If you have an itch to eat out, Scratch!

A reader of Jim's COVIDiary recently suggested our day trips have a common theme: Beer! Not a bad observation, but not completely true. We enjoy a good beer, and breweries are usually fun places to visit, even during the coronavirus pandemic. We look for breweries when planning an outing, but our day trips are to get to a destination and return home and to experience something other than the interior walls of our home. Too many people are staying home these days when a drive through the country can be enlightening and enjoyable. Including a beer stop is simply a plus.

Our most recent outing took us to downtown Apex, not very far from home, to a restaurant that's at the very least on it's third leg as a restaurant. Originally it had a country cooking menu, a theme that didn't work out even in country-cooking Apex, the highest point above sea-level on the Seaboard Airline railroad. We ate there a couple of times before it closed. What kept us from returning was the limited ... uh ... beer list. Oh well. After that, it was a Mexican establishment, more upscale, we think, though we never visited it. It might have been something else before or after that. Hard to remember when a restaurant changes its stripes so often in a short time period. This eatery is on North Salem Street, the main drag through Apex, sort of, but its actually at the rear of the Tobacco Mule Exchange building.

Our trip was for a Saturday lunch at Scratch Kitchen and Taproom. We decided to try it for the first part of the name, "Scratch Kitchen," though the last part, "Taproom," helped seal the deal, to take our chances. We were pleasantly pleased with the service, the food, and, of course, the beer. We parked in a lot at the rear of the building, which fronts North Salem Street and backs on Temple Street. Take either Templeton Street or Saunders Street, which run perpendicular to North Salem, to get there. This is better than trying to park on Salem Street.

Several well-spaced tables are set up outside in a courtyard. To social distance, we wanted an outside table, so we arrived about eleven o'clock that morning. We were directed to a table but after a few minutes we changed tables because the first was on a severe slope. I felt as if I was falling forward while sitting. The second table was relatively flat. After moving, we noticed the first table was being cleaned, though we had been at it for a mere minute or two. We were impressed with the protocol to combat the spread of COVID-19. About the only issue we had at Scratch was the abundance of flies which kept us busy, shooing them from our food and beverage. Since we pretty good at shooing, the flies didn't get a chance to eat much.

Prior to going to Scratch, on another day trip, we went to Vicious Fishes Apex, a few miles south of the Apex Historical District, so we opted for the Vicious Fishes Here be Dragons IPA for our "do-you-know-what-you-would-like-to-drink" selection, a question which usually comes either without a list of available libations or just seconds after being seated with a drinks list. This time our waitperson gave us ample time to decide. Good choice of beer, by the way, except the drinks are served in Mason jars which didn't change the good flavor; we're just not fans of drinks served in Mason jars except, maybe, for the water. But, the jars didn't stop us from enjoying the beer.

The menu has several "that looks good" items, you know, those delicious descriptions on the menu but which you've never set sight on. But they look good! Take a look at the entire Scratch Kitchen and Taproom menu. Here are the descriptions of our selections; both were sandwiches:

CRISPY CHICKEN: Waffle-battered fried chicken with spicy maple syrup aioli, candied bacon and house pimento cheese with Scratch made pickles. Served on a Stick Boy bun. (Review: Excellent choice! The bun was undersized; there were two sizable pieces of fried chicken breast. The add-ons gave it an overall great taste. It's a winner to be duplicated on a future visit even if just to see if indeed the tasty and filling sandwich can be duplicated.)

N.C. BAHN MI: House smoked pulled-pork, traditional Vietnamese picked vegetables, cucumber, fresh cilantro, kimchi aioli. Served on a toasted Hoagie bun. (Review: Be sure to read past the title when ordering. We didn't so we were expecting the Bahn Mi made with fried pork belly. Once we took a bite, we were sold. The pulled pork was tasty and tender. The add-ons were especially good, but best of all we gave credit to our son who always tells us, "the bread makes the sandwich." In this case, that was the truest of statements. The bun was toasted, just enough. The inside was soft, just enough. The flavor of the sandwich was perfect, just enough. Hopefully this will be duplicated as well.)

This outing was not a day long event; we didn't drive very far; we didn't explore areas of North Carolina or one of the adjoining states; we didn't go outside Wake County. What we did was enjoy an excellent meal and had an enjoyable time not far from our backdoor. It was another outing that was well worth the time and the expense.