Downtown DeLand flexes its culinary muscle

Cress Restaurant, Norville Barnes American Fare open

By Pat Hatfield
BEACON STAFF WRITER

posted Sep 13, 2008 - 9:31:49am

West Volusians can take heart and pick up their forks.

Downtown DeLand boasts two new restaurants, each with a different but complementary take on the dining experience.

Cress Restaurant is open in the spot formerly occupied by Le Jardin at 103 W. Indiana Ave. Cress specializes in international cuisine, with a focus on organic produce, and a touch of the exotic.

Cress opened Labor Day weekend, without fanfare, but to a packed house.

Norville Barnes American Fare opens at 5 p.m. tonight, Monday, Sept. 15, at 112 N. Woodland Blvd., the former location of Cecil's and Sisters restaurants.

Norville Barnes will serve classic American fare — with a gourmet twist.

Proprietor Todd Carpenter said, "The fare will be comfort food — classic American dishes done in a more extravagant manner."

For example, last week, he and family members tried out a dish of macaroni and cheese in a Mornay sauce with prosciutto, topped with Gouda cheese.

The menu will include Americana such as meatloaf, hamburgers and fried chicken, "but a superior version of each," Carpenter said.

Fried chicken will be offered as a special, cooked as Carpenter's own Alabama-born mother used to, in a huge iron skillet. He promises thick, savory burgers served with gourmet sauces and toppings and a side of fries drizzled with garlic-infused olive oil. Drizzling will be done table-side.

Carpenter said he'll strive to create the same warm and inviting atmosphere he offers at his first Downtown DeLand business, Abbey, across the street.

"People work hard all week. It's a big investment of their time and money to come in," he said. They should be treated well.

While Abbey offers sandwiches, salads and snacks along with a variety of beers and wines, the emphasis will be on food at Norville Barnes, served with hearty draft beers and a wide variety of house wines at $15 a bottle, and magnums at $25 a bottle.

Many food dishes will cost $10 or less, while steak dinners will reach into the $25 range.

The menu will be smaller at first, then expand.

"We're taking it one step at a time," Carpenter said.

Norville Barnes will be open regularly for dinner 5-10 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. After a few months, Carpenter plans to serve lunch, too.

Where did the name "Norville Barnes" come from?

Norville Barnes was the name of the character played by actor Tim Robbins in the 1994 movie The Hudsucker Proxy.

"The name is a tongue-in-cheek reference to the main character," Carpenter said. "He was a guy who was not too bright. He had one good idea, which by a stroke of luck made him successful — until people asked him for a second idea. He had none."

With the success of Abbey already under his belt, Carpenter is banking Norville Barnes American Fare will be a good second idea.

From the USA to around the world

Cress Restaurant owner and chef Hari Pulapaka promises to take diners on a global excursion.

Pulapaka, a mathematics and computer-science professor at Stetson University for eight years, took a year's sabbatical to pursue his other passion, cooking and fine dining. His wife, Dr. Jenneffer Pulapaka, a podiatrist, is also helping at the restaurant.

Pulapaka is grateful to the university for allowing him time for this experiment.

He attended culinary school four years ago, then cooked in fine restaurants in Canada and Alaska, as well as at Le Jardin in DeLand. His new restaurant occupies the former Le Jardin location on West Indiana Avenue.

At Cress, the focus is on global fine dining, fusing tastes and ingredients from around the world in Downtown DeLand. Tuesday nights feature the cuisine of a particular country or ethnicity, such as Moroccan, Greek, Spanish or Middle Eastern cuisine.

The atmosphere is "small and intimate," Pulapaka said. Reservations are suggested.

Diners at the chef's table, which seats four to five people, are served a five-course meal, personally presented by Pulapaka, with explanations of each dish. Diners can order three- and five-course menus at other tables, as well.

Diners are not rushed — Cress expects only one sitting at each table, or 50 to 60 customers an evening.

Even without a grand opening, business has been brisk. After the first week, Cress has been open for lunch as well as dinner.

The emphasis is on organic, with fruits and vegetables from Nize Nylen's garden in DeLand and from other sources.

"It's 90 percent organic," Pulapaka said.

He was getting ready to prepare one of the day's entrees, halibut wrapped in banana leaves with a coconut sauce, rice, and house-made flat bread.

One of Pulapaka's favorite desserts is cardamon-pumpkin cheesecake with orange zest. Desserts are prepared on premises or at Elsie's Bakery in DeLand, according to Chef Hari's recipes.

Dishes change each day. Prices run from moderate to high-end, with appetizers at $7 to $12, and entrees from $15 to $35. Cress is open 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. for lunch, and at 5:30 p.m. for dinner. It's closed Sundays.

Cress offers a wide variety of wines. Bill Budzinski at The Elusive Grape, an upscale wine bar in Downtown DeLand, holds and stores wines for Cress.

For reservations, call (386) 734-3740, or go online to www.cressrestaurant.com.

Restaurants promise support, not competition, in Downtown DeLand

Two new restaurants opening in the toughest economy Downtown DeLand has seen in a decade. The cautious might ask, "What, are you crazy?"

Proprietors Hari Pulapaka at Cress and Todd Carpenter at Norville Barnes aren't crazy, and they aren't worried about competition from each other or from Downtown DeLand's dozen other restaurants.

They say each restaurant stimulates the other's business, and other Downtown DeLand businesses, despite the generally hard economic times.

People always want to eat out, and will spend a little bit of money to have a good dining experience, the two men said. Dining out in DeLand may even be seen as an economical measure by some.

"With the economy, yes, there may be a rough period. But, I surmise that people who want to eat out don't have to go to Heathrow or Miami. They can be pampered here in DeLand," Pulapaka said. "I'm confident we can match what they have. We want people to know they can visit DeLand and enjoy a good culinary experience."

By drawing customers from Heathrow and Winter Park to DeLand for dinner, businesses like Cress and Norville Barnes can actually boost Downtown DeLand's economy.

"DeLand has welcomed us pretty well," Pulapaka said; he wants to return the favor.

Carpenter, at Norville Barnes, said, "My thought on it is we are all complementary to each other."

People will check the menus, come Downtown, and decide what they're in the mood for. They won't want the same dining experience each time they come, Carpenter said. Surrounding shops and businesses will benefit from this traffic.

It's all good for Downtown DeLand.

Carpenter would like to see yet another handful of good restaurants open Downtown — he said they all would benefit one another, even in tough times.

"The way I was taught," Carpenter said, "when times are good, put money away. When times are bad, spend it to get ready for the good times. We're getting through the rough times."

Phil Martin owns the well-established Mainstreet Grill restaurant at 100 E. New York Ave. in Downtown DeLand, which offers a variety of foods. Martin saluted Carpenter and Pulapaka.

"I certainly think that in this economy, they're brave souls," Martin said. "I welcome it, and we have always collectively tried to work toward having enough dining choices in DeLand, without having to go to Daytona or Sanford. A lot of what we're up against is the idea DeLand doesn't have great food, and that isn't true. Both of those guys will do a great job."

MainStreet DeLand Executive Director Jack Becker also sees the two new restaurants as a good thing.

"That kind of venue drives the town. Maybe it will bring us out of this funk. As people come Downtown to eat at the restaurants, they'll take a look around. More trips to Downtown are always a good thing," he said.

Becker pointed to another business moving into Downtown DeLand — Designing Wine, which is getting settled into larger quarters at 138 S. Woodland Blvd., after three years at Victoria Square, on the south end of town.

Owner Beverly Tilton hopes to be open by Friday, Sept. 19, in time for the Rivertown Craft Festival, offering visitors the opportunity to craft their own wine.

Tilton buys juices for wine from around the world, then does her own fermentation to produce wine for the business. Customers can make and bottle their own wines or buy gift baskets.

At first, Tilton considered buying outside of town, where she could grow her own grapes. She decided business would be better Downtown, and believes the new businesses will all be good for each other.

— pat@beacononlinenews.com

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