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When Steve Kohlstedt decided to change the name of his iconic
restaurant at 2 Market Street back to the name it held in the 1930s, he
couldn't have known the cause of it closing nearly a century ago was a
fire. Best known for its romantic
balconies overlooking the Cape Fear River, could the original Union
Cafe been the victim of Confederate arson?
 Kohlstedt doesn't think so. Good natured and quiet yet quick to joke followed by a roar of laughter, Steve is an anchor in a sea of movement. His busy kitchen, as so many now depicted in reality shows, is a tight fit of searing flames, big men and sharp knives continually at work. Long known as Roy's Riverboat Landing after Kohlstedt's mentor and the longtime owner Roy Clifton, this restaurant's name was changed to Union Cafe which unfortunately was beset with bad luck. 'Our intention was to update the restaurant, make it more smooth and fresh and add more seafood options to the menu. While it was always the same folks behind the scenes, we thought we would try to capitalize on trying to be the next big thing,' Kohlstedt recalls. 'Turns out more people were upset by the change and the concept fell flat.' As the warm weather tourist season gave way to earlier sunsets, Water Street closed for infrastructure repair. A chain-link fence partitioned off an entire side of the restaurant. Loud pounding sounds from cranes ramming pilings into the ground became a sort of coo-coo clock to Kohlstedt as he worked nearly 80 hours a week in the kitchen alone for three months, trying his best to salvage the longtime business now struggling to att ract any clientele willing to put up with the battering sounds of construction. On April 1, 2009, Water Street reopened, and for the first few weeks, business was doing very well. Three weeks later, close to hiring back his kitchen staff, Kohlstedt approached the 1857 building one morning and was greeted with a cloud of steam. The night before a massive hot water heater flooded, ultimately requiring more months of repairs. "It was the absolute worst day of my life," Kohlstedt recalls. Yet the damage would reveal an interesting turn of events. During the course of the repairs, a worker uncovered evidence of the fire from long ago. Apparently, the spray used to seal in the odors of burnt wood available since about the 50s had not been applied.  "I'm not a superstitious guy,' he claims, "But when I learned the last time the building was called Union Cafe it caught fire and this time was destroyed in a flood, I knew it was time to return to our roots."
So how did it all begin? Close to 15 years ago, newly wed and searching with his wife for a home outside of Florida, Steve and Sophie ate dinner at Roy's Riverboat Landing during their trip along the coast. They had considered Savannah, Charleston and Raleigh and were on their way south after a stint in Nags Head when they walked into what would later become the biggest challenge of his life. The Kohlstedts returned to Florida for a few weeks before turning back to Wilmington. After settling in, Sophie took a job waiting tables at The Pilot House. Determined to leave the restaurant business behind him and utilize his psychology degree from Florida State, Steve's lack of options led him to managing the kitchen at Deluxe. Two years later, he tried again to leave the restaurant business, exiting Deluxe for real estate sales. After six months, he had sold a single home and was back on the pavement answering a newspaper ad for assistant front-of-the-house manager at Roy's Riverboat Landing. He was quickly promoted to manager. Once the chef left, Kohlstedt completed the circle, making his way into the kitchen where he has stayed for the past decade, eventually taking over the business and expanding to take over the lease of Caffe Phoenix five years ago. Today, known again as The Riverboat Landing Restaurant, the food and service are better than ever. With the addition of Nate Morgan, formerly of Portland Grille renown, the menu boasts fresh, seasonal offerings the way a restaurant should, innovative but without pretense. The food is delectable; the service, cheery; but not in your face; the view, priceless. A smaller, second dining room (above the main dining room) is my favorite. Recently renovated to pastel blue, the room has an alfresco charm reminiscent of another time and place, especially when the balcony doors are open. The Riverboat Landing is a Wilmington classic worth revisiting. Just don't mention Union Cafe's fire or flood. "I was thinking, before we closed the second time," Kohlstedt jibed me with his usual humor, "now all we need is a plague of locusts and we'll have completed the apocalypse!" While laughing, I couldn't help but imagine what downtown would be like without one of the best known buildings. Thank heaven the Riverboat is back. Southern Style Crab Cake INGREDIENTS
1T dijon mustard
3 T whole butter (melted)
3 T mayo
1t hot sauce
1t lemon juice
pinch salt
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1/2 cup Japanese (panko) bread crumbs
3 diced green onions
1 lb backfin or lump crab meat (pick through for shells) Combine everything in a mixing bowl except crab. Fold in crab to keep whole.
Broil, form into cakes and broil. Or dredge through more egg and panko to fry. Serve home-made tartar
1/4 cup mayo
1 t yellow mustard
1 T sweet relish
whisk and serve
makes 8-10 cakes |
