An MCKRE Downtown Favorite: Full Circle Cafe
Written by Landie Canfield, Client Care Coordinator & Copywriter
Chefs are celebrities in their own right. They influence cooking trends, enthrall diners with unexpected tastes and enhance the emotional connection we have to food. Often a chef can make such an impact that he, or she, is synonymous with a city or place and can even become a household name. On the Crystal Coast, we are lucky enough to have our own, Full Circle’s Kyle Swain. He has been a fixture on the culinary scene for decades, consistently wooing and wowing locals and visitors alike as chef and owner of the beloved Wind & Sea, Blue Moon, and now Full Circle, Chef Kyle’s current full-time endeavor and an MCKRE favorite.
It is a confluence of many things that come together to make the magic happen in the Full Circle kitchen. It’s not simply cooking food, rather it’s a process that starts in the much-loved community outside the doors and carries through to the tight-knit community that’s been built inside. Chef Kyle believes wholeheartedly in farm to fork, including ocean to fork, which is step one on the path to procure the highest quality, best, local ingredients, provide the freshest food items possible, while simultaneously supporting the local farmers and fishermen.
Kyle can modify the menu according to the weather and the seasons with this approach. A sunny day might yield a salad with farm-fresh greens and herbs. If a storm is brewing on Bogue Sound, or cold weather has arrived, Kyle might round up some root vegetables for a hearty soup with cream instead. Flexibility and adaptability are two more ingredients he adds to his winning recipe for success.
Farm to table encourages eating intentionally, with an appreciation for where the food came from, and how it got to the plate. This is a reminder for us all to savor the moment, and all that comes with it, from each bite, to the company of whoever joins us at the table.
For Kyle, what really makes food great is the spirit behind the cooking— the love and passion that is poured into it. Confirmation of this is when people simply can’t get enough. At Full Circle that means brick oven pizza, curry-fried oysters, or shrimp and grits… we know we want more and more and more of all of that!! Yes, please!
