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The table settings at Saint James Seafood are the fir<\/span>st sign it\u2019s a special place: a blue striped cloth napkin and a paper menu with cheeky illustrations \u2013 a claw nabbing a cherry from a cocktail glass, a fish with sexy lady legs, and a shark tanning on a beach inside a bottle.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The Main Street restaurant promises \u201cquality seafood\u201d and \u201creasonably good times\u201d and says that it\u2019s been open \u201coff and on since 2017.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Less than two years after Saint James first opened, a deadly gas explosion in April 2019 forced the restaurant to close. The building was condemned and Matt Kelly, the chef and owner, didn\u2019t know when his business could reopen. \u201cI was stressing out about it. The debt was piling up. It was awful,\u201d he said. \u201cAlso, like, I’m a chef. I’m pretty risk averse \u2026 but I was committed on reopening for some reason. And we did it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Saint James resumed operations in January 2020 only to shut down 39 days later because of the pandemic. For a brief stint in 2020, the restaurant launched a takeout joint called Jimmy\u2019s Dockside. It reopened on Feb. 2, 2022.<\/span><\/p>\n Kelly said that Sa<\/span>int James was able to stay in business because of the federal Paycheck Protection Program grants distributed during the pandem<\/span>ic.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe, of cou<\/span>rse<\/span>, want to have high-end service and high-end cuisine, and we aspire to greatness,\u201d said John Quintal, Saint James\u2019s general manager. \u201cBut at the end of the day, we have been closed twice due to things beyond our control and all you c<\/span>an really do is laugh.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Ke<\/span>l<\/span>ly draws inspiration from classic coastal dishes. The menu features Calabash-style fried seafood, raw oysters and Juan\u2019s agua<\/span>chile. K<\/span>elly is also one of the owners\u00a0<\/span>of Durham restaurants Vin Rouge, Mothers & Sons and Mateo.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWhen I open a restaurant, it\u2019s a way to explore a cult<\/span>ure,\u201d Kelly said.<\/span><\/p>\n K<\/span>elly, 46, started as a dishwasher. He remembers buying $80 cookbooks, hungry to learn how to cook. Since then, he\u2019s fa<\/span>llen in love with different food cultures and become one of the most prominent restaurateurs in Durham.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Rece<\/span>ntly, Kelly has been working the raw bar at Saint James, named after the patron saint of shellfish and the hospital founded by Kelly\u2019s family. Most dinner guests don\u2019t suspect the owner is the bearded guy wearing overalls and shucking oysters.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n For Kelly, oysters are special because they demand simplicity. \u201cOysters are full of umami, good flavor, salt. They don\u2019t need anything,\u201d Kelly said. His menu allows less flashy ingredients to stand out, too \u2013 like the fries. Kelly starts with Idaho russet potatoes, which are then brined in vinegar, fried, and tossed with old bay seasoning.<\/span><\/p>\n Before Kelly bought the place, it was a seafood restaurant called Fishmonger\u2019s for 34 years. He had been wanting to open a seafood restaurant \u2013 as is evidenced by his prolific personal collection of oyster plates, which now adorn the wall behind the hostess stand.<\/span><\/p>\n Quintal said Kelly is \u201cdefinitely an artist.\u201d \u201cThis is his vision \u2013 the food, the building, the design, the art. He’s just got a keen eye.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Above: Customers return to the reopened Saint James, where chef Matt Kelly works the oyster bar. Photos by Julianna Rennie and Milena Ozernova – The 9th Street Journal\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The table settings at Saint James Seafood are the first sign it\u2019s a special place: a blue striped cloth napkin and a paper menu with…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[47,269],"class_list":["post-6383","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-life-in-durham","tag-business","tag-the-9th-street-journal","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/03\/IMG_3182.jpg\")
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The place is warm but eclectic. He left the original black-and-white tile flooring from the site\u2019s former life as a car dealership. The bluefin swordfish hanging above the main dining room, however, is a more recent addition, as are the glass buoy lighting fixtures, portholes and bright yellow bar stools that allude to a fisherman\u2019s slicker. In the second-floor dining room (a.k.a the Captain\u2019s Quarters) is a mural of a giant octopus crushing a ship.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/03\/IMG_0795-e1648220990453-1.jpg\")
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