Ask a local: Fort Liberty soldier on the best coffee, country cooking around Fayetteville
Welcome to Ask a Local, a weekly summer series where we get the lowdown on where to go, what to do and what to eat around Cumberland County from the people who know it best.
In the final installation of Ask a Local, we interview Niels Hansen, 52, a Fort Liberty soldier and Illinois native whose Fayetteville-area food picks include down-home country cooking, Japanese street food and Peruvian chicken.
Since Hansen was first stationed here in 2002, he said, he’s found the places that deliver life’s simple pleasures, like creamy pasta, tasty potatoes and a piping hot cup of coffee in the morning. Read on for his recommendations.
Responses have been edited for length, style, clarity and grammar.
Where do you go for a cup of coffee?
When you’ve been in the Army as long as I have, coffee is just as emotional as it is about caffeine. I started out as a young private on guard duty, cold, miserable and wet, and the cooks always had a cup of coffee for me.
Jumpin’ Java Coffee Shop is a friendly, neat little shop. They have really friendly customer service and a little free library. The pastries are great. My coffee order is just a hot cup with one cream and two sugars, so I like that they have a rotating selection of three different coffee beans, and they’ll explain where each was grown.
When I have friends in town, Morning Jump is where they want to go for coffee. It’s always packed, but friendly and efficient. I'm pretty loyal to those two coffee shops.
Favorite breakfast spots?
The Army introduced me to omelets and grits. I love the omelets at MaryBill’s Cafe. They’re fluffy, and all the ingredients are folded in. M & D’s Pancakes and Waffles has simple but good food, just like I grew up eating. My wife and I are passionate about potatoes, and their home-fried potatoes are good.
Favorite new restaurants?
Ichi Kaku is our family’s pick for Japanese street food. Chef Yohei Kamiya is not only passionate about the food but sharing the story and culture of Japan. The restaurant has been open for a little over a year now and already has a loyal following. The ramen, yakisoba and teppanyaki are phenomenal, and it’s one of the only places in the area to get onigiri, an appetizer of steamed rice stuffed with fish and wrapped in nori. I order the Japanese-style curried pork over rice.
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Favorite old-school restaurants?
Fred Chason’s Grandsons Carolina Famous Buffet speaks to my wife’s Southern roots. When I go, I have to get all the comfort food, like chicken and dumplings, fried chicken, fried fish, sweet potatoes and black-eyed peas. It’s just down-home cooking with a little bit of everything.
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Elizabeth's Pizza in Hope Mills is like a five-star restaurant, without the five-star prices. The menu has pages of Italian dishes that are legitimately good and won't break the bank. I order any of the pastas with a cream sauce or a lemon and herb sauce.
What restaurants do you frequent?
Fabe’s Peruvian Chicken is amazing. It’s not complicated, just good and simple. I like their rotisserie chicken, plantains, black beans and rice. The horchata is also super refreshing.
Food, dining and business reporter Taylor Shook can be reached at tshook@gannett.com, on Twitter, or Facebook. Want weekly food news delivered to your inbox? Sign up for the free Fayetteville Foodies newsletter.
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Best Fayetteville and Hope Mills eats, according to a Fort Liberty soldier
