Marinated east coast shrimp, mignonette butter, chile oil, saltines; seasonal selection of pickled farmer’s veggies Photo by Peter Taylor Photography

It’s difficult to explain The Goodyear House without making it seem disjointed, which would be unfair, as the group behind it has clear long-term visions for the restaurant. The concept is built around the name, inspired by the fact that working class families would add on to their homes when they had a good year. The restaurant itself is in one of the original NoDa mill houses built in 1902, and each room —even the bathrooms — will be themed from a different decade, embodying that tradition.

The front dining room will be the quietest of the dining rooms. Set in the original part of the home, the theme will be early 1900s, with old church pews making up the banquettes and historic photos of NoDa lining the walls. The bar area is inspired by the popular vacation destinations of the 1970s, like Pigeon Forget and Myrtle Beach, while the bathrooms have a ’40s feel. The back dining room, called the Botanist Room, makes use of reclaimed wood and will open up to the back patio. Sean Potter, the restaurant’s general manager, says this will be the liveliest dining room. Design work is being handled by Elizabeth firm Cluck.

The restaurant’s inside capacity is 130, with another 30 fitting outside. The building wraps partially around a courtyard that will be home to a more casual bar called The Drunken Handyman. Similar to The Goodyear House itself, the inspiration is blue-collar.

“Dad was a handyman and built himself a shed, then secretly he would go out there and drink to get away from the kids,” Goodyear House executive chef Chris Coleman says. Both Potter and Coleman are partners in the restaurant with owner A.J. Klenk. The Drunken Handyman will have basic mixed drinks and a few beers on tap, while the inside bar will have a more sophisticated cocktail program and a dozen beers on tap. Potter, a level III somm, will oversee the wine program. He and Coleman worked together at Stoke, before Potter left to get into consulting and start a CBD company.

“I wasn’t planning on getting into anything other than consulting in the food and beverage industry — I had no desire to do that,” Potter says. “But when [Coleman] signed on and I knew I was getting back together with him and teaming together with him, it made it a lot more real to me. I wouldn’t have done this if it were anybody other than him.”

Coleman says the food will be reminiscent of his time at Stoke in that he’ll use local ingredients but international flavors. The restaurant will be open for lunch and dinner, with a lunch menu focusing on small plates, bites, sandwiches, and salads and a dinner menu that features small plates as well as sharable meals. Diners can get a whole roasted chicken served with seasonal vegetables, for example, as a meal for a table of two or three. There will also be prime rib by the ounce with steakhouse-inspired sides: togarashi onion rings and creamed collards.

Vegan macaroni and cheese, made with house-made cashew cheese, chile breadcrumbs; Hot fried chicken thighs with spicy honey, pickled cucumbers and onions, yogurt, lots of herbs. Photo by Peter Taylor Photography

One dish that may become a signature is the smoked grilled chicken. It will be served with a cola barbecue sauce and salsa match, a northern Mexican salsa made with peanuts and chiles, to play off the Southern tradition of putting peanuts in your Coke. Another dish Coleman looks forward to sharing is a guinea hen stew, an improved version of the chicken and rice dish his mom made him during childhood, which was simply white rice boiled in the water used to cook the chicken. His guinea hen, sourced from Indian Land, South Carolina, will be cooked in a pressure cooker with aromatics and served with Carolina Gold rice grits and pickled kale, with broth poured over the bowl before it heads out to the tables. There will also be several vegetarian and vegan dishes; Coleman is particularly proud of the vegan mac-and-cheese made using house-smoked cashew cheese.

To help create that neighborhood restaurant feel the group is seeking, they’ll also host events on the back patio, like movie nights, picnic nights with fried chicken and cheap beer in champagne coolers, and fish fries.

“I feel like that’s just the point I’m at in my career and my life right now,” Coleman says. “I just want to have places to relax, I just want places to have fun. I’m not trying to show off anymore. I just want to make really really good food, super tasty, that still supports all of my friends and farms and stuff that I’ve come to love, but it’s fun.”

As they open The Goodyear House, Klenk, Coleman, and Potter are already looking forward to their next concepts, which will be in the buildings on either side of the restaurant. —Kristen Wile