Friday Fun Food Facts – September 20, 2019

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

Featured Restaurant News

•  It is that time of year again…time to nominate your favorite people and businesses for the 2019 WRAL.com Voters’ Choice Awards. There are a ton of areas/categories, but of course our favorite is the Food & Drink category where you can nominate everything from your favorite deli to your favorite watering hole. You can also nominate things like your favorite Twitter Personality (cough, cough) or your Favorite Blogger (again, cough, cough). Nominations will close on the morning of Oct. 14. The finalists will be revealed on Oct. 21 and voting will be open through Dec. 1. Winners will be announced on Jan. 9, 2020, at a cocktail event for finalists. Start your voting here.

Wake County Restaurant News

• The Triangle Business Journal was the first to report this week that the popular Asian Five Star Restaurant will relocate from their original location in the Warehouse District at 511 W. Hargett Street to a newly renovated space at 303 N. West St. in downtown Raleigh. The new space is expected to open in Spring 2020. Five Star is owned and operated by one of my high school classmates, Michelle Bender. Check out Five Star here.  

• The Downtown Raleigh Alliance shared the news this week that Reuben’s NY Deli is now open at 170 E. Davie Street in the former Acorn at Oak City/Kaiju space. Get to know them on their Facebook page here.

• Chana Lynn over at the blog RaleighWhatsUp shared the news that there is a new coffee shop in the works for Raleigh at the corner of Fairview and Oberlin called Idle Hour Coffee Roasters. It will be just around the corner from Mandolin, next to Hungry Howie’s. Couldn’t find much online except their Insta presence here.

• Reader Hugh Autry shared the news that he saw a “Coming Soon” sign for Afghan Kabob at 3933 Western Blvd. in former Sultan Kabob location across from new Biscuitville. We were unable to find an online presence for them.

• Over in Fuquay-Varina, buddy David McCreary notified me that Jersey Boy Subs, a family owned and operated restaurant, is now open at 943 E. Broad Street in the Walmart shopping center. The only online presence we were able to find was on Instagram here.

• And down in Garner, the website GarnerBiz.com brought it to our attention that Golden Krust Cabribbean Restaurant is moving into the former Verizon Wireless space at 4412 Fayetteville Road in the Shoppes at Garner next to the Walmart. No word on a timeline, so stay tuned. Get to know them here.

Durham, Orange & Chatham Restaurant News

•  Reader Glenn Gillen shared that he saw on Facebook that Jeddah’s Tea in downtown Durham is planning to have its soft opening TOMORROW, Saturday, Sept. 21 at 123 Market Street, right in the middle of downtown Durham. Check in with them on Facebook to make sure.

Closings

• As noted last week, Mura in North Hills will be closing after a 15-year run this Sunday, September 22.

• Not that we are sad about this, but Meg from Meg Here And There noticed that the McDonald’s at Cameron Village has closed. One down. 14,146 left. Sigh.

Food Trucks 

• Got word this week from my friend Jo Smith that her super talented son/chef Marshall Smith left Midtown about a month ago and can now be found driving around town in the BamPowChow food truck.  Trust me, Marshall is uber talented and is getting ready to take this truck to the next level with items like Angus Beef Sliders and Pulled Pork Sliders. You are definitely going to want to track him down. Do that here or here.

• The next Wake Forest Food Truck Rodeo happens Sunday, October 27th from 12-4pm at 405 S. Brooks St. downtown Wake Forest! Just about everything and anything that is served from the back of a truck will be featured from savory food and dessert vendors. In addition, a beer tent will be provided by Brooks Street Bowl, live music, a variety of craft vendors, and a Kid’s Zone. Get all the details on their Facebook page here.

• The Knightdale Food Truck Thursdays are held the third Thursday of the month through October at Knightdale Station Park for lunch AND dinner. Get all the details, truck schedule and more here.

• The last 2019 Durham Food Truck Rodeo is November 3! Get all the details here. And the remaining two dates for the 2019 edition of the Raleigh Food Truck Rodeo are: Sunday Oct 6th – 12-6pm; and the make-up date on November 10th. All are held along Fayetteville Street. Get all the details here.

Events

•  One of Chatham County’s largest food festivals, the 12th Annual Pittsboro Pepperfest, is returning to main street in downtown Pittsboro THIS Sunday, September 22 from 3 – 6 p.m. So plan to spend your Sunday afternoon in historic, downtown Pittsboro. Get all the details here.

• Evan Pushchak and his wife have teamed up with the folks over at Oakwood Pizza Box to host a wine and food event called Cheers for SAFEchild on Monday September 23rd at 6:30pm. SAFEchild has been devoted to child abuse prevention for over 25 years. It will be an evening of hand-picked wines and champagnes and off-menu food from the Oakwood kitchen team. 100% of the ticket sales from this event are going directly to SAFEchild. Tickets are $75 per person. Get tickets and all the details here.

• The 2019 NCRLA Chef Showdown final event is coming to Durham on Monday, September 30! The culinary participants, all based in North Carolina, advanced after cooking up the highest-rated dishes across five statewide preliminary rounds and partaking in regional rounds in Raleigh and Charlotte. Chefs and pastry chefs will prepare savory and sweet portion-sized dishes for attendees, while a team of mixologist and distillery pairs whip up can’t-miss cocktails for guests to sip on. At the end of the night, the top titles of Chef of the Year, Pastry Chef of the Year and Mixologist & Distillery of the Year will be announced. Tickets are now on sale for the event on Monday, Sept. 30 from 6-8:30 p.m. at Angus Barn’s Bay 7 in Durham.

• The Root Cellar Cafe & Catering will host the 8th annual Porkapalooza Festival at its Chapel Hill restaurant on Saturday, Oct. 5, at 6:30 p.m. The eagerly anticipated porktastic farm dinner will offer eight small plate courses, featuring locally raised pork from Burnette Ranch in Pittsboro and handcrafted beers from Fuquay-Varina’s Mason Jar Lager Co. This is the 8th anniversary of what has become one of the signature food events in North Carolina. Tickets for Porkapalooza include all food and drink and are $69. Get tickets and all the details here.

• St. Ann Church in Clayton will host their 11th International Food Festival on October 5th from 11-6 p.m. featuring foods from 20 countries prepared by parishioners. The family friendly event also includes live international entertainment on stage, children’s games and a silent auction. Admission and parking are free. Get all the details here.

• Also on October 5th, Big Boss Brewing Company will host the 9th Annual Casktoberfest, a mashup of old world beer cultures where European style festival traditions collide and the brewery is transformed into a traditional beer hall while serving a variety of specialty cask ale. This is a pay as you go event, no advance purchase or ticket is required. Taproom opens at 3pm,  “Beer Hall” opens at 5pm. Big Boss is located at 1249 Wicker Drive in Raleigh. Get all the details here.

• On October 6, TROSA will hold their 5th Annual Foodie Fundraiser for TROSA co-presented by Sysco Raleigh. This fun, family-friendly event will feature music, games, crafts with The Scrap Exchange, and an amazing sampling of food from some of the Triangle’s best chefs and restaurants. The current list includes: Foster’s Market, Guglhupf, J. Betski’s, Linda J’s Cupcakes, Local 22, Mateo, Parizade, Rise, Rue Cler, Sage & Swift Gourmet Catering, Saltbox Seafood Joint, Scratch, Talullas, and Vimala’s Curryblossom Cafe and more. Tickets are limited and on sale now for $30/Adult; $10/Children ages 5-12. Children 4 and under free. Get tickets and event info here.

• John Huisman, aka Triangle Explorer, recently shared via Twitter that the annual Beericana festival is scheduled for Saturday, October 12th at Sugg Farm Park in Holly Springs. The event is from noon until 6 p.m. and features nearly 70 breweries (count at this point). It is a craft beer and music festival that brings great beer from breweries from across the state of North Carolina (and some from beyond) for attendees to enjoy. Tickets are $45, or $75 for VIP (2 hour early access). Get tickets and all the details here.

• Also on October 12th, Durham Bowls, a project pairing local chefs with school nutrition managers to develop new, delicious, and “school food”-compliant recipes for school lunch, are hosting their 2nd annual Durham Bowls Food Fest on October 12th at the Scrap Exchange in Durham. Tickets ($6 and $3) include a tasting of each of the 10 new recipes, a chance to vote for the People’s Choice award, live music, lots of great organizations tabling, and more. It’s super fun, and people leave full! Get your tickets and all the details here.

• This is it. Your last chance. I’ve been touting this amazing event that Colleen Minton dreamed up 10 years ago and now we are at the 10th and FINAL Terra Vita Food & Drink Festival in Chapel Hill October 16-19, 2019. Yep, you read that right. This is the grand finale. There will be no more. And heed my last (and final) warning – tickets will not last. If you’ve never been – GO! If you’ve been, don’t miss the last one. If you don’t know, 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 and details here on all the events that week.

• On Sunday, November 3rd, more than 30 of the Triangle’s finest restaurants will be paired with world-class wines at the third annual Sip + Savor – A Wine, Food and Music Experience.  Sip + Savor will showcase 30+ culinary all-stars, sommeliers, on-stage experience with live music, VIP lounge, and more. Get all the details and tickets here.

• The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation will hold their Brewer’s Ball on November 8, 2019 from 6:30-10pm at The Rickhouse in Durham. The Ball  is an evening celebrating the Triangle’s “finest” young professionals and features food, beer, live music, live and silent auctions, and a chance to mingle, all while being a part of a great cause: helping move us closer to a cure for cystic fibrosis.  This one-of-a-kind beer tasting event has grown each year with the 2018 event hosting over a dozen different vendors including local craft breweries, and food from several Triangle area restaurants. The event will be capped at 300 people and tickets have sold out every year! Get tickets and details here.

Food Bank Corner

• This year for Hunger Action Month in September, we’re asking everyone we know to #ShareYourWhy – what makes fighting hunger so important to them as an individual or a company. That can be on social media, one one of our special #ShareYourWhy banners at our six branches, or even in conversation with a friend or family member. With our collective voices, we can make sure that the issue of hunger, and the solutions we can all help build, are lifted up. Everyone has a role to play in ending hunger. Hunger Action Month is your opportunity to join a movement that has a real and lasting impact on our effort to feed more North Carolinians than ever before. Whether it’s by advocating and raising awareness, making a donation, having a short conversation with friends, or volunteering, you can find the way that’s right for you to make a difference during Hunger Action Month. Together, we can solve hunger. Find out more here.