WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) - It’s that time of the year again to eat, drink, and be merry.
Luckily for us, there are plenty of places you can enjoy one, or the other, or even all three. One location that was known for the “drink” and “be merry” part of the equation is now adding “eat” to their repertoire as well.
End of Days Distillery on Wilmington’s Castle Street has been around for a few years now, and while they have quickly garnered a reputation for handmade spirits, the food aspect has always been lacking. Sure there have been food trucks here and there, but no concrete reason to make End of Days a destination for lunch or dinner...until now.
Owners Shane and Beth Faulkner put their collective genius together, and came up with a new concept for food, appropriately named...well...the concept kitchen. Located inside a shipping container in their expanded courtyard, the concept kitchen allows chefs or food truck owners a brick and mortar space to showcase their creations. End of Days takes applications from chefs on their particular culinary concept, be it everything from international comfort food, to pizza or barbecue, and then decides on who will take over the kitchen for a weekend. It’s a unique idea and one that keeps the flavors and intrigue rotating from week to week.
When I visited last weekend, Chef Kat Myhand was trying her hand at classic French cuisine with her concept “Amis et Famille,” which translates to “Friends and Family” in French. Immediately upon entering the distillery, I was blown away by the impact the concept kitchen was having on the entire space. A line nearly out the door to get drinks; 10 people deep, waiting on a delicious plate of French food. I’ve been to End of Days plenty of times before and have never seen anything like it.
Chef Myhand is well-known among the culinary community in Wilmington, and recently finished in the top 25 out of more than 600 applicants for the “Own Your Own Restaurant Competition” in Burgaw. What she and her talented crew whipped up was a testament to her cooking chops.
Starting with a bowl of classic French Onion Soup, Chef Myhand utilized the distillery’s Sherry Cask Bourbon in the savory stew. Each mouthful was overflowing with caramelized red and sweet onions, and a baguette covered with melted gruyere helped round out the dish.
The famed ratatouille was also available, filled with zucchini, eggplant, and squash, enveloped in a delicious, herbed tomato sauce. Although I preferred the Croque Monsieur with frites (French fries). It’s essentially an elevated grilled cheese sandwich with ham, but the béchamel and Dijon really take it to another level, plus I could have ate an entire potato sack of the handcut frites with truffle laced aioli.
We weren’t done there though, next was a beautiful plate of Coq Au Vin, which is a staple French dish of chicken braised in wine, lardon, and vegetables. This was truly decadent and had I not gorged myself on the previous plates, I would have been content with only sampling this.
I had to round out my visit with a cocktail and some Coconut Rum Macaroons. The dessert used End of Days rum in the mixture, then dipped in chocolate, and baked to perfection. Each bite made you smile, the tell-tale sign of good food.
It was a meal that few places in Wilmington even offer, and for it to be on hand in the courtyard of a distillery made it even more special. And get this, if you would have bought all the food I just mentioned, it would have cost you $60 flat. That is a crazy deal considering some places charge upwards of $20 for a cheeseburger.
The quality of the food and drink on offer at End of Days during their concept kitchen weekends is well worth your time and money. The Faulkners say since they started this a few weeks ago, they’ve seen interest in the kitchen grow and grow with each passing concept. So the next time you’re thinking about grabbing drinks there on a Saturday, you may want to check their social media and see which chef has taken over the kitchen, and plan on staying to eat as well.
IF YOU GO:
End of Days Distillery is located at 1815 Castle St, Wilmington, NC 28403
Do you recommend a restaurant? Or know of a best-kept secret that you want the rest of the Cape Fear to know about? Shoot me an email at [email protected] and I would love to feature your selection. Cheers!
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