Old Stone Vino is the Place to Be

Kannapolis has a lot of restaurants, but very few qualify as the “nice” restaurant, or the one you go to for special occasions. A couple of those are only open on the weekends. Where to go when you want a nice lunch or dinner, but don’t feel like going to a chain? Old Stone Vino. Old Stone Vino is in a stonefront house, sitting next to the train tracks. The house was being remodeled when I first came to town, opening a few months later. It would still be a few months after that before I finally decided to check it out.

Old Stone Vino has a beautiful stone stairway leading to the front door, but they have decided not to make use of it. To get to the door requires a long walk up a wooden ramp from the parking lot. I was actually a bit confused when I initially went, since there is another wooden stairway next to the ramp. I haven’t yet figured out where it leads. The beautiful stone stairway is blocked by either a piece of fabric or a patio table. Either way, it’s confusing.

While the stonework on the outside seems to be new, the same thing can only be said for the paint in the interior. In a style typical of older homes, the house is sectioned into many small rooms, each with two doorways. If the doorframes and some other architectural details were not original, the restorer did a fine job. Along with the new paint are some new light fixtures and molding. All the chairs and tables are black wood. Each dining room houses 2 to 3 tables, and all rooms are painted a different color. The effect is not jarring; rather, the colors work well to separate all rooms while providing a unified feel. Patrons are spread out amongst the rooms, which means that you may have a dining room all to yourself. I quite like this. Lunch feels like an intimate affair, and yelling is not required when communicating with your dining companion. Chain restaurants could learn something from Old Stone Vino.

Our first visit was to celebrate LA’s birthday. Old Stone Vino offered an all-you-can-eat lunch menu, with options including salads, soup, and sandwiches. LA and I each started with creamy tomato basil soup, with a spinach salad. The soup tasted like smooth tomato cream sauce, but more subtle. The woman at the table behind us told her friend that she goes there for the soup alone. LA didn’t care for it, but I did, although I wouldn’t go there solely for that soup. Our salad was composed of spinach, red onion, blue cheese, candied pecans, slices of Granny Smith apple, and an apple cider vinaigrette. Never one to enjoy the flavor of a raw onion, I picked all of them out. LA, being smarter than me, asked for his without the onions. While we both enjoyed the salad, the cook was more generous with LA’s than with mine. He got more apples, more pecans, and more blue cheese. In both cases, the cook was a bit heavy-handed with the vinaigrette. Next we both had a steak panini with carmelized onions. The steak was tender, with the sweetness of the onions making for a delicious sandwich. For a side, we both had the macaroni and cheese. When ordering Old Stone Vino’s mac and cheese, you are given the option of the type of cheese you want for it. The macaroni was cooked in a cream sauce, then topped with your selected cheese and baked before being brought out. LA got his with mozzarella, which I felt was too mild. I could feel the cheese but was unable to taste it. He enjoyed it, and that’s what matters. Mine came topped with melted cheddar, for a much more flavorful dish. While both were good, they were also greasier than I would have preferred.

Old Stone Vino recently changed their menu. We gave them a week to work out the kinks, then went for our second visit. Our first visit had been on a busy weekday, but our second visit was quieter. Our server was very friendly, if not a little too forthcoming. Gone was the all-you-can-eat lunch. The waitress explained that it had been very good for the customers, but was not “cost-effective” for the kitchen. Fair enough. We started with the warm artichoke dip, served with flatbread. The dip was a mix of spinach and artichoke hearts, with tangy goat cheese, topped with mozzarella and diced tomatoes. I felt that it needed a bit of pepper to offset the tanginess, but LA disagreed. Although we loaded up each piece of flatbread with dip, we still ran out of bread with a good deal of dip left in the dish. I asked if we could get more bread, and the waitress replied that it was $1, since giving it away wasn’t “cost-effective”. There’s that word again. I let her know that we would make do without additional bread. Old Stone Vino has the creamy tomato basil soup on the menu every day, plus they have a “soup du jour” listed as well. This always reminds me of the truckstop scene in Dumb and Dumber, but I try not to go through that scenario with every service person I encounter. Both times we have been to Old Stone Vino, we’ve been informed that they only have the tomato soup. Maybe this was my lucky day. The server advised me that the chef was making lobster bisque, but she didn’t know how long it would take to be ready. I ordered a club sandwich with a side of soup. Lobster bisque if it was ready, or tomato basil if it wasn’t. It was ready! The club sandwich arrived on three slices of country bread, with thick-sliced roasted ham and turkey, bacon, lettuce, Roma tomato, and pesto mayonnaise. The menu said the sandwich was made with garlic mayonnaise, but I wasn’t going to send the sandwich back to the kitchen because the mayo was wrong. I happen to like pesto mayo. The sandwich was difficult to eat because a) it was huge, and b) the crust was so crisp that I couldn’t bite through it. Not a sandwich to get if you’re there on a first date. If it’s not your first date, go ahead and order it. Just plan on taking part of it home, as I did. The lobster bisque was a light coral color, drizzled with parsley oil. It had a subtle lobster flavor, with a creamy texture interrupted by small pieces of tomato. I offered a taste of the soup to LA, but he opted not to risk impending death by ingesting shellfish.

LA ordered a vegetable flatbread pizza. Before I could even snap a photo, he had a piece of the pizza in his mouth. When I asked for a description, I got “mmmmmm”, which was then amended to “very light, very tasty”. The pizza was fully loaded with spinach, tomatoes, red pepper, onions, and mozzarella cheese. The new lunch menu is considerably larger than its predecessor, with the inclusion of the pizzas and an expanded salad selection. Apparently the chef loves onions—regardless of the type of salad you order, it will have onions on it. The good news is that the menu states that so people like me can order it without the onions. LA also felt it very important that I mention the decorative jar of lemon slices sitting on the windowsill. He was quite obsessed and told me several times to include that. So, for LA: we noticed a decorative jar of lemon slices sitting on the windowsill.

I believe that the restrooms can say a lot about a place. They are easily overlooked, but very important to me. The restrooms at Old Stone Vino were well-maintained and clean, although the men’s was out of paper towels. There was even a choice of hand sanitizer and hand lotion that looked remarkably like mayonnaise. I asked our server if they had recently gotten a new chef, which may have accounted for the menu change. She said that Brandon Turner became chef a few weeks ago and had been working on the menu since. Making it more cost-effective, I’m sure. So far, I’m impressed. My next visit will be for dinner, since they offer free wine-tastings on Tuesdays and live music on the weekends. While Old Stone Vino is out of my current budget on a regular basis, I like knowing that Kannapolis has a good restaurant where I can go when I want to feel like a grown-up.

Old Stone Vino Bistro & Wine Bar is located at 515 S. Main St. in Kannapolis.

The Best Mustard Makes the Best Vinaigrette

I have been cooking since I was 9 years old, when I joined my local 4-H chapter. I am professionally trained. But I start to sweat when I am asked to come up with a recipe. It’s not that I don’t have the ability to do so. I am just not a measurer. When explaining to someone how to make one of my dishes, it usually goes something like, “Dump in this until it looks the way you think it should. Add some of that. If it doesn’t taste right, add some more.” It has worked well for me so far. Until I am asked for the recipe.

I was asked to provide a recipe for a vinaigrette using the Stone House Mustard, about which I am always raving. And I did it! I devised a recipe for the vinaigrette that I would be proud to offer to others or with which to have my name associated. When making a vinaigrette (or anything, really) for my own private comsumption, I rarely follow standard vinaigrette measurements, which means using far less oil than what others before me have dictated. Since this recipe was for the sake of the general public, I opted to be slightly less radical. If you’re a vinaigrette purist, do not send me nasty emails about how the ratio of mustard is off, as the whole point is for some of the spotlight to be on the mustard. Please also bear in mind that this recipe was formulated specifically for the Stone House Mustard. If you make it with a different mustard, start with less. If you use a spicy brown mustard or Dijon mustard, you may also want to add a bit of sugar to tame it. The Stone House Mustard is sweet, with a hint of spiciness, which is why I didn’t add any sugar to this recipe. And, if you make this with a mustard other than Stone House and don’t care for it, you have only yourself to blame.

Stone House Mustard Vinaigrette
Makes about 1 ½ cups

1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
1 shallot, minced
2 tbsp Stone House Mustard
½ teaspon salt
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
1 cup light-flavored oil, such as canola or grapeseed oil

Combine all ingredients except for the oil in a bowl, stirring until the mustard dissolves. Whisking constantly, slowly pour in the oil. If the vinaigrette separates, whisk it to emulsify.

One of my recommended uses for the vinaigrette is to serve it with spinach, sliced apples or pears, candied walnuts, and blue cheese. That’s actually the salad that prompted the recipe. I like to keep a batch of the vinaigrette in a jar in the fridge. When it’s time for a salad, I give the jar a good shake to combine all the ingredients, then pour over the salad. It will easily keep for a month, which means always having dressing on hand.

This Little Piggy Went to Market

Every year, with the coming of spring, I count the days until the farmer’s market opens. While I enjoy seeing, smelling and poking all the seasonal produce, brought by local farmers and growers, my heart skips a beat when I contemplate the various and sundry other items on offer. I frequent the Piedmont Farmer’s Market in Kannapolis, which is conveniently located near LA’s apartment. During the winter, a few sellers turn up for a “tailgate market”, but the full market every Saturday, from May through November, brings in the big guns. Not only can you buy produce, but also birdhouses, a bedazzled butterfly blouse, wine stoppers made out of old silverware, and soaps in every color and fragrance. Meats, cheese, and eggs are available from multiple producers (more on those in future posts). Two bakeries were offering breads and pastries. The market isn’t yet in full swing, which left several stalls unoccupied. The pimento cheese lady was missing, as was the blueberry man. I’m sure they’ll turn up as the season progresses. I’ve got my fingers crossed.

One stall that I was very happy to see occupied was that of Deborah’s Kitchen Kreations. LA and I first encountered Deb’s wares at one of the winter tailgate markets. She was offering lemon poppy seed bread and small-batch mustard. Deb’s lemon poppy seed bread is like a pound cake, but lighter. And more heavenly. Full of lemony deliciousness, without the over-processed and stabilized taste of a store-bought cake. (Entenmann’s, eat your heart out.) Better than the bread, however, is the Stone House Mustard. Deb offers samples, and you will be hooked after one taste. The mustard is sweet, like a honey mustard, but not at all cloying, and with a little spiciness.  LA and I each bought a jar that day and it became the centerpiece for that lunch and several that followed.  I made a vinaigrette using the Stone House mustard and apple cider vinegar. We drizzled (or maybe poured) the vinaigrette over spinach, sliced Granny Smith apples, candied walnuts, and feta cheese that we’d also grabbed at the market. For the sake of full disclosure, the salad is an adaptation of one served at Old Stone Vino, but the salad is delicious whether made at the restaurant or at home. (I would recommend using blue cheese, rather than the feta that Old Stone Vino uses.)  Old Stone Vino also offers Stone House mustard with their cheese tray. This mustard has become a go-to every time I make a vinaigrette. Deb recommends it as a glaze for meats and poultry, and LA puts it on all of his sandwiches. I could go on and on about my love of the Stone House mustard, as it is officially my second favorite condiment (nothing can top banana ketchup), but another of Deb's items merits mention. Today Deb also had an olive tapenade. I love olive tapenade in all its guises. Deb uses a variety of olives and leaves it chunky, more like a relish. You would be correct if you already guessed that I wanted to put it on everything. While the products are fantastic, Deb herself will keep you coming back. She obviously enjoys what she’s doing, and this is apparent in everything she sells. She only began selling her items at the markets in November, so anyone who hasn't gone to the markets since last summer may not be familiar with her. Deb is definitely worth seeking out; she'll be the one in the yellow apron.

Now that I’ve thrown a craving on you for some mustard and lemon poppy seed bread, I do have a bit of bad news. Deb won’t be at the Piedmont Farmer’s Market for the next two Saturdays. She will be in Belmont at the Belmont Garibaldi Festival on May 15, then in Harrisburg for the Harrisburg Heritage Craft Day on May 22. She’ll be returning to the Piedmont Farmer’s Market on May 29. You can call or email Deb to order any of her products , then pick them up at one of the markets she’s attending. If you’re smart, you won’t waste any time in doing so.

Please visit Deb’s website Deborah’s Kitchen Kreations for a calendar of events, to find out a little more about Deb, and to order any of her products. You won’t be sorry that you did, but you may be sorry that it took so long!

We are so used to buying everything from corporate giants or faceless producers that it is gratifying to meet and talk to the person growing, raising, or making what it is we’re eating. “Buying locally” is a catchphrase that we see or hear all the time in magazines, books, and on the Food Network, but I remember the days when that was our only real option. I’m less interested in how far the strawberry has traveled than I am in the person who grew it. Everything tastes better when you know it was raised or made with care and attention. I will be returning to the market every Saturday and possibly Tuesday, and a different vendor will be highlighted each week. Check back to find out what items are available and to read about the wonderful people selling them!