Featured Restaurant News
- The list of 2022 James Beard Awards semifinalists was released this week and includes 16 North Carolina restaurants, six of which are Triangle-based. Five Triangle chefs are contenders for Best Chef Southeast: Oscar Diaz (The Cortez, Raleigh), Sunny Gerhart (St. Roch Fine Oysters + Bar, Raleigh), Cheetie Kumar (Garland, Raleigh), Ricky Moore (Saltbox Seafood Joint, Durham), and Aaron Vandemark (Panciuto, Hillsborough). Alley Twenty-Six also made the list in the Best Bar Program category. What a tremendous honor and how lucky we are to be in an area so rich in culinary talent. Check out the full list here.
Wake County Restaurant News
- In Cary, Matt Christ informed us that Mason’s Famous Lobster Rolls, which already has a location in Raleigh’s North Hills, is opening a location in Waverly Place. No word yet on an opening date, but check them out here.
- Also in Cary, the Cary Citizens Times reported that Bull City Ciderworks’ fourth location, and Cary’s first cider bar, opens this weekend in the historic Williams House (210 E. Chatham St., Cary). They will be serving cider favorites and new cider cocktails during their soft opening. A grand opening will happen in March. Visit the new location here. Thanks to RalToday for the assist on this!
- Staying in Cary, Pineapple Sol, offering fresh pastries, charcuteries, high tea and picnic experiences, will have their grand opening on Saturday, March 5th at 302 Colonades Way also in Cary. Check out Pineapple Sol here.
- And one final Cary update, Chris Thorpe of DePersia & Associates reached out to let me know that Tony’s Taps & Oyster Co. in Cary has been sold to the owners of Cotton House Brewery. They look forward to expanding their Triangle Beer Co. craft beer line and utilizing the large kitchen for their catering business and on premise food and full bar service while continuing to offer weekly entertainment. Keep up with them here.
- Raleigh’s Catering Works is now running all of the dining experiences at the North Carolina Museum of Arts – featuring East Café, located in the East Building, and SIP Cafe & Coffee Bar located in the West Building. East Cafe features fresh, hot entrées, salads, desserts, coffee, beer, wine and more, while SIP offers a selection of coffee, tea, cold drinks, pastries and grab and go food items. Check both of them out here.
- And kudos to the team over at downtown Raleigh’s Sitti restaurant for being lauded as having the “best bread” in North Carolina according to Eat This, Not That! They noted that Sitti’s pita bread is a must-have. Kudos to Sitti’s executive chef Tracy Wildrick and his team! Sitti is located at 137 S. Wilmington Street. Visit them here and check out the rest of their menu for some of the area’s best authentic Lebanese cuisine.
Durham, Orange & Chatham Restaurant News
- Chapelboro reported this week that Ramesh Dahal, owner of the recently-opened MoMo’s Master restaurant on North Columbia Street in Chapel Hill, is set to open another concept in the space formerly occupied by Jed’s Kitchen at 105 East Franklin Street. The new venture will be called Basecamp, a bar featuring a selection of shots and cocktails, beer and wine, and small plates ranging from onion rings to kimchi. Look for them to open in April. We couldn’t find an online presence for them, so check out Momo’s here.
- Also in Chapel Hill, a new location of Tropical Smoothie Cafe will have their grand opening today (February 25) on West Franklin Street next to Med Deli. As part of their grand opening weekend, they will have $3.99 smoothies all day Friday. Tomorrow, February 26, they will have $3.99 Flatbreads all day. And on Sunday, February 27th, get $8 Smoothie/Flatbread Combos all day. Check them out here.
- Over in Hillsborough, got word this week that Lupita’s Meat Market, a meat market and Mexican restaurant, opened at 633 Cornelius Street. Get familiar with them on Facebook here.
- Downtown Durham restaurants have created a new option for your dining pleasure on Thursday nights called Small Plates Crawl! Each establishment is offering special small plates on Thursday nights. It features the following restaurants: Mateos, Taberna Tapas, Viceroy, COPA, Luna, Pompieri, Bull City Burger, Dos Peros, Jack Tar, Dashi, Rue Cler, Alley 26, Queeny’s, M Pocha and Killer Queen. Get all the details, including a map, on the Downtown Durham Inc. website here.
Closings / Cancellations
- Reader Burke Williams notified us that Pokano Poke Island Grill in Brennan Station off Creedmoor Road has closed.
Food Trucks
- Happy to share that the Downtown Raleigh Food Truck Rodeo has announced the dates for 2022 rodeos. They are as follows – May 1st, June 12th, August 7th, Sept 25th or Oct 2nd and November 6th (Alternate/Rain Date). 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.
- And not to be outdone, Durham Central Park Food Truck Rodeo has also released their 2022 schedule and it is as follows – March 20, June 5, September 4 and October 30. Mark your calendars. Get all the details here. And if you are food truck, you can get information on participating 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.
- This is definitely worth sharing. The folks over at the Indy shared that tech-giant Lenovo awarded the owners of the Ama’Gees food truck serving Jamaican cuisine a $10,000 grant to give their business a makeover. Owners Andrea and Dwayne Cole were going to open a brick-and-mortar restaurant, but a family tragedy derailed those plans. They still want to open a restaurant that will introduce the community to Jamaican culture. Read the whole story here and find Ama’Gees here.
- And Durham has a new “food truck lot” called The Spot at 1903 NC HWY 55. Jackie Conover tipped me off to the fact that Cousins Maine Lobster will be there this Saturday for lunch if you want a great reason to check it out. Apparently Will & Pops is there most of the time. If any trucks are interested in visiting, contact Amrit with Mr. Cheesesteak.
Events
- This is fun. The Daily Tar Heel shared the news that the inaugural Pittsboro Mardi Gras Pub Crawl will kick off in downtown Pittsboro this Saturday (February 26) from 6 p.m. to midnight. Ten bars and breweries will offer specialty drinks and menu items, while a bus will take crawl-goers from bar to bar. This is the second pub crawl in Pittsboro over the past year. During the Mardi Gras event, there will be beads, t-shirts and drinks available to customers. The event is being organized by Greg Stafford. This isn’t the first event like this, nor will it be the last. According to Stafford, there will be an End of Prohibition celebration on April 9, a Craft Beer Day event on May 14, National Beer Day on Aug. 5, and the Chatham Rabbit Celebration on July 16. Get all the details here.
- On March 13 from 1-5pm, Locals Seafood will host their 8th annual Winter Seafood Jubilee at Trophy Brewing Maywood, located at 686 Maywood Ave in Raleigh NC. The 2022 Jubilee will feature roasted oysters, catfish po’boys, cider from Botanist and Barrel, and the launch of the Oyster Nipper Gosé, a beer brewed by Trophy with Core Sounder Oysters and named for the tongs historically used to harvest oysters. Representatives from NC Coastal Federation, NC Sea Grant, NC Catch, Carteret Catch, NC Oyster Trail and others will be in attendance to answer seafood questions and share their work with the local community. There are no tickets required for the event, but guests are encouraged to RSVP on Facebook here.
- April 2, 2022 will see the return of a very popular food festival in Cary. Let me warn you, this is “nacho” average food festival – it is the Tacos ‘N Taps Festival from 12-5 p.m. at Cary’s Koka Booth Amphitheatre. The event features over 15 taco trucks, taquerias, and Mexican restaurants with over 30 different types of tacos. Each taco vendor will offer a wide variety of tacos and Mexican inspired dishes. Additionally, they will have over 60+ craft beers, mezcals, margaritas, tequilas, wine and ciders. Get tickets and all the details here.
- Cary’s Downtown Chowdown food truck rally returns this year on Sunday, April 10th where you can enjoy a food-filled afternoon along Academy Street tasting some of the best food in the Triangle, enjoy cool beverages from craft beer and wine vendors, and relax to the music of great local performers. See you downtown! Get all the details here.
- On Saturday, April 16th (I think it is in honor of my birthday on Sunday)The Pit’s 12th ‘Cuegass Festival returns to downtown Raleigh. The event will once again support SAFEchild. For the event, they close down the streets around The Pit and fire up the pig cookers to serve plenty of their famous Eastern North Carolina-style barbecue and a selection of locally made beers. And on the stage they’ll have your favorite bands. Get all the information here.
- And we are just under three months away from this year’s edition of Shop Local Raleigh’s Brewgaloo (April 22-23) – NC’s largest craft beer festival and 2nd biggest in the US! Voted #1 Best Beer Festival two years in a row by USA Today’s 10Best. The weekend of events features craft breweries from NC and partners with local food trucks, local vendors and local bands. Friday night will be a sampler event from 6-10pm. Tickets are $45 per person. Saturday’s event is 2-10pm and open to the public. Beer is sold by the pint or the taste. The day will feature over 75 NC breweries, over 50 food trucks, dozens of local vendors and bands. Drink tickets will be sold in advance and available for purchase at the festival. Food trucks and vendors accept cash and credit options. Get tickets and all the details here.
Food Bank Corner
- You can make a difference every month! Despite a record amount of food being distributed to individuals, seniors, children, veterans, and families of all kinds who are facing hunger last year, the food bank is still not meeting the increased need in the 34 counties the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina serves. Their partner agencies on the front lines are still reporting a sustained 35% increase in need over pre-pandemic levels. They need your reliable support to nourish all their neighbors in need. Sign up this January and your 1st monthly gift can be matched up to $2,500! Start giving today! #NoOneGoesHungry
