The savior entrepreneur has a global awareness of social and political issues and highly values inclusion, tolerance, and diversity. It is a socio-spatial community of consumers and producers who have a self-perception of being creative and non-conformist. Their values are informed by global trends that exist alongside consumption that is driven by local loyalty and pride. In the case of Durham, they are conflicted because they share anxiety about the loss of the gritty and alternative identity of the city that gave it its “soul.” In the face of gentrification, urban redevelopment, and the reality of segregated neighborhoods, they find it difficult to live their values of diversity and inclusion. They have a high level of anxiety that businesses are not diverse enough and that “diverse people” (read people of color) people are not participating in the businesses and communities where they live and work.
In gourmet restaurants this comes through most obviously in menus that feature fair, local, and organic foods. But it also comes through in the ways that food writers, chefs, and patrons discuss the role of restaurants and food in the development of the city. One food writer explicitly makes the connections between the urban social problems of the city and the fancy food served in the restaurants of the boutique hotel, The Durham:
If a hotel is a transitory space where people never stay too long, the true challenge of its restaurant is not winning over guests but locals. Against a veil of socioeconomic concerns about gentrification and strata of race, class and privilege in the city, The Durham’s restaurants are at least standing on their own merits, attempting to welcome locals with food that doesn’t clash so much with its surroundings.
The author raises a central problem: They wish to continue to produce and consume this high-status food, but how can they feel okay about that when they are surrounded by a city that is plagued by inequalities? Despite the awareness of social problems, savior entrepreneurs give limited voice to how their own actions cause retail or residential gentrification. When asked if the bars and restaurants in Durham were becoming pretentious, one business owner said: “I can see how someone might say that but they kind of just don’t get it. I know that sounds bad! But, we’re trying to be creative and put our spin on things.” While the awareness and anxiety about residential and retail gentrification is forefront in many minds, understanding how the spread of gourmet restaurants and bars is contributing to the problem of racial and income exclusion is rarely discussed. And, as much as concern is expressed, gourmet restaurants with $25 entrees continue to populate Durham.
NOTES
1 1 Food can be understood as a social construct, whereby it is used to express identities such as class, nationality, ethnicity, and gender. Food behavior, such as what people eat, who prepares it, when and where it is eaten, and the reason for its consumption, are all expressions of shared cultural values.
2 2 Raleigh (a 20-minute drive from Durham) was on Amazon’s short list of candidate cities.
3 3 The data for this research are drawn from a series of twenty-six interviews with restaurant and bar owners, staff at these establishments, elected officials on the Durham city council, and leaders of nonprofit organizations, conducted during the spring and summer of 2017. These semi-structured interviews covered a wide range of topics and here I draw on information that focuses on the nexus of food-based entrepreneurship and Durham’s “revitalization” (here defined as the transition from a deindustrialized city to a “creative city”). I also draw on newspaper articles and websites that focus on the food culture of Durham. Data on food establishments, locations, and dates of opening were gathered from a City and County database. I also collected information from the menus of a random selection of restaurants located within the city center in order to determine prices and food offerings. Admittedly, these research methods were paired with my own extensive patronage of restaurants and bars.
4 4 A large suburban neighborhood known for its sprawling and homogenous built environment.
5 5 Durhamites often belittle Raleigh as being “corporate” and “conservative” and having a skyline dominated by glass and steel high-rise buildings.
6 6 In May 2017: East-West Partners sold Liberty Warehouse to an affiliate of Duck Pond Realty, located in Melville, New York. They own several other high-end apartment communities in the Triangle. At that time, the building was estimated to have 60 percent residential occupancy. The sale represents the increasing interest in Durham by developers located outside the region.
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