Market and Moss is a community restaurant and bar in Chapel Hill serving seasonal new American cuisine in a warm, organic, European setting. We use local ingredients to create bright, flavorful cuisine, and offer food and cocktails that are both approachable and delightfully surprising. We welcome all to stop in for a drink, small plates or dinner, to create new connections and further old ones!
Our People
Executive Chef, Danny Vacca
Chef Danny, born in Boulder, Colorado, has spent much of his career at industry-leading restaurants in Boulder and Denver, Colorado. His intense focus, work ethic, and years of culinary experience have granted him ease when working with ingredients from around the globe. It is a joy to watch him cook.
After graduating with a Culinary Arts degree from Johnson & Wales in Denver in 2005, Chef Danny worked at Fruition, the first restaurant from Food & Wine Best New Chef winner Alex Seidel. He later joined the kitchen at Denver’s Squeaky Bean, named as one of Bon Appetit’s Top 50 Best New Restaurants in the country. Next, he held Sous Chef positions at nose-to-tail Colt & Gray and Latin-inspired Señor Bear.
In 2018, Chef Danny was tapped, again by Seidel, to lead Michelin guide restaurant Mercantile Dining & Provisions as Chef de Cuisine. Danny led the Mercantile kitchen with chef-owner Seidel through 2020, during which time Seidel won a James Beard award. Mercantile has earned a number of accolades including those from Gayot, Zagot and Bon Appetit.
The pandemic brought Chef Danny to North Carolina, where he now lives in a tiny house on his sister’s property in Pittsboro. He collects digital art and, these days, much of his free time goes into training his puppy, Dijon, a mini Dachshund (while still giving plenty of love to his other dog, Brewski). He has traveled from Europe to Africa, experiencing a range of local cultures across the world.
Chef Danny’s cooking is rooted in Old World technique while incorporating thoughtful contemporary ingredients. He has immersed himself in both cooking and food culture, and harnesses this understanding to create familiar food that’s also different in all the right ways. Danny describes his food as “comfort food – delicious and approachable.”
Owner, Annie Johnston
Market and Moss grew out of Annie’s vision for a restaurant that brought together seasonal cuisine, beautiful ambience, and warm hospitality extended not only to guests but to employees and other stakeholders. From the beginning, building a positive culture based on a shared commitment to create exceptional experiences was an integral part of the Market and Moss concept.
Growing up in Chapel Hill, Annie worked at several local restaurants. Her first job in the industry was at Pazzo, an Italian eatery, where she was a backwait who served bread and bussed tables. She went on to hold jobs at several other local restaurants as a Host and then as a Server, before leaving for Vanderbilt University in 2005. During college, she left the hospitality industry and after college, she led companies ranging from a due diligence investigation firm to an online startup that she founded in 2012. She had a passion for growing businesses, but hadn’t found the industry that felt right until she returned to hospitality.
In 2015, Annie bought and reinvented La Vita Dolce Cafe, just a few doors down from Market and Moss, and fell in love with growing a business that in turn grows community, connection, and its employees.
In 2019, Annie began to look for a location that could house her newest vision — Market and Moss. Near the end of the year, she got a call from Pazzo owner Seth Kingsbury.
He was retiring and closing Pazzo, making the 700 Market Street restaurant space in Southern Village available. The space was perfect for the community-focused restaurant and bar vision. So Annie signed a lease at 700 Market Street and returned to the space where she held her first restaurant job to build a new concept.
As Market and Moss was about to open in early 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic hit, devastating the industry.
But the drive to create an experience where the cuisine, beverages, ambiance, and culture all aligned never died, and it was worth the wait when Market and Moss opened its doors in the fall of 2020.
Front of House Manager, Ivana Uzunova
If you’ve been to Market and Moss, you likely know Ivana. Her greatest joy is getting to know our guests and ensuring every aspect of their experience is beyond the expected. From sharing stories, to finding the the right wine, to making the sun move if it’s shining too brightly on your patio table…Ivana will do everything she can to make your experience just right.
Born in Sophia, Bulgaria, Ivana has traveled much of the Middle East, embracing local culture and cuisine along the way. In 2012, she moved to the United States, left behind her career as a specialty florist, brought along fluency in four languages, and entered the hospitality industry. She has since worked in several Triangle-area restaurants.
Ivana and Annie met before Market and Moss opened, immediately discovering a shared vision of a warm and comfortable hospitality, and a shared priority of first establishing a positive culture and a like-minded team. Since then, Ivana has been the Front of House Manager of Market and Moss, overseeing front of house staff and training, the development of service technique, and playing a leading role in what it feels like when you dine at Market and Moss.
