Friday Fun Food Facts - January 27, 2012

Triangle Restaurant News

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

• Cary just welcomed its newest addition to the area's food scene. Last night Rockwell's American Grill swung open their doors and joins the growing family of restaurants at Rocky Top Hospitality. Rockwell's is located at 1080 Darrington Drive in Cary and features a modern American grill with family style portions. Rockwell's serves breakfast all day and has an outdoor patio with seating for 100. Get this restaurant into your rotation quickly (serving dinner only for now; they'll add lunch in short order). Check them out here.   

• And right next door in Morrisville, the Park West Village Shopping Center (think Target and Buy Buy Baby) is starting to pop with dining options. YoLo Frozen Yogurt is already open. Looking very close to opening is Hibachi Blue and it looks like that will be followed by Ruckus Pizza, Pasta & Spirits. No open dates on those two yet, but they are getting close. And you might remember, back in October, 2010 we reported these other establishments would be coming to that development: Travinia Italian Kitchen, New Japan Express, Qdoba Mexican Grill, and Zoe's Kitchen.

• Over in Chapel Hill, there is a new pizza joint in town - The Standard, located at 403 W. Rosemary Street. The Standard serves up not just pizza, but a pretty extensive "bistro" menu as well as beer and spirits. Here is a link to their Facebook page.

• And if that is not enough pizza for Chapel Hill, there are two more pizza joints "Coming Soon." Over near Eastgate Shopping Center, in the space next to Blockbuster Video (and behind Staples), there is a sign up for Camos Brothers Pizza. It will be located in the former Quizno's location. Thanks to Jason for the heads up on this one. We'll keep an eye on it.  

• Also in Chapel Hill, up in Timberlyne Shopping Center, there is a "Coming Soon" sign for Pizza Vito, real New York pizza.  No word on an open date, but it looks to be sooner, rather than later.  

• Durham's Golden Belt finally has a permanent spot to grab a cup of coffee, breakfast and lunch munchies as well as yogurt! Blend opened at the end of last week and will be serving Counter Culture coffee and Yogen Fruz yogurt. In addition, Courtney and Camryn Smith of Sudie's Fresh Baked Goods are managing the day-to-day cooking where you can expect soups, sandwiches and other grab 'n' go options. Blend is located at 807 East Main Street and is open 7 am to 7 pm Monday through Friday and 9 am to 3 pm Saturday. 

• Sweet Frog in Chapel Hill, the area's newest yogurt shop, will be holding a multi-day grand opening today and tomorrow (January 28). They'll be giving away prizes every hour from 8 pm to 12 midnight today; and all day on Saturday. Sweet Frog is located at 105 East Franklin. I'd send you to the website, but it doesn't even list Chapel Hill yet. Go figure.  

• The Q Shack at North Hills in Raleigh is now serving breakfast seven days a week. They are smoking their own thick-cut bacon, making their own sausage and are using farm fresh local eggs for breakfast. The menu also includes sweet potato tots and slow-cooked stone ground grits with Ashe County hoop cheese. Prices range from $2.99 to $5.99 for breakfast sandwiches to entrees. Breakfast is served from 7-10 am Mondays to Saturdays and 11 am to 2 pm on Sundays. Stop in and say hello to Tom!

• And speaking of breakfast/brunch, The Twisted Fork Restaurant & Bakery has added a Sunday brunch buffet as well as special deals for its soups, salads and grilled cheese sandwiches, and combinations of any or all three items, at lunch and dinner. For a full list of items and their individual costs, visit them here .

• If you like to dine in downtown Raleigh and are looking for new options for dinner, Spize Cafe just extended their hours to accommodate you. Beginning February 1st, Spize will be open until 8:30 pm Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings. Check them out.  

• And it is with great sadness that we inform you that last Wednesday, downtown Pittsboro's legendary General Store Cafe closed their doors. I had the pleasure of working with Vance and his staff for the past two or three years and can't say enough great things about him. This will leave a huge gap in the culture of Pittsboro, but I can't help but think that the space will be filled up quickly. We'll keep an eye on it. Thanks to Vance for everything he did for the community (and will continue to do I'm sure). 

• Well that didn't take long. The Daily Tar Heel reported this week that He's Not Here has come to terms with a new owner. All we know at this point is that the "winning bid" came from a UNC alum who played football at the University during the 1980s and his long-time friend (who's wife attended UNC-CH). Apparently, and not surprising, the level of interest was off the charts. Long live He's Not Here. I'll raise a Blue Cup for that!

• In an effort to keep up with the rumors swirling around Chip Smith's (formerly with Bonne Soiree) return to the area, we do know for sure that he will be holding a cooking class this Sunday from 2-4 pm at A Southern Season in Chapel Hill. The class is all about sweets and you'll learn some excellent dessert recipes to add to your repertoire. The cost to enroll is $35; reserve your seat online here. And if you go, ask him when he's coming back and let me know!

• Next Tuesday's (Jan. 31) opening night of Green Day's "American Idiot" at Raleigh's Memorial Auditorium will feature a food truck rodeo from 5-7:30 p.m. The rodeo will feature six trucks that will gather in front of Memorial Auditorium -- Klausie's Pizza, Only Burger, KoKyu BBQ, Baguettaboutit, Lo Yo On The Go and Chick-N-Que. Oh yeah. And if you are interested in going to the show, there is a special ticket offer for the opening performance: $32 for seats in the orchestra section, $22 for seats in the mezzanine section. That's a $10 discount. Use the code ROCK when ordering.

• The Triangle's newest Tyler's Restaurant & Taproom, now open in downtown Raleigh's Seaboard Station, will host a tasting of rare and vintage beers from 2 to 6 pm on Saturday, Feb. 4. Forty craft breweries will be represented at the tasting. Tickets are $65 and include unlimited tastings, a commemorative stemmed glass, a tasting notebook, light appetizers and bottled water. Designated driver tickets are available for $15. To purchase tickets, click here.

• Speaking of beer, North Carolina has developed quite a list of breweries and now there is a very cool interactive map that gives you all the information you want on each of them. Check out this great NC Brewery Map  showing all of the local breweries throughout the state!

• Cafe Helios, located in the Glenwood South District in Raleigh, will host a brunch titled Blend on Sunday, Feb. 5, at 10 am. Chef Justin Johnson will prepare a five-course brunch, including crab and sweet corn chowder, and roasted heirloom beets with Raleigh's Videri brand chocolate served with homemade ricotta and micro greens. Five Counter Culture coffees will be brewed using five methods (they'll go into detail on each method and be available to answer any questions). Tickets to Helios' Blend brunch are $30 and available at the restaurant.

• If you or someone you love requires a gluten-free diet, you might want to sign up for this. Lucky 32 in Cary will be hosting a Gluten Free Cooking Class (over lunch) on Saturday, February 4 from 11 to 1. You'll learn 5 great recipes that you'd never know are gluten free. He'll also talk about good ways to convert existing recipes to gluten-free alternatives. And in addition to lunch and a cocktail, you'll receive souvenir recipe cards and chances at give away door prizes. The cost is $39 per person (includes tax and gratuity). For reservations, please call Lara Yerges at Lucky 32 in Cary at 919.233.1632 or email her.  Get more information here.  

• This looks like fun. According to Tim Moore and Carolina Business Connection, seven local star chefs from renowned restaurants will compete for the title and bragging rights of Shrimp and Grits Champion in the inaugural Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chefs' Throwdown on Saturday, February 25 from 1-4 pm at The Carolina Inn. The competing chefs (as of now) feature Jeremy Blankenship, chef at Tyler's Tap Room; Trey Cleveland, executive chef of Top of the Hill; Adam Cobb, executive chef of Glasshalfull; Bret Jennings, executive chef and owner of Elaine's on Franklin; Vimala Rajendran, executive chef and owner of Vimala's Curry Blossom Cafe; Jimmy Reale, executive chef of Carolina Crossroads Restaurant and Bar; and Adam Rose, executive chef of Il Palio.Tickets are $15 per person and can be purchased online here.

• And we'll close with something that will make everyone feel appreciated. Dairy Queen is celebrating Customer Appreciation Day on January 28th by offering everything at 1/2 off at participating stores! Click here to find out of there is a store close to you participating. (It appears as if most Triangle locations are participating)