Friday Fun Food Facts - January 18, 2013

Triangle Restaurant News

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

• After much anticipation, Fiction Kitchen, the 100% vegetarian restaurant on downtown Raleigh’s Dawson Street, is now open. Check it out here.  

• In the biggest news to come out of Texas in quite some time, we learned yesterday from Amy Watkins at York Properties that Austin’s Chuy’s is coming to North Hills in Raleigh. Chuy’s is a fun and funky fresh Mexican themed restaurant that will be in a new building on the east side where the Hyatt House Hotel is under construction, adjacent to the planned Midtown Park and amphitheater. Construction will begin this summer and they are looking at a fall opening. See what all the excitement is about here. 

• Dean’s Seafood Grill & Bar, the latest concept out of Rocky Top Hospitality, will open next Tuesday, January 22 in the former Rockwell’s location in Cary. Keep up with them on Facebook here. 

• Last week we told you about the closing of Rockfish over at Durham’s Streets at Southpoint. Well, thanks to the TBJ, we can tell you this week that a concept called Zinburger Wine & Burger Bar will take over the space. And as the name itself suggests, you’ll be able to enjoy gourmet burgers (as well as salads, shakes , etc.) along with a nice glass, or bottle, of wine. This will be their first location outside of New Jersey. Check them out here.  

• And speaking of burger joints, I had an opportunity to have lunch this week with David Sadeghi, who is behind the Java Burger and Bar, a locally-owned concept that is on tap for the Westpoint at 751 development off N.C. 751 near The Streets at Southpoint. Sadeghi is shooting for an April opening. He is also behind Raleigh’s Bolt and Chapel Hill’s Town Hall Grille. 

• Thanks to a tip from John Huisman, aka  Triangle Explorer, we learned that Buffalo Brothers Pizza & Wing Company in Wake Forest opened this past Wednesday on Retail Drive. This marks the third Triangle location. Check them out on Facebook here. 

• And speaking of experts on Triangle happenings, Triangle Localista, aka Kim, tipped me off to a new fast, casual Indian dining option coming to RTP called Curry Point Express. It is going into the strip mall at the corner of S. Miami & Hwy 54 (across Miami from Serena). Follow them on Facebook here. 

• Thanks to reader Mary Noulis, we learned that Bagels Plus has opened up in Fuquay-Varina at 100 Dickens Road, at the corner of Dickens Road and Broad Street (HWY 55). Check them out on Facebook here. 

• According to the Herald-Sun, the Indian restaurant India Gate has opened in a space in the Park Terrace shopping center that previously housed Bombay Grille. The shopping center is located on N.C. 54 near its intersection with N.C. 55. The restaurant serves a buffet for lunch Monday to Sunday, and then it opens again in the evening for dinner. Get all the details here. 

• Another reader, Selina Joseph, tipped us off to the fact that Brier Creek’s Trali Irish Pub & Restaurant will be opening a second location in Morrisville, in the location that used to house Yucatan Cantina on Grace Park Drive. Check them out here.

• And speaking of Grace Park, in a quick turn of events, Vino closed and just yesterday, Maré Restaurant opened in that location. They tout themselves as bringing a new culinary experience to the Triangle in Italian and seafood with Japanese fusion. The owner and executive chef is Hideki Tateyama.

• I got a note this week from Martin Sreshta (formerly Martin’s Curry Rice) that a new restaurant is coming to downtown Raleigh’s Seaboard Station called Kimbap. Owned by Kim Hunter, it will be two doors down from Bad Daddy’s and is expected to open the 2nd week in February. The menu will feature Korean-inspired comfort foods made with local, sustainably grown ingredients. We’ll keep an eye on it for you. Can’t wait for it to open!

• Downtown Raleigh’s Wilmoore Café will close it’s doors today...but only temporarily. It will re-open in about 6 weeks under a new name, with a new menu and with expanded hours. Wilmoore was purchased by Ashley Christensen (who also owns Poole’s Diner, Chuck’s, Beasley’s Chicken + Honey, and Fox Liquor Bar). Check them out here.  

• We got word this week that the good folks at Klausie's Pizza food truck are planning a spring opening of a brick & mortar location that will also house a food truck incubator. No word yet on the exact location or date, but we’ll keep an eye on it. Check them out on Facebook here.  

• In our “Opening Soon File” we continue to keep our eyes on the following: Glenwood South’s Dos Taquitos Xoco - they could open any day now; Modern Life Deli & Drinks is coming to Pittsboro on Sanford Road. It is expected to open very soon; Lawrence Coffee Bar coming to the Jones-Foy house in downtown Cary on Academy Street; Kipos, a Greek Taverna that will come to Chapel Hill’s West Franklin Street. It is another concept by Giorgios Bakatsias; Waffle House on East Franklin Street in Chapel Hill (look for a mid-February opening); Barberito’s, a southwestern grill and cantina, will open in mid-February in Cary’s Waverly Place (with a Raleigh location not too far behind); and speaking of Waverly Place, Taziki's Medeiterranean Cafe should open by the end of January; Taqueria del Sol is on the clock to open their 2nd location in the Triangle, with this one coming to Durham; Blend and Grind, a coffee, smoothie and juice bar which will be located in downtown Raleigh’s Seaboard Station is looking at a February opening; Denny’s in Durham (Hope Valley Commons Shopping Center); Char-Grill in Clayton (August opening); Hibernian Pub in North Raleigh on Falls of the Neuse Road (former Duffy’s location) could open any day now; PDQ (chicken tenders, salads & sandwiches) is slated to open their Wake Forest location in late March, followed by a Cary location in May; Carolina Wing Company is taking over the Buffalo’s Café location in Stonehenge Shopping Center in Raleigh. Over in Morrisville, we are getting closer to the opening of Taste Vietnamese, in the space formerly occupied by Mawa. 

• Triangle Restaurant Week kicks off next Monday, January 21st. During the week-long culinary celebration area restaurants serve prix fixe, $20 or $30 menus for three-course dinners and prix fixe, $10 two-course lunches. Get all the details on all the participating restaurants and their menus here.

• As we “dig out” from this winter’s first dusting, it seems only appropriate to announce the season’s first Food Truck Rodeo thanks to the folks over at the Herald-Sun. It will be on Sunday, January 27th from 12:30 to 4:30 in Durham’s Central Park. Expect about 40 food trucks and vendors. Get all the details here.

• It seems as if even the Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce is getting into the food game...well, sort of. But it is probably something of interest to a lot of foodies in the area. The Chamber is hosting an event on February 25th titled Conscious Capitalism featuring Whole Food’s CEO John Mackey. Register and get all the details here.  

• And we close with a fun competition where everyone needs to cast a vote. Our very own Bull City, aka Durham, is up against some tough competition in Southern Living Magazine's latest contest to find the "Tastiest Town in the South" for 2013. We need to put Durham (and the entire Triangle) on the map ahead of Atlanta, Charleston, New Orleans, Miami, etc. Vote early and vote often! You have until February 28th.