All Up In Your Business, Jan. 29

Carolina Crossroads awarded four stars

A Chapel Hill restaurant was one of three North Carolina establishments to garner a Forbes four-star rating for 2014.

Carolina Crossroads Restaurant, which is located in Carolina Inn, has been given four stars from the Forbes Travel Guide for 14 consecutive years, according to a press release from the inn.

“It’s just a further testament and accolade as to the superior quality of the dining experience,” said Martin Armes, a spokesman for the Carolina Crossroads Restaurant.

The Carolina Inn and its restaurant were awarded AAA’s prestigious 2014 Four Diamond ratings this year.

Executive Chef James Clark described the restaurant’s food as “Contemporary Southern” with a strong emphasis on sustainable ingredients, including local meat, seafood and vegetables.

Clark has worked at more than six fine dining restaurants in the U.S. and said he likes to keep the food simple by concentrating on only three or four ingredients for each dish and maximizing their flavors.

“It’s another feather in the cap for the hotel and the restaurant,” Armes said.

“Your hard core foodies certainly recognize those lists. It’s certainly an important accolade … It means a lot to be recognized by those most prominent organizations.”

Hickory Tavern opens Carrboro location

Carrboro prides itself on having a range of unique businesses — but now it’s one step closer to being a sports lovers’ paradise.

Hickory Tavern, a chain with 16 restaurants in North Carolina and South Carolina, opened its newest location in the 300 E. Main St. development in Carrboro.

General Manager Brent Wall said his restaurant is a family owned, kid friendly restaurant with 53 TVs.

Wall said the thing that sets Hickory Tavern apart from other restaurants in Carrboro is its hours — it opens at 11:30 a.m. and serves food until 2 a.m., long after most Carrboro restaurants have closed their doors for the night.

Wall said the restaurant is a versatile space. It hosts all types of events, from business lunches and happy hours to family dinners and late night eats.

Within the upcoming month, the restaurant will host Inside Carolina’s signing party for the NFL recruits.

“We have everyone from professionals, students, the hipsters, the hippies — everyone,” said Wall. “That’s what makes us great.”

The restaurant is slowly building up a customer base, Wall said.

“We’re showing the community that we’re here for them one guest and one day at a time.”

Upscale consignment comes to Elliot Road

By day, Kim Vassiliadis is a UNC librarian, but by night she’s a fashionista.

Vassilladis and her husband Chris Tovell manage Clothes Mentor, a new upscale resale fashion store in Chapel Hill. It is located on South Elliot Road near Whole Foods.

Clothes Mentor opened in October, but only to start buying clothes from women in Chapel Hill. But after Thursday’s grand opening, the business will start reselling clothes as well.

Clothes Mentor operates 100 stores in 27 states, including seven in North Carolina. The stores resell business wear and casual clothing for up to 70 percent off.

It carries clothing from many different designers, from Lilly Pulitzer to Anthropologie to Lane Bryant. The store also accepts shoes, purses and jewelry.

Vassiliadis and Tovell said they were interested in opening a Clothes Mentor franchise because of the sustainable nature of the business.

The entire business is hyper-local and helps people reduce their footprint on the environment, Tovell said.

“It seems like a good fit for the area and for us,” he said.

People can bring clothing in to sell for cash at any time. The store only buys clothing in good condition. They must be current style, freshly laundered and free of stains, fading, missing buttons or broken zippers.