What's Cooking: Union 41 delivers a dynamic dining experience

BRISTOL, Va. — Union 41 delivers a dynamic dining experience by connecting the family and the farm with restaurant dining.Union 41 owner Torrece Gregoire, also known as Chef T, said she wanted to create an experience that connects diners."Ideally, my goal was to really create not so much of a unique experience but more of a dynamic experience," Chef T said. "Sometimes you go out with people and there's like nothing to talk about, where here you're just chilling in this atmosphere, and it is so contagious that you want to talk to the person next to you. You want to find out what's going on."Union 41 also tells a story through its décor. The building housing the restaurant was a Greyhound bus station in the 1930s. Chef T said they decided to embrace the historical significance of their location."We've been able to encapsulate a lot of the history of this location," Chef T said. "It used to be an old Greyhound bus station that was opened in 1936. When we acquired the building, we found a lot of papers and artifacts that are representations of the bus station. So, we took that information and sealed it into the bars and certain conversations. So, depending on where you sit in the restaurant, it tells a story from all the way from '36 all the way to the '50s."Chef T is known for appearances on reality television. Chef T appeared on Fox's "Hell's Kitchen" in 2015 and 2018. In 2015, she was the runner-up out of the 18 contestants. In 2018, she was on the show's "Rookies vs. Veterans" edition. In addition to "Hell's Kitchen," Chef T appeared on Food Network's "Big Restaurant Bet."Chef T said being on "Hell's Kitchen" helped her develop into the chef she is today."Being on 'Hell's Kitchen' was an amazing experience," Chef T said. "It catapulted my career to a level that I would not have expected or even understood. Before I went on that show, I really felt like I was ready. But being on that show day in and day out, having no communication with the outside world while we were filming, it made me realize that there was one aspect that I was definitely missing. There's a difference between understanding flavors and being able to evoke this nostalgia, but all that is lost if you never pay attention to detail. So, that was one thing that I realized in the middle of the show that I needed to pay more attention to detail."Chef T said her menu combines her Caribbean heritage and all the places she has traveled with deep Appalachian roots."So the inspiration for what I create on the menu is really connecting the food that I ate growing up as a kid, and finding a lot of that food in Appalachia and connecting the story," Chef T said.The menu includes unique dishes such as roti and oxtail ramen. Union 41 also has an oyster bar and an open kitchen.In addition to the food, Chef T said she wanted to have a dynamic bar and a pastry program."The craft cocktail is equally as important as the food we're putting together," Chef T said. "Because you go to a restaurant, and sometimes the food is good, and the bar is okay. How cool, dynamic and interesting it would be if, as a business owner, you could encapsulate all three layers of that a dynamic bar with cocktails that rival the food and then a pastry program with desserts that complement the bar and the food? So, to be able to do that is ideal."Union 41 also holds many special events. Past events have included a "Hell's Kitchen" reunion and a Juneteenth dinner.We asked Chef T the following questions:Q: How long has your restaurant been in operation?A: We opened on March 10, 2023.Q: What do you consider the specialties at your restaurant and why?A: Our food is unique. There are not a lot of places out here doing curries and oxtails and some of the things we're cooking.Q: What is your culinary education, and how did you learn to do what you do in the kitchen?A: So I graduated from Cordon Bleu in Atlanta and have a degree in occupational sciences of culinary arts. Also, I learned from my grandmother because she was the one that first taught me how to cook.Q: Why is your restaurant appealing to customers, and how do you maintain that ambiance?A: So, basically, we have decided to preserve as much history as we can about this building. For example, the light fixtures that hang — those six are original to the building; they even still have the ceramic ball holders in them. The seats are like an homage to bus driver seats or waiting room seats, and we've kept the terrazzo floors intact. There are just certain aspects of this building that we refuse to fix, because of its historic nature, like the handrail that has the paint peeling off of it. The indentation right in front of the bar, that's where the ticket counter was, and just to think of how many people stood there to create that indentation. This building tells a story on its own, and we're just adding to it by telling the story of food of how this building connects to Appalachia.Q: Do you share recipes with your diners? If so, please share your favorite recipe.A: No.Q: How do you think your restaurant differs from other restaurants in the Tri-Cities region?A: I mean, just from a perspective of having an open kitchen, I don't think anyone in this area has a fully open kitchen like this, but also, our food is different. Our food is a representation of my heritage mixed with all the places that I've traveled and seen and been a part of. So, this is like my own love language that I've put into the community.Q: What are the advantages and disadvantages of your location?A: The advantages are that we have parking. I don't know if there are any disadvantages.Q: How often do you change the menu at the restaurant, and why?A: We change it based on seasonality availability and what our farmers have. For example, we couldn't get pork shank for a while in one of our staple dishes, the pig and three sisters. So, we switched to pork chops, and now we've switched to pork belly, and then squash blossoms are in season, so we're gonna swap out the squash for blossoms.Q: What's your favorite cookbook?A: I have a few. One of my favorite cookbooks has to be "The Sioux Chef" by Sean Sherman. It's all about indigenous cooking. I love his style of cooking. He's a Native American chef, and I enjoy that cooking style. So that's one of my favorite cookbooks.Location: 171 Piedmont Ave, Bristol, VA 24201Phone: (276) 285-2202Website: https://www.facebook.com/union41bristol/Hours: Tuesday thru Thursday 5 pm- 9 pm, Friday 5 pm- 10 pm, Saturday 10:30 am- 10 pm, Sunday 12 pm- 8 pmVisit the online version to view exclusive video content.