Last time I came to Farmer Brown I came as part of a birthday party so coming back on my own counts as another trip, according to my rules.

I had been hallucinating about chef Jay Foster’s Carolina pulled pork sandwich (he grew up in Raleigh, so he knows how to do it) since last night and strategically arranged my schedule to show up right at 5 p.m., opening hour for Farmer Brown.  Within 20 minutes the place was full.

My first order was a ginger rum cocktail, made with Prince Neville’s ginger beer from the basement of the restaurant.   Combined with the spicy peanuts that the bartender laid out for me, my nose was wide open for the sandwich.

It came open faced with small leaves of spinach and a cole slaw with cucumbers. I took a moment to reflect on the display and hungrily slapped it all together.

While munching I was reading Dr. Juliet Walker’s History of Black Business in America where I learned about the extensive trade networks through the western African countries where most African-Americans hail from.  According to Walker, the 45 percent growth in black businesses each five years for the past 20 years is a retention of our African heritage of complex mercantile societies.

It was not hard to digest along with the pulled pork.

House manager DeAnna Sisson came by to recommend the strawberry cherry pie for dessert. The bartender countered, “have you thought about the pecan chocolate pie?”  But I’ve often had the pecan.   DeAnna won this round.  

It was a cherry pie topped with slices of strawberry and whipped creme.   I was a happy man.