Friday Fun Food Facts - May 10, 2013

Triangle Restaurant News

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

Featured Restaurant News

•  You did it, and I can’t thank you enough. I got word last week that we received not one, but two, Best of the Triangle Awards from the Independent Weekly for both Best Local Blog and Best Local Person to Follow on Twitter. A huge thanks to everyone that took the time to vote. It is very much appreciated! Check out the June 5 issue for all the winners!    

Wake County Restaurant News 

•   According to the News & Observer, Mohamad Kahlout, owner of Petra Grill in North Raleigh, has opened Euro Café at 2101 S. Main St. in Wake Forest. Think of it as a locally owned Panera where they bake their own pastries and use organic produce where they can. They are open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Check them out on Facebook here.

• To show you how slow I am at times, I didn’t even know until last week that Joel Lane’s, located in the Glenwood South district in Raleigh, had closed, thanks to a tip on a Yelp message board. That is the bad news. The good news is that it only took the former owners of DiveBar one week to reopen the space as Cognito Bar & Grill. Check them out on Facebook here. 

• According to the News & Observer, a second location of Chocolate Boutique has opened over in Morrisville near the new cinema in Park West Village. The original shop is in North Raleigh’s Lafayette Village. In proximity to Chocolate Boutique are WhichWich and Lime Fresh. They will be joined in the coming months by Bad Daddy’s Burger Bar, Firebirds Wood-Fired Grill and WG Kitchen and Bar. Get more details on Chocolate Boutique here.  

• A big shout-out and congratulations to my friends Mario Huante and Darcy Brennan, the dynamic couple behind Chef Mario’s Catering who just celebrated their 15th year in business. If you haven’t booked them to cater a breakfast, lunch, dinner or event, you are simply missing out. Check them out here. Congrats again to Mario and Darcy!   

• Our thoughts and prayers go out to the owners and employees of Cameron Village’s Sushi Gami restaurant that caught fire this past Wednesday causing damage to about half of the restaurant. Thankfully no injuries were reported. No word yet on when they might be able to reopen. We’ll keep an eye on it.  

Durham, Orange & Chatham County Restaurant News 

•  Thanks to a little snooping around by the News & Observer, we learned that Zinburger Wine and Burger Bar, a gourmet burger restaurant coming to the Streets at Southpoint in Durham will open in August. Check them out here. 

Closings 

• The Herald-Sun reported this week that the independent restaurant Fresno Café on University Drive in Durham has closed. It was in the space that previously housed Bear Rock Café and before that Rick’s Diner & Catering (which moved further down Shannon Road).

• I learned from my Twitter buddy @burgeoningbaker that Alfredo’s Pizza Villa on Highway 54 in Durham closed last month. Thankfully the location in Chapel Hill’s University Mall is still doing a brisk business. Check them out here.

Food Trucks 

• Downtonwn Raleigh has seen nothing like this. And I can't think of a better way to say, "I love you mom" than taking her to the Downtown Raleigh Food Truck Rodeo this Sunday. What a spectacle 42 (and growing) food trucks lined up the length of 3 football fields down Fayetteville Street will be. Get downtown this Sunday, May 12th  at 12 noon for this ginormous event! They'll start lining them up at the State Capital on Fayetteville Street (single file) and stretch out...forever! And, with electricity provided, no generators!  Get all the details here. If you miss this Sunday, look for three more rodeos to occur on June 9th, August 11th and October 13th. 

• The final food truck rodeo at Fairview Garden Center in Raleigh is this Saturday, May 11. It will feature 4-5 food trucks. Fairview is located at 8224 Holly Springs Road in Raleigh. Get all the details here.

• If you run so you can eat, here is the event for you. The Bull City Race Fest & Food Truck Rodeo. Set for October 20th, over 700 runners have already signed up. They'll have a half-marathon, a five-mile run and a 1-miler. But the best part, they are all followed by a Food Truck Rodeo, Beer Garden, Kids Zone Experience and tons of fun. Register today. 

Events 

• Häagen-Dazs will hold a Free Cone Day on May 14 from 4 to 8 pm where customers can go to the shops at Northgate Mall or at The Streets at Southpoint in Durham to get a complimentary ice cream scoop. Get more details here.

• The Morrisville Chamber of Commerce will hold a food and arts festival 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.

• The 2013 version of Farm to Fork will take place on Sunday, June 9th. The annual picnic celebrates local food and local farms. Get all the details here.

• Krispy Kreme is giving away one free doughnut of any type per customer on June 7 in recognition of National Doughnut Day. No purchase is necessary, but you have to get ’em while supplies last. Krispy Kreme has 5 locations here in the Triangle. Find the one closest to you here.

• The Western Wake Farmers’ Market will host a Farm-to-Fork dinner on Thursday, June 13th at the Umstead Hotel & Spa. The evening will feature a multi-course dinner prepared by Chef Scott Crawford using all locally-grown ingredients from the farmers at Western Wake. Even the farmers themselves will be at the dinner. That’s cool! Tickets are $100 and include beer (Full Steam) and wine (Sip). Get your tickets today.

• Ashley Christensen is holding a couple of fundraising dinners and you could be the beneficiary along with Southern Foodways Alliance. According to the News & Observer’s Andrea Weigl, the next Stir the Pot events are going to be held on May 19 and May 20. On Sunday, May 19, guest chef Steven Satterfield of Atlanta's Miller Union and Christensen will be cooking up a five-course meal with wine pairings at her flagship restaurant, Poole's Diner. The meal starts at 7 p.m. and costs $150 per person. On Monday, May 20, Christensen is hosting a potluck and film screening at CAM Raleigh, the contemporary art and design museum at 409 W. Martin St. Tickets cost $35. Guests are asked to bring a side dish or a dessert to share. Special guest and filmmaker Joe York will be on hand to show his work.  Further information is available here.

Food Bank Corner 

• This Saturday, May 11th, take a moment to participate in the National Association of Letter Carriers 21st Annual Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive. Simply place your non-perishable food items by your mailbox or deliver them to your local post office. This is the largest one-day food drive in the nation. Last year, over 70 million pounds of food was donated for food banks, food parties and food shelters across the nation; 300,000 pounds within the  Foodbank's 34 county service territory. For more information go here.

• Yelp NC Triangle and Eschelon Hospitality are hosting a party on May 19 to benefit the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina. From 8-10 p.m. at Zinda restaurant in downtown Raleigh, the party will feature food samples from all five of Eschelon Hospitality restaurants, free cider, beer and wine as well as entertainment. The event is called Yelp Billionaires Club and is free and open to the public with a donation of two or more canned goods per person.