Neal's Deli or McDonald's?
By O
This is me at Neal's Deli with Shelia Neal, one of the co-owners of the deli.
When you think of a deli, you think of New York City or another really urban area right? And you never would have thought of a deli in the South. But, in the heart of Carrboro, the deli takes a new turn with Neal’s Deli. Named after the amazing Bill Neal and run by his son and daughter-in- law, Matt and Shelia Neal, this small, hip deli is a charming place in Carrboro with New York deli cuisine. In my interview with Sheila Neal, the co-owner and the late, great Bill Neal’s daughter-in-law, she talked to me about the locality of her food and the concepts of the restaurants.
I met Ms. Neal on a quiet Friday just after the deli had closed. However, the deli was still in full swing, preparing a catering order. We sat at one of the cozy tables, and I interviewed her with a couple of questions. I asked her about the origin of the deli’s food, the design of the deli, and some of her favorite deli and non-deli meals.
She said that she had many local suppliers, including Wildhare Farms. Sunny Slopes gives them tomatoes; Guglhupf supplies their bread; and Latta’s Egg Ranch is where they get their eggs. Mapleview Farms, a personal favorite of mine, provides milk, cream, and other dairy products. Giacamo's sells them Italian deli meats, and the coffee comes from Carrboro Coffee Company. They also visit the farmer's market and get food from such farms as Cane Creek Farms, Brinkley Farms, Elysian Fields, and Chapel Hill Creamery. Lastly, Neal’s goes to Cliff’s Meat Market for the beef that makes their amazing pastrami.
Sheila Neal also said that the Neal family roots inspire their cooking. Since they are a deli, there aren’t many ways to include Southern cuisine in their cooking. However Ms. Neal says they make a grilled pimento cheese sandwich, made with their homemade pimento. They also serve a variety of biscuits, including a pastrami biscuit and a sausage biscuit. Yum!
At Neal’s, locality is a priority. They achieve cooking locally by talking to the businesses where they get their food. They also go to the Chapel Hill and Carrboro farmer’s markets to choose local ingredients. As a deli, they also look at other restaurants to see what they are making as the seasons pass. When the seasons turn, the Neal’s Deli menu doesn’t change that much. But their amazing sides are always shifting. They have sides for each of the seasons. They also make soups and salads that rotate. When I visited, they had a turnip soup, local of course.
Even Neal’s restaurant is local! The tables are handmade by Matt Neal and the Neal’s friend Philip. Philip designed the entire restaurant. He even hand painted the wallpaper! With a little help of course. Ms. Neal told me that they toured New York and came up with some amazing inspiration, both for the food and the design. One of the places in New York that offered them inspiration was Russ and Daughters. It technically isn’t a deli, but a seafood shop. Sheila said that they had amazing smoked salmon, and a New York fave, bagels and cream cheese. Next to Russ and Daughters is Catses, a kosher deli with amazing slow roasted broad beans. Ms. Neal said they were dee-licious. But, it's not as delicious as the Neals’ own food.
But now down to the nitty-gritty. You’re probably wondering why there are no McDonald’s in all of this, right? I mean the title is “Neal’s Deli or McDonald’s” so here it comes. I didn’t have an interview with a “local” McDonald’s restaurant (local being in the general area, not actually local), but I did do a little sleuthing on the World Wide Web. Here’s what I found out.
When McDonald’s opened, they actually did hand make their fries. Every day, they would peel them by hand. But, as the restaurant grew and expanded they started using frozen fries. Now, their fries are manufactured by huge plants that can turn more than two million potatoes into fries per day. Then, they are frozen and shipped to the many McDonald’s restaurants. When the frozen fries became part of our diet, they changed the way the U.S. ate. The fries were much more popular, and the restaurants expanded. In 1960, Americans ate eighty-one lbs of fresh potatoes and four pounds of frozen fries. But in 2000, they ate about fifty lbs of fresh potatoes and thirty lbs of frozen fries. I would say this is a huge leap. For a couple of decades, their fries cooked in 7% cottonseed oil and 93% beef tallow. That gives those more saturated beef fat than a McDonald’s burger (and we all know how bad those are.) Then they started getting a lot of bad press about the fries so now they fry in vegetable oil. Did you know that out of 63 preschoolers polled, at least one third of them ate at McDonald’s weekly? How bad is that for your body? The food travels thousands of miles from its starting point and is pumped with at least 78 different chemicals at 578 different times. Preschoolers shouldn’t put that junk in their body.
Now I also don’t want to put junk in my body, and I don’t think you should either. When I think about McDonald’s, I almost always think “ick.” I don’t want to think “ick” about my body. Local food is better for your community, body, and local food still tastes pretty darn good. So when you think about going to McDonald’s, take my advice and walk away. Kick the habit of going to over-advertised, shiny, happy (not) fast food places. Instead, go to Neal’s or another local restaurant. You will feel better about your body, and you will help your community. And if you keep that up, you’ll maybe even change the world.
Below you'll see a slideshow that features pictures of Neal's Deli.
I met Ms. Neal on a quiet Friday just after the deli had closed. However, the deli was still in full swing, preparing a catering order. We sat at one of the cozy tables, and I interviewed her with a couple of questions. I asked her about the origin of the deli’s food, the design of the deli, and some of her favorite deli and non-deli meals.
She said that she had many local suppliers, including Wildhare Farms. Sunny Slopes gives them tomatoes; Guglhupf supplies their bread; and Latta’s Egg Ranch is where they get their eggs. Mapleview Farms, a personal favorite of mine, provides milk, cream, and other dairy products. Giacamo's sells them Italian deli meats, and the coffee comes from Carrboro Coffee Company. They also visit the farmer's market and get food from such farms as Cane Creek Farms, Brinkley Farms, Elysian Fields, and Chapel Hill Creamery. Lastly, Neal’s goes to Cliff’s Meat Market for the beef that makes their amazing pastrami.
Sheila Neal also said that the Neal family roots inspire their cooking. Since they are a deli, there aren’t many ways to include Southern cuisine in their cooking. However Ms. Neal says they make a grilled pimento cheese sandwich, made with their homemade pimento. They also serve a variety of biscuits, including a pastrami biscuit and a sausage biscuit. Yum!
At Neal’s, locality is a priority. They achieve cooking locally by talking to the businesses where they get their food. They also go to the Chapel Hill and Carrboro farmer’s markets to choose local ingredients. As a deli, they also look at other restaurants to see what they are making as the seasons pass. When the seasons turn, the Neal’s Deli menu doesn’t change that much. But their amazing sides are always shifting. They have sides for each of the seasons. They also make soups and salads that rotate. When I visited, they had a turnip soup, local of course.
Even Neal’s restaurant is local! The tables are handmade by Matt Neal and the Neal’s friend Philip. Philip designed the entire restaurant. He even hand painted the wallpaper! With a little help of course. Ms. Neal told me that they toured New York and came up with some amazing inspiration, both for the food and the design. One of the places in New York that offered them inspiration was Russ and Daughters. It technically isn’t a deli, but a seafood shop. Sheila said that they had amazing smoked salmon, and a New York fave, bagels and cream cheese. Next to Russ and Daughters is Catses, a kosher deli with amazing slow roasted broad beans. Ms. Neal said they were dee-licious. But, it's not as delicious as the Neals’ own food.
But now down to the nitty-gritty. You’re probably wondering why there are no McDonald’s in all of this, right? I mean the title is “Neal’s Deli or McDonald’s” so here it comes. I didn’t have an interview with a “local” McDonald’s restaurant (local being in the general area, not actually local), but I did do a little sleuthing on the World Wide Web. Here’s what I found out.
When McDonald’s opened, they actually did hand make their fries. Every day, they would peel them by hand. But, as the restaurant grew and expanded they started using frozen fries. Now, their fries are manufactured by huge plants that can turn more than two million potatoes into fries per day. Then, they are frozen and shipped to the many McDonald’s restaurants. When the frozen fries became part of our diet, they changed the way the U.S. ate. The fries were much more popular, and the restaurants expanded. In 1960, Americans ate eighty-one lbs of fresh potatoes and four pounds of frozen fries. But in 2000, they ate about fifty lbs of fresh potatoes and thirty lbs of frozen fries. I would say this is a huge leap. For a couple of decades, their fries cooked in 7% cottonseed oil and 93% beef tallow. That gives those more saturated beef fat than a McDonald’s burger (and we all know how bad those are.) Then they started getting a lot of bad press about the fries so now they fry in vegetable oil. Did you know that out of 63 preschoolers polled, at least one third of them ate at McDonald’s weekly? How bad is that for your body? The food travels thousands of miles from its starting point and is pumped with at least 78 different chemicals at 578 different times. Preschoolers shouldn’t put that junk in their body.
Now I also don’t want to put junk in my body, and I don’t think you should either. When I think about McDonald’s, I almost always think “ick.” I don’t want to think “ick” about my body. Local food is better for your community, body, and local food still tastes pretty darn good. So when you think about going to McDonald’s, take my advice and walk away. Kick the habit of going to over-advertised, shiny, happy (not) fast food places. Instead, go to Neal’s or another local restaurant. You will feel better about your body, and you will help your community. And if you keep that up, you’ll maybe even change the world.
Below you'll see a slideshow that features pictures of Neal's Deli.
