Friday Fun Food Facts - December 2, 2011

Triangle Restaurant News

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

• Bull Street Gourmet & Market, which originally opened on Bull Street in Charleston, S.C. has opened their third location, not on Bull Street, but in the Bull City. This location is on Shannon Road in Durham, in the same strip center with Pops Backdoor, Rick's Diner, Tutti Frutti and Only Burger's brick and mortar location. Visit them online here.     

• Gonza Tacos y Tequila is now officially open. They opened this week in the former Savoy location in Greystone Village in North Raleigh. To keep up with all they have going on, visit their Facebook page here. 

• We told you two weeks ago to look for a Thanksgiving week opening for Mandolin, and Sean and his team kept their word opening on November 23rd at the corner of Fairview and Oberlin in Raleigh. And contrary to popular belief, there is plenty of parking. Check out their website for details or visit their Facebook page here.

• A new bakery opened in downtown Durham this past week at 111 W. Parrish Street. Loaf is the storefront from Ron Graff and his wife Jamie, who have set up the stand with the same name at the Durham Farmer's Market every Saturday for the past few years. Loaf's hours aren't set in stone yet, but we've heard they would be open 7am-7pm Monday-Saturday.

• Einstein's Bros. Bagels has opened a location in Durham on Erwin Road (3000 Erwin Road to be exact) near the Lenox Baker Children's Hospital. Visit them online here. 

• Last week Glenwood South got a little sweeter with the opening of Tutti Frutti frozen yogurt shop. It is located at 222 Glenwood Avenue near Glenwood's intersection with Lane. Learn more about Tutti Frutti here.  

• Jake's Way Back Burgers has opened a second Durham location - with this one being in the food court at Northgate Mall. The other Durham location is off of Miami Blvd. next to the new WalMart and Sam's Club (near the 540 interchange). Jake's also has a location in Mebane at the Tanger Mall Outlet.

• We told you back in September that Vin Rouge owner, Matthew Kelly, was putting together the financing to open a Spanish-inspired tapas bar and restaurant called Restaurant Mateo. Well, it looks like everything came together and he will soon be opening near Vin Rouge at 109 W. Chapel Hill Street (the former Book Exchange location) in downtown Durham. If his plans continue to come together, look for a springtime opening. We'll keep an eye on it.

• Go ahead and circle February 2, 2012 on your calendar and get ready to "Eat More Chicken" as the country's first two-story Chick-fil-A (with two drive thru windows) opens in Cameron Village. See a photo of their progress and get more information here. 

• The Diner, which opened in January, 2010, closed their doors last week to walk-in customers. Their catering operation continues (you can order catering here) as Niall Hanley looks for a new owner of that spot in the popular Glenwood South district. Also, all outstanding Diner gift cards will be honored at Hibernian Restaurant & Pub, just down the street at 311 Glenwood Avenue. In addition to Hibernian, Hanley also owns Solas Raleigh.

• And folks over in Cary are going to have to find a new place to get their morning mocha, as we learned about two weeks ago that It's a Grind (in the Cornerstone Shopping Center at the intersection of High House and Davis) surprisingly closed their doors. However, the Raleigh location on Falls of the Neuse Road in the Quail Corners Shopping Center remains open.

• And I don't know when this happened (it could have been a while, as I had almost forgotten they were there), but the Bear Rock Café up on Six Forks Road across from Six Forks Station is no longer operational. Bear Rock continues, however, to do well at the original location on Lake Boone Trail in Raleigh, the store in Morrisville and the newest location over in Durham.

• Here is the latest "rumor" running around the food scene right now. So you remember Chip & Tina Smith, the chef/owners of Bonne Soiree Restaurant that closed this last May over in Chapel Hill? After closing, they moved to New York, but have been coming back down periodically and doing dinners at The Inn at Celebrity Dairy in Siler City (the last one of the year is coming up. Sign up here). Well, word on the street is that fans of Bonne Soiree have convinced them to come back to North Carolina permanently. This will be a fun story to watch in early 2012. Stay tuned.

• One of the region's premier fine dining destinations has received its first five-star rating from the 2012 Forbes Travel Guide. Herons, the restaurant at The Umstead Hotel and Spa in Cary, received the top honor after earning four stars from Forbes in each of the past four years. Herons is one of 25 restaurants worldwide and the only one in North Carolina to receive Forbes' five-star rating for 2012. Congrats to Scott Crawford and his team.

• A new cook-off challenge will entice barbecue fanatics today (Dec. 2) when Historic City Market and Big Ed's host City Market Pig Wars in downtown Raleigh. Four professional and non-professional teams will face off in this new First Friday event. Eating will commence at 5:30 and will be complemented by live music and support for the Easter Seals. Get more information here.  

• Congrats to Chef Greg Lewis and his team over at Catering by Design as they were awarded the Best Caterer in the Triangle by The Knot (a wedding resource website) and their Best of Weddings Awards for 2012. If you'd like to order their catering, you can do so here.

• And we couldn't conclude without some gift giving ideas for this season for the "foodie" on your list. First up, the News &Observer has put together a great list of gift ideas. Check it out here.

• And if you are looking to give a cookbook as a gift (or suggest it to your loved ones as a gift to you!), be sure to check out the one by Andrea Reusing (Lantern) entitled, "Cooking in the Moment". It just made it onto the NY Times Notable Cookbooks list. As an added bonus, you can get it signed by Andrea herself at A Southern Season over in Chapel Hill on December 10th from noon until 2 pm. Here is the Southern Season Facebook page.