Friday Fun Food Facts - August 17, 2012

Triangle Restaurant News

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

• It is finally here! The Pittsboro Roadhouse and General Store will swing open their doors today at noon for a ribbon cutting and will serve its first diners tonight beginning at 5 p.m. I got a sneak peek last week and the space is absolutely tremendous. Kudos again to Chef Greg Lewis and his team of employees, friends and volunteers that have made this all happen. Take a peek at their Facebook page here.

• Speaking of sneak peeks, I ran into G. Patel earlier this week at The Oxford and he encouraged me to step next door to take a look at his newest concept Zinda which is now just weeks away from opening. Patel definitely has the “golden touch” and this place looks to be no different. We will stay in touch and let you know the opening date once it is announced. Patel owns Eschelon Hospitality which also operates Mura, Sono, The Oxford, Dapper Style House and Cameron Bar & Grill. Get a sneak peek yourself here.

• Award-winning chef Michael Chuong, the former executive chef at An’s in Cary, has opened his own restaurant, Elements, in Chapel Hill’s East 54 in the former Archira location. He opened this past Wednesday and will feature modern and contemporary American dishes. Visit their website here.

• And over in Durham, we told you earlier about two new restaurants coming into the new Westpoint at 751 development (think Aldi near the Streets at Southpoint). Thanks to the Durham Herald-Sun, we now know a little more. One of the two restaurants planned for the development is Bonefish Grill, which will open before year’s end. The other restaurant is an independent restaurant planned by David Sadeghi. All we know at this point is that it will focus on coffee and breakfast. Sadeghi also owns Town Hall Grill in Chapel Hill’s Southern Village as well as a restaurant in Maryland and is a partner in downtown Raleigh’s Bolt Bistro & Bar.

• We’ve got an open date for Amy Tornquist’s newest venture - Hummingbird Bakery. They will have a grand opening from 5-7 p.m. on August 22nd. The bakery is located at 721 Broad Street. Tornquist also owns Watt's Grocery.

• And speaking of grand openings, The Cookery, also in Durham, will host the grand opening of their new event space - the Front Room - on Saturday, September 15th from noon until 3 p.m. The opening will serve as a fundraiser benefiting the DCRC’s emergency shelter and will feature cuisine from Rue Cler’s Aaron Benjamin as well as many of the food trucks that utilize The Cookery’s shared kitchen space (think Chirba Chirba Dumplings, Monuts Donuts, The Parlour, Pie Pushers, Sympathy for the Deli, and Triangle Raw Foods). There will also be wine and beer tastings featuring The Clever Vine, Bull City Burger and Brewery, Fullsteam, Lonerider Brewing Company, and Triangle Brewing Company. Congrats to Rochelle Johnson and Nick Hawthorne-Johnson. Get all the details here.  

• And speaking of food trucks, it looks like we’ve got another food truck going brick and mortar on us. The latest success story is the Bulkogi Korean BBQ truck, which will open their store tomorrow (Saturday) in Wake Forest at 927 Durham Road (which is the intersection of Durham Road & US 1/Capital Blvd.) near the Target. Best of luck to the Bulkogi team!

• And if that is not enough cool food truck information, here is a very helpful guide for those that live/work in and around the NC State / Centennial Campus area. This link showcases the food truck schedule each week both on the main campus as well as the Centennial Campus.

• Thanks to a tip from my buddy Chuck Hackney, Mar Y Sol is opening (and might have already opened) in the old Los Cazadores just off New Bern Ave./US 64 on Corporation Parkway in Raleigh. It will feature a mix of El Salvadorean and Mexican dishes, including many seafood dishes. This is the second location for Mar Y Sol which has its original location at 4020 Capital Blvd. in Raleigh.

• On my way out to Pittsboro last week I noticed that there is movement on the Grill ‘n Go joint in the Wilsonville crossroads area near Lake Jordan on US 64. Chuck Hackney informed me that they are shooting for a September 10th opening and will feature fries, burgers, chicken sandwiches, hot dogs and fresh salads focusing on the boating community using Lake Jordan.

• Over in Durham, I was passing through The Streets at Southpoint mall this past week and saw the signage up for Charley’s Philly Steaks that will join their food court line-up soon. We’ll keep an eye out for an opening date.

• Yogurt, yogurt everywhere. The latest opening is Orange Leaf Yogurt at 4035 Lake Boone Trail across the street from Rex Hospital in the same complex as WhichWich Sandwiches. Get more details here.

• And speaking of WhichWich, Durham is about to get the latest version of the “superior sandwich” joint. My buddy Ted Barringer (who owns the Lake Boone Trail location) is slated to open the new store toward the middle to end of next month at the intersection of 751 and Hwy. 54 in the same shopping center as the Harris Teeter. We will let you know once Ted has an exact date. Visit WhichWich here.  

• Got word recently that the Chakras Indian restaurant out at 7841 Alexander Place in Brier Creek (Wal Mart side) has closed.

• We also got word this week that Yucatan Cantina Mexican Restaurant and Bar, which was located at the intersection of Davis Drive and Morrisville Carpenter Road, has closed.

• Make plans to dine in downtown Raleigh all next week as part of the 4th Annual Downtown Raleigh Restaurant Week where restaurants will offer three-course prix fixe dinners for either $20 or $30 per person, depending on the venue (add $10 for beer and/or wine). Get a full listing of participating restaurants and all the details here. 

• And we close with a great event for tomorrow. The Feed More Food and Brew event is this Saturday from 4 to 9 p.m. in the Triangle Town Center commons. The event will feature live music, food from The Twisted Fork, American Meltdown, Cafe Prost, Chirba Chirba, Sarge's Cafe, Champp’s, and Moe's and wine and beer from Uncorked Wine Shop, Lonerider Brewery, Aviator Brewery and The Mash House. The event benefits the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle. More details here.