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The last time Alex Catotti lived in Durham, the building at 949 Washington St. was a paper warehouse alongside some forgotten train tracks.
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In the coming months, Catotti and his wife Erin Kobler will turn that space into their first restaurants, bringing years of experience and training from some of the best Michelin-starred spots in Chicago.
The pair of restaurants will be Cornelia, serving a seasonal tasting menu, and Vintner & The Baker, a daytime bakery and nighttime wine bar.
“It’s been a privilege to work at some amazing restaurants, but the goal was always to return home,” said Catotti. “It was time for our goals to meet what life had in front of us.”
Like many stories, Cornelia will be a homecoming and a home becoming. Kobler grew up in Chicago, the daughter of restaurant owners and now a celebrated baker. Before they were married or even dating, Catotti told her his dream of opening a restaurant in Durham.
“I was like, ‘Cool, I just met you, but I bet it’s going to be great,’” Kobler said. “As a pastry chef, my whole career people have told me I should open a bakery. And now I’m having that dream with my partner in life and in business. And we get to dream that up together.”
Cornelia takes its name from the Chicago street where the couple first lived and becomes the thread connecting two hometowns in a new restaurant space.
“We were talking about restaurant names and I threw out Cornelia, which is the street we live on,” Kobler said. “We thought that would be so special to take a bit of our life together here and taking it to Alex’s hometown in Durham.”
A decade ago, Catotti vowed that he’d one day return to his Durham hometown and open a restaurant. This was after the UNC-Chapel Hill grad had worked for a couple years at Scott’s Howell’s Nana’s and before setting off to California and Chicago to continue his cooking journey. Most of those years have been spent in Chicago where Catotti worked in acclaimed kitchens like Grant Achatz’s Next and John and Karen Urie Shields’ restaurants The Loyalist and the three Michelin-starred Smyth.
He says he found the door to rarified spaces unusually open to young chefs willing to work.
“Contrary to what most people think, restaurants are always looking for people,” Catotti said. “If you can do it, you can do it.”
Kobler opted for culinary school before working in restaurants, led to a life of baking and pastry by the Food Network, particularly shows like “Ace of Cakes” where she was struck by the artistry and creativity in desserts. Most recently Kobler was the executive pastry chef of the Michelin-starred restaurant Sepia.
Despite a life of desserts, Kobler said her parents didn’t sugarcoat the restaurant world.
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“My parents were very real with me, they said ‘We support you 1,000 percent, but this is tough work, this is real work,” she said.
The couple is in the middle of packing their apartment and preparing to move to Durham. The Washington Street space was renovated in recent years and initially built to attract life science companies. This year, its front suites were retooled again, with a giant garage door window and a front porch added.
In Cornelia, the couple plans to express where they’ve been in their careers, but mostly where they are now.
“Cornelia will be a fine dining new American restaurant that reflects everything we love about hospitality,” Catotti said. “We’ll serve the bounty of the American South through our own lens, using French and Italian techniques and fermentation and foraging.”
Expect seasonally specific flavors, like preserved green pinecones, around for a short window in the year, and syrup made from black locust flowers, produce and meat from local farmers.
Building two restaurants at once aims to strike a balance in Durham’s foodie scene, the couple said, that could withstand the whims of taste and economic trends. Cornelia’s tasting menus will be between $115 and $180, while The Vintner and The Baker will serve coffee and baked goods during the day and glasses of wine and small plates at night.
“We felt like we had to build a model that could be resilient to economic and consumer trends,” Catotti said. “Cornelia will be the heart and soul of what we do and what we love. But we also love coffee and pastries. The same old models (of restaurants) don’t work anymore.”
Last year, North Carolina was included in the first ever Michelin Guide of the American South. Catotti said he never imagined his dream of opening a restaurant in Durham would somehow intersect with Michelin recognition, but lots can change in 10 years.
Smyth, the restaurant Catotti left to move to Durham, was most recently named the top restaurant in North America by The World’s 50 Best, placing it in rare dining company, with exacting expectations and often long hours. Still, in returning to Durham, he said he finds his goals very similar.
“Being in that environment (in Smyth) wasn’t about Michelin stars, chef John (Shields) was feverishly creative and I wanted to be working for and with people like that,” Catotti said. “You have to be around those people to reach your full potential. That’s the realities of working in the highest levels. I’ve always believed in the worth of that.”
For the last year, Catotti said he’s traveled to Durham about once a month, finding a different culinary scene than he knew as an undergrad, but said he still recognizes the people.
“Durham has always been a town of passionate foodies and people,” he said. “It’s exciting to do something for the community and be part of that fabric.”
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