Around Town: Timely Taco Leads to Restaurant

Posted on Nov. 10, 2015

Talk about the right taco at the right time: Carolina Escobar brought her taco truck to an event at Southern Village earlier this year, and the son of the mixed-use community’s developer bought one of her tacos, which brought back memories of the authentic Mexican cuisine he enjoyed as a college student in Arizona. He told his dad, who happened to have an empty storefront on the market square, and just like that, Escobar became a restaurant owner.

“We didn’t choose Chapel Hill,” Escobar said. “Chapel Hill chose us.”

Captain Poncho’s opened in late September, proudly displaying its two runner-up trophies from the 2015 N.C. Food Truck State Championships (one for entrees and the other for desserts). Escobar keeps her menu simple, offering tacos, burritos, enchiladas, fajitas and quesadillas. The house specials are the soups — meat, vegetarian or posole, a Mexican hominy with corn and pork — and the chilaquiles, corn tortilla chips doused in salsa and topped with meat (a choice of steak, beef tongue, pork, chicken or Mexican sausage) or vegetables.

The award-winning desserts include a Nutella burrito, rum or lemon cake, and vanilla bean panna cotta, a molded cream gelatin.

Escobar has applied for a liquor license to be able to serve beer and margaritas. In the meantime, try the horchata, a sort of Mexican coconut milkshake flavored with cinnamon.

And the taco truck? Escobar still has it; her husband, Hector, drives it to locations throughout the Triangle.

Captain Poncho’s, 708 Market St., Chapel Hill, 919-697-9323

Sawasdee Picks Up Where Sakura Left Off

Sakura Xpress, in business for 14 years on North Columbia Street, fired up its signature hibachi for the final time in August, just as students began streaming back into town. Owner Pat Thirakoun wanted relief from the responsibilities of restaurant ownership, and when an offer came in from another longtime Triangle restaurateur, he accepted. Ten days later, he closed his doors.

Dan Tri Dong and his family have owned restaurants in nearby towns for 16 years and had long wanted a spot in Chapel Hill. He and his wife plan to open Sawasdee Thai Restaurant in the space by year’s end.

But don’t expect dramatic changes in the menu. Thirakoun will return to the restaurant as its chef, along with many of Sakura’s kitchen staff. Once the renovations are complete, Thirakoun will serve up his signature hibachi chicken, cooked on a new grill.

Sawasdee Thai Restaurant, 110 N. Columbia St., Chapel Hill

Vimala’s Wins Grant for Meal Program

Vimala Rajendran, owner and chef of Vimala’s Curryblossom Cafe, has won a $100,000 grant from JPMorgan Chase’s Mission Main Street Grant Program. Vimala’s competed with 30,000 other organizations for one of 20 grants in the nationwide contest.

The Indian restaurant, which opened in 2010 in The Courtyard on West Franklin Street, runs the “Vimala Cooks, Everybody Eats” program. Customers can donate a little extra when paying for their meals so that others who can’t afford a meal can eat. Rajendran will use the grant to support the program.

Vimala’s Curryblossom Cafe, 431 W. Franklin St., Chapel Hill, 919-929-3833

BellyBlast Specializes in Dancers’ Fitness

Jessica Hannan Sultan’s new business has her all tied up. The belly dancing instructor thought her career would have to be sidelined permanently after pregnancy left her with separated and weakened abdominal muscles, the core muscles used for her art. But she partnered with a physical therapist to create a product she calls the Loom, a network of belts that enables a dancer to have a low-impact workout that works the core muscles while keeping the hips aligned.

While Hannan Sultan is in the process of patenting the device, in August she opened BellyBlast Fitness Studio, offering 10 classes a week for beginning and advanced dancers. Hannan Sultan limits each class to 10 participants so she can incorporate the Loom into the circuit-training instruction. The workouts employ sequences of basic movements, such as squats and lunges, done with artistic flair. The Loom makes it almost impossible to do belly dancing wrong, she said.

Annual membership costs $150 a month for unlimited classes; monthly memberships range from $120 to $180.

BellyBlast Fitness, 300 S. Elliott Road, Chapel Hill, 919-391-7010

Design Shop Draws on Clients’ Style

Connecticut native Ashley Clarke discovered her design flair while renovating her Park Slope apartment in Brooklyn, N.Y., where she lived for a decade before she and her husband moved to Chapel Hill. She started an interior design business, Ashley Clarke Designs, and opened a retail shop, Ashley Clarke Chapel Hill, earlier this year in The Courtyard on West Franklin Street.

As a designer, Clarke works by the project, rather than on an hourly consulting basis. Her shop, open only on Fridays and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., sells furniture, accessories and fabrics that reflect her clients’ favorite styles.

Ashley Clarke, Chapel Hill, 431 W. Franklin St., Chapel Hill, 919-439-2566

Coming Soon

Renovations are underway at 110 W. Franklin St., former home of Caribou Coffee, which closed a year ago after 18 years in the ski-chalet-style building. Moe’s Southwest Grill has leased the space and plans to open after renovations. … Carolina Ale House has gutted a long-vacant car dealership at 419 W. Franklin St. The burger-and-brew sports bar has many locations throughout the South. … Smoothie King plans to open at 115 E. Franklin St., once home to Pita Pit. … Noodle House expects to open at 143 E. Franklin St., most recently occupied by Mei Asian.

— Nancy E. Oates