Sunday, February 15, 2009

 

It's not racist, it's just breakfast.

I like breakfast. Scratch that. I love breakfast. There's just something about waking your senses up in the morning to the sights, smells, and tastes of a good breakfast.
I have spent a fair amount of time the past year and a half looking for a great breakfast in Wilmington. This city is blessed to have a lot of places that will make you a breakfast to die for.
It is universally accepted that one of the best is Whitey's. You can take a peek at their menu over at one of my favorite sites MenuPix. The menu on MenuPix is an old one though. I know this because their current menu lists "City Ham" instead of "Sugar Cured" ham. If you ever want to have fun, ask someone from eastern North Carolina what "City Ham" is. The answer is likely to be funny, and probably insulting to "city folks." One of the better ones I have heard is "That's ham for people who don't know where ham comes from."
I happen to know where ham comes from and I know what city and country ham are. And those who really know about ham also know of the wonders of Red Eye Gravy.
And Whitey's makes it the "right way." You know it's done right when you see them come fill a small bowl with coffee and take it back to the kitchen. I personally don't do backflips for red eye gravy. It's an acquired taste and if you overdo it, you'll be camping out in the bathroom before the day is over. Let's face it, that's a bowl full of grease and black coffee. But it done wonders for a biscuit or for grits.
Perhaps one of the few things that has changed over the years at Whitey's is that they recently went 100% smoke free.
For those who live in Georgia this may sound strange. In Georgia, everywhere is smoke free and has been for years. But North Carolina is the the world's biggest producer of tobacco. It took me a while to get used to being asked "Smoking or non smoking" when I went out to eat. Whitey's took a risk.
Whitey himself (who sits at the cash register or wanders the dining room every day) told me they lost a few customers when they went smoke free. I am quite sure they did. The "non-smoking" dining room was in the back and you had to walk through the smoking section to get to it. By the time you got to the back (where you were usually all alone) you felt like you needed a bath. It's not as smelly now, but you can till pick up the occasional whiff of smoke.
As I mentioned, Whitey's is named after "Whitey" who owns and runs the place. The best I can tell he's a former police officer and very well connected in the city. Politicians, police and firemen are always around. Whitey's a nice guy, but I suspect the name might set some people off.
This past summer, when Jen was in town for a week, we happened to be dining at "Goody Goody Omelet Shop" and met a black comedian from out of town. (His claim to fame was he was the only black cowboy comedian.) Anyway, he struck up a conversation and when he mentioned he'd been told to go to Whitey's for breakfast, he thought it was a joke. An ugly joke. We assured him Whitey's was good food, and not the least bit racial. I'm not sure he believed us.
The place I have been concerned about is a few miles down Market Street.
A quick look thru their menu will show you that it's fairly similar to Whitey's. Since they're not on MenuPix, I took a picture for you. Oddly enough, it appears none of these places have a web presence.
With all of these choices, I went with my old faithful. Two eggs, over easy. Hash browns with cheese. Toast and jelly, orange juice, and good old country ham.
White front is not racist either, despite the name. In fact it is owned and run by a Greek family, and I was one of the few white customers the morning I was in there.
Lest you begin to think that Wilmington is the only city with vague racial breakfast places, consider this:

Krystal Lovers like hot buns.

# posted by JasonJ1052 @ 9:56 PM
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