recipe has been reduced – but not tested at this scale. Please adjust to your taste and portion size.
© 1989-2017. This recipe is the property of Quaintance-Weaver Restaurants, LLC. Unauthorized commercial use is forbidden.
For more about our seasonal recipes, see our current menu at Lucky 32 Southern Kitchen and our Recipe Index