Friday Fun Food Facts – October 21, 2016

Triangle Restaurant News

The Raleigh Agenda was the first to report that Buku’s Sean Degnan and Tony Hopkins will open their second restaurant, Soca, in Raleigh’s Cameron Village in the space formerly occupied by Faire. Where Buku tends to focus on updates of popular, approachable dishes from Asia, Soca will shift its eye to South and Central America, the menu bouncing between Colombia and Mexico, Trinidad and Puerto Rico, Jamaica and Chile. They plan to open in January. Keep up with their progress on Facebook here.

Up in Youngsville, just north of Raleigh in Franklin County, the folks over at Rocky Top Hospitality have purchased The Boondocks, a special events facility located in historic downtown Youngsville and are rebranding the venue as Cross+Main. Rocky Top Catering and Southland BBQ Catering will now be the exclusive caterers of Cross+Main. Check them out here. Congratulations to Dean Ogan and his team!

The Triangle Business Journal reported that over in Morrisville, Guasaca, a Venezuelan grill-style restaurant, will be opening a third location in the region by December. The owners of Guasaca have signed a lease inside the new Weston Corners retail complex at the intersection of Weston Parkway and Chapel Hill Road. Check them out here.

Also in Weston Corners, the developers have announced that leases have also been signed by Toast Cafe, Marco’s Pizza, Jasmin Bistro and Charlie Graingers.

And just down the street, Lubrano’s Italian Restaurant at 101 Keybridge Drive in Morrisville is now Paolo’s on 54. Same ownership and team, just new name. Stop by and check them out.

Also in Morrisville, food blog FoodCary reported that Morrisville will be getting its first Potbelly Sandwich Shop at 9662 Chapel Hill Road as the Chicago sandwich store comes to the area, with three more openings planned in Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill. The plan for the Potbelly in Morrisville is to open either in the last week of January or the first week of February. Check out Potbelly here.

Over in Raleigh, we saw on James Borden’s Raleigh Public Record blog that final site work permits were issued last week for Raleigh’s newest Panera Bread (yawn), which will be located at the redeveloped Villages of Lake Boone. Actual building permits have not been issued yet, so we don’t have a timeline on that project.

Congratulations to Jill Donovan of Donovan’s Dish as she announced this week that they have launched their Dish to Door service. Now you can enjoy their signature dishes such as Chef TJ’s Famous Shrimp & Grits or their signature Stuffed Chicken right in the comfort of your own home. Check out their promo video here or visit Donovan’s Dish here.

And finally, a couple of “anniversary” shout outs – Capital Club 16 recently celebrated 6 years and Moonlight Pizza turned 20 last week. Thanks to Ashton Mae Smith for bringing those to my attention.

Noticed over in Chapel HIll at East 54 that CocoBean Coffee & Tea has opened. They are located adjacent to Tobacco Road Sports Cafe and directly across from elements. Check them out here.

Thanks to a tip from Ashton Mae Smith, she noted via New Raleigh that the Dickey’s BBQ location on Davie Street in downtown Raleigh has closed.

Congratulations to the ladies at Pho Nomenal Dumpling Truck as Buzzfeed, the national website that loves cultural trends, has named them the best food truck in North Carolina. Congratulations! And thanks to the Triangle Business Journal for pointing this out via Twitter. Check them out here. I will say, I still miss their original name – Dump Pho King Truck. Classic.

For a listing of ALL food truck events, head over to Art’s page, The Wandering Sheppard on all things food truck related.

This Saturday, October 22nd, the Carolina RailHawks are hosting Minnesota United as the final home game this season and will hold a food truck rodeo prior to AND during the game. Featured trucks include: Bulkogi, Backyard Bistro, Bam Pow Chow, Kocina, Arepa Culture and CJ’s Street Food. Get tickets and all the details here. Or call the box office at 919-459-8144.

Jennifer Noble Kelly notified me about PICNIC, North Carolina’s newest whole hog barbecue joint, and its’ farm partner, Green Button Farm, hosting their inaugural NC Barbecue Revival at the farm this fall, October 28th – 30th. The three-day weekend will be chock full of classes, discussions, feasts and pig pickins’. Get a listing of all the events, ticket information and every last detail on the their website here.

The second annual Pork + Vine festival will be held on October 30 from 12 – 4 p.m. outside of The Wine Feed’s downtown Raleigh store located at 602 Glenwood Avenue. Chefs from five well-known area restaurants, including Gravy, Oval Park Grille, Patrick Jane’s Bar & Bistro, Buku and Gonza’s Tacos y Tequila, will each prepare their own pork-inspired small plates, which will then be thoughtfully paired with a pour of high-quality wine specifically chosen from The Wine Feed’s extensive selection. For additional information and tickets, go here.

On November 6th, the folks over at Acme will bring back the fourth edition of Salt & Smoke Festival to beautiful Rock Quarry Farm on Highway 54 just outside of Carrboro. This is becoming quite the event, as over 500 people attended last year. Get all the details and ticket information here.

And John Huisman, aka Triangle Explorer, pointed out that Teddy Diggs, executive chef of Il Palio in Chapel Hill, and renowned author Katie Parla are teaming up to host a culinary tour of Italy’s capital. Hosted at Il Palio on November 15th, this Tasting Rome feast will feature recipes from Parla’s acclaimed cookbook, Tasting Rome, along with classics from Chef Diggs’ regional Italian repertoire. Tickets may be purchased for $125 by calling 919-918-2545 and include signed copies of the Tasting Rome cookbook, wine pairings, tax and gratuity. Visit Il Palio here.

Exciting things have been happening at your Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina! They have moved to a much larger facility to accommodate their expanded operations and the continued need for food assistance. In celebration of this move, they invite you to their Community Open House on Saturday, November 12th from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. (tours, food truck rodeo and fun & games). The new facility is at 1924 Capital Blvd. Get all the details on the Open House here.