Month: May 2021

Blog post: New restaurant for Elmo’s space in Carrboro

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When Elmo’s Diner closed during COVID-19 last March, Carrboro residents wondered when the restaurant would reopen. The months passed, lockdown orders came and went, and still the restaurant remained closed.   Then came word in September that they had decided to close permanently, although Elmo’s ownership seemed to leave the possibility open that they would return. “We have not sold to anyone, so we do not know the future of the space,” the last post on their Facebook page said. But since then, that prime spot in Carr Mill Mall has changed hands. There is definitely a new tenant now. Grata Café, which will focus on Italian cuisine, is currently sprucing it up and getting ready to open. “Eat with gratitude,” is the slogan displayed on its web site (www.gratacafe.com), which also states that “grata” is Italian for “gratitude.” The owner is Jay Radford, founder of the Not So Normal 5K races in Carrboro some years back that raised money for a variety of causes. Radford is also the man who is behind the “Mom …

What is Chapter 160D?

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A new state law passed in 2019 will change local government planning processes statewide. In May 2019, the N.C. General Assembly passed Senate Bill 355 to combine city and county development statutes and “modernize” local ordinances. It was signed into law by Gov. Roy Cooper in July 2019. Local governments have to change ordinances to comply with the law by July 1 this year. By July 2022, cities and counties statewide also are required to have comprehensive plans or else zoning ordinances cannot be enforced, as required in 160D. The state legislature proposed similar legislation in April 2015 and March 2017. But it was in 2019 that it finally passed. The UNC School of Government states the bill was proposed by the N.C. Bar Association, and that the final version passed was a combination of that bill and another proposed by the N.C. Home Builders Association. Chapter 160D replaces the former 160A that applied to cities and towns and 153A for counties. They were much more detailed, the original writing for which date to 1905 …

Perfume 101 with Jenny Mann

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Jenny Mann, the manager and “nose” of The Fragrance Shop, gives The Spring Magazine a rundown on perfume basics. From “The H&R Book of Perfume,” published in 1984, there are three classic fragrance categories for women’s perfumes: Floral, Oriental, Chypre. Floral: Compound of flower scents. “Miss Dior” by Christian Dior is a floral perfume, with two kinds of rose, sandalwood and patchouli.   Oriental: Base of musk and typically using vanilla as an ingredient. Rich and seductive. “Shalimar,” 1925, by Guerlain is the classic Oriental perfume and includes musk, vanilla, incense, jasmine, mandarin orange, iris, rose, among other ingredients. Chypre: Chypre is French for Cyprus and this fragrance family draws inspiration from the Mediterranean island. Built on bergamot, oakmoss and labdanum and meant to evoke the goddess, this category was started in 1917 with the perfume “Chypre” by Coty. For men, the fragrance categories are: Fougere, Oriental, Chypre, and Citrus. Fougere is the French word for “fern,” and perfumes in this family have a woody, mossy scent with sweet top notes. “Boss” by Hugo Boss …

The Fragrance Shop, a family journey of timeless scents

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Among the thousands of perfumes lining the shelves at The Fragrance Shop in Carrboro are a perfume that is more than 200 years old, a perfume worn by the empress of France, and an oil that smells exactly like a well-loved lotion of a popular brand. That first perfume, which smells of citrus with a cool, medicinal undertone – or is it overtone, intended to mask body odor in the 18th Century — is called “4711.” The perfume worn by the empress of France in 1860 is called, fittingly, “Imperiale.” It was created by the perfume house Guerlain to soothe her migraines. “Burt’s Bees, we have a scent,” says long-time manager Jenny Mann during a recent visit to the store. And Mann pulls out, as she does, a bottle from tucked behind other bottles that only she remembers. “Someone told me they used to work at Burt’s Bees, right here in Carr Mill Mall,” she says. The bottle smells exactly like Burt’s Bees’ milk and honey lotion. Mann is The Fragrance Shop’s expert “nose,” the …