Magical Goat Cheese – The Celebrity Dairy in Chatham County

Her dad bought the farm as a speculative investment years ago. When they moved there, they lived in a 10 foot by 30 foot trailer while they renovated the 1830s log cabin. They would need to as it had no indoor plumbing or modern amenities. It was, in essence, a wooden tent.

That was the genesis of the Celebrity Dairy in Chatham County, locally famous for their varieties of goat cheese which sells at area farmers markets and ends up on the menus of hot chefs throughout The Triangle.

Run by Brit and Fleming Pfann (pronounced "Fan"), the Celebrity Farm sprawls over 114 acres and features goats, chickens and even llamas. It all sounds pretty much like the perfect hippie fairy tale. Husband and wife – sick of the corporate rat race – bail out to Green Acres to make artisan goat cheese and live a neo-hippy, oh so happily and very much off the grid, ever after. It would make a great screenplay. And the beautiful thing, that's sort of what happened.

In the late 1970s, Brit was an engineer for Bell Labs working on Defense projects and commuting to Guilford Center. His wife Fleming was an artist working in textiles. He changed jobs, which exacerbated his commute from Guilford County to Research Triangle Park. All that time, he was working on the farm. One day though, there was a rumor that downsizing was coming to the company. He volunteered to be "on the list." As it happened, it worked out.


"Being laid off was great," Brit said. "I was too busy to come to work anymore."


Before the Pfanns took over the farm in the 1960s, the land was a used for subsistence farming, meaning people grow what they will eat. It sounds romantic. The reality is much harder; it's a hardscrabble life. By the 1970s, the farm had been abandoned by the owners who apparently fled to the cities for "real" jobs.

Brit and Fleming moved to the property in the late 1970s and bought goats to help clear the land. Fleming, who has a lifelong allergy to cow's milk, tried drinking goat's milk on the suggestion of a friend.

It worked.

Fleming decided that there could be other uses for Goat's Milk and decided to try her hand at making cheese, although she didn't know how to do it. This being the low tech early 1980s, she decided to do an analog document search the only way it was available: she went to the Siler City Public Library. It didn't exactly work; she was rebuffed.

"She asked the librarian for books on cheese making and was told that they only had 'proper research material' and none of that hippy stuff," Brit said with a laugh. "She was told they had research on 'genealogy'. So she went to the Pittsboro Public Library, where they did have books on cheese making."

Recipes in hand, the Pfanns started to make their now famous goat cheese. But the first forays weren't that – how to put this – tasty.

"The initial batches weren't always edible, so we feed them to the chickens," Brit said.

But perseverance prevailed and now Celebrity Diary Artisan Goat Cheeses are available at two local farmers' markets and all five local Whole Foods Markets. As of today, there are some 80 milking goats making more than 112,000 gallons of milk yearly which yields some 1,200 to 1,400 pounds of Celebrity Goat Cheese. The cheeses comes in multiple flavors, such as dill, apricot and chocolate (editorial comment – it rocks!) There's also a Bed and Breakfast for those seeking a wee bit of the rural lifestyle and a monthly dinner on the third Sunday afternoon of every month.

"It truly is a labor of love," Britt said.

The Celebrity Dairy

114 Celebrity Dairy Way

Siler City, NC 27344

Tel. (919) 742-5176, for toll free reservations call: (877) 742-5176


Cuisine: Eclectic American

Rating: *****

Prices: $$$

Atmosphere: Bucolic

Noise level: Country quiet

Open: Call for details

Reservations: Oh yeah. You can't just show up.

Other: This is a working farm, not a tourist destination. Their cheese is available at The Durham Farmer's Market, The Carrboro Farmer's Market, and all five Whole Foods locations in The Triangle.

We rank restaurants in five categories: Extraordinary***** Excellent**** Above average*** Average** Fair*


 

Goat Cheese from Chatham County -- Celebrity Farms

Celebrity Farms is opening up its barns for visitors and for farm direct sales of their oh so fresh, oh so yummy offerings this weekend. Folks, you can't get any more fresh or any more locavoire than this. I'm sure there will be lots of baby goats available for pictures. Her Imperial Majesty, Her Imperial Majesty Junior and I will be there tomorrow. Details here:

http://www.celebritydairy.com/events/events_main.html


 

Road trip to the NC Zoo: Johnson’s in Siler City

When one has children, one must go to the local zoo. It is a parental rite of passage. Das kinder need to look at the exotic animals and the parental units need to traipse along with all the accoutrements of child rearing: strollers, hats, water bottles, diapers, etc. Thankfully, her Imperial Majesty Junior is passed that stage so all the 'rents have to do is get there and back without losing sanity.

And it is a long drive from the Triangle to the N.C. Zoo in Asheboro, and the very first time I saw it, I knew I had to stop. Even though it was closed, it just had that aura of down to Earth goodness that a 70 year old roadside diner has.

But that first time I drove passed, it was Sunday so I would have to wait. And waiting is what you do at Johnson's. Get used to it.

One recent Saturday, Her Imperial Majesty, Her Imperial Majesty Junior, her BFF and myself made our way from the wilds of North Raleigh to the wilds of Asheboro to see the lions and tigers and bears (your cue: "Oh my!"). We took US 64 west through the bucolic rolling hills of Chatham County in order to have the burgers at Johnson's in Siler City. We arrived at about 11:15 and the place was packed. I was told that there's a line waiting for them to open at 10 am.

It has everything you need and nothing you don't. The menu is refreshing simple: cheeseburgers, hamburgers, hot dogs / cheese dogs / combos, lettuce and tomato sandwiches, fries and sodas. That's it. Cash only, 'natch.

My wife and I each had a burger and we split a hot dog. The kids each had a burger with Pepsis (no Coke here) all around. So after waiting 20 minutes to be seated and another 15 minutes for lunch, how was it? Great. Everything was served hot on waxed paper – no plates or styro-food here. My burger was Carolina style – chili, mustard, onions and slaw – and was a study in simplicity. And while the Carolina Burger maybe an acquired taste to my transplanted friends from up North; it is the authentic flavor of Central North Carolina. In this, Johnson's succeeds.

In the line, we spoke to a man who had been in Johnson's "20 times" but never had the time to eat lunch. He said he came during the week but his lunch break was too short to actually get served. So he came on Saturday in order to have the experience of actually being fed. He was still waiting in line when we left. We were told on the way out that sometimes they run out of food and close up early. I can see why.

Johnson's Drive In

1520 E 11th Street, Siler City, NC 27344

Cuisine: Roadside diner

Rating: ***1/2

Prices: $

Atmosphere: Another time, another place

Noise level: moderate to high

Open: Lunch only Tuesday through Saturday

Reservations: No

Other: Counter and booth service, cash only

We rank restaurants in five categories: Extraordinary***** Excellent**** Above average*** Average** Fair*

The dollar signs defined: $ Entrees average less than $10. $$ Entrees $11 to $16. $$$ Entrees $17 to $25. $$$$ Entrees more than $25.






 

The perfect BLT -- Merritt’s Store and Grill

Back in the mid 1990s, when I lived in the wild, bucolic, rolling hills of Chatham County, I used to drive pass a run down Esso station on US 15-501, built circa 1945, every few days on the way to Chapel Hill in order to pick up this or that. In those days, this or that usually meant a trip to the Wellspring, a stop at the Mediterranean Deli on Franklin Street or occasionally a pizza from Pepper's. And every time I drove passed it, there would be cars – Beamers, Volvo wagons and the like – in the parking lot, but little evidence that anything was going on inside. It looked to world that or at least to me, that this was nothing more than a little family run country store, eking out an existence on its way to being bulldozed and turned in a TGI McFunsters.

Tragic, in a personal way for the family trying to make it in an age where corporate behemoths rule the universe and little guys get trampled underfoot.

I moved away to New York for five years, only to spend hours commuting into The City and freezing myself nearly solid as blizzard after blizzard finally disabused me on the notion that the horsey part of Westchester County, New York was Currier and Ives landscape made real. Sure, it looks great dressed in white, but how in the &@#$%^! do I get to the train station in this mess?

A Double on Sourdough, with mayo

So five years later, we came back and the little Esso Station that could was still there, complete with the same complement of high buck Euro-steel in the parking lot. It was only then that I learned the magic secret: this little Esso Station was no Esso Station eking out an existence. This Esso Station is Merritt's Store and Grill and they make BLTs like nobody's business.

Hipsters knew but I didn't. But I do now.

There are other things on the menu and I have heard of people ordering fried bologna sandwiches but I never have.

No, the star of the show is the BLT, which comes in three variants: the Single, the Double and The Triple and they are exactly what you think they would be. A single is Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato between two slices of the bread of your choice – mayo optional. The double is Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato, and then another layer of Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato. The triple is three layers of the BLT between two slices of bread. To put it in perspective; a triple is almost as big as my head.

This time of year, the Tomatoes are perfect. The Bacon comes from Cliff's in Carrboro and has the right balance of fat to lean, smoke to salt. Is it worth the drive from Raleigh? You betcha'. Is it special? So special, in fact, I took my Mom to lunch there for Mother's Day (okay, it was the Saturday before since they're closed on Sundays).

The prices are reasonable, with a double coming in at about eight bucks. Worth it.

Merritt's Store & Grill

1009 S. Columbia St.

Chapel Hill, 919-942-4897

Cuisine: Road food
Rating: ****
Prices: $
Atmosphere: Ex-gas station
Noise level: low
Open: 6 am to 8 pm Monday through Friday, 8 am to 8 pm Satuday. Closed Sunday.
Reservations: No
Other: Self-service, cash only

We rank restaurants in five categories:

***** Extraordinary – Intense attention to ingredients and preparation and devoid of pretense. Everything right.

**** Excellent – Attention to ingredients and preparation; in down scale environs, its something that’s absolutely true to its DNA.

*** Above average – Spotty attention to ingredients and preparation; okay but not great.

** Average – Will do in a pinch but not worth the journey.

* Fair – Don’t bother, as it probably has a help wanted sign in the window. Always the harbinger of a bad time on the horizon.

The dollar signs defined: $ Entrees average less than $10. $$ Entrees $11 to $16. $$$ Entrees $17 to $25. $$$$ Entrees more than $25.