Friday Fun Food Facts - March 1, 2013

Triangle Restaurant News

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

Featured Restaurant News

•  Each year the Independent Weekly publishes a "Best of the Triangle" listing of everything you can imagine. It truly is a great resource. That said, if you like what you read here, I would be humbled if you would take a moment to vote for us for Best Local Blog in the Triangle (enter Triangle Food Guy). Also, while you are there, you could also vote us Best Person To Follow on Twitter, and if you use us for your catering, Best Caterer. Thanks in advance for your time.
    
   

Wake County Restaurant News 

• Today is a big day for Kim Hunter, and for all of Raleigh for that matter, as Raleigh’s Seaboard Station welcomes the opening of Kimbap. The restaurant features Korean-inspired comfort food, including dumplings, rolls and soups. Check it out soon, you’ll be glad you did. More details here on her Facebook page.

• The pizza scene in Raleigh is going to get a little bit more competitive with the announcement this week that Randy’s Pizza & Subs is working toward opening their newest location in Raleigh’s Lake Boone Shopping Center. They are looking at an April 1 opening. Check them out on Facebook here. 

• Klara's, which moved into a second location over on Hillsborough Street in Raleigh (former Frazier’s location), has sold their Cary location to Brian Fitzgerald, a CIA trained chef from New York. Fitzgerald will be opening up Academy Street Bistro in April. Thanks to Michael DePersia of National Restaurant Properties for that tip.

• Michael also turned me onto the fact that Taste (inside the belt line off of Dixie Trail across from Crowley's) has been sold but that the new owner, Ryan Riek, will keep things mostly the same. He will, however, introduce tapas and the name will change slightly to Taste, American Tapas.

• We got a tip this week from my buddy Tim Moore that The OC Bar & Grill in Raleigh’s Oberlin Court near Cameron Village has announced an open date of March 13th, just in time for March Madness! This sports bar will be worth a visit, not just for sports, but for a very hearty menu as well. Get all the details here.

• Thanks to a tip from Twitter follower Kevin G., we got word this week that Elevation Burger is moving into the old Wolf Camera location in Raleigh’s Brier Creek. Don’t have an open date at this point, but check them out here.

• And speaking of Brier Creek, Twitter follower Robert Williams noticed this week that Firewurst is well on their way to opening their second Triangle location across from Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory in the former San Gennaro’s location. No word yet on an open date. Their original store is over in Cary in the Shoppes of Kildaire.

• We got word this week that the newly opened Dean’s Seafood Grill & Bar over in Cary is getting ready to open for Sunday brunch beginning March 17th. Get all the details here. 

Durham, Orange & Chatham County Restaurant News 

• Things are about to get more “mellow” in Chapel Hill with the opening of the Mellow Mushroom next Monday, March 4th. The Mellow will make its return to “The Hill” in the former Ham’s location on West Franklin Street and will boast an amazingly redone outdoor patio and the largest mural in the chain. This will mark the Triangle’s fourth location. Check out Mellow Mushroom here.

• We got a tip this week from Chapel Hill Magazine that Kipos, a Greek Taverna on Chapel Hill’s West Franklin Street, will open on March 10th. It is the latest concept from legendary restauranteur Giorgios Bakatsias. Chapel Hill Magazine has a great write up on it here. 

• Over in Durham, thanks to a tip from my Twitter buddy @Burgeoningbaker we leaned that the Asian fusion bistro & bar Sake Bomb is now open. It is located on University Drive in the former Eastern Lights location and we hear the new interior is pretty impressive. Give it a look here.     

Closings  

• We just got word that Cupcake Mayhem, a pickup and delivery cupcakery in Raleigh, has closed. Sorry to see them go, but wish them the best in their next venture. 

• We also got word this week from John Huisman (aka Triangle Explorer) that
  Spinners Grill in Wakefield has closed. They posted their closing on their Facebook page. 

• And we saw on a Yelp message board this week that The Fish House over off of 15-501 Business in Durham has closed. Word is that a west coast concept called The Saucy Crab will be moving into that building. No word yet on a timeline. Not much up on their Facebook page yet.

Events 

• And with the closing of Cupcake Mayhem, perhaps you should take up eating pie. And thanks to the creative folks over at Ninth Street Bakery, they will be hosting Pi(e) Day on March 14 (get it? 3.14...Clever I say, very clever). Anyway, it is an amateur pie contest with a bunch of other stuff going on. Get all the details here.  Get all the details here 

• Spring is in the air, which means it is getting closer to one of my favorite events of the year - the 18th Annual Piedmont Farm Tour. Get ready to load up the car with your family and/or all your friends and spend the weekend touring our local farms. Mark your calendar now for April 27th and 28th. Get all the details here.  

• Rise Biscuits & Donuts is hosting a Pop Up Chicken Dinner March 5th and 6th from 5pm-8pm with 20% of sales going to benefit SEEDS in Durham. You get: 1/2 fried chicken with Romesco Sauce, Mash Potatoes with Gravy, Sweet Potato Biscuit & Choice of Donut (pick one): Chocolate Cake, Blueberry Cake, Cinnamon Sugar Cake all for $9.95. Get all the details here. 

• The downtown Raleigh location of the Hibernian Pub is not back yet, but they will be hosting a St. Paddy’s Day Block Party (on North Street) featuring food trucks, cold beer and entertainment. Get all the details here. 

• The Morrisville Chamber of Commerce recently announced a food and arts festival that will be held along Town Hall Drive on May 18th from 11 a.m. until 4 p.m. Called East Meets West, the event will feature Morrisville-area restaurants, music, performances and a variety of visual arts. Get it on your calendar and get all the details here. 

•  Durham Foodie Johanna Kramer turned us onto the news that the Fairview Garden Center in Raleigh will host a series of Food Truck Rodeos called "Flora and Food Trucks Series".  The first will be held on Saturday, March 30, followed by two more on April 20 and May 11. Each event will feature 4-5 food trucks. Fairview is located at 8224 Holly Springs Road in Raleigh. Get all the details here.

• The seventh annual Empty Bowls event to benefit Urban Ministries of Durham will be held on Thursday, March 7th from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Purchase your tickets here.

• Thanks to a tip in the Herald-Sun, we learned that Durham will have its first Louisiana seafood festival when the Bayou Festival Tour comes to town on April 20. It will be held from noon to 8 p.m. at the CCB Plaza downtown. The festival is slated to include seafood, beer and beer samples. And it will return again, to Raleigh, on October 5th. Get all the details here. 

• Hold the date for the annual Wake Tech Culinary Arts Showcase which will be held this year on April 30th from 4-7 p.m. at the Raleigh Convention Center. Get all the initial details here.

• If you are a restaurateur looking for a great cause to get behind, look no further than this September’s WWTA Charity Tennis Classic to benefit Hospice of Wake County. They are looking for donations for breakfast, lunch and dinner (and beer!). If you are interested, they are looking to have all donations wrapped up by the end of April. Get more information here.  

Final Thoughts

• It is magic when a Hurricanes win lines up perfectly with the release of Friday Fun Food Facts, but when that is the case...you win! Head on over to Solas Coffee & Café TODAY with the sports page from the N&O or your ticket stub from last night’s game, and score yourself some free hot minis! Way to go Canes! All the details here.

• And a couple of shout-outs to two great Triangle eateries. First, a happy one year anniversary to Holly Spring’s Little Hen Restaurant. If ever there was a reason to go to Holly Springs, this is top of the list. Also, a happy 5th birthday to Chapel Hill’s (and now Raleigh’s too) Sugarland Bakery. Visit Little Hen here and Sugarland here. 

Pending Openings

We Continue To Keep Our Eyes On: 

Raleigh Brewing Company has announced a March 9th grand opening;

The Cowfish (yes, burgers and sushi) will join the ever-growing lineup of fantastic restaurants in North Hills. Look for a spring opening; Al’s Diner in Pittsboro is expanding with plans to open Al’s Lunchbox directly across from the diner. Look for a mid-March opening; Wilmington’s extremely successful fondue restaurant, The Little Dipper, is getting close to a late-March opening in Durham’s Brightleaf Square; Smithfield’s Chicken ‘N Bar-B-Q is planning a north Raleigh restaurant in the Poyner Place shopping center near Triangle Town Center mall; Carolina Ale House will open on Glenwood South in early 2014; We also continue to watch for details on the opening of the North Raleigh location of Hibernian Pub (literally, any day now) as well as the return of the downtown Raleigh location as it is rebuilt after their fire; Denny’s location in the Hope Valley Commons shopping center in Durham is set to open in April. A second Durham Denny’s will open near the intersection of 15-501 and I-40; We continue to wait for the “official” word on Justin Rakes and Scott Martin’s Salted Pig over in Durham; Hwy. 55 Burgers Shakes & Fries (formerly Andy’s) is heading to North Raleigh and will be located in Falls Village; We await the re-opening of Gregoria's Kitchen over in Durham after their fire last Durham. Still no word on a date; Dave & Buster's is heading this way to Cary Towne Center; Brixx Pizza will open this spring in Cameron Village’s newest development; Cafe de los Muertos will open this summer in the Hue in downtown Raleigh; Lawrence Coffee Bar coming to the Jones-Foy house in downtown Cary on Academy Street; Trali Irish Pub & Restaurant will be opening a second location in Morrisville in March, in the location that used to house Yucatan Cantina; Waffle House on East Franklin Street in Chapel Hill was originally looking at a February opening, so it should be opening any day now; Barberito's, a southwestern grill and cantina, will open in early March in Cary’s Waverly Place (with a Raleigh location not too far behind); 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; Char-Grill in Clayton (August opening); 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; Keeping an eye out for Austin’s Chuy's which is coming to North Hills in Raleigh. Chuy's is a fun and funky fresh Mexican themed restaurant; Zinburger Wine & Burger Bar will take over the Rockfish space at The Streets at Southpoint; Java Burger and Bar concept that is on tap for the Westpoint at 751 development off N.C. 751 near The Streets at Southpoint; 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); Downtown Raleigh’s Wilmoore Café will re-open in early March under a new name, with a new menu and expanded hours; Look for Greg Hatem’s The Pit to open in downtown Durham this summer (in the same building as Fullsteam and Motorco).