Region reclaims some of its heritage with reopening of eatery

WANCHESE, N.C.

Outer Banks heritage has been the beneficiary with the recent reopening of the 34-year-old Fisherman's Wharf restaurant, an authentic-as-they-come seafood establishment run by the Danielses, a fishing family with deep roots in the community.

In recent years, many of the familiar, family-run restaurants on the Outer Banks have disappeared, whether they've been sold, razed or burned down. Each had its own personality: The Oasis, George's Junction, Quagmires, By George, Etheridge's, the Seafare, The Wharf, Queen Anne's Revenge, the Pilot House, even Mrs. T's Deli. With their demise went a bit of the charm and character of the barrier islands.

That's not something the Rev. David Daniels wanted to see happen to his family's restaurant, which his father, Malcolm Daniels, had located at the place where the fish were offloaded by the now multimillion-dollar business he started, Wanchese Fish Co.

"This was one of his dreams to build this," David Daniels, pastor of First Flight Church at His Dream Center in Nags Head, said while seated in front of huge windows that wrap around the restaurant. "He wanted to provide a place for the community to work."

Daniels said that his father, who died in 1986, was a strict disciplinarian. Growing up, every one of his 11 sons and four daughters contributed to the running of the household or the family businesses, including the restaurant.

"A lot of it was he probably didn't want us to get too far away so we could get right back and work for him," Daniels said, laughing gently. "He liked all that free labor from his boys."

After the family ran the restaurant for about 30 years, the Danielses decided to lease it out. But after two seasons, it was went out of business, and had been closed for 3-1/2 years. Every summer since, he said, people would drive to the restaurant and leave disappointed.

This year, Daniels and his brother Mikey approached their sister-in-law Denise Daniels, wife of their brother Timmy, and asked her if she would be willing to manage the restaurant. Under some gentle pressure, she relented. Part of the family agreement is that all profits will go toward ministries such as drug-abuse treatment and aid for the needy.

"I just want this restaurant to be open," she said during a break in the steady lunch business. "It sat here for too long. There's no place else to get seafood here, and we have had a really good response from the community."

Denise Daniels said that the 140-seat establishment, reopened last month, is pretty much the same as it has always been. Only seafood caught locally will be served. Old family recipes, including the much-loved hush puppies and chocolate pie, haven't changed. Even the old boat wrecks are still there at the edge of the harbor.

"The atmosphere, the menu, the view - everything - because people loved it, it's pretty much exactly the same," she said. "It's a unique setting. You don't find settings like this."

As they did before, fishing vessels will tie up to the restaurant's dock to offload their catch. Television screens have been installed in the dining room so diners can watch the fishermen as they work.

Mikey Daniels, a commercial waterman who manages Wanchese Fish Co., said the family plans to remove the rotting boats.

When they're gone, the restaurant's picturesque view of Wanchese Harbor, with its working watermen, gliding pelicans and weather-worn fishing vessels, will only be enhanced.

"I'm so glad to see people smiling again,"

Mikey Daniels said, " 'You're open!' "

Catherine Kozak, (252) 441-1711, cate.kozak@pilotonline.com