Food & Beverage
Free Hot Meals Here
By LouAnn Morehouse
In the bleak early hours of Saturday, September 28, Scott Garland and Tim Heshke, co-owners of Stonewalls Restaurant, came down from their apartment above the restaurant to get a look at what Hurricane Helene had done to Banner Elk. A quick survey of their building revealed no serious damage aside from the lack of power and water, so Scott decided to take a walk around town. He didn’t get far. The water from nearby Shawneehaw Creek that usually flowed beneath a little bridge into the Elk River had become a raging torrent, over topping the bridge and undermining nearby houses and the roadway. The Elk River itself had swollen well above its banks, and the road into town was completely inundated. Shocked by the devastation, Scott hurried back to the restaurant.
When he got there, Tim was in the restaurant’s food truck,which had its own power and water, and was getting it organized to start cooking. The two owners were restaurateurs, after all. As Scott says, “Hospitality is in my blood.” The word restaurant comes from the root word meaning to renew oneself, to restore, and Scott and Tim understood all too well their role in the coming days. There was food that needed to be used and soon there would be hungry people and a whole lot of cleaning up to be done.
Shortly thereafter, members of the volunteer fire department walked up and inquired if there was anything to eat. They had been up for hours and hours, doing everything they could to respond to the dire situations that had occurred all the long day and night before.
Soon Lees-McRae College students from a couple streets away wandered into the parking lot, scared and hungry. Scott and Tim started cooking. Their neighbors at the Banner Elk Café opened their freezers and larder to them, and starting making soup to add to the array. Eventually, most all of the Banner Elk restaurants were sending their stocks of fresh and frozen food over to be cooked up by the Stonewalls guys. It was a proper community effort.
As people started getting out of their houses to take a look at things, more of them joined the group. There was no power, no water, no cell service, and no immediate way in or out of town. But there was hot food and fellowship.
At about the same time a few miles and a lot of flood water away, Shannon Maness, general manager of the Banner Elk Best Western Mountain Inn, was realizing the extent of the damage and getting her resources marshaled. Aware that bad weather was in the forecast, Shannon had opted to spend the previous night at the hotel to head off any problems that might arise. She and the overnight staff had figured it would be a matter of keeping the doors tight and watching for leaks, then tidying up in the morning. Instead, they had spent the wee hours in the lobby with the assembled guests as the power went out and the storm raged. When the water from the Elk River began to threaten, they went into emergency mode, digging ditches to divert the flooding from the building.
As the grey light of morning revealed the extent of the damage all around them, Shannon turned to her food and beverage team from Gadabouts Catering. Like Scott and Tim, she knew immediately that the first order of business would be to restore people’s strength and courage, and that meant hot coffee and a fresh meal. She credits Gadabouts staffer, John Bunty, for his resourcefulness in figuring out how to get the coffee pot going despite the power outage and lack of water. He took the ice from the coolers and heated it on the gas stove to get water boiling! After that, the Gadabouts crew went into action, making sandwiches and organizing meals from the stuff at hand.
In the days that followed people worked madly to clear roads through the devastation. At first they were only treacherous pathways, but those who could leave got out. Over in Linville Land Harbor, a community of some 1,700 homes, people who were departing brought the contents of their freezers and fridges to the community office and staff set up grills and camp stoves to cook for all. Writer Jonathan Ammons of The Guardian would later label this kind of emergency sharing “disaster dining,” a term that suggests it has some good qualities, and it does. Being able to feel restored by good food, a moment to sit and eat among kind people. It helps.
Generosity and kindness became the order of the day in the post-Helene region. In Avery County, many hands reached out to help, among them: the folks at Mountain Grounds Coffee and Tea Company saw to it that fresh coffee was delivered to crews clearing debris, churches jumped into action with homemade meals for distribution and pick-up, and the Eseeola Lodge in Linville took over hosting lunch for Avery Senior Center members, whose building was unusable. Within a few days, Jim Ward of the High Country Charitable Foundation had assembled a team to make meals all day at the Party Barn. For those in areas that were still impassable by vehicle, helicopters flew hot meals out from Elk River Club’s airport.
The Town of Banner Elk coordinated a community effort to create a resource center at the Historic Banner Elk School. Along with a massive assortment of donated household items and a staff of people to assist in filling out forms for assistance, the old school turned community center became a site for fresh hot meals donated by a wonderful array of local and off-mountain cooks who volunteered to bring it. One day it would be the crew from Diamond Creek Club and the next a couple who were avid barbecue chefs from Greensboro and just wanted to feed 500 people because that’s how they showed they cared. The aroma of good food and all those friendly faces gave an almost-holiday feeling to the busy spot.
Five days after Helene, a helicopter landed on the lawn in front of the Historic Banner Elk School. Cellular service had resumed by then thanks to the rapid deployment of temporary cell towers, so Mayor Brenda Lyerly had received word that hot meals were on the way by air from Boone, where World Central Kitchen had set up operations.
Brenda says they saw “a huge container,” an insulated box holding dozens of freshly made dinners unloaded from the helicopter. It was followed by yet more big boxes of dinners prepared by World Central Kitchen chefs and Boone restaurants together. And then none other than Chef Jose Andres stepped off to meet folks. Brenda says it was quite a surprise, they hadn’t expected to meet the man who has created a non-profit, non-governmental food relief agency operating world wide because he believes that food has the power to both nourish and give hope.
Brenda confirmed that Chef Andres was “a really nice guy,” who explained that World Central Kitchen had been setting up kitchens throughout the Helene disaster area, and he just wanted to drop in on Banner Elk to launch the collaboration with the chefs from Stonewalls and Gadabouts. It was “perfect timing,” she adds, because the need for fresh, hot meals had expanded rapidly as relief workers were pouring into the area to aid and assist the disaster victims. A massive and well-organized effort, World Central Kitchen also brought in supplies of potable water, as did Wine to Water, a Boone-based nonprofit.
At that point, the Best Western was welcoming people whose homes had been made unlivable or impossible to reach. Some arrived via rescue helicopter. Shannon Maness says at one point there were 28 children staying at the hotel. Volunteers from Blue Ridge Partnership for Children and Child Life Disaster Relief lent a helping hand keeping kids engaged and content. It was a busy, cozy place with folks in the lobby and going to and fro to the dining room. Shannon says it got to where she thought of them as her hurricane family.
With the Best Western a natural site for World Central Kitchen-Avery, the Gadabouts chefs, and Chefs Scott and Tim with their Stonewalls team set about taking turns handling daily food service there. Scott Garland says in those first few days post disaster, they served 150 meals per day. When World Central Kitchen brought their resources, that number jumped to 1,200 meals every day. Hot food, and free. Brought to you by locals and come-from-aways because they knew you needed it.
The Free Meals signs became a common sight along Avery’s dusty, broken roads. Dine in or take out, the choice was yours. Truth to tell, it was pretty nice to get out of the mud and broken stuff and come sit at a table and eat a nice meal. Just like normal, almost.
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From the CML Kitchen…
By Meagan Goheen
Homemade Hot Chocolate
INGREDIENTS
- 4 cups of milk (whole works best but any milk of your choice)
- ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- ¼ cup sugar
- ½ cup bittersweet chocolate chips
- ½ tsp vanilla
DIRECTIONS
Place milk, cocoa powder and sugar in a sauce pan. Heat over medium low heat, whisking frequently, until warm.
Add chocolate chips and whisk continuously until the chocolate chips melt and distribute evenly. Add vanilla. Top with your favorite marshmallows or whipped topping and indulge!
Meatballs with Ricotta Polenta
MEATBALLS
INGREDIENTS
- 2 TBSP olive oil
- 2 lbs ground beef
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup Italian style bread crumbs
- ½ cup freshly grated parmesan
- ½ cup ricotta
- ½ cup finely minced yellow onion
- 3 finely minced garlic cloves
- ¼ cup minced parsley
- ¼ cup minced basil
- 1 TBSP kosher salt
- 1 tsp freshly cracked black pepper
SAUCE
INGREDIENTS
- 1 diced yellow onion
- 2 cloves of minced garlic
- 1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
- 2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp freshly cracked black pepper
RICOTTA POLENTA
INGREDIENTS
- 1 cup polenta
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1 cup ricotta
- ½ cup parmesan
- 2 TBSP butter
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
DIRECTIONS:
Meatballs and Sauce
- Gently combine the meatball ingredients (except the oil), in a large bowl. Be careful to not overwork.
- Roll meatballs into 1 ½ inch balls.
- Heat the oil in a large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium heat.
- Brown each meatball in batches on each side. They will not be cooked through.
- Remove from the pan and set aside.
- Reserve drippings to create the sauce.
- To the same pan add onion and sauté for 2-3 minutes, add garlic, tomatoes, salt and pepper and bring to a simmer.
- Add meatballs and simmer for 45 minutes.
Ricotta Polenta
- In a saucepan, bring milk and chicken broth to a boil. Slowly whisk in the polenta, stirring continuously over low for about 5 minutes.
- Turn off heat. Stir in ricotta, parmesan, salt, black pepper, and butter to combine.
- Cover and let stand for 1 minute; if it thickens too much thin with broth or milk.