Dooley's Fine Dining at the Tory Oak...

.... a new restaurant in town. Or rather the revival of an old restaurant. MFH and I went there last night with a local historian and his wife last night. Started off by setting in the old bar in some excessively comfortable couches - we almost didn't want to get up to move to our own private dining room. The building was once a hotel and is right across the street from the courthouse (now a museum). As our friend said, as he settled back into the couch, "A lot of important events have taken place here!" He could remember when it was still a hotel serving, among others, the judge who held court in the courthouse. As a very young child he would play on the big cannon out in front. Apparently it has gone through several paint jobs over the years. Between Seth, the owner (a former student of mine btw), and our friend, we learned quite a bit about the history of downtown Wilkesboro and the family that ran the hotel.

It's definitely a one man show, with Seth doing most of the work himself. The food was excellent, Seth's recommendations worth following, and the service attentive, informative and slow (Seth does it all himself and has to run down to Dooley's Bar to get draft beers and wine).

Bottom line: it's a charming place of Nineteenth Century atmosphere with good food if you want to spend an evening chatting with good friends. Which is exactly what we did.