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A New Age for Mill Buildings

Across our state, historic mill buildings provide modern spaces for people to live, play, and work. From Guilford to Nash counties, these three restored campuses blend history with present-day life.

At Cugino Forno, a wood-fired pizzeria in Greensboro’s Revolution Mill, natural light pours in through the building’s 12-foot-tall windows and splashes onto long, wooden communal tables. The sun’s warm glow, along with piping-hot pies and frosty gelato, nourishes conversations, family gatherings, and a community hotspot.

When the 800,000-square-foot Revolution Mill complex — built in 1898 as the South’s first flannel mill — was restored more than a decade ago, Cugino Forno was one of the first tenants.

“We wanted a place for families to come together,” Adam Aksoy says, who opened the restaurant with his cousins, Yilmaz Guver and Joseph Ozbey. “The big tables are very European. Whether or not people are family or friends when they come, if they sit together, they will talk, share their food, and get to know each other.”

In this way, Cugino Forno is a lot like the mill itself. What once was a factory catering to one industry is now a home for eateries, permanent residents, shops, galleries, and offices that unite people from across the city. Revolution Mill is not singular — throughout North Carolina, the brick walls that once echoed with machines now sing with conversation, laughter, and music. The following destinations demonstrate that the past can be reimagined into almost every facet our day-to-day lives.

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Revolution Mill: Threading Greensboro

Black Magnolia Southern Patisserie in Revolution Mill may be best known for their award- winning bourbon banoffee pecan cinnamon roll, but the selection of biscuits, scones, cookies, and cakes is bountiful enough to suit any sweet tooth.

For a late-afternoon beer, check out Incendiary Brewing’s satellite taproom, which opens to a courtyard where patrons get the full mill effect of community and mingling. (Check their website for a live music lineup.) More in the mood for a cozy cocktail? Head over to Grapes and Grains, a speakeasy-style tavern, complete with a piano bar, that serves more than 40 bourbons, whiskeys, and scotches.

Before you leave Revolution Mill, set aside time to explore the “Fabric of Memory” interactive history exhibit, which shares the oral and written stories of Cone Mill Village residents. These are folks who lived and worked in the four villages opened by brothers Moses and Ceasar Cone. At this permanent exhibit, photographic, audio, and video documentation depicts the ups and downs of mill life in the early 1900s. The work was hard, but many agreed on one of the main perks: an appreciation for neighbors and a powerful sense of community — a narrative that continues to run through the fabric of Revolution Mill.

Cugino Forno will expand to Clemmons

Cugino Forno is planning to open a Clemmons location this spring.

The wood-fired pizza restaurant has signed a lease for 6316 Clemmons Point Drive, next to Abbott's Frozen Custard in the Clemmons Town Center, said co-owner Joseph Ozbey.

Cugino Forno

Ozbey and his cousins, Yilmaz Guver and Adam Adksoy, own two other Cugino Forno locations. They opened their first restaurant in March 2017 at 1160 Revolution Mill Drive in Greensboro. They opened their second in March 2019 at 486 N. Patterson Ave. in the Bailey Power Plant in downtown Winston-Salem.

Ozbey said that construction is getting ready to begin on the 3,500-square-foot space in Clemmons, which is smaller than the 5,800-square-foot Bailey Power Plant space. He hopes to open the newest location in May.

Ozbey said the restaurant will seat about 100 people inside, plus perhaps 60 more on the large patio outside. The restaurant will again use long wooden picnic tables that seat 10 people each to accommodate large groups or encourage community seating.

The menu will be the same as the other Cugino Forno locations with one major exception: The Clemmons restaurant will not sell gelato. “Since there is frozen custard next door, we don’t want to compete with our neighbors. We’re happy to send people next door if they want ice cream," Ozbey said.

Cugino is known for its wood-fired ovens that can cook a pizza in less than two minutes. Cugino doesn’t sell much else besides pizza, just a few salads, cannoli, cake and cupcakes. There will be beer on tap and wine in the Clemmons restaurant, Ozbey said.

Ozbey said customers have been asking for a Clemmons Cugino Forno for some time, but it took the restaurateurs until now to find a suitable location.

“Clemmons is exactly what we’re looking for — a place with a lot of families,” Ozbey said. “But we let our customers tell us where we should go next. At the end of the day, they are our bosses.”

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