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Local restaurateurs add finishing touches to Tupelo’s on King Street |
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Tuesday, 12 February 2008 |
 A patron at the Moonshine Cafe enjoys a global cuisine soon to be expanded at the new location, formerly Angelicas Vegetarian Restaurant and Juice Bar. File Photo
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by ASHLEY BENNERS
Intern Lifestyles Reporter
The building on King Street formerly Angelica’s Restaurant is now home to Tupelo’s, a new restaurant featuring global cuisine.
Tupelo’s is scheduled to open sometime this week, though owners Mike and Nova Nelson hope to open their doors on Valentine’s Day.
The Nelsons, who act dually as the restaurant’s chefs and owners, have been in the food business for nearly 12 years.
In 1996, the Nelsons opened Willow Tree Food Cooperation on King
Street, which is now Gladiola Girls, and soon went on to open
Angelica’s Herb Store, which is now Looking Glass Gallery.
In 1998, the Nelsons moved Angelica’s Vegetarian Restaurant to its
current location on King Street but sold the business in 2002.
Also in 2002, the Nelsons took on their next culinary project, Coyote
Kitchen, which they sold in 2006, the same year they opened Moonshine
Café on Water Street.
Moonshine Café recently closed and will reopen as Tupelo’s on King Street.
The dinner menu will remain similar to that of Moonshine Café, Nelson said.
However, the restaurant will undergo several major changes, including the addition of a breakfast and lunch menu.
“Since we plan to focus more on regional cuisine, we’re going to enter
the realm of pork, which we will be getting free range from Asheville,”
Mike said. “We won’t have a whole lot of meat, but what we do have will
be well chosen.”
According to the Web site for Moonshine Café, the restaurant serves
“only hormone and antibiotic free-meats and eco-friendly fishes,” a
tradition the Nelsons plan to carry on at Tupelo’s.
The Nelsons also plan to serve late night breakfast on Friday and
Saturday nights from midnight to 3 a.m., a feature unique to Tupelo’s.
The restaurant may not be open seven days a week at first, but the Nelsons plan to work up to it.
As far as atmosphere goes, the Nelsons have called on Fred Pell, who
also did the artwork for Moonshine, to assist in decorating Tupelo’s.
“We used to try to choose colors ourselves, and were not satisfied,” Mike said.
Pell, who has experience painting Hollywood sets, has creative license at Tupelo’s.
“He is a fabulous painter,” Nelson said. “He gets a feeling for what we
are trying to achieve and match that with vibrant colors.”
Going on their sixth culinary business venture, the Nelsons are optimistic about Tupelo’s.
“I think its going to be the best we’ve ever done,” Nelson said. “It’s
a culmination of everything we’ve ever done. It’s going to be like
Moonshine, except bigger and cleaner. We’re still working on a world
theme.”
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