SOUTHEASTERN N.C. — It’s the time of year when Port City Daily counts down its most read pieces throughout 2023.
CATCH UP: No. 9 Most Read Story of 2023: Southport complaints due to 5-person homeless population
A beloved figure in Wilmington unexpectedly passed away in July. His friends and family came together to celebrate him and his contributions to their lives and Wilmington’s culinary scene.
Port City Daily ran the memoriam for James Smith at the beginning of August. Smith was 48 and owned two Fork n Corks, one in downtown Wilmington and a second location in Carolina Beach, the latter which closed two weeks following his death. Smith also ran Smoke on the Water in Riverlights.
Smith was a lifelong restaurant industry professional and upon arriving in Wilmington in 2005, he worked at various restaurants, including Caprice Bistro and Ruth’s Chris. It was in 2011 when Smith launched this own venture, a food truck named Patty Wagon. The effort came with a lot of advocacy on Smith’s part for the city to better regulate food trucks.
“He went up against city council and spoke out for more changes,” his brother Dustin told Port City Daily at the time. “There’s been a lot of brick-and-mortar restaurants that came from food trucks because of the trail he blazed.”
He also impacted others in the business, such as Hayley Jensen of Beer Barrio. She hailed Smith’s compassion and generosity, something that always shone through. They met when she and her husband, Stephen Durley, were considering moving to Wilmington to open Beer Barrio.
“With 20 plus years, you understand people — you know when they’re upset or when they’re happy. That was James. He had a good head on shoulders and was trustworthy,” she said at the time.
His full memoriam can be read in full below:
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