Southern Agenda

A Steak House, Well Done

An illustration of people gathered around a steak shaped like North Carolina

Illustration: Tim Bower


Thad Eure Jr. was a big man, with a large personality and a generations-long impact on the North Carolina food and social scene. It’s little surprise that his favorite dish at his signature Angus Barn restaurant in Raleigh was a massive two-person cut of decadent chateaubriand, served tableside with a red-wine-and-shallot sauce and a heaping cornucopia of vegetables. Eure died in 1988, but his “Big Red” steak house remains a paragon of old-school epicureanism and modern culinary relevance. The landmark celebrates its sixty-fifth anniversary this year, with a slate of special events and tributes, among them the revival of cherished Angus Barn family recipes—including Eure’s chateaubriand. The focus of the monthslong party for Big Red, says Van Eure, Thad and Alice Eure’s daughter and the current proprietor, is to spread the love. “So many people feel that we’ve been a huge part of their lives, across generations,” she says. To that end, Angus Barn will highlight recipes from Walter Royal, the late and revered Angus Barn chef who won on Iron Chef America in 2006. The anniversary year also includes intimate wine dinners in the Angus Barn’s twenty-eight-thousand-bottle wine cellar and a June 27–29 gala weekend featuring a sixties-themed bash at Big Red’s soaring outdoor pavilion.

angusbarn.com