Carolina Alumni Review - November/December 2010

AROUND TOWN

Ackland Art Museum Opening Gift Shop

Aprime real estate spot in the heart of downtown — the vacant store- front under Top of the Hill — is getting an artistic makeover. The Ackland Art Museum is opening a gift shop in the space whose last tenant was First Union bank several years ago.

Opened in 1958, the museum has never had a gift shop.

“This is huge,” said Amanda Hughes,
the Ackland’s director of external affairs. “It’s
going to be a beautiful, creative space filled
with objects at every price point. Whether
you want to spend $2 or $2,000, there will
be something there for you to buy.”
The shop was aiming for a November
opening, in time for the holiday gift-giving
season. Expect to see postcards, jewelry,
books, mugs and stationery on its shelves,
as well as a separate gallery space for local
artists to display and sell their work.

The 2,000-square-foot shop adds an important component to making Franklin Street an arts destination. The Frank artists cooperative opened over the summer on the north side of East Franklin Street, and Toots & Magoo opened an art gallery on the south side this fall. Somerhill Gallery, which moved to Durham in 2007, is said to be looking at space in the new Greenbridge development on West Rosemary Street.

The Ackland Art Museum Gift Shop, South Columbia and East Franklin streets, Chapel Hill

Children’s Store Moves Out of Mall

After 33 years in University Mall, The Children’s Store will begin 2011 in Village Plaza shopping center. Owner Jeanette Falk ’ 76 (MA) is moving her children’s clothing and toy store to the site that once was Branches Bookstore. The new spot is in a kid-friendly location, a few doors down from Locopops and Great Harvest Bread. Her daughter, Becky Filene Broun (whose father and father-in-law are retired and current UNC professors, respectively), will continue as store manager, as she has for the past 11 years.

The Children’s Store, 243 S. Elliott Road, Chapel Hill, (919) 942-8027

Entrées range from $12 to $18. The restaurant is open for lunch Tuesday through Saturday and dinner Tuesday through Sunday.

Kitchen, 764 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Chapel Hill, (919) 537-8167

The Ackland Art Museum is opening its first gift shop just down the block from its South Columbia Street location, at the corner with East Franklin Street in the space under the Top of the Hill restaurant. “Whether you want to spend $2 or $2,000, there will be something there for you to buy,” says Amanda Hughes, the Ackland’s director of external affairs.

UNC NEWS SERVICES

Princeton Review Comes Back to Franklin Street

Where once there was The Laughing Turtle, Princeton Review opened a test-preparation center in the East Franklin Street storefront in October. Years ago, Princeton Review had offices at 1525 E. Franklin St. but recently had been holding classes in conference rooms at The Carolina Inn. The nationally known tutoring organization prepares college graduates to take the MCAT, LSAT, GMAT and GRE and readies high school students for the SAT and ACT.

Princeton Review, 149 E. Franklin St., Chapel Hill, (888) 300-7787

Parents Decide to Stick
Around, Open Restaurant

Longtime Pennsylvania restaurateurs Dick and Susan Barrows watched their daughter, Leslie ’08, graduate, then scoped out the town for a spot to open a new kitchen. After Ba-Da Wings moved out of the site near Foster’s Market, Kitchen moved in.

Known for its mussels and fries, Kitchen serves a variety of “simple food, well made,” Dick Barrows says. He’s the chief chef; Susan Barrows works the front. The eclectic menu features chicken with saffron, couscous and North African-style vegetables; vodka-and-beet-cured salmon; grilled eggplant; and elegant desserts.

Italian Restaurant Offers Al Fresco Dining All the Time

To a town that touts the ability to enjoy a screened porch year-round comes L’incontro, an Italian restaurant with al fresco dining no matter the season. New to The Courtyard, in the former Baba Ghannouj location, L’incontro offers authentic and affordable Italian food. Owner Luigi Flores aims to make every customer feel like family in his family-owned café.

Place your order inside for pizza — hand-tossed New York, thick-crust Sicil-lian, thin-crust house special or a white pie — pastas, salads, sandwiches and appetizers. A waiter, or perhaps Luigi himself, will deliver it to your wrought-iron, umbrella-shaded table near the fountain, or up a curved stairway to the balcony, which, in uncomfortable weather is sheathed in clear, plastic curtains and heated or cooled as necessary. A beer and wine bar opened on the balcony in October.