Angelina Doyle was a single mother looking for a way to feel complete. With no acting experience, she started out as an actor with the New Bern Civic Theatre in 2006. Then she became the theatre’s administrative assistant. In 2010, she became the executive director. Riding out Florence and COVID The theatre earns 80 percent of its revenue from ticket sales during normal times. These being anything but normal, New Bern Civic Theatre has had only two shows in 2020. While national disasters hit hard financially, the fact that New Bern Civic Theatre has just two paid employees has enabled it to coast through disastersRead More →

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Opened in August of 2010, Persimmons Waterfront Restaurant is a locally-owned restaurant magnificently perched upon the banks of the Neuse River. You can enjoy elegant yet casual dining in its downstairs great room, the private upstairs dining room, or (seasonally) on an outdoor waterfront dining area that offers the best view in town. Named after a persimmon tree found during its construction that was milled and used to create the host stand, the restaurant has become a favorite New Bern destination. Antonio Campolio, Persimmons’ head chef for the past five years, champions a team that prepares innovative and delicious modern cuisine made from locally-sourced, sustainableRead More →

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By Nancy J. Figiel and Lindy Cummings, Tryon Palace On December 5, 1770, the building that Royal Governor William Tryon proudly boasted to be of “great elegance both in taste and workmanship” opened for business with a celebration marked with cannon volleys, bonfires, a ball, plenty of alcohol and a “very grand and surprising Exhibition of Fireworks.” It was so grand a building for the Colony, that it was soon referred to as Tryon’s Palace.  Remarkably, in just a little over three years, Governor Tryon had been able to accomplish something his predecessors had not: establish and build a permanent capital for the Province ofRead More →

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By the time Roberto Quinonez moved to North Carolina from Paraguay in the 1990s, he was a young man who already had experience working at Italian restaurants. He honed his cooking skills in an Italian restaurant in Tarboro, and by 1990 had met Sandy, a coworker. The two fell in love and later married, forming something that went beyond the usual marital partnership. With their combined experience and a dream, they moved to New Bern in 1997 and a year later started a restaurant they named for their first-born child. Paula’s Italian Restaurant & Pizza was first located off Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. BoulevardRead More →

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The Cooper family became owners of The Meadows Inn Bed & Breakfast on March 20, 2020. March 2020 is a historically significant month. That was when COVID-19 arrived and New Bern shut down. #WCIO: When COVID is OVER Staycation SweepstakesScroll down for the entry form. Click here for rules and information about #WCIO Sweepstakes. “We made a lot of lemonade from lemons,” said Linda Cooper, owner and innkeeper. “We used the COVID lockdown period to do a lot of renovation and freshened the décor.”  The décor is a mix of what was there and additional pieces that were acquired from her travels around the world. Read More →

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Familiarity attracted Gretchen and Tracy Du Peza to New Bern in 2015 as they investigated their next venture: Inkeeping. New Bern was founded in 1710 by a Swiss baron who named the settlement after Bern, Switzerland, his ancestral home. “We lived in Switzerland for 13 years, so we appreciate the Swiss tie-in here,” said Gretchen. In January 2016, the Du Pezas bought the Downtown New Bern bed & breakfast then known as Harmony House, a distinctive and historic venue that dates back to 1850. They restored and upgraded the inn and reinstated its historical name, the Benjamin Ellis House. Benjamin Ellis House Bed & BreakfastRead More →

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Chris and Kim Hoveland and the Chelsea have enjoyed a long-term relationship. Chris started working there as a manager back when Linda and Harry McDonald owned the place. The Hovelands bought the restaurant in 2004. During that time, their mission was to become the family restaurant everybody goes to, to provide consistent food, service, and friendship, and to give back to the community. In order to offer an ideal Chelsea experience, the restaurant offers consistency every time you visit. They strictly adhere to tried and true recipes. 335 Middle St., New Bern, NC 28560 Website Menus (252) 637-5469 To add a little flair, a rotatingRead More →

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People go wild over Baker’s Kitchen’s Butter Syrup, but there is so much more. It’s hard to imagine how in the world a family business that started with sheet metal in the early 20th Century would get into the restaurant business—much less be so good at it. But here they are. The Bengel family was into several things: sheet metal for more than a century, a travel agency, New Bern’s Pepsi Store—even a Collegiate Summer League baseball team (the Morehead City Marlins).  They jumped into the restaurant business in 2012, taking over then-called Baker’s Square on Middle Street and rebranding it Baker’s Kitchen. (They alsoRead More →

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Owens says that people who come into her studio gallery are fascinated by her work. You can experience the Red Shoe Studio Gallery on Thursdays through Saturdays from 11 a.m.-4 p.m.  Follow Red Shoe Studio Gallery on Facebook and Instagram “One of the words I hear quite often from first-time visitors upon first entering the tiny Red Shoe Studio Gallery is ‘magical!’ There is something akin to Harry Potter’s Wand Shop about the old place,” Owens said. From the outside, too, it looks like you’re just going into a little sliver of a shop, but instead you enter a space that seems to ignore itsRead More →

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“At the beginning of 2020, the Grill at Prohibition developed a great new menu with an eye toward nightly dinner,” said the owner, Chris Straight. “The menu is so varied that there’s something for everybody.” Indeed, it is a menu that leaves nothing out. You can satisfy every culinary craving at the Grill at Prohibition. If you love dinner straight off the grill, try the tender 6 oz Signature Sirloin or the dry-aged 10 oz  Ribeye. Both are sprinkled with house seasoning and grilled to perfection. The Steakhouse Chicken Flame-grilled chicken is an equally delicious lighter choice. If Mexican food is your favorite, you willRead More →

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