Lake Lure was hit hard by Hurricane Helene, but a lot of businesses have reopened for the spring season.

One of them is the popular Lured Market and Grill, which producer Clay Johnson discovered offers everything, from farm to table meals, to live music.

[band playing lively bluegrass music] - [Clay] The music of the band called Small Town Gossip wafts around the ridges surrounding the small town of Lake Lure.

- [Paul] The band playing today, the early band, is a local bunch of musicians that met at our open mic that we had, and formed a band, and they are fantastic.

- [Clay] And that's the spirit of Lured Market and Grill.

- Rural people, from the time they walk in to the time they leave, to be able to talk to people, to be able to ask questions, to be able to engage in conversation and meet other people.

- [Clay] Paul and Cara Brock live in nearby Bat Cave.

When an old gas station building went up for sale down the road in 2019, they saw an opportunity.

- [Paul] So we took a look at the little gas station and said, "Let's open up a little market," and eventually a restaurant.

So that's what we did.

- Our vision was to be able to have a place where we had delicious food, live music, craft beer, a place for our community to hang out and congregate.

- [Clay] A few years later, they took over a vacant building across the street, added a coffee shop, and expanded the market.

- [Cara] Lots of specialty goods, from made in the southeast, particular North Carolina, so anytime I can find something from this area, we try to snag that and add it to our product line.

It continues to evolve.

- [Clay] Including everything from souvenirs to camping supplies.

- If you're here at the lake visiting, we got something for you.

- Classic chicken.

- [Clay] The grill is farm to table, sourcing local suppliers as much as possible.

- It was our desire to do something that was a little less touristy, a little elevated, but still really casual.

- [Clay] There's a wide variety of salads, sandwiches, and burgers.

- [Paul] We have really creative people, and we try to use really good ingredients.

- [Clay] A signature sandwich is the Kicking Mule.

- [Cara] Everyone says it's their favorite sandwich.

It's a huge fried chicken sandwich with a little kickin' sauce.

- [Clay] Helene delivered a different kind of kick to this community.

- We were lucky, this little cove back here was somewhat protected, so it surged all the way down the lake, but it only got up to the bottom of this deck here.

The next thing you know, we're handing out generators, Starlinks, water, clothing.

We had volunteers that treated this like a job.

They would come down here and serve the people that had been lost their housing, lost their electricity.

One of them is our bartender now.

I remember her asking me, "Hey Paul, is it okay if I go to the doctor?"

I'm like, "You're volunteering."

It was just amazing how people connected, and those connections have continued.

- Everybody's opening back up.

We're all working together as a community to get back open, but we've been able to really become the hub.

A lot of people are very emotional when they come back to visit for the first time, and often they come in, and they're looking for something to eat, or something, they just want somebody to talk to.

It feels good to be able to provide some kind of shelter, whatever people are looking for.

- We just love the addition of Lured Market to our community, everything that they've done for our community during the hurricane, we just really support them, and wanna see them succeed, and keep them here.

- It's really a getaway.

It's lowers the blood pressure a little bit for a lot of people, and you can tell, you can feel the energy and the vibe.

- [Paul] We've connected with folks, and we love them, they love us, and I think we're gonna be okay because of that.

[gentle music] - Lured Market and Grill is at 2655 Memorial Highway in Lake Lure, and they're open Wednesday through Sunday.

To find out more, give them a call at 828-844-4339.

Or go online to LuredMarketandGrill.com.