An act of healing as acclaimed Durham restaurant reopens 9 months after deadly blast

Jan. 21--DURHAM -- The task of butchering a fish on a December morning doesn't usually fall to the executive chef and owner of five restaurants, but Matt Kelly is happy to do it. With a knife in his hand about as long as his forearm, he glides the blade along the edge of a flounder, making long deep cuts that peel back the pink shimmery fish from the bone.

He welcomes standing in a kitchen and cooking, making those knife cuts and putting his empire back in order.

Saint James, Kelly's seafood restaurant in Durham, will reopen this week, nine months after a nearby gas explosion destroyed neighboring buildings and claimed two lives. The restaurant had been open only 18 months.

For most of 2019 its return was uncertain, despite being the only building on the Brightleaf Square block not significantly damaged by the blast.

For its friends and family service, Saint James will feed Durham's first responders then open to the public Thursday, Jan. 23.

"I am really hoping the relaunch of this restaurant will keep us going and remind the community that we are here, what we are and what we do. To have some normalcy, to go to a job, shucking oysters, frying shrimp, serving drinks, creating an experience for people."

'The building blew up'

On the morning of April 10, Kelly was on his way to the YMCA when he got a call from a prep cook.

"The building blew up," he said, then the call ended. Kelly assumed the worst, that Saint James, the newest restaurant on the block, had exploded because of some gas-related issue originating in his kitchen.

He called the cook back and learned that everyone on the Saint James staff was safe, but that the scene on Duke Street was still chaotic.

Kelly made it downtown to his block, guided by the column of black smoke now rising above Durham.

"I felt horrible," Kelly said. "A feeling you never want to feel. ... You're not thinking of the damage of the building you're thinking of your neighbors and are they OK. You're thinking of people who aren't your neighbors and are they OK. You're thinking of the fireman who's on a ladder three stories up above flames going three to four stories high. You're just hoping everyone is OK."

The city's official report on the explosion determined a contractor struck a gas line outside the Kaffeinate coffee shop on Duke Street and the leak continued for nearly an hour before the blast. Coffee shop owner Kong Lee was killed and gas company worker Jay Rambeau died two weeks later. Twenty-five others were injured.

Saint James as it ever was

While the explosion and fire destroyed most of the block, Saint James was essentially untouched. The roof of Torero's Mexican Restaurant collapsed and many of its windows blew out. In the Saint James dining room just a few yards away, the force of the blast sent half the restaurant's ceiling lamps crashing to the floor, but shelves of champagne flutes and wine glasses sat perfectly still.

Based on the lack of damage to his building, Kelly initially thought he could reopen one month after the blast, in time for college graduations, but months passed without any word on when running a restaurant again might be possible.

Now, nine months after the blast, the dining room of Saint James will look strikingly familiar, the checkered floor inherited from the old Fishmonger's, the bright yellow barstools lining a marble bartop, the collection of portraits depicting weathered sea captains amid the vast and endless ocean. It is Saint James as it ever was.

Devoted to the treasures of the North Carolina coast, Saint James serves a sense of place and pleasure. We typically don't ask much more of our restaurants than a meal, yet Saint James steps into a void and stillness still present in the Brightleaf District. Reopening Saint James is an act of healing for a broken block that until last month still had mounds of rubble on the ground.

"I think time has been one of the biggest answers in creating normalcy," Kelly said. "(And) time is not something you can get from the bank."

When Saint James first opened in 2017 it was one of the Triangle's biggest restaurant openings that year, one of those where reservations took weeks of planning and the bar seats were always full. Three months before the explosion, News & Observer dining critic Greg Cox had named it one of the area's best new restaurants.

As before and likely forever, Saint James is devoted to the sea. It remains a seafood palace, serving a raw bar with around a dozen different oysters, a trio of escalatingly grander shellfish towers, a menu of fried fish and other seafood small plates. Returning dishes include buttery New Orleans style barbecue shrimp done up with rosemary and a bright green aguachile with North Carolina flounder.

In its hiatus, Saint James has expanded its seafood reach somewhat, adding salmon and snow crab legs along with a menu of mostly regional catches. Kelly added a steamer to the kitchen, which means steamers will be on the menu. There's also a new steak and a burger for diners staying out of the water.

Even with insurance, the temporary and indefinite closing of Saint James forced Kelly to confront the possibility of bankruptcy. When he opened Mateo in 2014, he borrowed $100,000 from his father, with a higher interest rate than the bank, Kelly points out. It opened to wide acclaim, including a James Beard semifinalist nod for Best New Restaurant and helped establish Durham as a worthy dining destination.

This time, Kelly took out a six-figure loan just to reopen Saint James, but feels like he has to shoulder the risk himself.

"I knew I could take care of my commitment to him (for Mateo)," Kelly said. "In this situation, no way I'm going to borrow money from my dad, because I can't guarantee it's going to work."

The future of Brightleaf

Fergus Bradley, owner of Maverick's Smokehouse on Gregson Street, was behind the restaurant at the time of the blast and said he was showered with glass from the blown out windows in the alley.

Maverick's became a staging point for first responders, displaced residents and business owners after the explosion. With the gas and power out that day, Bradley said he lit the restaurant's grills and smokers and started cooking what was left in the restaurant's coolers.

"I realized all the restaurants were shutting down and that we were the only restaurant that could be of use," Bradley said. "We weren't sure how long the power would be out, so I said let's start cooking. We were delighted to be of service."

But Bradley said the Brightleaf District in general has been slow to recover, that road closures after the blast seeded the habit of staying away and that business at Maverick's was cut in half since before the explosion, forcing the restaurant to do more off-site catering.

He's optimistic about the future, though, and expects the spotlight on Saint James will pull back the shadow on the district. The future of the block is uncertain as Charlotte-based investment group Asana Partners recently bought most of Brightleaf for $39 million, signaling the potential for new development.

"Saint James is one of the top restaurants in the Triangle, and we're delighted it's reopening," Bradley said. "That benefits the whole of the Brightleaf District. ... We're all in this boat together and there's a saying, a rising tide floats all ships."

For Saint James, Kelly had worries about a brand that's been quiet for the better part of a year, but buzz has grown ever since he announced the comeback last fall. He toured dishes from the Saint James menu at Mateo, Mothers and Sons and Lucky's, including a lobster roll meant to be dipped in lobster bisque.

"I'm grateful and humbled about how Durham has allowed myself and my team to grow and evolve," Kelly said. "I know Durham is going to come visit us and Torero's when they reopen. And that's one of the things that makes this community a place where you want to live."

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