Local Business Evolves for 2020
Daphne Bennink, owner of one of Ocracoke’s most popular dining establishments, The Back Porch Restaurant, recently took time to talk about the eatery's transformation from full service restaurant to a market.
Sitting in the restaurant’s former bar area surrounded by boxes of supplies, she reflected on the changes that occurred immediately after the flood from Hurricane Dorian until now. She said that she first “stumbled” into providing contractor meals.
Once the free meals that the Salvation Army and Red Cross were providing ended, she discovered that some of the disaster relief organizations helping on the island needed a reliable way to feed their employees. She contracted with a couple of those companies to provide meals in addition to offering take out meals for residents and others. Once the work on Highway 12 was completed in December of 2019, the Back Porch opened for dine-in service until the end of duck hunting season in January. She had planned to reopen as usual in the spring but the COVID-19 virus changed those plans.
The transition from restaurant to market happened almost by accident said Daphne. During the closure, she was baking bread at home. Her recipe made two loaves, but her family only needed one. She would give the extra loaf away and the response was heartwarming. People were so happy to receive the bread. However, a problem developed.
We are all familiar with the shortages that occurred thanks to the virus; paper products, cleaning supplies, and hand sanitizer. Surprisingly, the flour and yeast that Daphne needed to bake her bread were also in short supply. At first she was soliciting help from friends near and far to find flour and yeast in grocery stores but even they began to be unable to locate it.
Daphne learned that her food supplier, Sysco, had plenty of everything. Plenty of flour, plenty of yeast, and plenty of other things, too. She placed a couple of orders for a limited group of people and had them pick up their food in the back loading dock area of the restaurant. The response was overwhelming.
The limited orders began to expand and Daphne found that setting up the market format on the screened porch was the easiest way to meet the needs of the community. With the extra space of the porch, she was also able to expand the product selection. She sees the Market as a supplemental shopping experience, designed to complement the products that are available locally.
“Running a restaurant is hard,” said Daphne. “During the high season we have 35 employees. After 23 years, I felt like the restaurant was running me.” However, with 15 employees between the Market and Backporch Lunchbox, running a market feels new and fresh. She is enjoying coming up with new dishes as well as featuring some items that were favorites in the full-service restaurant.
Initially she focused on things that people could take home and put in the freezer such as cobblers, chicken pies, and pasta, but as summer has arrived she is focusing more on home cooking items for both summer visitors and residents. She offers meal kits with items such as fresh fish and compound butters or other fresh ingredients, and shrimp with homemade pasta. For July 4th she offered a customizable cook-out kit with the customers choice of steak, burgers, and side dishes.
Shopping at the Back Porch Market is a fun experience because the customer does not always know exactly what will be available on any given day. Daphne utilizes social media to announce some specials such as fried chicken but in addition to advertised items, shoppers will find a variety of homemade breads, sweets, fresh fruits and vegetables, eggs, cheeses, meats, butter, and a multitude of grocery items (yes, she still has flour and yeast). You can even find homemade Mojito mix which I, a teetotaler, almost bought thinking it was a squeeze bottle of vinaigrette. (Fortunately while checking out, employee Beatle Haddad alerted me to the contents.)
When the doors opened at noon, shoppers began to trickle in. Local resident Kelley Shinn and son Silas Trethewey commented that they come often. “I feel so blessed to have a safe place to come to keep my family fed,” said Kelley. “It’s like a mini Whole Foods.”
Marlene Mathews and her husband Randal said that they also shop frequently. They particularly like the breads, greens, tomatoes, and friendly faces. “It’s gourmet,” noted Randal. Heather Johnson said that she probably comes to the Market weekly. “I like the freshness and localness of the produce and the variety of different products,” she said. “Daphne’s done a really good job in offering fresh local food.”
Tricia Palmisiano knows the food well. She has worked for Daphne for nearly 20 years as a hostess and server as well as in many other capacities. She is enjoying her new responsibilities at the market in managing the front of the house. She keeps track of what is gone and what is needed and loves to be able to talk to people about the food offerings for the day. “I like what I do.” Tricia said. “I like the people and the teamwork.”
One of the newer Back Porch employees is David Tweedie, also known as Fiddler Dave from the band Molasses Creek. David was a baker at the Graceful Bakery, which did not reopen after Hurricane Dorian. David makes some of the small cakes and other sweets though his primary responsibility is baking bread and rolls. When asked how he likes his new job, he said that he was enjoying working with the staff and learning new things but mostly “I’m just in it for the dough.”
Daphne’s vision for the market is to continue throughout the year at least on a part time basis. It will continue to evolve. She may add an occasional outdoor fish fry or perhaps some limited food or bar service on the porch.
Daphne takes great pleasure in feeding people. “The big thing with food is that it doesn’t have to be fancy or expensive to be good,” she said. “To be able to do something as simple as give someone a loaf of bread can brighten someone's day.”
The Back Porch Market is located at 110 Back Rd and is open from Tuesday-Saturday, 12:00 till 5:00. The phone number is (252) 928-6401. Check out their Facebook page, Back Porch Restaurant and Wine Bar, for specials and announcements.
The Back Porch Lunchbox, providing sandwiches and other fast healthy food, is located at 747 Irvin Garrish Highway and is open Tuesday-Sunday, 11:00-4:00. The phone number is (252) 928-3651.
