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Business & Tech

Freight Kitchen & Tap Offers Personal Dining Experiences

With a gastropub that specialzes in local craft beers, artisan whiskeys and traditional comfort food with a gourmet twist, Neel Sengupta and Chef Rob Morneweck have joined forces to breathe new life into Woodstock's historic train depot.

After a much anticipated wait, locals can once again gather for a meal and a brew down by the tracks at one of Downtown Woodstock's most revered locations.

The culinary creation of entrepreneur Neel Sengupta and Atlanta Chef Rob Morneweck, has announced that they are now open for business in the almost 100-year-old depot that .

The duo, who is also responsible for the popular Crepe Revolution restaurant in Smyrna, offers their new customers the finer side of traditional pub fare, a "polished casual" dining atmosphere and recommended beer pairings that compliment each dish.

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Besides painstakingly refurbishing the structure's interior, the two also constructed a thoughtful menu that they said they hope will attract those who are seeking comfort from not only their food, but also the restaurant's unpretentious, warm surroundings where they will want to unwind with friends.

“Our guests are all so busy with life that they don’t need more rules on how to eat and what to wear for a night out on the town, or to worry about whether their dining plans will impress the neighbors,” Morneweck said. “Instead, we’re creating a restaurant space that says 'join us on your terms, come as you are and relax.'”

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Co-owner Sengupta agrees.

"Food and drink are at the heart of everything you do, and for us, this building that we have the opportunity to cook and serve in functions as a space where people can come together," Sengupta said. "I think it's incredibly personal, and that's why we do it: the connectivity, the relationships."

Morneweck and Sengupta began by recruiting a like-minded team to share the Freight vision, including Executive Chef and Woodstock-native Kyle Shankman, General Manager David Herman and Beer Sommelier Chris Pease.

Shankman, who was in the first graduating class of Le Cordon Bleu of Atlanta, can recall when Woodstock was all "trees and trailer parks," and he's proud of his small part in the transition he's witnessed in the downtown district.

And as a local chef, he harbors a particular interest in the openness the city seems to have adopted in terms of bending the rules on traditional Southern cuisine.

"I think people in Woodstock are more accepting of different food, different ideas," Shankman said. "And we want to be here for that."

Straying just far from its pub roots to throw in quite a few pleasant surprises, the chefs at Freight intend to put some inventive twists on some old favorites.

"Our mission is to create upscale tavern food that feels new, fun, exciting, cleanly presented, but first and foremost, comfort food," Shankman said. "We try to use ingredients that people's palates are familiar with, but rework them or pair them a little bit differently than they've ever had."

And although Shankman promises to switch up the menu often to keep it fresh with the seasons, he does admit that a crowd pleasing favorite has emerged that will probably be around for a while for repeat customers.

"As far as dishes leaving the kitchen, our macaroni and cheese has started to become an unofficial signature dish," he explained. "We use cavatappi instead of macaroni, we bake individual ramekins to order with a sauce made with Sweetwater beer, and we serve them while they're golden brown and bubbly."

Besides the mac-and-cheese, customers can also look forward to the treat of locally grown produce incorporated into a variety of menu selections. The restaurant, who fosters a devotion to local food sources, already receives grits from Buckeye Creek Farm in Hickory Flat, and beginning in the spring, they said they hope to get a majority of their produce from farms surrounding Cherokee County.

And in an attempt to "keep things local" and dodge the prospect of an uninspired beer list, they keep a large number of local craft brews on hand in place of the tired light beer choices that you can be had at other, less discerning sports bars.  In fact, the owners plan to hold events centered on the appreciation of and education about their unique drink choices.

"Our goal after the new year is to hold quarterly beer, wine and whiskey dinners," Shankman said. "It would be several courses and each dish will be individually paired."

The restaurant also plans to host homebrew lessons, appearances by professional distillers and professional beer makers.

All of these offerings, coupled with the restaurant crew's constant creativity when it comes to meeting the needs of its customers, is what co-owner Sengupta swears is most important about Freight opening successfully in Woodstock.

"An artist sometimes has to die before their work gets known," he said. "At the very moment your fork goes into your dish, I know if you're happy or not."

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