Conversations with Christy + Matt Griffith

Today we’d like to introduce you to Christy + Matt Griffith. 

Christy + Matt, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I’ve always loved the idea of high tea because, shared with friends, it’s a very fancy tapas-type of experience. I’ve never been a planner, so thinking ahead of time to make reservations was rarely in the cards for me. We talked about how fun it would be to have a much more laid back type of tea service where no one needed reservations and could show up however they felt most comfortable.

The house that is now Pimiento Tea Room has been in Holly Springs for almost 200 years. When we moved from Raleigh to Apex in 2006, I would drive past it and daydream of one day turning it into a restaurant. A “For Sale” sign appeared in the front yard and we took it as a literal sign that it was time to open our very untraditional tea room.

We never expected that we would first need to become developers to make PTR a reality, but we filed more permits to the Town of Holly Springs than I even knew existed. Matt took down walls to create more space and uncovered beautiful ceilings that were hidden after centuries of redesign. He came home each day from his corporate job and headed over to the future PTR only to return covered in decades of dust. We worked with an architectural firm to design an addition to house our commercial kitchen and ADA bathrooms so that it would be a historically appropriate fit with the existing property. Matt and I were so fortunate to have many friends and family who were willing to help, whether it was moving heavy equipment from restaurant auctions or getting the inside ready for the world. It was a 3-year process from the time we started rezoning the property to selling our first meal. Through all the challenges, learning, and surprises, we never could have imagined we would be opening during a worldwide pandemic.

Our first night open, we served two soups and two salads, to-go. My best friend moved from Maryland to become a vital part of the restaurant, and the two of us were the only two in the kitchen. We called it our “Soup-er Soft Opening,” because all we could handle were those two soups and salads. The goal each week was to add a new section to the menu. Eventually, we were able to hire more staff and open the dining room.

While we had planned for outdoor dining, we didn’t know we’d need to *rely* on it almost exclusively when we opened. For the guests gracious enough to visit during this time we did our best to keep the patio warm and the food warmer! After a couple of months, we decided to open for supper service. Today, we serve lunch, supper, and Sunday brunch. It feels like three different restaurant experiences, and we would have it no other way.

We have a handful of staples on our menu that will be on forever, but the majority of our menu changes each week to feature what’s in season. There’s hardly any free time nowadays, but Matt and I take dates to visit the Farmers Market to pick out produce that we want to work with that week.

Three words I hope no one ever associates with Pimiento Tea Room are PROPER, ELEVATED, and AUTHENTIC. They all carry implications that don’t jive with our vibes. We make good food. Sometimes it’s wild, but it’s always enjoyable. We do weird things and don’t take ourselves too seriously. At lunch, we sell tea sandwiches that are served on house-made focaccia, crusts not removed. Instead of cucumber-and-watercress, we’re more “fried bologna and pimiento cheese” type of tea sandwich people. Each week for Supper, we serve three new entrees (always including a vegan and gluten-free offering). And from open until after dark, you can catch the sound of the cocktail shaker mingling with conversations between old and new friends in our lounge. We’re not an English tea room; we’re a Southern tea room. Here’s to breaking the stereotype that tea is only for ladies in fancy hats- tea is for humans that want tasty tea. Pimiento Tea Room is for people that want a fun and unusual experience.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The development process is no joke. Our actual running joke is that we decided our first venture was going to be the most difficult, complicated, and expensive one we could possibly do. The next one will be a hot dog cart.

A struggle we *thought* we were prepared for, but learned quickly that we were not, is re-learning how to be a family. We’ve transformed from an “off-to-school, off-to-work, reconvene for dinner, enjoy a game or show or conversation, what-are-we-doing-this-weekend, and two-vacations-per-year” family unit to an early morning hug, late night return, relying on family and friends, whew-one-of-the-kids-has-their-license-now, dang-I-miss-the-kids, yay-the-kids-are-working-with-us-this-weekend!, we’ll-get-out-of-our-2-mile-radius-soon-I-promise…” work-in-progress.

A hurdle we’re trying to overcome is the associations with the term “Tea Room.” Tea Rooms are lovely, and we have nothing against them, but we have found that so many people think PTR is going to be a place where you have to show up in giant hats and lacy gloves and put your pinkies up while you sip from tea served in fancy tea cups. That’s not who we are… I like to think we are “classy-casual.” We’re a first date/tenth date/twentieth anniversary/got all As on the report card/yay-it’s-Wednesday/let’s get some great cocktails/I’m-craving-pimiento-cheese type of place. When is it a good time to visit PTR? Then answer is: whenever you’re hungry.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
We pride ourselves in not only showcasing seasonal ingredients, but also making thoughtful dishes for both gluten-free and vegan diets. What I mean is, it’s not about removing the gluten or meat from an entrée, but about designing a dish with gluten-free or plant-based ingredients from the ground up. Sometimes our vegan options outsell our meat offerings!

Our family is what I would describe as “flexitarian.” We have three kids- 14, 15, and 16- and decided when they were young that we would incorporate meat as more of a condiment than the star of the show. I’m not on a mission to turn everyone vegan (because I have a hard time imagining life without the beauty of a runny egg yolk atop literally anything you can put in front of me), but reducing our meat-consumption is something we can all do to make a positive impact on the environment. There are a lot of restaurants that lean one way or the other, but we just want to show people that you don’t need an entire chicken on your plate to make a filling and delicious meal. We don’t use tofu or tempeh or Impossible meat- we use whole foods, and more often than not, they are of the humble variety. No Torfurky here, but there are pinto beans until the sun sets in the east.

As proud as I am of our menu offerings, I’m even more proud of the aforementioned children. Natalie, Daniel, and Eve are vital parts of our team— when we say we are a family-run restaurant, we mean that in a bold-faced, capslocked, underlined, italicized, heavily exclamation-marked way. Natalie barbacks, preps food, serves food, and washes dishes. Eve hosts, preps, runs food, and does garde manger. Daniel runs the entire back of the kitchen by himself on the very busy weekends. I couldn’t be more proud of my kids. Pimiento Tea Room: character building since December 2020.

Our kids even volunteer their time when we hold our monthly Supper Clubs to support CureSearch for Children’s Cancer. PTR is closed on Mondays, but one Monday evening a month, we host ticketed dinners for adventurous eaters to benefit an organization that funds the type of life-saving research that saved Eve’s life many years ago. Matt and I want to continue to help other children get their happily-ever-afters by continuing to raise money for the two classrooms of kids who are diagnosed with cancer every day.

Additionally, I’m really proud of our cocktails. Each of our signature drinks feature spirits infused with tea, and we have designed not only strong, but soft (spirit-free) cocktails, because we know that not everyone is always at a place in their lives where they care to imbibe. No matter what place you are in, there is always a delicious sip for you at PTR.

And I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that- with the exception of Duke’s Mayonnaise (because why mess with perfection?)- everything you see on the menu is made from scratch.

The crisis has affected us all in different ways. How has it affected you and any important lessons or epiphanies you can share with us?
We have learned that everyone’s comfort level is different. PTR has regulars who dine with us in-person, and those who are exclusively to-go. Other than that, well, we opened in the middle of the pandemic, so there were no before-times for us to compare!

Although the majority of our staff are vaccinated, we decided to require masks of everyone once the CDC recommended counties with high transmission rates wear masks in public again. We want to keep our family, our employees, and our community healthy and offer free masks at the front door for those who have forgotten theirs. We will continue to follow CDC guidance and update the policy as the guidance changes.

Contact Info:

• Email: griffiths@pimientotearoom.com
• Website: www.pimientotearoom.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/pimientotearoom
• Facebook: facebook.com/pimientotearoom
• Twitter: twitter.com/pimientotearoom

Image Credits
Jonathan Bui
Christy Griffith