Cafe owner works to vanquish the ghosts of (many) merchants past
One year and still here.
It’s the working creed for the Sangria Grill, a cafe with the unusual distinction of surviving at its spot on Periwinkle beyond the life of a desk calendar, said Todd Erling, Sangria Grill’s owner and chef. The restaurant opened in September 2013. The spot at 2430 Periwinkle has morphed and re-morphed over the decade since its inception, which in mosaic tile in the entryway notes was 2004.
“This place,” said Erling, know locally as Chef Todd, “has been a deli, a furniture store, an ice cream shop, a restaurant, another restaurant, a lot of different things. We get calls from vendors asking for so and so. I tell them he’s long gone, that we’ve been here a year. It’s why we’re so pleased to have been accepted.”
To vanquish the ghosts, Erling has worked on being creative — and unusual. One of his eccentricities is the Chef’s Choice special. Patrons asking for the selection must face three questions, each random but deliberate, Erling said. He’s trying to gauge character and mood, concocting a meal from the answers. The patron is given the choice of eating the meal — and paying — or pushing the plate aside, no harm, no foul, he said.
“And I haven’t paid yet,” Erling said. “It’s a great way to interact with the guests.”