New restaurateurs now the Toast of downtown

Toast Paninoteca, the newest eatery to blossom downtown, has a simple menu of sandwiches and soups. But the sandwiches aren't just sandwiches, which is why owners Kelli and Billy Cotter decided to put a few definitions on the bright blue walls and menu to help folks realize what they're getting into.
First, they define toast: to make bread crisp, hot and brown by heat; to propose or drink to as a toast; or, your neighborhood paninoteca.

They go on to define the longer, exotic words that are on the menu, explaining that crostini, small toasted bread topped with goodies, is to be eaten in two or three bites, while bruschetta is a hearty grilled bread, also topped, but can be enjoyed with a knife and fork. The tramezzini are cold sandwiches served on white Pullman bread, and panini are hot and grilled, made with rustic ciabatta.

Customers might find themselves stymied by some of the ingredients on the menu if they weren't raised in an Italian family or neighborhood, but Kelli, who works the front of the narrow, intimate space at Five Points, is happy to tell you what rapini, soprasetta, mortadella, and the host of other Italian favorites are.

Toast, at 345 W. Main St., is just one of roughly a half-dozen new restaurants coming to downtown in the next year. Entrepreneurs, some novice and others seasoned at the fickle game of running a restaurant, are jumping at the chance to participate in the area's rejuvenation. With its walkable streets and concentration of storefronts and office space, downtown is seducing restaurateurs even if much of the city's core still has a long way to go.

Greenfire, the development company involved in many downtown projects, is happy to report that it alone is welcoming three restaurants in to its properties in 2008.

"We're very excited by it," said Anna Branly, corporate communications manager for Greenfire.

"The restaurants that have opened have been very successful," she said.

The Cotters, who live in Northgate Park, waited a number of years for the right time to open their own place. They looked around about five years ago, but it was still too risky an environment for these first-time business owners to take the plunge.

After the streetscape upgrade was under way and it became clear that improvement efforts were gaining momentum, they decided to go for it.

"We always wanted to be part of the renaissance of Durham," Kelli said. "We're definitely not strip mall people."

After years of working in fine-dining establishments (both worked at Magnolia Grill, Kelli as a server and Billy as a chef), they knew they wanted to bring a less formal eatery to Durham.

"We knew we weren't going to do fine dining," Kelli said. And with Toast being their first entrepreneurial endeavor, they knew they needed to keep it simple and affordable, for themselves as much as their potential customers.

When brainstorming, they tossed around ideas for specific eateries centered on Italian food -- a shout-out to Kelli's heritage. A pizzeria would be different, but the ovens were too expensive. Pasta is always yummy, but was it neat enough for a niche menu? They settled on panini and other Italian sandwiches, something they loved to eat at home and would perfectly supplement Billy's soups, one of his favorite foods to cook.

The Cotters use local bakers for all the bread, and farmers' market ingredients will debut on their specials menu. The Italian ingredients are imported, they said, though Billy makes the pancetta -- a kind of bacon -- himself.

He thought he'd make the sausages, too, but they can't keep up with the demand. Open only since Feb. 8, Toast has been a marvelous success. With no advertising, they welcomed about 100 customers on their first day.

"Happily, we're busier than we expected," Kelli said. Toast is open Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

March 1, 2008 - Elizabeth Shestak, The Durham News