New restaurant on tap for Valdese

By: Sharon McBrayer | Morganton News Herald
Published: March 11, 2010

Morganton --

Fine dining is coming to Valdese.
A couple plans to open a restaurant, Pons 1893, at 142 Main St. in the old Brown's Carpet building.
The name of the eatery comes from one of the owners, Mark Pons, and the year the Waldenses established the town.
Star Evans, the principal owner and Pons' fiance, said the restaurant will offer breakfast and dinner.
Evans, from Charleston, is working with the chef at the High Cotton restaurant on the menu for Pons 1893. She said Pons 1893 will offer middle-of-the-road, fine dining.
Breakfast, served from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m., will include locally-made livermush, sausage and gravy biscuits, bagels, pastries and muffins.
Dinner, served from 5 to 10 p.m., will feature dishes such as shrimp and grits, buttermilk fried chicken, cedar plank salmon and the Maverick, a 12-ounce ribeye, Evans said.
The dinning room will be on street level, she said.
The downstairs of the building will offer something new in the county. Evans said it will have an entrance from Bobo Street and will be furnished in brown leather sofas.
Patrons will be able to have beer, wine or a mixed drink served by a cocktail waiter or waitress who will be assigned to a group for the duration of their stay, she said.
Evans said it will be similar to a cigar bar without the cigars.
The downstairs portion of the business won't cost patrons extra, Evans said, but they will have to make a reservation.
A loft above the dining room will likely feature a billiards table and an area where patrons can have appetizers, Evans said.
Getting the place ready for business will take some time. Evans said she is shooting for a November opening but hopes it will come sooner.
The town of Valdese is applying for a re-use and restoration grant from the North Carolina Rural Economic Development Center for $114,268 on behalf of the restaurant, said Jeff Morse, town manager. He said the local match for the grant is 3 percent, which would be $3,428.
The total cost of the project is $303,537, Morse said.
He said the town applied for the grant before voters approved alcohol sales in the town. The grant will have to be amended to reflect the fact the restaurant will have beer, wine and liquor by the drink, Morse said.

New restaurant on tap for Valdese

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