Greetings from Carrboro,

Our job is to make it look easy. No matter how busy the night is. Or how hot. Or how cold. No matter if a dishwasher is out sick or if the hand you burned royally the night before screams every time it gets anywhere near heat. You just deal. Half because you’re crazy, and half because, well, you love it.

But all that suffering is a helluva lot easier when other cooks have your back. When their skill and professionalism and confidence quell any server’s fear with a look that says, “I got this.” And the way that they laugh on the line when they’re getting shelled, turning steaks on the grill, “It could be worse. I mean, I could be as ugly as you.” Little known fact: restaurant cooks really don’t make great comics. Except maybe to crude third graders.

That’s the magic of restaurants. You order, and out of the chaos – Presto! – something delicious appears at your table. No matter what. You never know the work and sheer effort required, that infamous drama. And it’s not that you ever should. Far from it. As I said, it’s our job that you never know.

Like I didn’t know that Jaime had a medical condition. That he took medication daily so that he could come to work, could make crazy-delicious family meals, and could kick ass on the grill every single night. A graduate of Chapel Hill High School, Jaime has been an anchor on the Acme line for the past 18 months. He’s that guy with the confident swagger who made everyone’s job a little bit easier. He had our back. But that was abruptly interrupted 2 weeks ago.

Complications due to a change in his medication caused Jaime to have a massive heart attack. And ever since, Jaime has been unconscious in a medically induced coma at UNC Hospital. The outcome is still uncertain. 50/50, they say.

Every day that Jaime showed up at Acme he definitely made my life better – my Acme dream stronger. I’m writing this to you in hopes that I can help return the favor. A GoFundMe campaign has been started to help his family deal with his medical expenses and the profound hardship that all of this entails. Any donations of any amount would mean so much to his family. Because, in truth, it’s our community which is the real magic of this restaurant.

To that end, Acme is donating 10% of all of our sales next Thursday, February 7th, to help Jaime and his family. 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: 919-929-2263 or online