Greetings from Carrboro,
The winery was fairly busy for a Wednesday afternoon. Couples were arrayed at the bar next to me, sipping and nodding California-like as the peppy sales team regaled them with the virtues of the different wines. I had an appointment with the winemaker and tried to appear nonchalantly un-sketchy in my solo-ness as I waited, looking casually over some bucolic brochure.
A very cowboy-ish man just to my right purchased a fancy bottle and was drinking it with his giggling date in giant, also-just-purchased wine glasses – Sonoma Valley swag at its finest. And I really, really didn’t want to listen to their lubricated conversation. It had a distinct socratic quality with his little nuggets of worldly wisdom punctuated by her enraptured oohs in response. My aural defenses finally collapsed as he leaned in to tell her “a little secret” — honestly, how could I notlisten after that segue? — California, he told her mid-sip, only makes great wine in “even numbered years.” Ooooh. Science.
So 2020’s got that going for it. Wine-wise, at least. You’re welcome.
But what will this new year actually hold? Personally, my, um, crystal ball is most definitely on the fritz. As if the damn thing ever worked. Because – let’s be real – no one with a working insight into the future would choose the restaurant business. See: Elon Musk. Or, you know, pretty much anybody with a brain. And I’ve always guessed that for the rest of us non-prognosticators, the wild uncertainty about the coming year stands behind the determined resolutions that populate January. It’s our fervent desire to assert control over the uncontrollable. Resolving to read fewer Buzzfeed listicles feels a lot easier than surmounting the whims of some truculent god.
And the restaurant gods are nothing if not truculent. So my resolutions for 2020 at Acme are fairly simple; I resolve that we will be a better business, neighbor, and friend to this community. I resolve to try new things in our 22nd year without forgetting who we’ve been over the past 21. And I resolve to continue to do our very best for each of you, our stalwart guests and partners. It is your continued faith in Acme that inspires us every day. Thank you.
Here’s another not-so-little secret. 2020 is going to be delicious. I hope you can join us.
Well, that’s all the news from Carrboro. The staff at Acme look forward to serving you soon.
Cheers,
The Staff at Acme
Reservations: online or 919 929 2263