Home Care In Carrboro, NC

Connoisseurs could be lining up Wednesday when a Carrboro cheesemonger launches a European experience in the Paris of the Piedmont.

Wedgewood Cheese Bar has been widely anticipated since owners Stevie and Michelle Webb announced that the business — formerly The Cheese Shop — was moving in late 2023.

After multiple delays and an equipment failure in March that ruined 200 pounds of cheese, the opening date is here. The 100B Brewer Lane shop will sell nearly a hundred varieties of cheese, butters and specialty meats, the Webbs said.

“We work really hard on curating stuff that is really good,” Stevie Webb said. “If we don’t like it, it’s not in the case and it’s not on the shelves.”

Wedgewood’s horseshoe-shaped bar will seat 12, and another 23 seats upstairs will overlook the 2,000-square-foot shop below. Wheels and blocks will be sliced to order at the cheese counter, which features 18 feet of refrigerated cases.

Wedgewood will also stock a wall of packaged foods — jams, pasta, crackers and more — along with wines curated by Paula de Pano, a Chapel Hill sommelier who owns Rocks + Acid Wine Shop in Southern Village.

All their products, plus some “great local produce” and focaccia from Ideal’s Sandwich and Grocery in Durham, could eventually find their way onto a gradually expanding menu of snacks, salads, sandwiches and desserts, Stevie Webb said.

“We’ve got a lot of exclusive cheeses, some things that went out of production and then came back into production, certainly a lot in this country,” he said. “We will always have the world champion cheese, which is a 12-month Gruyere from Gourmino in Switzerland.”

Other special varieties include a Canadian cheese that’s “impossible to get in this country,” a “great selection of British cheeses,” and Alisios, a Canary Island cheese made from goat and sheep milk and dusted with paprika, the Webbs said.

Tariffs have created an uncertain environment, Stevie Webb acknowledged, but their relationships with small, independent producers and distributors “makes a huge difference.”

Stevie Webb is a trained chef and cheesemonger from Great Britain, who moved to the United States in 2006. He previously worked at Brooklyn’s Greene Grape and at Leiths School of Food & Wine in London.

In 2015, he met Michelle Webb, a health-care communications professional, in a Washington, D.C., bar.

In 2022, they started selling cheese at Pluck Farm Farmer’s Market, later adding a supper series and curated cheese packs for local breweries and wine bars. The Cheese Shop, an 80-square-foot pop-up, opened in 2023 inside Carrboro’s Glasshalfull restaurant and wine bar. By the end of the year, they were planning a bigger shop on Brewer Lane.

It’s been a challenging journey, compounded by the birth of two sons and the loss this year of thousands of dollars in cheese, the Webbs said, but they have found hope and stability in an outpouring of support and donations.

“You open your little shop, and you don’t realize how much impact you’ve had — whether we’ve done anything important or whether we’re just a little shop,” he said. “We’re really so glad to have been vindicated as part of the Carrboro community, as part of the Triangle community. People came out and helped us with whatever they could.”

In April, they closed The Cheese Shop to focus full time on Wedgewood, which has faced delays from aging mechanical equipment, old wiring and difficulty getting materials, Michelle Webb said.

But they’ve also had fun finding just the right details with help from designer Shaun Sundholm, she said. The shop’s name — and its decor — are a modern take on classic Wedgwood China, manufactured in England and renowned for its blue and white designs.

And they’re especially proud of the bathrooms, they said. One has a London theme, honoring Stevie’s home in the United Kingdom, while the other evokes Michelle’s native Brooklyn in New York.

Carrboro’s Brewer Lane was once part of a thriving business district connecting historically African-American neighborhoods, but the area languished in the ‘90s. Now customers are coming back for the growing number of small, local businesses, from Lapin Bleu and Franklin Motors to Purple Bowl, Baxter Arcade and Brandwein’s Bagels.

Stevie and Michelle Webb are among those who think Brewer Lane has a thriving future.

They’ve been talking with the owners of Belltree Cocktail Club, which shares space next door in the Carolina Car Wash building, a Black-owned business that has stood at that location since the 1950s under different owners and names.

They’re planning co-hosted events and, in time, a QR menu so Belltree patrons can order from Wedgewood, they said. A second Cat’s Cradle music club under construction across the street could bring even more people.

“The great thing is, if you are waiting, you can go right to the Belltree, so there’s a symbiotic benefit of bringing something new to the neighborhood and having somewhere for people to go,” Michelle Webb said. “I think it’s a fun extension of Franklin Street.”

Tom Tucker, who still owns the car wash after 30 years, wandered over as the cheese shop’s blue awning was being hung. He’s excited to see new life on the street, too, he said.

“Ever since these guys announced they’re coming, we’ve got more customers and people coming by, asking where’s the cheese shop,” Tucker said. “Now we’re coming into a new era.”

? Wedgewood Cheese Bar is open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturdays, and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sundays.

? The cheese shop also offers private dining and party reservations upstairs.

? It’s a short walk to public parking lots on West Franklin Street in Chapel Hill and the Carrboro parking deck at 300 East Main.

The News & Observer’s Inside Look takes readers behind the scenes to illuminate the people and places in our community.

Savage Imperial Death March Part II Tour, showcasing Napalm Death and Melvins, delivered a catastrophic onslaught obliterating all semblance of societal tranquility from Carrboro, NC.

Lightning filled the sky above Carrboro, NC, as if foreshadowing something wicked this way comes. The capacity crowd at Cat’s Cradle walked in hot and sweaty from the humid, hot outdoors and ecstatically waited for what would be a transcendental evening for metalheads, stoners, and nerds alike.

North Carolina’s own Weedeater from Wilmington, NC, unexpectedly opened the show. Dark Sky Burial, the solo project from Shane Embury, formerly the longest-standing bassist for co-headliner Napalm Death, was scheduled to open the show but did not for unknown reasons. Formed in 1998, Weedeater has been a vital part of North Carolina’s strong metal scene and approaching 30 years later, shows no signs of slowing down. After a piercing, feedback-filled stretching session to loosen up the band’s legs and back, “Hammerhandle” from their 2013 release Jason… the Dragon opened the show with raw aggression. Dave “Dixie” Collins, Weedeater’s founding vocalist and bassist, grimaced and writhed his way about the stage as if he was being paid for every irreverent and startling pose. Drummer Ramzi Ateyeh pounded beers between each song, rapidly working up a sweat and removing his shirt to display his fully tattooed chest and front. The band powered through “Mancoon” and “Jason… the Dragon” from the same album and included fan favorites “God Luck and Good Speed” and “$20 Peanut.” They did not perform any songs from their latest 2015 release, Goliathan. Raucous and loud, Weedeater was essentially received as a third co-headliner by this welcoming North Carolina crowd.

The energy in the room was impossibly high moments before Melvins took the stage. Set up in a dual drum kit formation, guitarist Buzz Osborne, drummers Dale Crover and Coady Willis, and bassist Steven Shane McDonald arrived on stage to deafening applause and cheers before the opening drums of “Working the Ditch” filled the venue. Throughout the entire show, Coady and Dale did the impossible. They locked in and delivered an Earth-shaking performance of two drummers performing simultaneously, in sync at times while either dueling or complimenting each other. They created the most uniquely heavy rhythm section that must be experienced to fully appreciate its awesomeness. Buzz with his seriously focused face, physically channeled the band’s relentless intensity with a full-body performance that should have drained him into an exhausted puddle of sweat but somehow Buzz remained clean, neat, and limitless with energy.

“Billy Fish” mid-set continued the flawless drumming perfection and the iconic song “Honey Bucket” launched the already dancing audience into a large mosh pit. Only addressing the audience once, to thank everyone for attending and to ask for applause for their fellow bands on tour, Melvins closed with an incredibly intense performance of “Night Goat.” Never once throughout their entire set was there ever a moment for the audience to take their eyes away from the stage and rest. To say Melvins delivered a non-stop intense set from start to finish is a dramatic understatement. If there was ever doubt that Melvins had the power and authority to inspire some of the greatest rock, metal, and grunge bands to ever form, this performance would have laid to rest those doubts. Cat’s Cradle experienced a legendary show by one of the most influential and powerful rock bands in existence.

After clearing the once totally full stage of all extra drum kits and amplifiers, co-headliner Napalm Death took the stage. Vocalist Mark Greenway, dressed in an old-school punk outfit of a solid blue tee-shirt and black pants held up with suspenders, Mark used the empty stage as his own dance floor as he moved constantly like a tiger fueled on cocaine trying to escape the demons, thrashing about in his head.

Opening with “Multinational Corporations Part 2” and leading into “Silence is Deafening,” Napalm Death stepped on the gas and refused to stop. Their thrashy grindcore setlist aside including “Amoral” and “Backlash Just Because” was interlaced with several political statements delivered by Mark on the state of United States politics, inequity, and the damaging effects of forced consumerism. The still very full venue responded enthusiastically and showed no loss of energy as they moved and headbanged up until the very last notes.

The Savage Imperial Death March Part II Tour continues until June 7, ending in Berkeley, CA. Melvins and Napalm Death are two of the most iconic names in metal music history. To have both these bands on the same tour, sharing the same stage, is a rare gift every metal fan should move heaven and earth to find their way to attend at least one show.

Carrboro reasserted its right Thursday to take Duke Energy to court over “deceptive business practices” that the town claims have exacerbated the local risks and costs of climate change.

Those alleged deceptions are the basis of a lawsuit the town filed in December, with help from two environmental nonprofits, the Center for Biological Diversity and NC WARN, which is paying the town’s legal costs.

On March 17, Duke Energy asked an N.C. Business Court judge to dismiss the case, claiming the town does not have the authority to sue and the courts do not have the jurisdiction to consider the claims.

The lawsuit made headlines as potentially the first time a municipality has sued an electric utility over alleged damages from “largely unabated” greenhouse gas emissions and the continued use of fossil fuels.

Several lawsuits have been filed nationwide against oil and gas companies, The News & Observer reported in December.

Duke Energy has 8.2 million customers in six states, and released roughly 80 million tons of carbon dioxide in 2021, the lawsuit says.

The N.C. Utilities Commission approved the utility’s plans last year to build 6,700 megawatts of solar energy; seven new gas-fired power plants totaling 5,620 megawatts; 2,700 megawatts of battery storage; and 1,200 megawatts of onshore wind by 2031.

Additional construction of off-shore wind and nuclear projects are also planned.

However, the investment is not expected to meet a 70% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions required by state law. Duke Energy and the Public Staff, a ratepayers’ advocate, said that goal is too expensive and could make energy production unreliable.

Carrboro claims Duke Energy has spent millions of dollars “on industry front groups and public relations firms to deceive the public about the science of climate change” and to stall the transition to renewable energy.

Duke Energy’s March 17 motion says the town filed the lawsuit to give NC WARN, which “has targeted Duke Energy for years,” leverage “for political purposes.”

The town addresses that claim in Thursday’s motion, saying its relationship with NC WARN is “irrelevant.”

In a news release, NC WARN officials called it an attempt to subvert the town’s constitutional right to associate with a local environmental nonprofit.

“As with the tobacco industry scandal, they can’t afford to admit Duke’s executives have helped lead such a widely damaging conspiracy of deception for all these years,” said Jim Warren, executive director of NC WARN.

Duke Energy’s alleged deception has increased the costs of climate change for Carrboro, the town and environmental groups said in the news release. The lawsuit mirrors other cases where courts have found companies “responsible for their misconduct,” it said.

Carrboro claims it could cost the town at least $60 million to deal with the local effects of climate change, including more frequent road repairs, higher cooling costs, and infrastructure projects to handle more severe storms and flooding.

Duke Energy is responsible, because it did not act more aggressively in transitioning from fossil fuels and knew that would accelerate the climate crisis, the lawsuit says.

“It is clear that our town and hardworking taxpayers cannot and should not be forced to pay for this. The Carrboro community deserves a safe and healthy climate, not the crisis that Duke Energy Corporation’s fossil fuels continue to cause,” Carrboro Mayor Barbara Foushee said at a December news conference.

Thursday’s motion emphasized the town is not trying “to upend regulatory decisions or enact policy determinations.”

“Duke Energy is grasping at legal straws to hide its decades-long campaign of climate deception,” said Jean Su, energy justice director and senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Duke Energy executives put profits over people and the planet, as they used deceptions to build one of the world’s worst climate polluting corporations. Now they should be held accountable for saddling the town with a costlier, dirtier, riskier future.”

The N.C. Supreme Court moved the lawsuit in January from Orange County Superior Court to N.C. Business Court, where it is now designated a “complex business case,” because there are multiple stakeholders, complicated details and potentially significant decisions.

Duke Energy argued in its March motion to dismiss that it is not solely responsible for global climate change, but that it is the result of actions around the world, including “‘human-made emissions,’ and other sources going back over 100 years.”

In addition, neither the N.C. legislature nor the federal government has given Carrboro the authority to challenge the state’s energy and climate policy decisions or seek damages from Duke Energy for implementing policies to meet customers’ future electricity needs, the company’s motion says.

State policy decisions already consider both energy needs, natural resources preservation, and public feedback, the motion says. The lawsuit asks the court to assume the authority of setting energy and climate policy, it says.

“Carrboro is, respectfully, outside its lane, and this Court must dismiss the Complaint in its entirety for lack of subject matter jurisdiction,” the motion says.