Friday Fun Food Facts – November 21, 2014

Triangle Restaurant News

Thanksgiving is a wonderful holiday – one of my favorites. A time to be thankful for all that we have in this great country of ours. Unless you are the one stuck in the kitchen at 4 a.m. Ok, I’m just kidding, but don’t feel bad about not wanting to cook all day. You should enjoy it too! And Greg Cox from the News & Observer is your hero again this year with his compilation of restaurants open on Thanksgiving day. Check it out here.

And if you still want to celebrate Thanksgiving in your home, but don’t want to cook the turkey (or the sides), you’ll be glad to know that the Q Shack is firing up their annual tradition of providing you with turkeys, sides and desserts for your Thanksgiving Day feast. Folks, I don’t endorse many things, but I can speak from personal experience that this is a fantastic (and delicious) way to feed your guests. Seriously, who (besides Tom and his team) want to be in the kitchen cooking up a turkey? Get your orders in before tomorrow, November 22nd and get all the details here.

Night Kitchen Bakehouse and Café is officially open! They opened their doors, as we told you, last Tuesday. They feature breads, pastries and savory foods and are located in the Seaboard Station complex in downtown Raleigh. Check out their Facebook page for all the details.

The Triangle Business Journal reported this week that Proof, a new neighborhood bar and lounge, is now open in Raleigh’s Five Points district. The bar calls itself a “classic American neighborho od bar” featuring “quintessential cocktails.” The address is 1620 1/2 Glenwood Avenue, next to the Rialto theater. Check them out on Facebook here.

The Triangle Business Journal also reported this week that NARA Japanese Steak Seafood & Sushi has opened in Holly Springs at 7256 GB Alford Highway in the Shoppes at Holly Springs. Check out their Facebook page here.

Got word from my friend Dana McCall and his blog GoGoRaleigh, that a new fresh-Mex concept restaurant called Wicked Taco is set to open on Western Boulevard in the former KFC location across from Amedeo’s and next to Cook-Out. Look for them to open this coming Spring.

On WRAL last week, in a story about Taverna Agora moving to a renovated building at 326 Hillsborough Street, I happened to notice that they mentioned that a developer group representing Krispy Kreme is negotiating to buy Taverna’s old space, once they move into their new space in the first quarter of next year. That is what I call a win-win!

Here is something nice. I got word this week that following Black Friday and Cyber Monday, the two biggest shopping days of the year, Bad Daddy’s Burger Bar in Raleigh and Morrisville will celebrate giving back on Dec. 2. by donating 10 percent of proceeds from all sales during the day, appropriately named Giving Tuesday, to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Wake County. Check them out here.

Saw in the Triangle Business Journal that Counter Culture Coffee is hosting a regional coffee competition in Durham that will feature top barista and brewer talent from the Southeast and Northeast. The three-day event will be at the Durham Convention Center on Nov. 21 and 22 from 8:15 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Nov. 23 from 8:15 a.m. to 3 p.m. The competition is part of the U.S. Coffee Championships that culminate with a final contest in February 2015. Get all the details here.

This Sunday, November 23rd, will be the last day of Monuts at their Parrish Street location (their home for nearly 2 years). That is in preparation for the opening of their new location on Ninth Street. But don’t fret, they plan on re-opening the Parrish Street location by the Spring of next year. The Ninth Street location will open in early December at 1002 Ninth Street, the former Magnolia Grill spot. Get all the details here.

The News and Observer reported this week that Veteran chef Gladwin Jarvis has opened La Tropicale Café, which touts itself as a Caribbean island bistro, in the former My Sister’s Kitchen building on Highway 55 near RTP. The exact location is 4716 Apex Highway. You can visit them here.

We got word that The Oakz restaurant, at 510 Glenwood Avenue, has closed. Open for less than a year, there is a rumbling that they might reopen under a new concept. We’ll keep an eye on it.

Looks like this could be the last multiple food truck event of the year. It is this Saturday, November 22 from 2-6 at Raleigh Brewing Company and will feature GOUGE Wrestling, five food trucks and plenty of brews. Food trucks will feature lunch and dinner and include: All American Food Truck, Bulkogi Korean BBQ, Captain Ponchos Tacos, Cajun Persuasion, and Dump Pho King Truck. Get all the details on their Facebook event page here.

Urban Ministries of Wake County is hosting their 10th Annual Stone Soup Supper on Wednesday, November 19th from 5-7:30 p.m at White Memorial Presbyterian Church on Oberlin Road in Raleigh. The event raises money to end homelessness and hunger and provide healthcare to those in need. You can enjoy the soup creations of chefs from 12 area restaurants and organizations on site, or take some home with you. Get all the details here.

The group behind the “secretive” pop up dinners called Snap Pea Underground, is planning their next round of pop-up dinners, this time offering three nights, instead of just two. The next round will be held Thursday, December 4th through Saturday, December 6th and will be held at a location just outside of Chapel Hill (attendees will be notified 24 hours before the event). If you’ve never been to one of these, they are a real treat – plan on spending at least a couple of hours there. Sign-up and get all the details here.

Thanks to Kathleen Donnelly, I was reminded that the 12th annual Gingerbread Benefit for Triangle Family Services will take place on Sunday, December 7th at the Umstead Hotel & Spa in Cary. The day begins with a Gingerbread Sneak Preview (at 11:30) and culminates with the Evening Gingerbread Benefit at 6:30, and lots in between for children and the entire family. Get all the details here.

The Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina just launched their Holiday Meals Drive and they need your help to reach their goal of raising $435,000 online before December 31, which would be enough to provide 2.17 million meals! Folks can donate, make a gift in honor of a friend or family member or host a holiday fundraiser. Perhaps your company can join in on this extremely worthy cause. Get all the details here.