Fisherman's Wharf
The Wanchese, N.C., restaurant has closed. It shuttered for the winter as usual and never reopened, according to an old salt. Cousin Tim talked to the man last night as he leaned out the back window of my car. Tim did, not the man, an old salt of great degree. Beard, cap, seemingly ocean-loving. Friendliness lost him points but was much appreciated.
The man was working beneath the restaurant at the fish packing plant, which seemed to be as operational as always. I've got no doubt the ice machine was shaking the building as usual. The parking lot was half-full, mostly with pickups and an 18-wheeler on the loading dock. But the restaurant itself was dark and had a CLOSED sign out by the road. All of the place was still there — even the propped-up boat that sits by the road and holds the sign — but shut down.
It wasn't too surprising; the Daniels family had sold the restaurant the year before last, and the family had been the restaurant. One of the legendary families of the Outer Banks (brief history here), they printed the menus with a family picture, family history and a (gentle) mention of the area church they'd founded. Some of the dishes had family names too, "the Capt. Malc" and whatnot. So, after they sold it, last year's visit wasn't the same. The drive through the fishing village and the view of the harbor were still nice, but the restaurant felt a little faceless.
I couldn't find much on the Web this morning about the restaurant, mostly importantly that it had closed, so that's what led me to post here. The Outer Banks has limited news coverage, and we wouldn't have known about the closure if we hadn't noticed their ad missing from the coupon books. We then gave a call and found the line disconnected. We ended up eating at the Waterfront Trellis last night, down on the Manteo waterfront. It was good food and has its own history. But I also posted in case anyone wanted to buy a restaurant.
