Conversations with Amanda Wolf

Today we’d like to introduce you to Amanda Wolf.

Hi Amanda, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story? 
My husband, Randolph, and I have been cooking together since way back in 2007. He taught my third-level culinary arts class in college on the Eastern Shore of Maryland… Although he enjoyed teaching, he took the job to find help for his restaurant in St. Michaels, Maryland. As you can probably guess, I took a job with that particular restaurant. Haha! Many people we tell this to like to joke “Oh, I bet you got an A in class!” or “Guess he had a favorite student!” But quite honestly…I did not like Randolph when I first met him. Sure, he was funny and most definitely knew how to cook. However, I took college very seriously and I did not enjoy his lack of a syllabus, tests, or even recipes. One of our first interactions with one another was when he asked the class to showcase our knife skills. He demonstrated his skills and carved a butterfly out of a carrot (yes, very 1970s..he is showing his age here). He asked us to repeat the same steps. Let’s just say the whole class failed. Ok, so I couldn’t carve a butterfly but I was confident I could cook (at least I thought I could at the time). 

I guess that confidence shown itself because I was asked to intern at the restaurant where he cheffed. I was so excited, scarred…nervous. I have never actually worked in a restaurant before. I remember walking in and thinking, “Wow, this place needs to be organized! How can he possibly find anything?” So that’s what I did, I cleaned and organized my first week. I worked into desserts and prep. Eventually, I worked my way up on the kitchen line. It was exciting…thrilling, fun, and stressful. The bug bit me… I was hooked! We worked side by side for a few years. Our work relationship was building strong, and our personal relationship built a friendship. Over time, that friendship became love. 

When our personal relationship began in spring of 2009, Randolph wanted to take me to his absolute favorite place- the Outer Banks of North Carolina. I had never been to NC (or anywhere south of VA). One of our first summer “weekends” (Thus, Mon/Tues), we made our way to the OBX. Where we swam in the ocean, explored Hatteras, ate, drank…it was paradise. So much so we did that every Monday and Tuesday for the rest of the summer. Unfortunately, the fall semester came, and I had to finish my last year of college. I remember being depressed and missing the Outer Banks. It didn’t take us long to decide on a plan. The plan was to move to the OBX once I graduated college. Well, that following spring (literally the day after graduation), bags were packed and we were off to North Carolina. 

We were offered a few jobs with the restaurants there. We settled on The Sandlering Resort. They offered housing and opportunity for year-round work. Let’s just do us all a favor and jump ahead a year. After the Sandlering, we co-cheffed a brand-new Italian restaurant in Corolla. We spent 3 years there. During those 4 years on the OBX, there was a lot of growth in both our personal and professional relationship. Some good…some bad. We made so many friends in Corolla. Although we loved what we were doing, we (or maybe just I) were still not satisfied. I craved owning our own restaurant. At every chance I had, I planned and worked on business plans…jotted down ideas. There were life setbacks, and we were living paycheck to paycheck. Sometimes there was no paycheck. Corolla was very seasonal and off-season work proved to be tough at times. I even took a year-round office job (away from the restaurant business) to help supplement our income. 

In 2013, we were forced to move out of our Kitty Hawk home because the landlords sold the house we were renting. We reluctantly moved to Colington. Little did Randolph or I know that Colington would truly be our home and quite honestly, one of the best decisions we have ever made. Colington is made up of two little islands within the Outer Banks. Many year ‘round OBX residents reside on Colington Island. There is only one road on and off the island. 

On Colington Rd, there was a little yellow and green shack. It was some sort of bar and/or restaurant. Randolph or I didn’t pay the building much attention. It was never busy or was never opened. We didn’t really know. One November morning, while on our way to visit family in Maryland for Thanksgiving, we saw on the marquee “available for lease or rent”. We both saw it. We both read it. We both didn’t talk about it. Until we were on the bridge leaving the Beach. I guess we were both thinking about it. Randolph mentions the sign first. I shoot him down immediately. I claim we have no money, it’s Colington, it needs too much work. I throw every excuse at him…meanwhile the wheels in my head are turning. It was as if something or someone said “NO…it’s the PERFECT place”. After a moment of silence, I bring the building up again. We discuss the possibilities and decide to contact the owner when we get back from our holiday travel. Well…3 days later and 5 minutes of passing by that same marquee, we pull into the parking lot. We do a quick walk around and call the owner. No one answers. Randolph leaves a message. The voice recording states a name of a business where the owner can be reached. We say “screw it, let’s track her down.” While we were on our way, the owner of the building calls us back. We make our way back to Colington to meet her and to look at the property. Within 5 minutes of walking in the door…so much was going through my (and I am sure Randolph’s head). The building needed a lot of work. There was so much cleaning, painting, fixing and remodeling that needed to be done, BUT none of that mattered. All the challenges we faced seemed easy because we both knew that THIS was it. We joke to this day that someTHING definitely spoke to us that moment. You can call it intuition, a spirit, gut feeling…whatever it was it made us feel unstoppable. We were going for it! Thankfully, the owner of the building also had a good feeling about us (because she had other offers) and decided to give us a chance. What a chance we took. 

The next 2-3 months were a blur. I have no idea how we pressed on. I couldn’t tell you how we were able to clean, paint, create menus, a name, staff, fix things we didn’t know how to fix with only 3k in our bank and just a whole lot of persistence, but we did it. We knew we wanted it to be a fun environment to both eat and work. We wanted to use the freshest ingredients possible. We knew we wanted to be innovative in our dishes. The SaltBox Cafe was born. We opened on February 13th, 2014. I look back on all of this with tears in my eyes. We did it! We opened our own restaurant! We had a whopping staff of my husband, my sister (who up and moved her whole life to help us), my best friend and her son, me, and another friend or two. That was it. That was our staff. We worked! We were open 7 days for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and Sunday brunch. We didn’t know what would work for us, but we wanted to try it all. As you might imagine, we couldn’t sustain that workload for an extended period of time. We ended up stopping breakfast after the summer. We were still open 7 days and added a couple of staff members. We worked day in and day out. 

Slowly building our reputation. After our first year, we added wine dinners. Randolph wanted to bring a culinary experience to Colington. We wanted to branch out of the everyday fare. We wanted to create dishes that not only pair well with wine but bring something to the table that maybe the average person has not tried. What was a once-a-month event grew to include several dinners a month. We often laugh and say we started a wine dinner cult. Our event dinners had become a sort of social club for the off-season. We also competed in as many culinary competitions as possible. It was all about getting our name out there, promoting the restaurant and of course, seeing our customers and being a part of our wonderful community. It was great! Although tired, we were energized and on top. 

Then 2020 happened. The global pandemic. Covid. When the world paused. Everything felt like a dream…or rather a nightmare. This couldn’t be happening. The state was shutting us down. What would we do? What would my staff do without their jobs? We have people that depend on us. My sister has a family of her own to feed now. We just bought a house. All was spinning too fast. Randolph and I have worked far too hard to just give up. We knew we had to make an action plan. We had to keep going. We had to steer our way through this and keep SaltBox alive. We weren’t at square one, but it sure did feel like we were creating a new business plan. We focused on what foods would travel well for take-out. What menu items would be comforting to our customers during these uncertain times. What would fuel our customers’ bodies without breaking the bank. We truly were all in this together. We opened in the same little building that had been remodeled many times throughout the years- a takeout-only concept: All Boxed Up. Thankfully with the help of our community and hard-working staff, we made it. Trust me, it was hard. Take out (although sounds easy) was not an easy business plan to execute. In late May of 2020, we were once again allowed to open for dine-in. Adjusting from take-out to dine-in..phew! The year 2020 sure did have the ups and downs of probably one of the world’s biggest and scariest roller coasters. 

Let’s just skip ahead. Things slowly start to get back to “normal” in late 2021. The OBX was busier than ever. The staff was exhausted, but everyone was still going strong. In 2022 things were leveling out. We were operating at 100% capacity; wine dinners were once again happening, events such as family celebrations and birthday parties were once again filling the restaurant. The dining rooms filled with laughter and pure joy! 

It was all the things I once took for granted but now never again. I vowed no matter how difficult or stressful it seems…I am thankful. Randolph and I are grateful! In just a little over 6months, we are celebrating 10 years of SaltBox. A whole decade of SaltBox. 

My husband and I work with the best people. A staff of what used to be 6 has now grown to a staff of 20. We have had the pleasure of working with generations of families. Some we have watched grow from teen to young adult. Many of our staff who started at year one, are still with us (including my sister). We are so proud of each and every one of our little “Crew”. We are grateful for our family. Thank you for believing in us and all your support. We are grateful for all our customers. Many customers have become friends. We are grateful for the relationships we have built with them. We are very grateful for the community in which we live. Thank you for accepting us Colington Island! Thank you, Cindy for trusting that “gut feeling”. Randolph and I could not be more proud of The SaltBox Cafe. 

We are excited to see what the future holds for our little restaurant. I know I am years now from that young college girl that didn’t know what she was getting herself into …with this so-called restaurant life…but I’m still hooked! I’m just glad my husband, Randolph is still cooking by my side! 

Ps- I still can’t carve a dang butterfly carrot. 

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
At first, the startup was a struggle. We had a plan…or rather an idea. That idea formed the plan…which at times, we made up as we went. Like I said before, it’s a blur. Thankfully with the support of our family and friends and the drive my husband and I share, we pushed through those struggles. 

Later struggles included the pandemic, of course. Thankfully I have a level-headed husband. He keeps me grounded. We were able to reinvent our menu and change up our business model to navigate our way through the covid-world. 

Now, as life is back to normal, it’s mostly smooth. Of course, there are always those days with a bump on the road or a day that is just intense and stressful. But in the end…it’s just another day, and new one starts tomorrow. We are fortunate to have a wonderful team. Randolph and I believe it’s important to take care of your staff because without them, there is no SaltBox. 

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
My husband and I love what we do. Randolph always says, “you are going to spend a lot of your life working. It’s best to enjoy what you do”. We live by that motto. 

We both love cooking but have different cooking styles. Randolph prefers more the classic style of cooking. He uses many old-school French preparations that he will happily tell you he learned at the Culinary Arts Institute (CIA) or his time in New Orleans. I love Thai, Vietnamese and Indian cuisine. I specialize in vegan and vegetarian dishes. I have been a vegetarian since the age of 14. I also prepare all The SaltBox Cafe’s desserts. I bake like I cook- by taste, smell, and consistency of the product. 

We love surprises, fun facts, and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?
Randolph has tried almost every sport and (mostly) succeeded. He’s played semiprofessional soccer, ice hockey, surfed, and now golfs. 

I (Amanda) love to dance, and I am an avid kickboxer. It is a great way to stay in shape, but it is what keeps me sane (for the most part). 

Pricing:

• Lunch $10-15
• Dinner $15-36
• Brunch $10-16

Contact Info:

• Website: www.thesaltboxcafe.com
• Instagram: thesaltboxcafe