Fish Fry Fun
Want a memorable meal that comes to you?

by Rick Kinnaird

Want a memorable meal, Hatteras style?

Have a fish fry brought to you during your stay at Penny Lane or Sound Mind & Body. Carl Walker, a.k.a. Tom Thumb, of Tom Thumb Cookouts is your man. He’s got a trailer that looks like a first class stainless steel houseboat complete with enough equipment to do a fish fry for as many as 100 people or as few as 12. He can provide everything you need – entrees, side dishes, plates, drinks and servers – or he can just cook the food and let you do the rest.

“I’ll work with you – whatever you want,” says Tom. “I do buffet style, by the plate or just the main dishes. I do fried, grilled or steamed seafood. I can grill chicken or roast a pig on charcoal. I can provide desserts and sweet tea too. No one walks away hungry. I guarantee you that."

Tom's mother ran a restaurant for more than 50 years in Manteo. Originally named Walker’s Diner, it later became The Duchess of Dare "when Manteo went upscale."

"I worked there all the time because we were open all the time: seven days a week, every day of the year," Tom says. "Mom would be up at 5 a.m. and we’d close at 9 p.m. It was hard work. Once she closed, I said I’d never go into the restaurant business again."

Tom became the cook for the new jail and then was the fry cook at The Lone Cedar Restaurant. "One day a fella came in and wanted to sell some deep fat fryers, three for $300. I couldn’t pass it up. I bought them, cleaned them up and someone said I should bring them over and try them out, have a little party. Then someone offered me a little money if I did it for them. The money got better and I kept doing it," he says.

Tom says a typical menu for a group of 12 or 15 might be:

Shrimp and Scallops
French Fries
Cole slaw
Hush puppies (Tom makes his own)
Banana cream pie
Sweet tea

And the price? About $20 to $25 a plate. But Tom points out that's a ballpark figure, the price of the ingredients changes constantly. “Don’t worry, I’ll work with you,” Tom says.

You can contact “Tom Thumb” at 252 475-0812 or 252 473-6269 (cell). Don't forget to mention you're a Half Vaster!