From pasta to pig ears: What to expect at Chapel Hill’s new Bombolo restaurant
Don’t call Bombolo an Italian restaurant.
Garret Fleming and Eleanor Lacy, the sibling duo behind Chapel Hill’s Big Belly Que (which closed last year), are opening Bombolo next week, with many authentically Italian dishes inspired by Fleming’s formative food years and culinary travels.
But Fleming says he feels frustrated by the catch-all “Italian” label.
“Every region of Italy has different types of pasta, of cheese, of wine,” Fleming said. “We view Italy as an old-world country, but the reality is, Italy is made up of so many different regions with their own traditions and skills, like curing or smoking.
“I want to get into the minutiae of Italian regions with my menu, and viewing food as ‘Italian’ as a whole is vague to begin with. Plus, we don’t only serve Italian food!”
The restaurant, on Martin Luther King Boulevard in Chapel Hill, will have dishes like New Orleans barbecue shrimp and pig ears on its small menu, which Fleming is continually tweaking before the opening. An official opening date will be announced soon.
An affordable European wine philosophy
As executive chef (as well as co-owner), Fleming is in charge of the menu. A trained sommelier, Lacy oversees the wine list and desserts, hoping the restaurant exudes an authentic European flair.
Lacy has two goals with the wine list: Have wine that pairs well with every single dish (a difficult task, as Fleming’s menu “is really all over the place,” she said), and make the wine affordable.
“Something Garret and I loved about traveling abroad is the markup on wine is not what it is here. It’s sort of considered part of the meal to drink a bottle of wine at dinner and not spend $40, $60, $80 on it for something good,” Lacy said.
Importing and distributing costs make it impossible to avoid a markup entirely, but Lacy wants Bombolo’s wine to feel like a natural addition to the meal, not an extra special luxury.
Bombolo’s menu will include cherished family dishes
One of the most cherished dishes comes from a childhood story both the siblings fondly remember.
“Rigatoni all’Amatriciana was the first dish we ate on our very first trip to Italy in our lives, which we took with our father,” Lacy said. “It’s a simple dish of tomato sauce and guanciale (pig cheek bacon), and it’s a bit spicy with a little bit of heaviness. You can just eat it every day.”
Lacy and Fleming made this dish for dinner often when they lived together.
“It’s one of our indisputable Italian dishes on the menu. It just had to be included,” she said.
Visit Bombolo
You can make reservations for Bombolo’s opening on Thursday, Feb. 23 and beyond by visiting BomboloChapelHill.com.
Bombolo is located at 764 Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd in Chapel Hill, and the restaurant is slated to be open Thursday through Sunday. They hope to include Mondays dinner and brunches soon.
This story was originally published February 17, 2023 at 8:00 AM with the headline "From pasta to pig ears: What to expect at Chapel Hill’s new Bombolo restaurant."
