Friday Fun Food Facts – August 12, 2016

Triangle Restaurant News

Triangle restaurant news…that not everyone knows. Impress your co-workers at the water cooler.

Featured Restaurant News

  • With all the new activity in downtown Raleigh, this year’s Downtown Raleigh Restaurant Week could not be better timed. What a great week to try out all the new joints as well as visit your old favorites. The week-long fun kicks off next Monday and runs through August 21st. Get all the details here.

Wake County Restaurant News

  • Downtown Raleigh’s newest watering hole and restaurant, Whiskey Kitchen, opened this past week. It is described as a chef’s barroom serving Southern food, as well as more than 200 whiskeys, wine and beer. Check them out on their Facebook page here.
  • WRAL reported this week that The District will take over the space formerly occupied by The Borough and Hadley’s Cafe at 317 W. Morgan Street. The District plans to serve up Asian fusion cuisine, according to their Facebook page, while the bar will offer cocktails, wine and local draft beer. Look for them to open this fall. Keep up with their progress on their Facebook page here.
  • And a couple of quick downtown Raleigh updates. The first is that it now appears as if Finch’s will stay through the end of the year in its current location. But after that, they plan to reopen Finch’s in January on Chapel Hill Road in Durham. Keep up with everything on their Facebook page here.
  • The second update is that it could be “any day now” that Brewerks Cafe will open in the former Quality Grocery spot in Raleigh’s Oakwood neighborhood. Keep up with the announcement here.
  • Saw in James Borden’s Development Beat that Chopt, a salad chain concept, is making renovations at 420 Daniels Street in Cameron Village, either next to or in a portion of the space previously used by the Village Draft House before it was downsized two years ago. Chopt is also in the process of opening a location Chapel Hill’s Eastgate Crossing shopping center. Check out Chopt here.
  • Although a little short on details, New Raleigh reported this week that a fried chicken restaurant is coming to former McDaids Irish Pub spot on Hillsborough Street (2412 Hillsborough Street), just two doors down from the recently opened H-Street Kitchen. We will keep an eye on this for you.
  • Also on Raleigh’s Hillsborough Street, got word from reader Anne Puryear that Cary’s Pho Vietnam (Buck Jones Road) is opening a second location in the 2811 Building at the corner of Hillsborough Street and Dan Allen Drive. No word on the opening date yet. Check them out on Facebook here.
  • The Triangle Business Journal reported that La Madeleine, the country French-inspired café and restaurant that opened its first North Carolina location at Cary Towne Center in July, will open a second Triangle-area location in the former Mimi’s Café building at the Plantation Point shopping center on Old Wake Forest Road and Capital Boulevard in north Raleigh. Check them out here.
  • Over in Cary, got word that Zach and Amber Faulisi are bringing Neapolitan style pizza to downtown Cary this fall/winter (215 E Chatham Street) when they open Pizzeria Faulisi. Zach, who is currently chef de cuisine at The Durham Hotel, and Amber met in culinary school in Pittsburgh and have worked in many fine establishments in New York and Miami before settling here in North Carolina. This is going to be good! Check them out here.

Durham, Orange & Chatham Restaurant News

  • We first got word from Rick and Sandy Fore, but was confirmed this week by the Herald-Sun, that Stoney River Steakhouse and Grill is coming to Chapel Hill’s University Place at 201 S. Estes Drive. This will be their 12th location, but first in North Carolina. They are targeting a 4th quarter opening. Get familiar with them here.
  • The Triangle Business Journal reported this week that Chapel Hill’s Beer Study bottle shop will team up with Carrboro’s StarPoint Brewing Company to open a new shop inside the Rockwood Shopping Center off University Drive in Durham. Check out Beer Study here and StarPoint Brewing Company here.
  • This is the week (Wednesday, August 17 to be exact) that Charlie Farris and Clint Winslow open their third Jersey Mike’s location – this one near the intersection of Hwy. 54 and Interstate 40 in the Falconbridge shopping center just down from Mardi Gras bowling. Congrats to Charlie & Clint. Check out Jersey Mike’s Here.

Closings

  • None to report. Keep eating local, folks!

Food Trucks

  • WRAL reported this week that just a week after announcing a fifth Triangle location (in Cary’s Waverly Place), Gonza Tacos y Tequila is expanding again with the addition of a food truck this fall! Check out Gonza here.
  • For a listing of ALL food truck events, head over to Art’s page, The Wandering Sheppard on all things food truck related here.

Events

  • Got word that Panciuto is hosting an outdoor cookout on August 16th to benefit Girls Rock NC! Noodles, pork tacos, beer and rock ‘n’ roll – all for a good cause. What more do you want? The event will be help from 6-9 at the Eno River Farmers’ Market Pavilion and tickets are $50. Reserve tickets by calling Panciuto at 919-732-6261. Get more information on Girls Rock NC here.
  • Piedmont’s new executive chef John May will welcome chef Jay Pierce of The Marshall Free House in Greensboro for a 7-course celebration of sustainably raised NC shrimp on Wednesday, August 24th at 6:30pm. The $65/ person, 7-course menu is also available for $85, with beer pairings. Contact 919-683-1213 for reservations.
  • Got word from Felicia Perry-Trujillo that the 2016 North Carolina Chef Showdown, featuring some of the most creative chefs from around North Carolina, will take place on Aug. 29. It will be held in conjunction with the North Carolina Restaurant & Lodging Expo taking place in Raleigh. The event will feature 12 savory chefs and four pastry chefs from across the state who will compete for the titles NCRLA Chef and Pastry Chef of the Year. Tickets are on sale now through August 15 for $125. Get more information and tickets here.
  • Black Twig Cider House in Durham will host their inaugural TxotxFest (pronounced “choach”) on Saturday, September 10 from noon to 4 p.m. This event will bring regional and national cider producers and chefs together. It will feature tastings from the top cider houses on the east coast as well as food from chefs at Bona Fide, Durham Catering, Mateo, Oval Park Grille, PICNIC and Rise. They will also serve a whole deboned, sausage – stuffed local pig from Firsthand Foods. Get all the details and tickets here.
  • The third Annual Triangle Oktoberfest will take place at Cary’s Koka Booth Amphitheatre on September 23rd and 24th. Enjoy family-friendly activities such as music from the Little German Band, dancing, traditional Bavarian food and fare, wiener dog races, “Rock-toberfest” concerts by Four Founders and West Street Band, children’s play area, and prizes for German attire. Children 16 and younger are free. Friday tickets: $15 in advance, or $20 at the door. Saturday tickets: $20 in advance, or $25 at the door. Purchase tickets here.
  • Tickets to TerraVita are now on sale. And you better jump fast, as many of these events will sell out soon. Trust me. If you aren’t familiar with TerraVita, it is arguably the premier “foodie event” in the southeast and it will take place September 28th through October 1 right here in Chapel Hill. In a nutshell, it is a multi-day celebration that brings together top chefs, food artisans, sommeliers, baristas, brewers, educators, distillers, cookbook authors and industry luminaries from across the Southeast to celebrate culinary excellence and sustainability in food and drink. Get tickets (NOW!) here. And get additional details on TerraVita here.
  • Felicia Perry-Trujillo reminded me this week about the upcoming 9th Annual Pepperfest taking place Sunday, October 2nd from 2-7 p.m. at Brier Chapel in Chatham County. The event features super delicious pepper-themed dishes and beverages, live music and children’s activities. A great outdoor event for this time of the year. Get tickets and all the details here.

Food Bank Corner 

  • Kroger stores in the Triangle are hosting a food drive to benefit the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina this Saturday (8/13) from 10:00 am -2:00 pm. A Durham City Transit Bus will be parked at Kroger store 3457 Hillsborough Road in Durham for Kroger customers to load their donations into. Durham City Transit provides volunteers at this location to assist with the drive. Check out our most needed items list for ideas on what to donate.

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