Ginger 108, an Asian fusion restaurant featuring world cuisine, opened its doors for dinner on May 1.
Beginning Tuesday, the restaurant will be serving lunch as well.
Developer and owner, Stephen Hill, and Manager Bill Tsao from House of Wang, worked together on the idea for the type of restaurant for the downtown.
“One of my family’s favorite restaurants in London,” Hill said, “is an Asian grill like this. … Hopefully, it will be a regional restaurant that everyone can enjoy.”
Asian fusion is a blend of different Asian dishes — Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Thai or Vietnamese — with regional dishes from around the world.
Hill grows herbs, vegetables and Asian vegetables in raised beds across the street on West North Street for the restaurant’s dishes.
“We rotate the menu about once a month,” Tsao, a native of Taiwan, said. “What we do is we try to introduce foods from around the world.”
Dinner specialties are the best-selling bone-in rib eye, filet mignon and seafood, which is mainly available on the weekends, he said. Entrees come with salad, choice of potato and seasonal vegetable.
Unlike a traditional Chinese restaurant, items are generally ordered individually.
“We can do family-style,” Tsao said, “but you have to arrange it with us first.”
Lunch will feature many of the dinner dishes, but in smaller portions. Bowls come with choice of meat, vegetables and noodles, white or fried rice or organic brown rice. Stir-fry and steaks will also be offered.
Tsao’s brother, Bruce Tsao, is head chef. He learned from their father, the late George Tsao, of House of Wang, a traditional family-owned Chinese restaurant.
After 10 p.m., the fare is reduced to mainly appetizers.
The restaurant features a full bar in a modern setting with an Oriental feel — light and simple, yet stylish. Many of the features are made from bamboo, such as the tabletops, cabinets and partitions. The wall art is for sale.
“We try to help our local artists,” said Tsao, who has mainly lived in Kinston since 1977.
During the tobacco season, which generally starts around June, buyers come to the area from around the world, including Asia, and they seek out traditional Chinese food, he said.
Tsao said he will likely introduce some traditional Asian foods such as jellyfish, duck and Dungeness crab if they should visit his restaurant.
Ginger 108, 108 W. North St., is open from 5-10 p.m. for dinner and 10 p.m. to midnight for appetizers Tuesday through Saturday. Beginning Tuesday, it will be open from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. for lunch Tuesday through Saturday. For information, call 252-208-2663.
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Belk, Inc. has raised more than $5.3 million for nearly 8,000 nonprofits during its four-hour charity sale held April 27.
The Kinston Belk store raised as much as about $15,000 supporting nine area charities, Store Manager Jason Bailey said.
“For charities,” he said, “we feel like it’s an easy fundraiser.”
Belk stores provided the tickets and participating organizations sold them for $5 each. They even provided a space in the store to sell them. Ticket-purchasers received $5 off during a special in-store sale event.
“It’s the cheapest sale of the season,” Bailey said about the spring sale.
Last year’s Charity Sale supported thousands of nonprofits, such as March of Dimes, American Cancer Society, Crisis Assistance Ministry, Special Olympics, Teens Do Care, Literacy Council, United Way, Girl Talk International, North Carolina Zoo Society, American Red Cross, animal rescue organizations, local school athletic and scholastic organizations and numerous local churches.
“Giving back to our communities has been a Belk tradition, and our Charity Sale is one of our favorite ways to positively and directly impact each community that we serve,” said Jessica Graham, vice president, communications and community relations of Belk, Inc. “The Charity Sale continues to grow and we are grateful to our associates and community partners for their role in making it a success.”
In 2012, Belk raised more than $10 million for charities during its spring and fall Charity Sales.
Margaret Fisher can be reached at 252-559-1082 or Margaret.Fisher@Kinston.com. Follow her on Twitter @MargaretFishr.
Have A Suggestion?
Do you have a new retail business or one that’s undergone a significant change? The Free Press would like to hear about it. Contact Margaret Fisher at 252-559-1082 or Margaret.Fisher@Kinston.com.