TRIANGLE FOOD BLOG

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

Featured Restaurant News

• Brookside Bodega will celebrate their grand opening in Raleigh today (June 10) from 4 – 9 p.m. with carnival games, live music and food on its outdoor patio. They are located at 1000 Brookside Drive in the former Falafel & Co. space. The restaurant’s menu is loosely inspired by New York bodegas, or small owner-operated convenience stores, and features dishes like the New York chopped cheese sandwich, spicy Nashville chicken sandwich and Birria taco plate and guacamole. There are plenty of vegetarian options, including Buffalo cauliflower, the Portobello club, a grilled Pimento cheese sandwich and more. And true to the bodega form, they are stocked with all the essential items you need for your home – everything from a great wine selection and beer, to dairy, eggs and toilet paper. Congrats to owners Lee and Michelle Robinson, Jacob Paramo and Darrell Brown. Get to know them here.

Wake County Restaurant News

• In Cary’s Fenton development, the Indigo Road Hospitality Group announced this week that they have hired Oscar Gnapi as executive chef of their new Italian concept, Colletta, which will open later this summer (July 15th is the target date). Colletta will be the third Indigo Road restaurant to open in the Triangle area, joining O-Ku and Oak Steakhouse, which are located in downtown Raleigh, and opened in 2018 and 2019. Congrats to Steve Palmer and his continued success. Start getting familiar with Colletta here.

• The former Sub Conscious spot on Raleigh’s Hillsborough Street is getting a new tenant next month after the Italian Kitchen was unsuccessful after one year in business. The Triangle Business Journal is reporting that Bussin Pizza is taking over the 1,400-square-foot space at 3209 Hillsborough Street where customers can expect New York-style pizza by the slice during the day with a focus on specialty pizzas and pasta dishes in the evening. Owner Saul Castillo has experience with two other pizza places in Raleigh – Brookside Pizza and Supremo’s Pizza. Keep up with opening announcements on their Facebook page here.

• The East Cafe at the North Carolina Museum of Art has redesigned their menu and offerings, which you can check out here. Also, due to renovations at the museum, SIP Coffee Bar and Cafe will be closed June 1 through October 8, but most of their offerings will be available at the East Cafe during that time. And if you are planning a picnic at the museum park, you can order picnic baskets ahead of time to be picked up on Saturday and Sunday between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. Order your picnic here.

• Hang in there Fuqua-Varina. Chris Creighton shared the news that the Chick-fil-A in “the quay” is closed for renovations “to update the building to become more efficient.” They will remain closed until renovations are complete later this summer. Follow their progress on Facebook here. The good news is the Chick-fil-A location at Waverly Place just re-opened yesterday. Check them out here.

• And up in Wake Forest, reader Mike Burger shared a slew of good news. Here’s a quick summary of the happenings: Cravin’ Confections Dessert Bar is open at 3612 Rogers Branch Road; Poki Bowl is open at 1898-110 South Franklin Street; and Paco’s Pizza is open at 3325 Rogers Road (this is the third iteration of a pizza shop at this location…hopefully, the third time is the charm!). Thanks Mike!

Durham, Orange & Chatham Restaurant News

• Michael DePersia of DePersia & Associates shared with me that Parks Food Street at 3219 Old Chapel Hill Road in Durham was sold to Succotash Food Truck who plan to remodel and open a brick and mortar location in a few months. Follow their progress on their site here. Parks indicated on their website that they plan to re-open in Raleigh. Stay tuned.

Closings / Cancellations

• None to report! Keep eating local, folks!

Food Trucks 

• The first Downtown Raleigh Food Truck Rodeo of 2022 is THIS Sunday, June 12! The rodeo is set up on downtown Raleigh’s Fayetteville Street featuring a half mile of food trucks and restaurants spread out over 10 city blocks. The final one of the year will be on Sept 25th. Details here.

• And if you can’t make it over to Raleigh, the town of Hillsborough is having their Hillsborough Food Truck Rodeo this Sunday as well from 3 – 8 p.m. at 144 E. Margaret Lane. Pick from 15-plus food trucks during this new event in downtown Hillsborough. Options include anything from Smokiin Mac to pupusas from Mesas El Savador. Get all the details on their Facebook event page here. Thanks to Chapel Hill Magazine for alerting us to this.

• The remaining Durham Central Park Food Truck Rodeo 2022 schedule is as follows: September 4 and October 30. Mark your calendars. Get all the details here.

• Looking to find your favorite food truck (or stalking them and simply don’t want to have to admit it)? We understand. Find them on Street Food Finder here.

Events

• WRAL shared that the annual Pimento Cheese Festival returns to downtown Cary this Saturday, June 11th, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Food trucks will line Academy Street to serve their regular menus, along with new dishes featuring a southern delicacy: pimento cheese! Enjoy live music at the Downtown Park, grab a drink from local breweries, and taste some of the best pimento cheese samples from local restaurants. You can even test your skills in the pimento cheese sculpting contest. Get all the details here.

• This is the final weekend of the annual Triangle Restaurant Week summer edition – it concludes this Sunday, June 12. Through Sunday, participating restaurants within Raleigh, Cary, Chapel Hill, Durham and surrounding areas will offer a special 2 or 3-course prix fixe menu ($20, $25, $30, $40, $50) each day they are open. Visit their website for a list of participating restaurants and their offerings.

• The NC Hops Fest is this weekend (June 11-12) at the NC State Fairgrounds. Attendees will be able to sample from a selection of 100+ NC craft beers, ciders, and seltzers while enjoying live music, local makers, and food trucks. Get all the event details here.

• Vidrio restaurant on Glenwood Avenue in downtown Raleigh will host a family-style Ukrainian Dinner on June 23rd from 6:30-9 p.m. to benefit World Central Kitchen’s efforts to feed people displaced by the Russian war in Ukraine. One hundred percent of the dinner’s proceeds will be donated. After watching the news coverage of the ongoing Russian incursion into Ukraine, Vidrio’s executive chef Saif Rahman was moved to turn one of the restaurant’s monthly Taste of the Mediterranean dinners into an event to support the Ukrainian people. Get all the details and reserve your spot here.

• After a 2-year hiatus, Dinner in the Meadow will return as attendees will be gathering in the meadow again on Sunday, September 11th from 5:30-8:30 in the evening. The dinner sells out each year, so you are encouraged to get your tickets early. Get all the details here.

• The 15th Annual Pepperfest returns this year on Sunday, September 18th at The Plant in Pittsboro. The event is hosted outdoors with live music and pepper-themed food and drink made with locally-grown sweet, hot, and smoky NC peppers. Chefs and craft beverage makers will compete for awards. Guests can taste different dishes made from peppers grown in the Piedmont of North Carolina. Early bird prices are good through July 1st, when prices increase. Get your tickets and all the details here. Thanks to Neha Shah with the Pittsboro-Siler City Convention & Visitors Bureau for alerting me about this great event!

• Like beer? Excellent. Visit Raleigh has established a Raleigh Beer Trail that gives you a passport to get stamped at the 30+ breweries in the Raleigh area, from Wake Forest to Raleigh to Holly Springs and Fuquay-Varina. Once you’ve filled up your passport with stamps, you send it in to receive prizes. Nothing like being rewarded for drinking! But as always, please drink responsibly. Get the details here.

Food Bank Corner

• With your support over the last year, the Food Bank distributed food to approximately 200,000 youth facing hunger in the 34 counties we serve. Unfortunately, we continue to see a devastating impact from COVID-19 for young people, who are left vulnerable to family and school changes. No child should have to worry when he or she will eat again, and no parent should have to skip a meal, so they can put food on the table for their children. Through agency distributions, targeted nutrition programs, education, and public policy work, the Food Bank is reaching young people with healthy and fun food options. Learn more here. #NoOneGoesHungry

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

Featured Restaurant News

• Award-winning chef Vivian Howard announced this week that after 16 years of business (opened in 2006 in Kinston) her Chef & The Farmer will close beginning June 5th. Howard said that it is time to renovate and re-envision what they do. They will be closed this summer to work on a refreshed concept, one that suits Eastern North Carolina in 2022 according to Howard. With any luck, they hope to re-open their doors in the late fall. In her video announcement, Howard also hinted that she is close to launching a “project” that she has been working on for two years (no other details are available at this point). So you will have to stay tuned on that as well. Might be best to follow the Chef & The Farmer on Instagram on updates and announcements. We look forward to the new Chef & The Farmer this fall!

Wake County Restaurant News

• Today, Friday, June 3rd, is National Donut Day. You’ve been training all year for this. You know what to do.

• Up in North Raleigh, reader Burke Williams shared that there is a sign up for the newest location of Bon Chon to be located at 6320 Capital Boulevard between Wayback Burgers and Your Pie Pizza. No word on an open date. Visit Bonchon here.

• Reader Christine Johnson shared with us that the Caribou Coffee in Olde Raleigh, on Duraleigh Road, is no longer partnered with Bruegger’s Bagels. They still offer their great coffee and a menu of food options (including bagels), just not Bruegger’s. Visit them here.

• In downtown Raleigh’s Glenwood District, a new country bar called Whiskey Rose has opened at 401 N. West Street. Check them out here.

• Thanks to a note from friend David McCreary, I learned that Alpaca Peruvian Charcoal Chicken has opened another location, this one at 600 Village Park Drive in Knightdale. This marks their 11th Triangle-area location. Congrats to brother and sister Ruby and Ranbir Bakhshi on their continued success! Visit Alpaca here.

Durham, Orange & Chatham Restaurant News

• Inching closer to a re-opening? Looks like it! On Friday, June 3rd from noon to 4pm, Chapel Hill’s iconic Crooks Corner will be selling servings of their infamous honeysuckle sorbet outside their kitchen door on Merritt Mill Road while supplies last. A serving of two sorbet scoops (our normal restaurant sized serving) will cost $8 each. Guests will be limited to purchasing two servings each. Only credit cards accepted. Remember they have a limited supply, so get there early! If supplies last, the sorbet sale will continue from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday, June 4. Updates will be posted on Instagram here.

• Also in Chapel Hill, this week the folks over at Brandwein’s Bagels completed the renovation and expansion of their bagel shop at at the corner of N. Graham and W. Rosemary and re-opened their entire space this past Thursday. Congratulations to Alex and his entire team on what was a huge undertaking. Get by and check out the new look and expansion! Visit them here.

• Over in Carrboro, Lesley Stracks-Mullem, owner of Taste Carolina, shared with me the news that Vecino Brewing Co. in Carrboro is changing ownership and Haw River Farmhouse Ales will be taking over taproom operations and expanding with a new brewery taproom concept, an expanded kitchen and even more event opportunities. As they transition, visit Haw River on Facebook here.

• Over in Durham, Glenn Gillen shared that Afters Dessert Bar announced they will be leaving the Durham Food Hall, taking a break, and opening up in a new location in downtown Durham in a few months with all your favorites. See their announcement on Instagram here.

Closings / Cancellations

• None to report! Keep eating local, folks!

Food Trucks 

• OK, pay attention. Some changes to the Downtown Raleigh Food Truck Rodeo 2022 schedule. The are just two dates for 2022 rodeos and they are as follows – June 12th and Sept 25th. The rodeo is set up on downtown Raleigh’s Fayetteville Street featuring a half mile of food trucks and restaurants spread out over 10 city blocks. Details here.

• The remaining Durham Central Park Food Truck Rodeo 2022 schedule is as follows: THIS SUNDAY, June 5, September 4 and October 30. Mark your calendars. Get all the details here.

• Looking to find your favorite food truck (or stalking them and simply don’t want to have to admit it)? We understand. Find them on Street Food Finder here.

Events

• Saw on Ashton Mae Smith’s blog that today (Friday, June 3) mark’s the first of Foodie Fridays at Dorothea Dix Park. The events run from 5-7 p.m. where you’ll be able to sample Raleigh’s street food and enjoy local music in beautiful Dix Park. These will take place every Friday in June – so June 3, 10, 17 and 24th. Mark your calendars. Check them out on Instagram here.

• Raleigh’s 6th Annual International Food Festival, featuring food from over 30 countries, will take place this Saturday, June 4th from noon to 10 p.m. in downtown Raleigh’s City Plaza (400 block of Fayetteville Street). They are anticipating nearly 20,000 people to attend this year’s event. The event is free and open to the public. Get all the information here.

• Beats & Eats Music Festival in Chapel Hill will be held this Saturday, June 4th from 6-9 p.m. on the Southern Village Green. Attendees will be able to enjoy dancing, the music of Bantum Rooster and food from Paco’s Tacos during this fundraiser for the Ronald McDonald House of Chapel Hill. Get all the details here.

• The second annual Bubbles and Brisket is also scheduled for this Saturday, June 4th from 2-6 p.m. at Smoky Hollow in downtown Raleigh. The event is a collaboration of chefs, pit-masters, wine producers, sommeliers and brewers, pairing sparkling bubbles with a variety of cooking techniques and side dishes that feature everyone’s favorite: brisket. Early Bird Tickets on sale for the month of April are $65/person. On May 1st, tickets are $75/person. Get all the details and tickets here.

• This is fun, the folks at A Place at The Table Cafe are holding a “Pay What You Can” Food Truck Rodeo on Sunday, June 5th from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. in the parking lot at the corner of W. Hargett and S. Harrington streets across from A Place at the Table Cafe. Just like at the cafe, you will have the option to pay for your meal by paying the suggested meal price of $12 a ticket, paying less than the suggested price, volunteering for your meal, or paying a meal forward. Get tickets and all the details here.

• The annual Triangle Restaurant Week summer edition is set to run next week, June 6-12, 2022. During the event, participating restaurants within Raleigh, Cary,Chapel Hill, Durham and surrounding areas will offer a special 2 or 3-course prix fixe menu ($20, $25, $30, $40, $50) each day they are open. Visit their website for a list of participating restaurants and their offerings.

• The NC Hops Fest will be held June 11-12 at the NC State Fairgrounds. Attendees will be able to sample from a selection of 100+ NC craft beers, ciders, and seltzers while enjoying live music, local makers, and food trucks. Get all the event details here.

• Vidrio restaurant on Glenwood Avenue in downtown Raleigh will host a family-style Ukrainian Dinner on June 23rd from 6:30-9 p.m. to benefit World Central Kitchen’s efforts to feed people displaced by the Russian war in Ukraine. One hundred percent of the dinner’s proceeds will be donated. After watching the news coverage of the ongoing Russian incursion into Ukraine, Vidrio’s executive chef Saif Rahman was moved to turn one of the restaurant’s monthly Taste of the Mediterranean dinners into an event to support the Ukrainian people. Get all the details and reserve your spot here.

• After a 2-year hiatus, Dinner in the Meadow will return as attendees will be gathering in the meadow again on Sunday, September 11th from 5:30-8:30 in the evening. The dinner sells out each year, so you are encouraged to get your tickets early. Get all the details here.

• Like beer? Excellent. Visit Raleigh has established a Raleigh Beer Trail that gives you a passport to get stamped at the 30+ breweries in the Raleigh area, from Wake Forest to Raleigh to Holly Springs and Fuquay-Varina. Once you’ve filled up your passport with stamps, you send it in to receive prizes. Nothing like being rewarded for drinking! But as always, please drink responsibly. Get the details here.

Food Bank Corner

• With your support over the last year, the Food Bank distributed food to approximately 200,000 youth facing hunger in the 34 counties we serve. Unfortunately, we continue to see a devastating impact from COVID-19 for young people, who are left vulnerable to family and school changes. No child should have to worry when he or she will eat again, and no parent should have to skip a meal, so they can put food on the table for their children. Through agency distributions, targeted nutrition programs, education, and public policy work, the Food Bank is reaching young people with healthy and fun food options. Learn more here. #NoOneGoesHungry