Irregardless: An Interview with Owner Lee Robinson

Join us as we sit down with Lee Robinson, the owner of Irregardless, a beloved restaurant in Raleigh that has been a community cornerstone for over 50 years. In this episode, Lee shares the rich history of Irregardless, from its beginnings as the first vegetarian restaurant in Raleigh to its evolution over five decades. Learn about the challenges and triumphs of running a restaurant that prioritizes vegetarian and vegan options while still appealing to a broad audience. Lee also discusses the importance of community support, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, and how the live music tradition continues to thrive. Don't miss this insightful conversation about a Raleigh institution that has stood the test of time.

00:00 Introduction to a Raleigh Icon
01:54 The Origins of Irregardless Cafe
03:19 Arthur's Vision and Evolution
04:41 Challenges and Changes Over the Years
07:55 Lee Robinson's Journey to Ownership
10:38 Maintaining Traditions and Facing Modern Challenges
17:33 Nostalgia and Budget Constraints in Music
19:26 Menu Staples and Customer Favorites
20:43 Community Support and Resilience
22:22 Challenges of Starting a Restaurant Today
25:13 Farm-to-Table Practices and Market Realities
28:08 Balancing Vegetarian and Non-Vegetarian Offerings
31:13 The Popular Lemon Tahini Dressing
32:16 Conclusion and Future Hopes

Creators and Guests

Host

Melissa

Host of What's Up, Wake + social media manager + writer + travel editor

What is What’s Up, Wake?

What’s Up, Wake covers the people, places, restaurants, and events of Wake County, North Carolina. Through conversations with local personalities from business owners to town staff and influencers to volunteers, we’ll take a closer look at what makes Wake County an outstanding place to live. Presented by Cherokee Media Group, the publishers of local lifestyle magazines Cary Magazine, Wake Living, and Main & Broad, What’s Up, Wake covers news and happenings in Raleigh, Cary, Morrisville, Apex, Holly Springs, Fuquay-Varina, and Wake Forest.

38 Whats Up Wake - Irregardless
===

[00:00:00]

Melissa: In the restaurant world, 50 years is no small potatoes. One of the longest running local gyms in Raleigh has been more than just a place to eat for over a half a century. It's been a cornerstone of our community. Families have celebrated milestones here. Friends have gathered over countless meals, no doubt, with some tahini dressing [00:01:00] on the side.

And generations have come to know its warm atmosphere with live music today, I have the privilege of sitting down with the person behind this enduring local favorite to talk about the restaurant's journey, including his own since he took over five years ago. People may debate whether regardless is even a word.

There's no debate that it's the name of one of Raleigh's most beloved institutions having carved out an indelible place in its food history. Please welcome the owner of your regardless Cafe Lee Robinson. Hi Lee.

Lee Robinson: Hey there.

Melissa: And you and I were kind of chatting before we started in talking about you. You took over five years ago, right before the pandemic.

Mm-hmm. So, um. What are the odds of that? I'm assuming it's, it's slim to none, but we'll get to your beginnings and to how, how you came to be with I regardless soon. But I wanna know if you can tell us a little bit about the, the [00:02:00] history of the restaurant. It was started by Arthur, is that correct? Yeah. Um, so walk us back 50 years ago and what it might have looked like back then.

Lee Robinson: Sure. So. Arthur was a you know, vegetarian hippie in 1975. Mm-hmm. Um, to hear him tell the story, you know, he, he knew he wanted to be in restaurants and so he tried to get into chef school, but, um, you know, whatever academy he was going for, what wouldn't let him in unless he had experience in a restaurant.

Melissa: Mm-hmm.

Lee Robinson: He's like, no, I, I want to learn how to work in a restaurant by going to school.

Melissa: Mm-hmm.

Lee Robinson: Um, and when he realized that they weren't gonna let him, he just said, well, screw it. I'm just gonna skip that step and I'm just gonna open my own. And so he found a place that had cheap enough rent in the neighborhood.

Um, it wasn't a great neighborhood back in, back in 1975. Mm-hmm. Um, but, um, you know, it was right over near Boyland Heights, which was known as a very counter-cultural sort of rental neighborhood at the time that's seen its ebbs and flows over the years, but, um, [00:03:00]

Melissa: now it's one of the hottest places to be in town, of course.

Mm-hmm.

Lee Robinson: But, um, you know, it was, it was a different sort of vibe back then. And, and he, with the help of a couple other guys, um. Opened here regardless, in the same building as a, you know, community food co-op that was known for, you know, local food and mostly vegetables. And, um, he opened Raleigh's first vegetarian restaurant with a couple of friends.

Melissa: Mm.

Lee Robinson: Um,

Melissa: it was the first vegetarian restaurant,

Lee Robinson: first dedicated vegetarian restaurant in Raleigh. Wow. He and his brother and another guy, you know. Got together, I think, you know, within a couple of years the partners, the other partners fell away, but mm-hmm. Arthur kept it going and he had to go and buy, driving down to the farmer's market every week and picking up whatever produce was getting ready to get thrown out so he could cook it.

Melissa: Mm. You

Lee Robinson: know, he, the man knew how to squeeze, squeeze a penny more than better than just by anybody I know. But he'd go and he'd pick up all his, which I, I would think is

Melissa: imperative with the restaurant world. Yeah. It's not, it's not an easy business to be in,

Lee Robinson: especially when you're trying to sell. Veg vegetarian food to a bunch of people who have never even heard of such a thing, you know?

[00:04:00] And

Melissa: in a, in a pork state, you know, this is a, a state, we, we really like our meat,

Lee Robinson: right? Mm-hmm. But yeah. So yeah, the menu you started with like, it was on a chalkboard and, you know, with items like tomato bake and, you know, a weird thing called hummus, you know? Yeah. Um, yeah,

Melissa: that is true. I bet that was kind of unique back then.

Lee Robinson: But the chalkboard changed every night. Mm-hmm. And um, it was very much a counter-cultural sort of place. The people I talk to all the time now that played music there 50 years ago. You know, one of the things he's always done, there's been live music at regardless every night in its entire history, except for during COVID.

Melissa: Mm.

Lee Robinson: So he always had live music playing. It was always sort of a jam, sort of hangout cafe space at first. And, um, he kept that rolling until, you know, 1994, I think when it burned down. Um, and then, you know, went, went. Once it got reopened six months later, um, he, I think before that. He had slowly started [00:05:00] introducing meat.

I think at first, you know, his Catholic friends were like a Arthur. We'd love to come here, but could you at least do seafood on Fridays for us? Ah,

Melissa: okay. So, you

Lee Robinson: know, he, he is, he started doing that like I think in the eighties and then somebody else said, well, if you're doing seafood, you can do chicken, right?

Melissa: You might as well might as well throw all the meats in.

Lee Robinson: So he did chicken and seafood only at first, and then at some point, I think in the nineties, um, when he reopened and he hired a chef to work with him. The chef was like, well, you know, we put all this prep into making these vegetables, but you know, all you gotta do is just cut a steak.

Melissa: Mm mm-hmm. And you

Lee Robinson: can charge twice as much for it. Mm-hmm. And, um, Arthur being a businessman was like, yeah, okay, let's, let's, let's go and do that.

Melissa: But

Lee Robinson: ultimately, until his last day though, he did all those things, but he never put pork on because, you know, he's still a good Jewish boy, so, oh,

Melissa: okay. Okay.

So,

Lee Robinson: you know, he always called himself the restaurant rabbi and, so for years, by the time you hand it off to me and to this day, the menu is still at least 60% vegetarian and vegan. Mm-hmm. [00:06:00] But we still have stuff for the rest of the family too.

Melissa: One other thing that he did that was quite novel was he never allowed smoking in the restaurant.

Well, and nowadays that's, that's the norm. We're not allowed to smoke anywhere. But back then, that was quite abnormal, right?

Lee Robinson: Yeah, he was, it was the first place to d to disallow smoking. I think it might've been allowed the very first days. Oh, at the beginning.

Melissa: Okay. But,

Lee Robinson: um, he was. But he, he absolutely made it no smoking.

And at the time, his mom was working the, the cash register at the front door. And she would, she always made the joke that, his son, her son had made him, made her a street walker because she had to go outside to smoke her cigarettes.

Melissa: Oh, go out to the sidewalk? Yeah. Yeah. Why, why do you think that Back then he was so forward thinking?

Because now, now we've named a few things that he, um, that he really revolutionized with the, the no smoking, the vegetarianism, the, the hummus. Why do you think that he was, he was so before his [00:07:00] time.

Lee Robinson: Um, I think it's just who he was. Mm-hmm. You know, but before Raleigh had any rockstar chefs that you know of today, you know, there was Arthur, you know.

Yeah. He was the first Raleigh chef.

Melissa: Very true.

Lee Robinson: He was the first rally chef to write a cookbook, you know, that really, it got widely published, oh. Called The Regardless Cooks. It's Beautifully Illustrated Uhhuh. I think it came out in the, the early eighties. Mm-hmm. Maybe the late eighties. With us celebrating our 50th anniversary this year. I did a lot of research into everything that he did back in the day. And he used to write his own ad copy for the, for the News and Observer. Um, and they are hilarious. Mm-hmm. You know, these little articles he would write about himself.

Melissa: Yeah. Yeah.

Lee Robinson: And the news and observer.

He talks about the kind of food he was serving and everything else. But yeah, I think he just, he was a vegetarian. He was never gonna eat meat himself. Mm-hmm. I mean, he ate a little fish here and there, but, you know, but, um. You know, he just thought this was the way it was going to go anyways eventually.

So why not just go ahead and support it?

Melissa: Yeah. What about you? How did you come into the role as owner of, [00:08:00] of, regardless you've been in the restaurant business and some, some pretty well-known establishments around town yourself. Mm-hmm. But then you, um, come into, regardless how did that come to be?

Lee Robinson: Being in the right place at the right time to some extent. Mm-hmm. But it was also a goal of mine. Um, yeah, I came up in restaurants, you know, I, I paid for college by waiting tables and cooking. Mm-hmm. once I got my very useful English degree, I I helped friends open a restaurant out in Durham called Foursquare.

And um, then from there, I. Went to go work with what is now called the Urban Food Group. They've got Vivace and Coquette. Yeah. And, you know, but back then they were just Kevin and Stacy Jennings. And, um, I helped them out at Frazier's, which was this little jewel box of a place on Hillsborough Street. And just kept on working with people.

And after, after Urban I helped, I ran the pit, the barbecue restaurant in downtown for seven years. And, um, right around then was when my first daughter was born. Mm-hmm. And, um, I looked at my wife at the time and said. All [00:09:00] right, I, if we're gonna do this, I've gotta do my own thing. And so I left the pit with the intent of my hope was to buy an existing spot that had been there for a long, had been around for a long time.

Yeah. And I had a list of like five or 10 mm-hmm. Old places in Raleigh that were being run by, you know, the generation before me.

Melissa: Mm-hmm.

Lee Robinson: And just sort of started approaching people saying, what's your exit strategy? And, um. Arthur bit.

Melissa: Yeah. Did he have an exit strategy at that point, or no? Did that just get the wheels turning?

Lee Robinson: He reached out to, um, my my now landlord. Mm-hmm. David Meer, you know, David Meer is one of the co-owners of Trophy Brewing. And, um,

Melissa: I know, I knew that name somewhere. Okay. And his

Lee Robinson: dad was the mayor, you know, through, throughout the Mayor. Oh, baker. Yes. Okay. Mm-hmm.

Melissa: Yes.

Lee Robinson: And, um, but you. He had reached out to David 'cause the Meers have been coming to Irregardless.

They lived in Boylan Heights and

Melissa: Okay. David

Lee Robinson: was raised going to, regardless weekly. Um, so many, it's funny, [00:10:00] prominent folks like, you know, Josh d came out to celebrate our 50th anniversary and he talked about how his mom, who was a vegetarian, drove him from Chapel Hill every week when he was a kid.

Melissa: Ah. To come

Lee Robinson: eat it, Irregardless.

So he was Wow. Happy to come celebrate us and

Melissa: mm-hmm. You know,

Lee Robinson: do regardless day.

Melissa: Yeah.

Lee Robinson: Back in February. Um, So he had reached out to David, and David is a friend of mine. And, um, David knew I was looking and this was on my list. And, um, so David and I put together an idea to like, take it off of his hands.

Mm-hmm. And David would be the landlord and I'd, I'd get the business.

Melissa: Okay. And

Lee Robinson: That just sort of wound up working out. And,

Melissa: and speaking of being landlord, I, I was telling you, I, I drove by regardless this morning, and I'm from Raleigh. I, I, it never ceases to amaze me when I drive by that area how much it's changed.

Mm-hmm. Um, and how much it has kind of grown mostly up mm-hmm. Around regardless. [00:11:00] Um, so how, how do you think, or what do you think is the biggest challenge for. Keeping regardless what it is and what you want it to remain while everything is changing so much around you. Um, I think other than rent prices.

Yeah.

Lee Robinson: Right. I think the, the single biggest challenge for a place like regardless, especially, is that we are so hyperspecialized with, you know, leading with produce that, um, we, you know, become this destination spot, you know, any given night. You'll talk to the regulars who are in there and they drove in from Fuqua or they drove in from, you know, name another small town around.

Yeah. You know, garner or whatever else, you know, because there's no place like that where they live.

Melissa: Mm-hmm.

Lee Robinson: And so as downtown gets bigger, parking becomes more and more of an issue.

Melissa: Mm-hmm. And

Lee Robinson: you know, as much as I love the fact that we've got 15,000 people who could walk [00:12:00] to, regardless in less than 10 minutes in the surrounding areas, these are non-students I'm talking about.

Um. we depend on the people who drive in, you know, 35, 45 minutes. Very true. And every time a new building goes up, that's less parking. Mm-hmm. You know, so that's a probably the, the biggest challenge is figuring out where to put these people. Mm-hmm. And like right now, I've still got it, but you know, they just tore down Charlie Goodnight's next, next door.

Melissa: Yeah.

Lee Robinson: And that's 300 parking spaces. Oh yeah, you don't even think about that. And you know that once they start construction, that that will be a thing of the past. What is

Melissa: going in its spot?

Lee Robinson: Um, we don't know. It's, it's, it's almost been a couple of things, but, um, yeah, what they're shooting for, if they, if the financing comes through is like 400 luxury units.

Melissa: Okay.

Lee Robinson: It's gonna be like four stories up. Maybe they can share

Melissa: some of their parking with you. Yeah. I'll see. Certainly. Fingers crossed with that. Um, what, what traditions do you. Do you carry on since you started five years ago? And what kind of new [00:13:00] ideas do you think you want to start introducing or you have been introducing?

Lee Robinson: the live music every night is, mm-hmm. Is, is a big one. Um, you The live music thing has changed so much over the years. Um, I don't know which, which school you're in, but mm-hmm. I don't necessarily want live music when I'm trying to have dinner.

Melissa: Okay.

Lee Robinson: As a general rule, like I, mm-hmm. I don't, unless I'm going to see a show and you're also serving dinner.

That's one thing.

Melissa: I think it depends on if it's like, like regardless live music is, is still, it's not like you're rocking out and it's super loud and you can't still carry on a conversation. So I think that would be a little bit different, but I get what you're saying

Lee Robinson: and so, you know, it's finding the right music every night.

Yeah. And um, you know, 'cause everybody wants to play, you know, I, I get. 300 emails a week of people who want to come play your really, and it's, you know, 'cause everyone wants to like, what a fun hobby to Yeah. To get paid for it as well.

Melissa: Yeah.

Lee Robinson: And you know, and it's not, they're not trying to [00:14:00] play a stadium one day mm-hmm.

But, you know, but they love to come and show off for a few hours. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And, you know, maybe make a little money and get some free dinner at the same time.

Melissa: Yeah.

Lee Robinson: But, you know, 99% of them aren't doing what we need, you know? So what, so that's a. That's a fun challenge to have. Mm-hmm. And it's fun to find the right person.

It's fun to put them in into the rotation. and it's something that I truly enjoy doing it. The our Sunday brunch guys, the same two guys, Larry and Gene, have been playing brunch there for 30 plus years. Wow. They, they alternate Sundays, they have it covered. You know, the music thing is fun. Mm-hmm. I think.

Arthur estimated they put over three and a half million dollars into the local music scene. I read that by the time, by the time he was done. That

Melissa: was shocking when I read that amount of money

Lee Robinson: about, you know, but it's over a 45 year span. It also

Melissa: shows that it was really important to him. Mm-hmm. He must have put that as a high priority to be willing to, to spend, you know, any expense like we were saying with a restaurant.

Mm-hmm. Is something you gotta consider, do I really want to do this? How important is this? [00:15:00] So it, it must have been really important for him to have the music.

Lee Robinson: Right. And, um, but like

Melissa: we said, he was from the hippie generation. Mm-hmm. Music was incredibly important, so maybe that played a role into it

Lee Robinson: and the music they were playing 50 years ago is so dramatically different than the Yeah, yeah,

Melissa: yeah.

You

Lee Robinson: know, I mean,

Melissa: you're not gonna wanna have Cardi B come and Right. Ever. Well, maybe.

Lee Robinson: And you know, like Arthur was playing a lot of jazz towards the end and Oh, okay. And, um, you know, had a lot of jazz acts coming in and the call for jazz isn't what it was even 15 years ago.

Melissa: Mm.

Lee Robinson: You know, it's. Especially just seeing it live, you know, it's one thing to listen to it, but you know, so you're trying to find that, that nice mix where it is jazz one night.

Mm-hmm. And it is bluegrass one night, but it's always background as opposed to a show.

Melissa: Yeah.

Lee Robinson: Because I think what I was trying to get back to before is like. There's, it's a 50 50 split of people who appreciate live music and people who hate it.

Melissa: Oh, gotcha. And so you've gotta find

Lee Robinson: that music that won't offend that of the 50.

Melissa: Yeah, very true. You

Lee Robinson: know, so it could still be a draw as [00:16:00] opposed to a push.

Melissa: Mm-hmm.

Lee Robinson: Because, you know, in doing the research before I bought the place, you know, that was, that was the most polarizing thing I could see. It was like. I couldn't, we couldn't hear ourselves talk because of the music. Oh yeah. So, you know, like if we're, if doing live music is actually causing people to not come back, you gotta figure out how to do it the right way.

Makes sense.

Melissa: Yeah, absolutely. But it's one of those things that I. I, as a, a non-restaurant owner or business owner would never really even think about. Mm-hmm. But it, it makes perfect sense that that would be kind of a challenge.

Lee Robinson: And it's, it's a fun challenge, but, you know, but it still doesn't even rank in the top three as far as, you know, the things that are most important to me, which is, you know, Uhhuh, it's the hospitality and the food and the service, you know?

Yeah. So, yeah, working on all these three things and then also doing that, trying

Melissa: to rent, keep some traditions mm-hmm. That, that have been around this whole time. What would, just based on what you like, what kind of music you like, do you have any artists that you would say, wow, if they, um, and maybe they're from Raleigh, [00:17:00] but if they ever come through Raleigh, I would love to have them for a night.

Have you ever thought about a dream get,

Lee Robinson: you know, people like Kaitlyn Carey, you know who, who lives in the neighborhood, but she's very true. Yeah. She's a local. She's never, she hasn't performed since I've got the place. I'm sure she's performed there before Uhhuh, but we did have her art hanging on the walls for six months. Did you? So Oh yeah.

She does fantastic mosaic work.

Melissa: Okay. Okay. Um,

Lee Robinson: she does like old buildings all around town. I

Melissa: did not know that. Out of fabric,

Lee Robinson: fabric and upholstery.

Melissa: Oh, okay. Beautiful

Lee Robinson: work.

Melissa: Mm-hmm.

Lee Robinson: But, um, you know, folks like that, um. Remember old Habits, the Bluegrass band that, you know, played for years. But when I ran the Pit, we always had Blue.

We would ran the QSS Festival. Oh yeah. And

Melissa: old

Lee Robinson: habits played every year that I was there. Mm-hmm. Thing artists like that, but. But I don't have the budget for a lot of, you know, for the, the big names. Very true. Yeah.

Melissa: That would get, I'm paying a

Lee Robinson: hundred bucks a night. I'm not paying a thousand bucks a night.

Melissa: Yeah, yeah. We, we don't need to add up another 3.5 million on, on live music, like, um, like has happened in the [00:18:00] past.

Lee Robinson: I just wanted to drop in a play sometime. I, I probably wouldn't say no to the, yeah,

Melissa: yeah. Just reach out, reach out. [00:19:00] When you first started going to, regardless, were there menu items that have have been around for decades that you have decided to keep on the menu?

Lee Robinson: Yeah. Um, so like the spina Cota. It's been on the menu since day one.

Melissa: I don't know if you're gonna be able to get rid of that.

Lee Robinson: I tried once for about two weeks. And did you? Oh, yeah, I heard about it. Oh. So, um,

Melissa: yeah.

Lee Robinson: You know, so

Melissa: is that one of the most popular items? I mean, I, I, I've never had it, but I know just from being there that that is a popular dish.

It's,

Lee Robinson: um, you [00:20:00] know, it, it is right there in the mix with the most popular items. Okay. You know, there are people who like come in for that once a month.

Melissa: Mm-hmm. But

Lee Robinson: I don't think anybody comes in there once a week to get it. Okay.

Melissa: Yeah.

Lee Robinson: It's, it's spinach and cheese and pastry. It's

Melissa: uhhuh

Lee Robinson: The seventies definition of vegetarian is different than ours.

Mm-hmm. Today, you know? Mm-hmm. I mean. Seventies vegetarianism was covered in butter and eggs and cheese.

Melissa: Yeah.

Lee Robinson: And that's

Melissa: still my definition.

Lee Robinson: Right. Um, today's vegetarian is, is a different thing. Mm-hmm. So people aren't necessarily looking for cheesy spinach and pastry when they come to get vegetables, but, but if they're, if they're there on a cheat day, they'll do it, you know?

Yeah,

Melissa: yeah. 50 years in the restaurant industry, like I've said, is, is quite an impressive feat. What do you think helped, regardless, get there, whereas other restaurants can't stay the same? What, what did they have a secret ingredient to, [00:21:00] to the, the long lasting success?

Lee Robinson: The community. Mm-hmm. Straight up.

Mm-hmm. Honestly, we wouldn't have made it through COVID without the community. I mean, um, you know, when we had our dining room closed down, you know, we closed for exactly one day. Just to like, figure out how we could pivot to the Togo model. And, um, the neighborhood was out. Like they came out and, you know, they waited in line for Togo food nonstop.

Like they kept us going.

Melissa: Yeah.

Lee Robinson: And, um,

Melissa: and that was right after you took over. Mm-hmm.

Lee Robinson: And, you know, because they wanted to keep the place going. Yeah. Like, without a doubt. Like Arthur's place in the community was a, was a huge deal, you know, and, um. The, the, the community just loves that place.

Melissa: Mm-hmm.

Lee Robinson: There's a lot of people over in all the surrounding neighborhoods that, you know, they've been going there for years and they wanted to make sure it stayed, stayed around.

Arthur really built community very well.

Melissa: I read about the history of the restaurant and the July issue of [00:22:00] Wake Living. When we were celebrating the 50th anniversary. One thing that I found fascinating is that Arthur said. There's no way he would've been able to build this restaurant today. I'm assuming he's meaning a lot of it because of, of in inflation and, and cost in today's world.

But what do you think about that? Do you think that something like, um, regardless that can stand the test of time, can be created starting today? Or what would the, the challenges be versus the challenges 50 years ago?

Lee Robinson: You could still do it today, just not, maybe the same way Arthur did it then.

Mm-hmm. I mean, Arthur did it with Bailey, a penny to his name, you know? Yeah.

Melissa: He,

Lee Robinson: he opened it completely on credit, you know, he didn't have a, so often now you can't open a restaurant without it. Some sort of angel investor out there, you know, to, to help you keep going. 'cause it's, it's expensive just to get the kitchen laid out and get all the small wears and everything else in a way [00:23:00] that it.

It was, it was a different time back then. Mm-hmm. So I think that's probably what he means. But you know, if you've got the, if you've got the money behind you. You can do just about anything. Yeah, I was about to say, I guess

Melissa: the sky is the limit if you have, if you have the funds, but,

Lee Robinson: but you know, he started with nothing.

Yeah. And, um, you know, you're only as wealthy as the credit that you're, you're giving, right? Mm.

Melissa: Yeah. Yeah. Especially when you're a brand new business owner.

Lee Robinson: Mm-hmm. And today, people don't give credit to new restaurants. Yeah. You've gotta fund a person, not a bank.

Melissa: Interesting. Interesting. Yeah. Which makes it even more difficult because then you're also bringing in a, a partner that you have to work with, and we all know that that's not easy either.

Mm-hmm. Having to find somebody that you get along well enough to work with.

Lee Robinson: I couldn't have done this without David. You know, I, I, you know, Arthur was still in the building and the business, and I, I didn't have that kind of capital, but David did. Mm-hmm. So, you know, same sort of thing. It's like,

Melissa: and at least you, you've known him for a long time.

Mm-hmm. So y'all, mm-hmm.

Lee Robinson: Yeah.

Melissa: Are used to each other. You get along so at least you know how you each work. Mm-hmm. Too. [00:24:00] Um, I have been going to Irregardless for decades myself, but one thing that I didn't know is that Arthur and his wife have a community garden called the Well Fed Community Garden. Mm-hmm.

Which supplied the restaurant with produce and donates part of it to harvest to the local community. Um, I'm assuming they're still doing that, but are they, are they helping give you some of your produce? Is that still a thing?

Lee Robinson: No. Um, I think shortly after, you know, when they stepped into retirement, I, I believe they had someone elsewhere the garden for a little while.

Okay. And. During COVID, they weren't growing the kind of produce that we could use.

Melissa: Okay.

Lee Robinson: And, um, and since then, it's just sort of just fallen off. I, I, yeah. I'm not really sure.

Melissa: Yeah. I would, I would love to one day learn more about the community garden. I, I drive by that often because my kids go to school out that way.

And then, but when I read about it, I went, wait a [00:25:00] second. That's the regardless owner, the old owner. So that I, I found that interesting. I, I can imagine that. Running the restaurant looks very different now than it would've, we talked about that. What are some of the things, um, that would, you would say has remained the same?

If you, if you could go back and, and put yourself in Arthur's shoes 50 years ago and looking what your day to day is now, what would you say is similar?

Lee Robinson: Still have fun going to the farmer's market the way he did. You know, you see all these old pictures of him with his, with his young son at the farmer's market. Mm-hmm. I love taking my kids to the farmer's market to pick through what, what might be good for the week at the restaurant. Yeah. Um, and

Melissa: so you still do kind of like the, the farm to table try type of mentality As,

Lee Robinson: as often as we can.

Okay. I mean, you can't get everything in the farmer's market.

Melissa: Yeah. Um,

Lee Robinson: yeah. And, you know, and the Raleigh farmer's market. While fantastic. You know, [00:26:00] there's really only a couple of small family farms mixed in with everything. A a lot of it's larger food conglomerates making it look like it's a farm stand.

Melissa: Okay. Okay. But,

Lee Robinson: but at the same time it is fresh produce and it does come from down the street. It just might not be the small family farm you think you're getting. Yeah. You know, and the germ farmers market, which is wonderful and organic is so far away and they and they can't quite do just hook me up with enough food to feed.

700 people are gonna feed over the next five days. Yeah. So that, that's a bit of a different story. Yeah. Um,

Melissa: yeah. I would think that the amount of what you need to bring in mm-hmm. Is, is has certainly increased.

Lee Robinson: You can't go pick up a dozen tomatoes.

Melissa: Yeah, you can, but it's not gonna get you

Lee Robinson: very far. I need cases and cases.

Yeah. You know, we're, we're feeding, you know. On average 800 people every week for brunch, which is another thing. Wow. And, um, that's another one. They always be number two as far as things that I'm keeping alive, you know? Mm-hmm. Um,

Melissa: and [00:27:00] I've never been to brunch at, regardless, I need to add that to my list.

Arthur

Lee Robinson: was the first place to do brunch in, in Raleigh. Um, he

Melissa: really was a groundbreaker. Mm-hmm.

Lee Robinson: And, um, you know, and honestly. He didn't, he did it as a way to not throw away so much food, you know, to hear him tell it. You know, back then they were closed Sundays and Mondays and so he get to the end of Saturday night and he had this seafood that wasn't gonna make it to Tuesday.

So he's like, what if I just put it into an omelet? And so he was doing it as a way to like, maybe just have a few hours of business on Sunday to get rid of the, the rest of the food from the week.

Melissa: Yeah.

Lee Robinson: Disguise it as breakfast. They're smart. And um, next thing you know, he is got the busiest brunch and rally.

I mean, still like we fed 400 people for brunch yesterday. Yeah.

Melissa: So he just, at, at times he just kind of fell into being a trailblazer. Mm-hmm. It sounds like, yeah,

Lee Robinson: a little bit.

Melissa: Mm-hmm.

Lee Robinson: It's all, it all looks prescient now, but at the time, at the time he was just scrambling, you know?

Melissa: He was just, it sounds like he was just trying to figure it out.

Mm-hmm. Like any new entrepreneur, like all of us. Yeah. Any, anybody Starting out doing something, just feeling your way and see what works and [00:28:00] see what sticks to the wall and what doesn't. Mm-hmm. What do you wanna try out next? What do you see in the future? For, regardless.

Lee Robinson: me and James, the chef, um, we, we talk all the time about, you know, how to continually rededicate ourselves to the produce side, you know while being leading with vegan and vegetarianism is a, is a wonderful thing.

Finding a chef who wants to do, that's harder. Oh, chefs make meat dishes,

Melissa: okay.

Lee Robinson: Produce is a fun challenge, but you know, but most chefs, their heart is in, you know, taking that cheap cut of beef and turning it into something beautiful. Yeah. You know same thing with pork or whatever else. Um. So it's always fun, a fun challenge to, you know, to speak with a chef about, well, how do we keep just vegetables exciting.

Mm-hmm. And, um, that's been fun for me especially coming from my background of burger shops and barbecue restaurants and, you know, having more fried can import. That

Melissa: is true. You came from a, a barbecue place, one of the, the best barbecue places and Raleigh and, and to a. [00:29:00] Primarily vegetarian space. I didn't even think about that.

Lee Robinson: And, you know, therefore my diet is too, you know. Yeah. I I eat mostly vegetables, but I've also got three young kids, so I have to the leftover hot dogs sometimes. Mm-hmm. Yeah. You know? Yeah.

Melissa: It's called balance uhhuh. Yeah.

Lee Robinson: But yeah, throw in

Melissa: a slice of cake and you've got a well-rounded meal.

Lee Robinson: But it's the fun thing is that, you know, we do, we, we, we lead with the, with the produce.

So we're, we're a good place for the vegetarian to come for dinner. But we're not exclusively vegetarian and vegan. Mm-hmm.

Melissa: Mm-hmm.

Lee Robinson: Which means they can bring their dad.

Melissa: Yeah. You know, and

Lee Robinson: so it's a, it's a good place. You know, the menu is 60% vegetarian, but it's really, you know, vegetarian food is really only 25% of our sales.

Um, ah, you know, it's. It's the vegetarian who makes the re reservation, but they bring three other people with them.

Melissa: Ah, you know,

Lee Robinson: umt me wrong. Interesting. Yeah, don't me wrong. Vegan couples come in all the time, Uhhuh and vegan. Six stops Uhhuh. But um, but really we get an executive dinner of [00:30:00] 16 executives, you know, doing a corporate dinner.

It was booked by the vegetarian.

Melissa: Mm, yes. Because they know they've got options on the menu for themselves. You know,

Lee Robinson: unlike, you know, like Fiction Kitchen, which one, which is 100% vegan and I love Caroline and everything she does Uhhuh. I'm there at least once a month. Um, but you know, that is exclusively vegan and it works.

But, you know, being able to cast it just that slightly wider net.

Melissa: Yeah.

Lee Robinson: Um, really. It's, it's a beautiful thing.

Melissa: I'm sure it's very helpful as a business owner,

Lee Robinson: but, you know, but you still gotta lead with the vegetables first. Mm.

Melissa: Okay. And that's,

Lee Robinson: that's the whole thing, you know, the vegetables can never be the afterthought, which it kind of is the case at just about every other restaurant.

Melissa: Mm-hmm.

Lee Robinson: You know, like, because

Melissa: it's the side. Mm-hmm.

Lee Robinson: Yeah. But it's, you know, they have the vegetarian entree,

Melissa: ah,

Lee Robinson: you know, and they've got salad

Melissa: mm-hmm.

Lee Robinson: And sides. Yes. All right. That's, that's for you, vegetarians. That's it. Yeah. Yeah. You know. People really appreciate the fact that they can walk in and there's four or five vegetarian entrees to choose from, you know?

And [00:31:00] you know, if you're not just vegetarian, you're full on vegan. There's options too.

Melissa: Mm-hmm.

Lee Robinson: Um, and so leading with that is fun, but it's also, you know, you've got to make sure that everyone knows that no, we're not just a vegetable restaurant.

Melissa: Well, and I, I mentioned in my introduction about the Lemon tahini dressing, which.

Truthfully, I could go drink. Yeah. Put a straw on it. I could just drink it. So you put that on any of, any of your menu items in It's a winner.

Lee Robinson: We sell it by the Pint and Women.

Melissa: Do you really? Oh yeah, absolutely. Oh, don't tell me that.

Lee Robinson: And, um, that, so we sell these bottles of it. It's got a pretty label on it and everything.

Oh. That's gonna change my

Melissa: life.

Lee Robinson: But, um, you know, I've got women who've been coming there for 40 years. Uhhuh, you know, who pull up. Out front. And they're Lincoln, they, they, they get outta the car. They come in, they buy their two bottles. I'm not kidding. What you just said is true. On their way out the door, they crack open the bottle and they take a sip.

Take a sip. Wow. As they get in the car, like, yeah. I, I wish I had camera Gives new nude for every, for every woman new meaning to drink

Melissa: and driving.

Lee Robinson: For every [00:32:00] woman I, who I've seen drink that stuff on the way out the door,

Melissa: I can see it. 'cause that might be me. Now that you've said I can buy it and buy the pint, it might be me next.

It's, it's

Lee Robinson: the best salad dressing ever. And you can't use too much of it. It's

Melissa: No, no. I mean, it's healthy, so, and it's five

Lee Robinson: ingredients, you know. Wow.

Melissa: It is. It is truly amazing. Mm-hmm. And what is also amazing is the fact that you get to run this Raleigh institution. So congratulations. And now you're celebrating five years mm-hmm.

At the helm. And I hope to see you for 50 more.

Lee Robinson: Here's hoping. At

Melissa: least 20. Yes. At least 20. Thank you so much for being here today. It's my pleasure. Thanks for the conversation. Yeah.

[00:33:00]