Unique Durham restaurant will have bookshop, podcast space and killer pork chop sandwich
Upstairs from their popular cocktail bar, the owners of Kingfisher are planning a new neighborhood restaurant to sit down and stay a while.
Queeny’s, a new lunch and dinner spot inspired by a year of backyard burgers and pandemic pivots, will open in the historic Perry Building on Chapel Hill Street in downtown Durham. At Queeny’s, the owners plan more than a restaurant, building into the space a bookstore and a podcasting studio.
The name “Queeny’s” nods to Kingfisher’s pop-up Queenburger, but also leaves space for a world beyond burgers.
“It felt like just the right amount of casual and a little bit silly,” co-owner Michelle Vanderwalker said of the name.
Queeny’s is expected to open this summer.
Owned by Sean Umstead and Vanderwalker, Kingfisher opened in 2019 and quickly found a following among Durham cocktail fans. For Queeny’s, Umstead and Vanderwalker are joined by Durham native King Kenney, a marketing executive and arts organizer.
The Queeny’s space had been tapped for a Durham location of Raleigh bakery Fresh Levant, but the pandemic canceled those plans.
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Pandemic pivot
With bars closed for much of the pandemic, Kingfisher pivoted to Queenburger, an astro-turfed, flat-top griddled burger bar in its backyard. Queenburger remains open and its run is open ended.
At Queenburger, lines stretched around the building and people came out even in sub-freezing temperatures, Vanderwalker said. Witnessing the limits that diners would go to for a cheeseburger and a cocktail told the owners people still craved getting together.
“It was important to everybody,” Vanderwalker said. “People wanted to come out and say ‘Hi’ and be in an interesting environment. People want to be around each other, even if it’s 25 degrees outside.”
Inspiration for the new new restaurant comes from the casual American restaurant and national chains like Chili’s, the owners said — restaurants with broad menus and appeal, beloved for their comfort if not their kitsch.
“Where a cocktail bar is inherently fancy and kind of expensive, Queeny’s will be much more affordable, fast-paced and casual,” Umstead said. “It’s a place to meet people three or four times a week and you don’t have to break the bank.”
First and foremost, Queeny’s is a restaurant, but the configuration of the space led to other ideas. One room will be a small bookshop. Another, with two-foot-thick concrete walls from a former vault, will be a new podcasting studio.
“The architecture lends itself to be used in different ways,” Vanderwalker said.
Community space
At Queeny’s, Kenney will organize events for the space, which could be anything from adult spelling bees to readings from local authors. The pandemic escalated a reliance on social media for connection, Kenney said, but he believes there’s a craving for sharing spaces once again in a post-pandemic world.
“Social media is redefining what it means to be sociable,” Kenney said. “This moment is obviously still ongoing, but there is a desire for human connection. A great many of us are clamoring for the type of connection that existed before. There’s a need, a hankering for being in one another’s physical presence.”
Playing on the familiar thrill of a weeknight out, Queeny’s aims for comfort and nostalgia, but for modern tastes. The chef is Steph Bell, who led the grill of Queenburger.
“The menu will be inspired by the dishes that kind of hit us in a particular way,” Umstead said. “The ones we have strong memories and affinity for.”
A familiar pork chop sandwich
That could mean the fried chicken tenders, a requisite burger, fried pickle spears and a large dinner salad. There will be a play on one of North Carolina’s most famous sandwiches, the fried pork chop at Mount Airy’s Snappy Lunch, done at Queeny’s with sous vide pork and chili spices, with pickled vegetables.
On the bar side, Queeny’s doesn’t aspire to be Kingfisher, Umstead said, focusing on beer and wine instead of cocktails.
The mix of comfort and community, the owner said, will be potent.
“The real appeal, the main event will be food and drink and community,” Kenney said.
This story was originally published April 6, 2021 at 12:31 PM with the headline "Unique Durham restaurant will have bookshop, podcast space and killer pork chop sandwich."
