Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
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The Hilltop House: Big City Excellence in my Hometown by DAVE WILSON & SCOTT WILSON As someone who grew up in Fayetteville and is often back home for business and fam- ily, I am always appreciative of some of our more sincere non-chain restaurants. My constant favorite is hands- down the Hilltop House, which is located in the histor- ic community of Haymount. The dining atmosphere is warm and inviting — and thoughtfully respectful of the 110 year plus history of the home. While the interior makes for a wonderful respite and a marvelous setting to conclude business, it is the food and the wine list that brings me back and solidifies Hilltop House as my favorite Fayetteville restaurant. A thoughtful restaurant menu must always be paired with an informed wine list. The Hilltop does not disappoint. The domestic wines are of ex- cellent value and range from subtle crisp Washington State Rieslings to a Big Paul Hobbs Cabernet Sauvignon. There is an equally impressive selec- tion of international wines, all thoughtfully and extremely well considered — as we would expect from internationally traveled proprietor Sandra Shearin. Ahh, but the main reason I am such a big fan is clearly the food. Irrespective, of whether it is only a small bite of lunch or a big night out for dinner, the menu is as wonderfully varied as the wine. Chefs Beth Smith and Matt Graham exhude both confidence and creativity in their preparation. There is no obvious prejudice to a certain style or kitchen. This culinary freedom allows Hilltop to vary its menu and experiment with new opportunities. Sandra Shearin and Beth Smith share a toast at the Hilltop House. My "never let me down" favorites are their simple shrimp bisque, stuffed pork chops and just about every salad they make. Living in Charlotte affords me wonderful res- taurant choices. My wife and I have several that we frequent there, but back in my hometown of Fayetteville I am always eager to find another reason to dine at Hilltop House. After all, I have only scratched the surface of their wine list and I have too many assured favorite dishes yet to sample. DAVE WILSON & SCOTT WILSON, Contributing Writers, COMMENTS? editor@ upandcomingweekly.com Table Set for the 2012 Elections by JOHN HOOD Over the past couple of weeks, events inside and out- side of North Carolina have eliminated many uncertainties about the 2012 election. In other words, the political table has been set — by which I don't mean to suggest that the 2012 election will resemble some kind of genteel dinner party. Perhaps a better analogy would be a tension-filled family reunion, or even a spirited food fight in a middle-school cafeteria. At the national level, the Presidential race will likely pit Democrat Barack Obama against Republican Mitt Romney, who will mainly challenge the president on eco- nomic policy and job creation. Obama will attempt some defense but will mainly respond by attacking Romney's political changeability and business background. Others will be on the presidential ballot, as well: definitely a Libertarian, who will disproportionally siphon votes from Romney, and possibly someone from the center-left, who'd do the same to Obama. In North Carolina, the governor's race will be a rematch between Democrat Bev Perdue and Republican Pat McCrory. In 2008 Perdue was able to combine attacks on McCrory's record and a strong pro-Obama surge to eke out a vic- tory. The 2012 race will mainly be a referendum on Perdue's tenure and the state's economy. Naturally, the governor's campaign will try to shift the focus to other issues by tying McCrory to controversial positions taken by Romney and Republicans in Congress or the legislature. Having read the arguments from both sides of North Carolina's redistricting dispute, I suspect that the state's Congressional and legislative maps, while far from ideal, will withstand legal challenge in whole or for the most part. That means that Democrats will go into the 2012 cycle with disadvantages: • The redrawn Congressional map endangers the reelection of at least two Democratic incumbents, Brad Miller and Larry Kissell, and possibly Mike McIntyre and Heath Shuler as well. At least two Republican incumbents, Patrick McHenry and Virginia Foxx, have seen their GOP strongholds weak- ened somewhat — you can't make Democratic districts less safe without doing the same to neighboring Republican ones — but probably not enough to imperil their reelection. • The new General Assembly districts transform what was once a pro- nounced Democratic lean into a pronounced Republican lean. Redistricting 18 UCW JANUARY 18-24, 2012 is not destiny — remember that the GOP took both houses of the legislature in 2010 despite a lingering Democratic gerrymander — but if the legislative maps survive challenge the Democrats will be fighting steeply uphill in both chambers. • The huge fundraising advantage that North Carolina Democrats have enjoyed for decades is over. Republicans reduced but did not eliminate the gap in 2010, and did well. In 2012, I suspect that McCrory and Republican Congressional and legislative can- didates will behave at least rough parity with their Democratic opponents in cash for advertising, organi- zation, technology and other tools of the trade. While North Carolina Democrats' traditional quantitative advantage in cam- paign resources is gone, they may still retain a qualitative edge — a technolo- gy-driven system for getting out the Democratic vote that originated with the 2008 Obama campaign and has been further refined since then. At the grassroots, both political coalitions contain energized North Carolinians (e.g. Republicans eager to vote Obama out, Democrats mad at the GOP-led legislature) as well as North Carolinians who aren't yet chomping at the bit to vote (e.g. Republicans who find Romney boring or insufficiently con- servative, Democrats who are disappointed with Obama or resigned to defeat in congressional and legislative races). I think it is too early to tell what the relative proportions will be. But national Gallup polls suggest that the two parties are beginning the cycle at rough par- ity, 45 percent identifying with or leaning Democratic and 45 percent identify- ing with or leaning Republican. On balance, that's good news for the GOP. Unless there is a clear, widely recognized improvement in the economy over the next few months, truly un- decided voters will likely swing against the incumbent chief executives, Obama and Perdue. The possibility of such an economic improvement can't be ruled out, however. Hey, I'm just setting the table here. Predictions come later. JOHN HOOD, Columnist. COMMENTS? editor@upandcomin- gweekly.com WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM