The culture of the South is about tradition and recipes handed down over time, and it is also about being adapted and enhanced with new interpretations and preparation methods. Authenticity of food is always related to story, and most often story relates to history

~ what’s old doesn’t have to be old-fashioned.

A fresh concept in dining and marketplace opened in August of last year in Southern Pines, Thyme & Place Café. Have you been there yet? If not, this gem is worth visiting.

Thyme & Place Café is a full-service café with a licensed kitchen where food entrepreneurs can make, market and sell their products. The café is a delightful blend of breakfast-and-lunch eatery and kitchen entrepreneurship, fulfilling a true need within our talented, agricultural community.

The brainchild of owner Leslie Philip, Thyme & Place Café is a cross-section of restaurant, marketplace and communal kitchen that Leslie, herself a
baker, would have been thrilled to have access to when she and her husband moved to Moore County three years ago. After over 25 years in large-scale food manufacturing, working smaller and on a local scale with community outreach is the next step in her career.

The licensed kitchen available to rent is a pertinent addition to the successful farm-to-table movement across our region. Now users have an uptown, stylish café where they can both make their product plus have access to word-of-mouth marketing through the Thyme & Place café and social media.

While the kitchen can be rented, so too can the venue for events such as breakfast meetings, bridal showers, birthdays, or just for fun.

In addition to kitchen users, café staff fills their bakery case each morning with familiar and creative baked goods, from homemade pop tarts and coconut cream pie to apricot rosemary bars and grape coffee cake. Croissants with savory and sweet fillings have a strong following among the regular customers, and Saturdays always bring a new offering to start the day with, along with a great cup of coffee or tea brewed at your table in a unique tea diffuser.

Soups are made in-house and are served with homemade savory chips. Quiches, both with crust and gluten-free versions, make for a hearty meal.

Thyme & Place Café has also been chosen as a vendor of gourmet frozen foods from Ladyfingers of Raleigh. Known for their ham rolls, Ladyfingers now sells a dozen meals to go, which can help get dinner on the table in one hour.

Located at the intersection of culinary and community, down a short dirt road, but worth the journey, Thyme & Place Café is a place to come and relax, have a great meal, a sweet dessert, and in true community spirit, maybe meet someone new.

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Thyme & Place Café
155 Hall Avenue
Southern Pines
910-684-8758