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A family is on a mission to feed people in North Carolina — no matter their financial situations.
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“There’s some food insecurity in Pittsboro that people don’t realize,” Jennie Knowlton told The News & Observer in a Wednesday, May 20 phone interview. “Because if you just drive through, you see this quaint, cute little town.”
But on closer look, Knowlton said there are people in need of help. And she knows that kind of need first hand, having faced food insecurity in her early years, including as the child of a single mother.
To help feed the Pittsboro community, she teamed up with her loved ones to start a pay-what-you can restaurant. She still can’t believe the vision that emerged over five years ago turned into the Quiltmaker Cafe, which had its grand opening this month.
“I love that I’m meeting new people, and they’re really supportive of it,” said Knowlton, co-founder and executive director of the cafe. “And we have a lot of return customers already, just in the two weeks, so that’s very exciting.”
The Quiltmaker Cafe is a nonprofit that opened Monday, May 4 in downtown Pittsboro, a roughly 15-mile drive southwest from Chapel Hill.
“I really wanted to be in a downtown where people could walk to us, and Pittsboro was just very accepting of this idea,” Knowlton said.
Here are key details about the restaurant:
The roughly 3,500 square-foot restaurant has 70 seats, with more space outdoors. It’s in the former home of Postal Fish Company, which closed in October after eight years in business, The N&O previously reported.
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Before owner Bill Hartley closed the restaurant, he had served on the nonprofit’s board. Knowlton was grateful for his guidance as she worked with her daughter, Elizabeth, and husband, David, to launch the cafe.
“I’ve waitressed before, but I didn’t know anything about running a restaurant … or nonprofits,” Jennie Knowlton said. “And so luckily all those webinars during COVID were going on, and I just started learning about it.”
As the Quiltmaker Cafe grows its volunteer pool, it may expand weekend hours and serve brunch fare. For now, the menu features lunch dishes, including the popular peach yogurt soup and the fan-favorite Reuben sandwich topped with corned beef, according to Jennie Knowlton.
At other pay-what-you-can restaurants, you may see suggested prices next to dishes on the menu. But you won’t find that format at the Quiltmaker Cafe.
“If my mom had walked into some place like that — which would have been great for us — and she saw a suggested price and she wasn’t able to meet that, she would have just turned around and left because of her pride and dignity,” Jennie Knowlton said.
Family also influenced another decision at the restaurant: the name. Years ago, Jennie and David Knowlton read their daughter “The Quiltmaker’s Gift,” a bedtime story about a quiltmaker who teaches a king about generosity.
“It always kind of made me tear up a little bit, and think, gosh, I wish I could be that quiltmaker,” Jennie Knowlton said. “So when we as a family were doing this, that was just the perfect name for us.”
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To find out more about the cafe, visit thequiltmakercafe.org.