August 21, 2015 · 6:11 am
Triangle Restaurant News
Triangle restaurant news…that not everyone knows. Impress your co-workers at the water cooler.
Featured Restaurant News
- And so it begins. The first franchise location of Rise Donuts and Biscuits officially opens tomorrow (August 22) at 7 a.m. in Morrisville at Park West Village. However, today (August 21) from noon until 2, stop by for FREE donuts! And then stay tuned for four more locations here in the Triangle! In the meantime, get over to the newest location in Morrisville. Check them out on Facebook here.
Wake County Restaurant News
- Got word from reader Mary-Rose Woodward that Diced Gourmet Salads and Wraps has opened at the Shoppes of Kildaire in the same shopping center as Trader Joe’s. They will have a grand celebration opening on Saturday, August 29th. Check them out here.
- We got word this week that La Carreta Mexican Restaurant, which is moving into the former OC Bar and Grill spot in Oberlin Court in Raleigh, is scheduled to open this Monday, August 24th. Thanks to Mark Appleby (and New Raleigh) for that information.
- Want to be one of the first ones to dine at Scott Crawford’s Standard Foods? Sign up to be there on August 30th as he welcomes author and James Beard Award winning chef Hugh Acheson for a special evening. Get all the details here.
- The Triangle’s newest location of The Egg & I announced their grand opening date of August 31st. They will have a “training” day on August 30th (reservations are required and donations to The Carying Place are appreciated). Get all the details here.
Durham, Orange & Chatham County Restaurant News
- Saw in the News & Observer that Wyatt Dickson and Ben Adams announced this week that they are on schedule to open their barbecue joint (Picnic) by the years end (on Cole Mill Road in Durham). And as a way to introduce you to their offerings, they are having a “pop-up” dinner tonight at 6 p.m. outside of RX Wine Lab located in Golden Belt at 807 E. Main Street in Durham. They will have enough food (smoked-buttermilk fried chicken, cole slaw and a chilled field pea and corn salad) to serve about 80 people. Prices will be $15 for a fried chicken platter with sides, $10 for a glass of wine, $35 for a bottle and $15 for a flight of three wines.
- The Triangle Business Journal reported this week that Dame’s Chicken & Waffles in Durham is opening a second location on the campus of Duke University this fall. They will be taking over the Devil’s Bistro spot formerly occupied by The Food Factory on Duke’s Central Campus. Check them out here.
- Also in Durham, the Triangle Business Journal reported that Vegan Flava Cafe, a new vegetarian and vegan restaurant, is opening in the former Blue Note Grill space at 4125 Durham Chapel Hill Blvd. The grand opening is scheduled for August 29th. Check them out here.
- Got word from my good friend Tabitha Turner that Shanghai Dumplings opened this week at 143 E. Franklin Street in the former location of Mei Asian. We were unable to locate a website.
- Also in Chapel Hill, WRAL reported this week that food truck Captain Ponchos has announced the opening date of August 27th for their brick-and-mortar location in Chapel Hill’s Southern Village. Visit their site here.
Closings
- Got word from David McCreary (aka LunchBoy Says) that Chippy’s, a local fish and chips restaurant on Davis Drive in Apex, has hung up it’s frying baskets for good.
Food Trucks
- Mark your calendar to be in Durham for Labor Day Weekend (September 6th) for their huge food truck rodeo at Durham Central Park. This one will be from noon until 4 p.m. Get all the details here.
- For a listing of ALL food truck events, head over to Art’s page, The Wandering Sheppard on all things food truck related here.
Events
- Got word from my friend John Huisman (aka Triangle Explorer) that tickets are on sale now for Beericana, a craft beer & music festival in Holly Springs on September 12. Beericana is in its second year and all signs point to it being even better than last year. The festival will feature over 60 breweries from across the state and beyond, more food trucks than last year with at least 20 trucks. General admission tickets are $45 and VIP tickets are $75. Get all the details and information on tickets here.
- Speaking of beer, join the brewers of Wake County at the NC Museum of Natural Sciences in downtown Raleigh tonight (August 21st) at 7 p.m. ($30; $25 for members) for a one-of-a-kind evening of beer and science. At the sampling session, a dozen brewers will offer unique creations fitting the Museum’s natural science focus. Sit in on discussions about fermentation, flavors and the engineering of beer. Get all the details here. Thanks to Deborah Copeland for the tip on this event.
- You’ll want to go ahead and mark your calendar for the 2nd Annual Triangle Oktoberfest coming to Cary’s Koka Booth Amphitheatre on October 3rd and 4th. There will be some great authentic German fare as well as some amazing breweries. Get all the details here.
- And if you are into eating healthier, you might want to go ahead and get this event on your calendar – the 2015 Triangle Vegfest which will be held at Moore Square and City Market in downtown Raleigh on Saturday, October 17th from noon until 5 p.m. Get all the details here.
Food Bank Corner
- It is that time of year again and big plans are in place for this year’s #FoodBank24 New Media Telethon. It will be held over two days, September 11-12 and lots of new features are in the works. With September 11th being a National Day of Service, there are tons of opportunities to volunteer and get your company involved. But do so quickly, as the Saturday morning slots are already filled! Find out how to get involved, how to contribute and all the details here.
August 14, 2015 · 6:49 am
Triangle Restaurant News
Triangle restaurant news…that not everyone knows. Impress your co-workers at the water cooler.
Featured Restaurant News
- Mark your calendar for next week’s Downtown Raleigh Restaurant Week (August 17th – Sunday, August 23rd). It has expanded this year to include lunch menus and a Do-It-Yourself Progressive Dinner option. This option will encourage patrons to visit a different restaurant for each course on a tantalizing tour of downtown dining. Participating dining establishments will offer three-course prix fixe dinners for either $20 or $30 per person, $5 or $10 lunch menus, and/or a special appetizer, entrée, or dessert for the Progressive Dinner option, depending on the venue. Get all the details here.
Wake County Restaurant News
- I am proud to announce that my friend Vaughn Williams, owner of Urbana Catering Concepts, has bought out Holly’s on Hargett. It will continue to operate as Holly’s for the next three weeks, before Williams converts it to Notte | Urbana in September. Williams describes the concept as urban inspired Italian. Yumm!!! Congrats to Chef Vaughn! More details to follow.
- The Triangle Business Journal reported this week is that the Hibernian Irish Pub & Restaurant in Cary will close its doors after business tomorrow (August 15th) after receiving an offer on the building they couldn’t refuse. Moving in will be the Triangle’s first location of Newk’s Eatery. Look for Newk’s to open in late November. But don’t fret too much Cary, Hibernian is exploring multiple location options for a new location in downtown Cary. In the meantime, check out Newk’s here.
- Want to be one of the first ones to dine at Scott Crawford’s Standard Foods? Sign up to be there on August 30th as he welcomes author and James Beard Award winning chef Hugh Acheson for a special evening. Get all the details here.
- Thanks to a tip from WRAL, we learned that SmallCakes this week opened their second Triangle-area location in the Parkside Town Commons in Cary (1132 Parkside Main Street to be exact). Check them out here.
- The café in the ground floor of The Atrium building across from Rex Hospital will have a new tenant on Monday. Food truck KocinA Grill will begin operating their brick-and-mortar location there beginning this Monday according to the News & Observer. That location was most recently occupied by The Atrium Grille. Check out KocinA Grill here.
- Over in Cary, the Triangle’s newest location of The Egg & I announced their grand opening date of August 31st. They will have a “training” day on August 30th (reservations are required and donations to The Carying Place are appreciated). Get all the details here.
- And we have the official open date for the first franchise location of Rise Donuts and Biscuits. It will open on August 22nd in the Park West Village in Morrisville. Check them out of Facebook here.
- Saw in a tweet from Diane Pisano that Cary will get the first location of Ledo Pizza in Preston Corners. Ledo is known in the Northern Virginia and Maryland areas for their square pizzas. Check them out here.
- Got a tweet from Kathleen Donnelly that the space formerly occupied by Ciago’s (522 St. Mary’s Street in downtown Raleigh) will be replaced by a place called My Way Tavern. I can only assume it is linked to the My Way Tavern in Holly Springs. We will keep an eye on it.
- Belgian-Filippo’s, a Belgian eatery and beer bar, is scheduled to open tomorrow, August 15th in the former Quality Grocery space at 701 E. Lane Street in downtown Raleigh. Check them out on Facebook here.
- Got word through WRAL this week that Kababish Café is currently having a soft opening (open with a full menu), but their grand opening hasn’t been announced yet. It is located at 201 W. Chatham Street in the former UnVine’d Wine Bar space in Olde Cary Commons. Check them out here.
- Another slight change in the official opening date for MOD Pizza in Raleigh – Monday, August 17th (a day earlier than previously reported). And the coolest thing? 100% of sales on that day will be donated to the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina. Check out their Facebook page here.
- Thanks to reader Deborah Copeland who tipped us off to the fact that Gooey’s American Grille is opening soon in Wake Forest (950 Gateway Commons Circle). They are going in the location formerly occupied by Fire Pit. As the name implies, they are a gourmet grilled cheese restaurant featuring soups, salads and the soon to be famous s’mores grilled donut. Check them out on Twitter here.
Durham, Orange & Chatham County Restaurant News
- The big news in Durham this week is bitter sweet (pun intended). We got word from Carpe Durham that DaisyCakes will be closing their doors on August 21st, but will be replaced by Durham’s next location of Rise Biscuits and Donuts (401A Foster Street). Our best to Tanya Matta as she looks to open a dessert tasting room somewhere in downtown Durham.
- And the other news out of Rise is that they announced a 6th Triangle area location this week. This location will be in Carrboro at 300 E. Main Street. That is the building anchored by the Hampton Inn & Suites.
- Over in Chapel Hill, WRAL reported this week that food truck Captain Ponchos has announced the opening date of August 27th for their brick-and-mortar location in Chapel Hill’s Southern Village. Visit their site here.
Closings
- None to report. Keep eating local, folks!
Food Trucks
- Mark your calendar to be in Durham for Labor Day Weekend (September 6th) for their huge food truck rodeo at Durham Central Park. This one will be from noon until 4 p.m. Get all the details here.
- For a listing of ALL food truck events, head over to Art’s page, The Wandering Sheppard on all things food truck related here.
Events
- In my “great articles to read” pile, Andrea Weigl has put together a fantastic summary of the many “food celebrities” that are making their way to the Triangle over the next few weeks. If you are a “foodie” you will want to set aside some time to read this article. Great job Andrea!
- Carrboro Coffee Roasters reminded me of their next Barista Bash coming up on August 20th, with the competition beginning at 7:30 p.m. at their Pop-up Coffee Bar at Golden Belt (807 E. Main Street) in downtown Durham. The event is free and open to the public and limited to 24 baristas. Get more details here.
- Got word from my friend John Huisman (aka Triangle Explorer) that tickets are on sale now for Beericana, a craft beer & music festival in Holly Springs on September 12. Beericana is in its second year and all signs point to it being even better than last year. The festival will feature over 60 breweries from across the state and beyond, more food trucks than last year with at least 20 trucks. General admission tickets are $45 and VIP tickets are $75. Get all the details and information on tickets here.
- Speaking of beer, join the brewers of Wake County at the NC Museum of Natural Sciences in downtown Raleigh on August 21st at 7 p.m. ($30; $25 for members) for a one-of-a-kind evening of beer and science. At the sampling session, a dozen brewers will offer unique creations fitting the Museum’s natural science focus. Sit in on discussions about fermentation, flavors and the engineering of beer. Get all the details here. Thanks to Deborah Copeland for the tip on this event.
- Midtown Grille executive chef Benjamin Harris came to Raleigh from Charleston, South Carolina. So the recent events there hit pretty close to home. So on Sunday, August 23rd he will host a chef collaboration event called North Cooks South to raise money for the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston. Joining Harris will be Charleston’s Daniel Doyle (Poogan’s Porch), Charlotte’s Chris Coleman (The Asbury/Dunhill Hotel) and Raleigh’s Scott James (executive sous chef at The Angus Barn). The $150 dinner is limited to 100 people. Get more information and tickets here.
- You’ll want to go ahead and mark your calendar for the 2nd Annual Triangle Oktoberfest coming to Cary’s Koka Booth Amphitheatre on October 3rd and 4th. There will be some great authentic German fare as well as some amazing breweries. Get all the details here.
- And if you are into eating healthier, you might want to go ahead and get this event on your calendar – the 2015 Triangle Vegfest which will be held at Moore Square and City Market in downtown Raleigh on Saturday, October 17th from noon until 5 p.m. Get all the details here.
Food Bank Corner
- The Food Bank of Eastern & Central North Carolina is thrilled to share that the long-awaited virtual food drive platform is now live! By following a few simple steps, anyone with a computer and an internet connection can create a personal page. Friends and family can browse through virtual grocery aisles, add items to a shopping cart, and check out by making a monetary donation. You can even add some competition and set up a team! You can browse the platform now.
