A southern-style sweet tea for David Byrne? Not so, says Raleigh Times server James Dodgen. “He’s British all the way.”
Around 2 p.m. on Dec. 8, the corner of Hargett and Wilmington Streets was abuzz as the former Talking Heads frontman made his way from Morning Times to The Raleigh Times with a little guidance from N&O music critic David Menconi.
Jen Werkhoven, a server at Raleigh Times, said that when Byrne appeared in the doorway of the restaurant in his white North Face jacket, she could tell this white-haired rock star didn’t exactly fit with the “Raleigh look.” He just exuded a certain ‘cool’ about him.
And according to both Werkhoven and Dodgen, that cool translated well to his persona as they both admitted that Byrne “was a cool guy.”
Being originally from Los Angeles, Dodgen said Byrne isn’t the first celebrity he’s ever waited on, but he said the 56-year-old rock star ranks up at the top along with Stevie Wonder.
What exactly does a man who’s won a Grammy, Oscar and Golden Globe order at one of the hippest restaurants in the Triangle? Sitting at a corner table, just over the footprints where the Raleigh Times’s printing presses once rested, Byrne admired the old photography adorning the walls and ordered a Country French Salad and unsweet tea, Dodgen said.
So if you’re looking to eat like a rock star in Raleigh, look to Raleigh Times for a mixed greens salad with pears, bleu cheese, candied walnuts and roasted beats with sherry vinaigrette. And keep that sugar out of your tea.
David Byrne performs tonight at the Meymandi Concert Hall in Raleigh. Tickets for the performance are still available at the box office and through Ticketmaster.
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