If you're up for a night of brown bagging, rock music and possibly camping, Hobo's Tavern is the place to go.

The venue, located relatively rural at 3613 Brick Kiln Road, Simpson, isn't so much a new private club as it is an old biker bar reinvented.

Chick Marshall, co-owner with his wife Tammy and friend Mona VanNortwick, said the place used to be called Big Al's Tavern and he was a loyal customer. Then, it was owned by VanNortwick and her boyfriend, Bradley Shane Beatty, before he died in May 2008.

After Beatty's death, a lot of people were broken-hearted, Marshall said, and a lot of regulars stopped coming.

But instead of quitting, VanNortwick partnered with the Marshalls and reopened as Hobo's Tavern: a place where they feed customers for free on Sundays, everyone runs outside to wave at the trains passing by the front entrance and guests who drink too much are encouraged to camp out on the 19 acres of open land surrounding the bar. Recently, they've gained a lot of new memberships.

“It's just a really unique place,” said Marshall, who cooks the food and performs as The Mujician.

The private club only accepts members 21 years or older, but guests of members can be any age — some customers even bring their kids in on Sunday afternoons. It is without-a-doubt a biker-friendly bar, but Marshall says they cater to everyone.

“It's just a friendly bar,” he said. “Everybody knows everyone.”

Other features include Thursday Steak Nights (get a ribeye, baked potato and salad for $8), brown bagging (bring your own beverage and they'll supply the mixers), pool tables, game machines and live music. In the past, they've hosted country and southern rock bands like the Ghost Ryders, but Marshall says they're ready to host everything from rock, classic rock, alternative and grunge to country, blues and dance music.

“We're always looking for fresh talent to come and play,” Marshall said. “We're actually trying to get an open mike (night) going for Friday nights. Quite possibly we'll have karaoke this summer.”

To kick off the summer months, he's bringing his own birthday/wedding anniversary celebration to the bar. The 10th Annual Chick Fest will be held June 5 at the tavern, where they'll cook a pig and have live entertainment all day and evening, plus dance music. The Smokin' Crawdads will perform.

Hobo's Tavern is open 4:30 p.m.-2 a.m. Wednesdays-Fridays; 2 p.m.-2 a.m. Saturdays; and 1 p.m.-2 a.m. Sundays. For more information, call 531-8609, add Hobo's Tavern as a friend on Facebook or visit www.myspace.com/hobostavern.

Two bars, one cover

Every Thursday this summer, pay to enter either The Other Place, 207 East 5th St., or Rumors, 417 Cotanche St., and get into the other club free.

The special, which began in May, allows customers to roam freely from bar to bar through each venues back doors. Both venues will also offer drink specials each night.

Add The OP as a friend on Facebook to stay updated on upcoming events.

Hot Dish

Caf é Duo

A husband-and-wife duo have opened Café Duo in Community Square, 4052-B S. Memorial Drive, Winterville, beside Pitt Community College in the former location of Paige's Grill.

Chris Shireman, a native of Indianapolis, is executive chef and Mayra Shireman, a native of Puerto Rico, is pastry chef. The couple describe Café Duo as “a neighborhood casual restaurant” serving a seasonal menu that's “creative American cuisine with some classic rustic European influences.”

Café Duo is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, serving seasonal fare made from scratch and bread and pastries baked fresh in the kitchen.

Hours are 7:30 a.m.-9 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays and 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Sundays. Special events and parties may be booked on Mondays. Call 439-2233 or visit the website www.cafeduorestaurant.com.

Starlight Caf é

StarLight Café's chief bartender Jimmy Ingenito earned top honors at the recent Bartenders Challenge at the sixth annual Beaufort Wine & Food Weekend.

The event, held at the Arendell Room in Morehead City, pitted Ingenito against Jimmy Crippen of Crippen's Country Inn and Restaurant in Blowing Rock and three staff bartenders at the Arendell Room, most notably Denny Shrock, who has been named Canton Ginger Liqueur's national bartender of the month.

Ingenito's winning cocktail — The Lavender Sidecar — was a twist on the classic Sidecar, traditionally made with cognac, orange liqueur and lemon juice. The cocktail probably was named after the motorcycle sidecar in which a World War II American Army captain rode to and from the little Parisian bistro where he ordered this drink.

You can order Ingenito's Lavender Sidecar at the bar at StarLight Café, 104 W. Fifth St. in downtown Greenville. Call 707-9033.

Your Perfect Cake

Amber Rudder, owner of Greenville's Your Perfect Cake at 740 S.E. Greenville Blvd., recently earned accolades in two cake competitions.

Her sea turtle-shaped cake earned first place and the People's Choice Award in a cake competition held at the N.C. Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores.

The turtle cake was 100 percent edible and made with mostly organic and local ingredients. The cake took approximately 15 hours to create. It was made in the Greenville bakery and transported to the competition.

Abbie Gray of Your Perfect Cake also entered the competition, winning the flavor category.

A North Carolina-themed cake created by Rudder earned eighth place in the Great American Wedding Cake Competition, which attracted bakers from throughout the East Coast to Westminster, Md.

The theme was Wedding Cakes Across America, and each of the approximately 50 wedding cakes entered were decorated based on a state chosen by the maker.

Rudder's cake featured handmade edible replicas of North Carolina lighthouses and dogwood blossoms.

Your Perfect Cake employees Abbie Gray, Brooke Davenport and Rebecca Barnes also entered the competition.

They each made their state-themed cakes in Greenville and transported them more than six hours to the competition.

The local bakers had the opportunity to take classes from several renowned cake decorators including Mike Terry, Julie Bashore and Colette Peters, who are featured in such televised programs as “Ultimate Cake Off” and “Food Network Cake Challenges.”

Duck-Rabbit Brewery

The Duck-Rabbit Craft Brewery in Farmville collected five awards at the eighth annual Hickory Hops Beer Festival, including a gold medal and the Best in Show award for its Milk Stout entry.

The Carolina Championship of Beer judged nearly 300 beers from 40 different breweries throughout the South. Entries are blind-judged by 50 judges using precise guidelines in each of 75 beer categories.

There were 29 gold medals, 62 silver medals and 73 bronze medals awarded.

Any beer winning a gold medal was eligible for the Best in Show award.

The Duck-Rabbit Milk Stout is a traditional, full-bodied stout brewed with lactose (milk sugar).

In addition to the awards for the Milk Stout, Duck-Rabbit received a gold medal for its Baltic Porter and silver medals for its Porter and Brown Ale entries.

The Duck-Rabbit Milk Stout also has won a gold medal in The World Beer Cup, the world's largest commercial beer competition, and a bronze medal in the Sweet Stout Category at the Great American Beer Festival in 2006.

Hot Dish is a weekly column in The Daily Reflector of restaurant and food news by Jane Welborn Hudson. To submit items for consideration, call Jane at (252) 329-9577, fax (252) 754-8140 or e-mail jhudson@reflector.com.