Local woman opens downtown eatery
Katie Collins, '11 | Staff reporter
Issue date: 2/12/10 Section: News
While students were away on winter break, a new eatery opened in Morrisville. The Purple Salamander, located on Main Street is owned by town native, Carrie Clark. Having grown up in the food industry, Clark chose to open in Morrisville because, "I'm a local," she says. Clark's father owned a local bar called the Shamrock and her mother owned a restaurant called the Blue Lantern.
The Purple Salamander serves a lot of the same foods that are found in Mustang Alley, but they are all homemade. Clark says, "We grind our own burgers, we cut our own French fries, we make our own dressings. Everything's homemade, even the chicken tenders. Nothing is processed here. It's all real chicken breast, it's all real hamburgers. Everything's homemade."
Clark says she is trying to keep the current menu simple. At this point, Clark said she is not worried about having an elaborate menu, but with time there may be some additional items. Clark says locals tend to be the main customers during the day, with students and professors arriving in the afternoon and evenings.
Serving breakfast, lunch and dinner, Clark says Fridays are her busiest days. She contributes that to serving fish. Having just finished her menu, Clark is adding various appetizer foods like fried mushrooms and mozzarella sticks. She also intends on some dinner items like shrimp, crab baskets, fried chicken, ham and steak.
Clark considers the diner to be a family business. Clark's husband is the contractor. With her mother cooking and her sons waiting tables, Clark's husband's step daughter works too. With cooks for each meal, Clark has morning, day and evening cooks. All but one cook has previous experience. As for her new cook, Clark says, "she's just having a ball."
Fitting to the eatery's name, local artist David Howlett, painted an intricate mural with various colored salamanders crawling on tree branches with a purple wall for the background.
The Purple Salamander serves a lot of the same foods that are found in Mustang Alley, but they are all homemade. Clark says, "We grind our own burgers, we cut our own French fries, we make our own dressings. Everything's homemade, even the chicken tenders. Nothing is processed here. It's all real chicken breast, it's all real hamburgers. Everything's homemade."
Clark says she is trying to keep the current menu simple. At this point, Clark said she is not worried about having an elaborate menu, but with time there may be some additional items. Clark says locals tend to be the main customers during the day, with students and professors arriving in the afternoon and evenings.
Serving breakfast, lunch and dinner, Clark says Fridays are her busiest days. She contributes that to serving fish. Having just finished her menu, Clark is adding various appetizer foods like fried mushrooms and mozzarella sticks. She also intends on some dinner items like shrimp, crab baskets, fried chicken, ham and steak.
Clark considers the diner to be a family business. Clark's husband is the contractor. With her mother cooking and her sons waiting tables, Clark's husband's step daughter works too. With cooks for each meal, Clark has morning, day and evening cooks. All but one cook has previous experience. As for her new cook, Clark says, "she's just having a ball."
Fitting to the eatery's name, local artist David Howlett, painted an intricate mural with various colored salamanders crawling on tree branches with a purple wall for the background.
 | Wall mural inside The Purple Salamander diner. The recently opened diner is located on Main St. in Morrisville. Inside, local artist David Howlett painted a colorful mural of salamanders to fit the diner's unique name. Photo by Nicole Williams, '12 |