Right down Bistro Alley
By John Joyce
Published in News on January 4, 2016 1:46 PM
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Bill Weaver with the City of Goldsboro screws in the bulbs that will light up Bistro Alley last Tuesday. Bistro Alley is a joint effort between Herb Herbst, owner of Chef Herb's Bistro, and the Arts Council of Wayne County and is almost totally funded by donations.
Lights went up over the holiday break in the alley between two downtown businesses, where a joint-venture between Chef Herb's Bistro, the Arts Council of Wayne County and the Downtown Goldsboro Development Corp. is under construction.
The decorated walkway will be the second of its kind in the Municipal Service District, part of a collaborative effort between the city and businesses to further enhance downtown.
Bistro Alley -- modeled after Art Alley which debuted in June behind the Arts Council on North John Street -- is located between Chef Herb's Bistro, 115 E. Walnut St., and Coaches, 111 E. Walnut St. Once completed, the alley will play host to local artist's renditions of post cards crafted to represent the many countries of origin of the various downtown restaurants. The alleyway bridges the businesses along the 100 block of East Walnut Street to the John Street parking lot that connects Center and John streets, which is home to downtown events such as Center Street Jam.
"In conjunction with the DGDC and the arts council, we put this together," Herbert Herbst said.
Herbst, known to his employees and patrons as Chef Herb, is hoping to engender more cooperative efforts between businesses downtown to collaborate on projects that will both enhance downtown aesthetics and draw business to the area.
DGDC promotions coordinator Erin Fonseca said Herbst is an example of what has been her corporation's mission statement all along.
"At DGDC, our goal is to create collaboration between the businesses, the city and downtown advocates," she said. "Chef Herb saw that and wanted to take it and run with it and put his own spin on it."
Fonseca said the DGDC spent more than $1,000 from the Downtown District Fund to install the lights in Bistro Alley. That money is allotted from the beautification fund, dollars previously earmarked for downtown beautification projects such as landscaping, Art Alley and now Bistro Alley.
The remainder of the costs will be footed by Chef Herb, the arts council and any sponsors they solicit from.
Chef Herb said Lowes Home Improvement Store made a sizable donation in materials and will continue to work with the project as a way of giving back to the community. Instillation of the art pieces, however will be handled "in-house," he said.
"Because of the age of the buildings, we are going to do it ourselves," Herbst said.
Herbst is looking forward to the ally representing the many tastes downtown Goldsboro eateries have to offer. He is not sure if all of the restaurants are aware they are going to have their cuisine depicted.
"We are going to have Jamaican, Mexican, British, we are going to have New York and Chicago -- those are countries unto themselves -- and I think we are having something from Thailand," he said.
Eight "nations" altogether will be displayed, and on the pavement in the alleyway, signposts will be painted marking the distance from the alley to each downtown restaurant.
There will be some overlap, he cautioned. For instance, both Torero's Mexican Restaurant and Chef Herb's Bistro offer takes on Mexican dishes. Herbst said his menu consists of dishes from all parts of the world, including Mexico, the Caribbean and Central and South America.
Herbst said the pièce de résistance will be a 3-dimensional rendition of an authentic Mexican cathedral.
"My wife, Nicole, is from Durango, Durango. I don't know how familiar you are with the Catholic church, but there is a cathedral there. It is going to be absolutely beautiful," Herbst said.