The Hedge restaurant eyeing downtown location

A new “upscale diner” offering outside dining is coming to downtown Morganton with cocktails, an outdoor space, and weekend brunch.

The historic 1950s Savings and Loan building at 203 Queen St. will become The Hedge | Counter & Cocktails, a casual, upscale diner. Owners Royce Chestnut and Erica Damman, along with Head Chef James Bryant, are leading the transformation.

Monday night, the Morganton City Council approved a $30,000 Morganton Main Street Small Business Loan agreement with The Hedge owners. This is a forgivable loan—if the owners stay in business for five years and make timely payments, the remaining balance will be forgiven.

Additionally, the City will take a UCC (Uniform Commercial Code) lien on the kitchen equipment as a personal guarantee and collateral.

On the marketing side of the business, Damman walked a visitor through their vision for the small restaurant.

RESTAURANT STRUCTURE

“I think of it like classy diner meets food truck,” Damman said. The restaurant could be compared to Hatch Sandwich Bar in Hickory, he added.

Morganton local James Bryant, formerly a sous-chef at Leo’s House of Thirst in Asheville and now at Fonta Flora, will serve a farm-to-table menu featuring burgers, fried chicken sandwiches, homemade onion rings, salads, and hand pies—his take on a “homemade Hot Pocket.”

For dinner, there will be a rotating pasta dish for vegetarians, steak treats, pork chops, and so on. Damman added that there will be “seasonality” to the menu as well.

Bryant’s brother owns Small Holdings Farms, a local farm in Salem, which is where they will source some of their produce.

The Hedge plans to have a full bar with local beers and craft cocktails. It will serve diners lunch, dinner and weekend brunch on Saturdays and Sundays, according to plans.

Adjacent to the building, the six parking spaces will be enclosed by fencing and a hedge, hence the name. Damman said the restaurant’s capacity will be about 40 people seated inside and another 50 people outside. The seating will include picnic and dining tables plus a lounge area.

Written into their five-year plan, the “all-in-one” restaurant addresses various gaps in Morganton’s dining landscape such as:

• An “upscale diner” experience
• Brunch locations
• Outdoor dining spaces
• Gathering spaces
• Utilization of historic buildings
• Farm-to-table connections

BEHIND THE HEDGE

Before The Hedge, the building was originally an office building and most recently a Wells Fargo location.

“It’s always been an office space and dedicated to finances,” Damman said. “The Hedge is a play on ‘hedge funds’ and ‘hedge fund events’ but it’s also a nod to the greenery that we’re going to be using to private that section of the outdoor seating. … In old English, the hedge was the least expensive place you could drink. It’s kind of a three-way story there.”

Although the trio began looking for a space last fall, the idea of the restaurant had been in the works for over a decade, according to Chestnut.

“If you talk to Royce, he’ll say he’s been dreaming about a restaurant concept for over a decade,” Damman said, “but really, it was the combination of Royce and James meeting. James was relatively new to town. The story and the myth goes — He asks Royce, ‘You know where do you guys eat in town?’ And the joke goes, ‘Umm, it’s a Monday, so … nowhere!’”

The two talked about opening up a place one day: Bryant with his resume of cooking experience and Chestnut with the dream of opening a restaurant in Morganton. Now, the couple and Bryant have come together for The Hedge.

TIMELINE

When asked about a timeline, Damman said that, fortunately and unfortunately, it will be around late fall or early winter.

“I say unfortunately because you want to open to great fanfare and when everyone’s in Morganton and traveling through,” she said. “Fortunately, then we’ll get to work with a lot of locals who want to come and eat. To meet the local need. The joke is that everyone’s hungry for a restaurant, right?”

Opening up a space for people to gather and hang out is the dream, Damman said. In their love of Morganton, they have dedicated themselves to opening this space not only for their dream but for the community as a whole.

“Bureaucracy can be tough, and we have just found that there’s been a lot of help along the way from people in leadership at the city at various points, but I think it’s a really special little town to be trying to take this on,” Damman concluded.