CAMP elevates its appeal with a new chef’s tasting experience
Tucked off the hallway behind the host stand, Nora’s Cellar, the new wine room at CAMP, doesn’t look like a playground, but for Executive Chef Diego Campos Vargas, that’s exactly what it is. It’s at this eight-seat table, surrounded by shelves neatly stacked with some 3,000 bottles of wine, that the chef gives his creativity free rein.
Owner Brian Crossan (CAMP is now a legacy restaurant of Table 301 Hospitality), presented the idea for Nora’s Cellar, which is named after his two-year-old daughter. “We have this really cool room [formerly the valet room] and what do we do with it?” he recalls thinking. “We started considering putting four two-tops and a chef’s counter there. Then we came up with the idea of turning it into a wine cellar with one big table.”
Designed for up to eight guests, the Chef’s Table culinary experience takes some cues from CAMP’s main menu of global small plates but reaches well beyond it, depending on the ingredients the chef has to play with on any given day. “We really want to showcase what we can do creatively . . . ,” says Campos.
A recent menu featured a progression of intricate fish, vegetable, and meat courses before ending with cheese, dessert, and mignardises (tiny bonbons from the pastry chef). Even bread is elevated, this night by a ring of savory bone marrow butter surrounding a pool of oil made from the Mexican herb Hoja Santa. Adding to the seven main courses was the chef’s surprise riff on comfort food: a medallion of fried chicken stuffed with mac and cheese alongside a blue cheese spuma.
Chef’s tastings in Nora’s Cellar
“The chef’s tastings are about slowing time down [versus the faster pace in the main dining room] and taking more care about every single dish,” Campos says. “[In Nora’s Cellar,] we still take the same approach of local, seasonal, high-quality products, but we take extra time to place the 12 to 20 touches that we put on the tomato dish [alone] to make sure it looks consistent.”
During service, the chef comes in to explain each dish, and the optional wine pairing is presented by CAMP’s new sommelier, Vinnie Badaracco, who recently completed his Level 2 certification.
Diego finds inspiration in his toy box of ingredients from local farms, applying it to CAMP’s main menu, too. “I want dishes to be intricate and special with a lot of technique, but we also understand there are people who will be turned away by cuisine that is too out there. So, we have a 70-30 rule, where 30 percent is [familiar dishes], and the other 70 percent is our playground.”
These days, CAMP’s crew is aiming for the stars—Michelin stars, that is. That’s one of the reasons they amplified the restaurant’s wine program from 60 selections to more than 500. Michelin mention or not, Crossan is adamant about one thing: “We’re hospitality first and everything else second.”
Make mine caviar
Though CAMP’s caviar service, which debuted on New Year’s Eve several years ago, wasn’t a big seller at first, this ritzy ritual has since become a fixture on the menu. It starts with a tin of Petrossian caviar, presented in a sea-urchin-shaped ice sculpture. Guests are instructed to take a sip of the accompanying lemon-infused vodka to cleanse their palate, then sample the caviar on a tiny mother-of-pearl spoon. From there, diners are on their own to enjoy this course, which comes with pickled pearl onions, crème fraîche, bâtonnets of house-made brioche, and sparkling wine for celebratory bubbles.
CAMP, 2 E. Broad St., Greenville, campgvl.com. Nora’s Cellar is open Monday–Wednesday, and Friday–Saturday for one private seating per evening at 6:45 PM. On Thursday, Nora’s is open for communal dining by reservation.
