Friday Fun Food Facts - October 18, 2013

Triangle Restaurant News

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

Featured Restaurant News

•  It is going to happen. Seriously. I'm not kidding. The long awaited promise (6 years now) that another location of the Carolina Ale House was coming to Glenwood South is really going to happen. This past Thursday, demolition crews began the process of making way for the roof-top version at 500 Glenwood Avenue. The press release schedule shows a fall 2014 opening. Get more details here.

Wake County Restaurant News 

•  If you like coffee, you're going to enjoy these next two nuggets. New Raleigh is reporting this week that downtown Raleigh's Seaboard Station is getting a new coffee shop called Brew. Not much happening yet on their website, but their Facebook page suggests a Spring, 2014 opening. Follow them here.   

• And if that is not enough coffee for downtown Raleigh, New Raleigh also reported this week that another coffee shop called Bitter Sweet is opening on the ground floor of the PNC building on Martin Street directly across from the Mecca. Apparently it has ties to Helios and Foundation. We'll keep an eye on it.  

• The Quality Grocery, an old-time cafe, restaurant and grocery store in Historic Oakwood, near downtown Raleigh is now open. Owners Jay Wellons and Jason Howard, who are behind the Rockford restaurant on Glenwood Avenue, have created a neighborhood country store in the building that has served as an on-again, off-again market since 1909. Quality Grocery is at 701 E. Lane St. Check them out here. 

• The Twisted Fork at Triangle Town Center will reopen next Wednesday (October 23rd) with a reinvented menu and dining concept. The new menu, which focuses on a fun and fresh dining experience, will highlight your favorite American foods in a fun way. Get all the details here. 

• Not sure how I missed this, but the N&O reported a couple of weeks ago that
  the owners of El Cuscatleco in Durham have opened a second location in Cary. The new location is at 1383 SE Maynard Rd. and the menu is essentially the same as at the original location. Get more details here. 

• Over in Cary, just down from the Trader Joe's in the Shoppes of Kildaire, the N&O is reporting that Patrick Jane's Gourmet Pizza Bar has fired up the ovens and opened its doors. The restaurant's unusual name is taken from the middle names of its husband-and-wife owners, Kevin and Ngiare Hubbard. Check them out here.

• Also in Cary, we got a little bit more information from the Triangle Business Journal on something we told you about a few weeks ago. The second Triangle location of World of Beer has set an opening date for Dec. 16. It is located at the Arboretum at Weston shopping center in Cary at the corner of Harrison Avenue and Weston Parkway. Like its North Hills counterpart, it will feature over 500 bottled beers and 50 on tap. They won't serve food, but you can order in food from surrounding restaurants. Check out World of Beer here. 

• Apparently there is a lot of beer that is consumed in the Five Points area in Raleigh (I have a theory, but I won't share it here). We got word from our friends over at New Raleigh that Union Square Brewery had signed a lease on a space last week at 506 Pershing Road. No word yet on an open date. But follow them on Facebook here.  

• And one more caffeine nugget for you coffee lovers out there. Over in Garner, the N&O reported that Lorraine Jordan will be opening a coffee shop and live music venue in mid-December called Lorraine's Coffee House and Music. Lorraine's will be at the corner of Vandora Springs Road and Timber Drive, in the former Tom Jones Compounding Pharmacy building.

Durham, Orange & Chatham County Restaurant News 

• Il Palio chef Adam Rose is moving just across the county line into Durham to open a series of venues in the former Straw Valley Café complex at the intersection of 15-501 and Interstate 40. Rose is teaming up with certified Master Sommelier Fred Dexheimer to open three dining and drinking venues. The first, slated for mid-November, will be Straw Valley Café and Juicebar. That will be followed by two dining establishments. Sanderson House, a casual restaurant and lounge offering small plates and cocktails, will open in December. And then they will open Black House, a fine dining restaurant just next to that. Will follow this as it unfolds. Can't wait! 

• We told you about it last week, and now both the N&O and the Herald Sun have confirmed that Baguettaboutit, the food truck that sells a variety of sausage-stuffed baked French baguettes, is opening a brick-and-mortar restaurant on Nov. 4. But just prior to the opening, they will hold a grand opening celebration on Nov. 1 from 5-8 that features, you guessed it, a food truck rodeo including Baguettaboutit, Sweet Traditions, Captain Poncho and American Meltdown. Baguettaboutit Cafe will be at 2945 S. Miami Blvd., behind Sheetz and Waffle House in the former Worth It Café location. Get more details here. 

Closings 

• Not really a closing, but a "not going to happen right now." We got word this week that chef Chad McIntyre has cancelled the long-delayed opening of his bigger-and-better The Market Restaurant. The good news is Chad is getting to enjoy another business venture and a little more time with his young family. We wish the best to Chad...and maybe we'll see The Market a little bit further down the road!

Food Trucks 

• 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. 

• Here is a good "cause" to get behind. The good folks behind KoKyu have launched a Kickstarter Campaign for a brick and mortar location! Sign up here through Halloween to be on their mailing list for their campaign.  

Events 

• Shiki Sushi celebrates 10 years of business in Durham this Saturday (Oct. 19th) with a Shiki Sushi 10-year anniversary with live music, free food, entertainment and activities for children from noon until 4 p.m. Shiki Sushi is in the Homestead Market Shopping Center on N.C. 54 in Durham. Get all the details here.

• This weekend is the annual Oktoberfest party at J. Betski's in Raleigh's Seaboard Station. The party is this Sunday (Oct 20th) from 3 - 8 pm and includes food, beer, great local bands, and your very own J. Betski's beer glass to take home as a memento of the special day. Reservations are necessary and the $65 per person price includes tax and gratuity. Get more information and purchase tickets here. 

• Over in Carrboro, Provence will be hosting TABLE's first annual Empty Bowls fundraiser this Sunday (October 20th) from 4 to 7 p.m. In exchange for a $30 donation, guests will receive a locally crafted pottery bowl and a soup dinner with bread and dessert, as well as live entertainment. Get all the details here. 

• On Tuesday, October 22 at 6:30, the good folks over in Pittsboro at the Pittsboro Roadhouse will have a Mead Dinner with the goodness from Starrlight Mead right in Pittsboro. The cost is $45 plus gratuity. Reservations are required. Get all the details here.

• On Wednesday, October 23, Watts Grocery is teaming up with Four Leaf Farm & Bluebird Meadow to host the Farm to Fork Wine Dinner. Guests will enjoy a five-course meal paired with wines by Drew of the Hope Valley Bottle Shop. Cocktails begin at 7 p.m. and will be followed by dinner. Tickets are $55 (tax and gratuity not included) and can be purchased by calling Watts Grocery at 919-416-5040.

• The Garner Rotary Club will host the ninth annual Garner Rotary Club Oyster Fest on Oct. 24 from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in the Fidelity Business Park. For $25, patrons will enjoy an all-you-can-eat affair catered by 42nd Street Oyster Bar of Raleigh. Tickets may be purchased at the door, or in advance from a member of the Garner Rotary Club or at the Garner Chamber of Commerce. For more information visit here.

• Vinnie's Steak House and Tavern has partnered with Hal Parson and Danielle Centeno of Escazu Artisan Chocolates for their next Meet the Maker Dinner on October 24th. This unique event will feature their first-ever guest chef, Danielle Centeno, who will be preparing one of the five courses for this evening. The cost is $50 per person, $65 per person with wine pairings and it begins at 6:30 pm. Get more details here. 

• The annual Red & White Food and Beverage Festival is coming up on Tuesday, October 29th from 6-9 pm at The State Club in Raleigh. The event features NC State alumni who are chefs or are otherwise involved with restaurants, farms, breweries, alcoholic beverage companies and/or wineries. Ticket proceeds support Wine to Water. And as a perk, all Triangle Food Guy friends will get $5 off admission by entering "trifoodguy" at checkout. See, it pays to ready my stuff! Get all the details here.

• Halloween and all of its fun is not just for the children - and that is what the folks at The Daily Planet Café want to make sure of. They will be hosting a Halloween-themed dinner on Wednesday, Oct. 30. All food served during the event will play off Halloween and will be monster-themed cuisine and cocktails. The cost is $50 excluding tax and gratuity and tickets can be purchased here.  

• Here is another great foodie event to get on your calendar - the March of Dimes Triangle Signature Chefs Auction on November 17 at the Washington Duke Inn & Golf Club. Attendees will be able to sample signature dishes from top chefs from around the Triangle while bidding on great auction items/packages during our silent and live auctions.  Get all the details here. 

Food Bank Corner   

• In its third year, the Creative Food Drive will be on Saturday, October 19, from 3-7 pm on the North Quad at American Tobacco Campus. C.F.D. is a food drive competition/community festival where local businesses and organizations raise non-perishable food items and design and build a sculpture in a competition of epic proportions. All of the food is donated to the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina and Durham nonprofit Housing for New Hope. Also, during and after the build, there's a whole community festival going on, with live music, food trucks, beer from local breweries and a kids zone with pumpkin painting and a bouncy castle. It's a pretty sweet way to spend a Saturday afternoon, so bring your folding chairs and enjoy the festivities. Get all the details here.