Friday, December 20, 2013

Friday Fun Food Facts - December 20, 2013

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

Holiday Edition - Final Edition of 2013     

So, you are reading the last edition of 2013 (sniff, sniff). And we're going to do things a little differently today, for three reasons. One, there isn't as much restaurant news this time of year. Two, I need to do a little shameless plug. And finally, we need to announce the winner of our Holiday Promotion and the winner of our $250 Target gift card (you'll have to scroll down for that).

First, the shameless plug. As you may know, my primary "job" is operating a corporate catering business - Triangle Food Guy. Put simply, we offer about 60 Triangle area restaurants and caterers for all your corporate catering needs. The cool thing is, all the ordering is done online - making your catering easy and giving you great variety - and at no extra cost to you. Check us out here and consider us for all your corporate catering in 2014!

As part of that, we reward our clients in lots of ways. One of those is our rewards program. And another is the awarding of a $250 Target gift card to one of our clients. That person has been selected, but first a little restaurant news:
  • According to the N&O, Glenwood South's Hibernian Irish Pub is expected to reopen in mid-January.
  • The N&O is also reporting that over in Durham just off Ninth Street, Panera Bread is having a grand opening this Saturday.  
  • New Raleigh noted on Facebook that downtown Raleigh's Gringo A Go Go won't fully open until January.
  • And Mike DePersia filled me in on the following: Over in Apex, Johnny's Pizza was sold to Ryan Dudek who closed it and reopened it as The Pizza Dude; In Holly Springs, Rich Moore bought the Rudino's, remodeled it and reopened as Ricci's Pizzeria; and in Cary, the Camos Brothers Pizza in Cary was sold to Paul Mirikaj and reopened as Brothers of New York Pizza.
  • And finally, please consider donating to the annual Holiday Food Drive being conducted by the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina.

********************  
And now, the moment you all have been waiting for. The winner of this year's Triangle Food Guy Holiday promotion - a $250 gift card to Target which will be delivered this morning (a picture will be posted on our Facebook page later today) - can be found here!

********************   

And I close with a huge thank you to each of you for reading my blog and using us for your catering needs. This year has been an amazing experience, and I want to thank each and every one of you. Here is to an even more amazing 2014!!!
  
Drop me a line and let me know how we can better serve you or what we can do to improve our blog and provide you with the information you are looking for.  
Posted by at 4 comments:

Friday, December 13, 2013

Friday Fun Food Facts - December 13, 2013

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

Featured Restaurant News
  •  We got a tip from the folks over at New Raleigh and confirmed that the Garland opened this past Wednesday! Located at 14 W. Martin Street in downtown Raleigh, the Garland has been working since the end of October on completing the transformation from window service to dining room service. Check them out here.    
Wake County Restaurant News 
  • The News & Observer reported this morning that an American cuisine restaurant called The Oakz is coming to the 510 Glenwood South building in downtown Raleigh in mid-January. Ira Freedman and his daughter, Jaclyn Starritt, are behind the venture. The menu will have a variety of American dishes, including brick chicken, jambalaya pasta, shrimp and grits and bison burgers, along with stuffed pork and salmon. Check them out on Facebook here.
  • We are still awaiting the opening of the much-anticipated Gringo A Go-Go over on Person Street. After rumors swirled that it might have opened this past weekend, we still wait on a few last minute details. Any day now... Keep up with the latest here.
  • Our friends over at New Raleigh tweeted out this week that Indian Cuisine Kabab and Curry will replace Klara's (old Frazier's space) on Hillsborough Street. No other details are available at this point.
  • If you were a fan of the Bavarian Brathaus over in Durham, you will be glad to know they will be opening a new German restaurant over in Cary called the German Grille. It will be located at 243 Grande Heights Dr. in the Harrison Pointe Shopping Center where the Great Mongolian Grill used to be. No final open date yet. Thanks to my friend Wendy Ransbury for this tip! 
  • So the Caribou location over in Raleigh on Duraleigh Road (Olde Raleigh Shopping Center) is re-opening next week (December 20) and will now be a combined Bruegger's Bagels and Caribou Coffee spot.
  • WRAL reported that Kiwi Café and Smoothies opened in the Wakefield area of north Raleigh. Offering breakfast and lunch along with their coffee, smoothies and fresh squeezed juices, Kiwi is located in a strip near Bruno's restaurant at 11211 Galleria Avenue. Check them out here.
  • The North Hills area continues to roll out new dining options. This week WRAL reported that Another Broken Egg, with locations in Durham & Morrisville, will open near the Hyatt House area early next year. Check them out here. 
Durham, Orange & Chatham County Restaurant News 
  • Two Durham powerhouses are joining forces to bring Japanese cuisine and beverages to the downtown Durham area in the summer of 2014. Billy and Kelli Cotter from Toast along with Nick Hawthorne-Johnson and Rochelle Johnson from The Cookery will open Dashi, serving lunch, dinner and late night with a menu that will center on ramen noodle bowls and small plates. You can read a little more about it on The Cookery's Facebook page here. 
  • Up in Hillsborough, downtown's Gulf Rim Café will close in January and will reopen the third week of January under the new name of La Place Louisiana Cookery. The Wooden Nickel's Matt Fox and Gulf Rim Café's Joe Tullos are teaming up on the new venture. They will continue to serve Louisiana and regional cuisine, and Tullos, who comes from La Place, La., also plans to add charcuterie and house-made sausages to the menu. In the meantime, pay a visit to Gulf Rim Cafe. 
  • Over in Chapel Hill, Andrea Reusing announced the opening of the Lantern restaurant's Lantern Table -- a community kitchen / private party space adjacent to the restaurant that offers cooking classes as well as being available for private functions. Learn more here. 
  • A little further down Franklin Street, it looks like the former location of Pepper's Pizza (may it rest in peace...amen) will have a new occupant come early 2014 according to the Daily Tar Heel. Sup Dogs, a staple on ECU's campus, will bring their 23 exotic Sup Dogs, 15 specialty Sup Burgers and a full bar stocked with draft and bottled beer, liquor and signature drinks to Chapel Hill's Franklin Street. Check them out here. 
  • WRAL suggested that Bull City Burger and Brewery's sister-restaurant Pompieri Pizza might open before year's end. Pompieri, which will be located in the historic Fire Station # 1 across from Durham's city hall on Mangum Street, will serve wood-fired pizzas. Check them out here. 
Closings 
  •  None! Keeping eating local, folks!   
Food Trucks 
  • There will be a new truck rolling around the streets of the Triangle come next April - assuming they get a little help from you! Dump Pho King Truck is targeting an April launch, but they are still in the middle of a kickstarter campaign (through January 18). As you can guess from their name, they are Asian inspired and their staples will be dumplings and pho. Check them out here. 
Events 
  • This Saturday (December 14th), the folks over at Guglhuph will host their 5th Annual German Christmas Market from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. Enjoy great German treats and drinks while listening to local bands and viewing the work of 12 NC based artists. Kids activities as well. Admission is free. Get more information here.
  • Congratulations to Neomonde Café & Market in North Raleigh as they celebrate their 2-year anniversary on Saturday, December 14th. As part of the celebration, they will have wine, bread and food sampling, live Christmas music and Middle Eastern music and will donate 5% of their proceeds to Note in the Pocket. They will also give out a FREE piece of walnut baklava to every customer with their purchase! Get all the latest here.
  • And the Angus Barn is cooking up two very unique and special dining experiences this holiday season - a Christmas Dinner featuring the wines of the Biltmore House on December 23rd and a New Year's Eve celebration on December 31st. Get information on the Christmas Dinner here and the New Year's Eve Celebration here (early seating) and here (late seating).
  • Looking for someone else to do the cooking (and it is great! I can vouch), the Raleigh Q Shack is offering locally raised, all natural fresh turkeys, sugar cured hams, chile rubbed beef brisket and meals ready to serve or packed for reheating. Complete meals start at $69.99 and include a choice of three sides, plus Q Shack hush puppy dressing with gravy, homemade cranberry sauce. Only need the bird? Smoked turkeys are $49.95 and chile rubbed briskets are only $59.95. Get all the details here.
  • Or if you'd rather just head out to eat for Christmas, take a look at the list the News & Observer put together here.
  • Here is an event you are definitely going to want to get on your calendar for 2014. Two words: Beer. Bacon. That's right, a Beer and Bacon Festival is coming to Cary's Booth Amphitheater featuring at least 75 craft beers and 10 varieties of bacon (did you know there were 10 varieties?). The event will be held on March 29 from noon until 6 p.m. Get all the details and ticket information here.   
Food Bank Corner   
  • If you are looking for a truly meaningful way to make a direct impact on someone's life this holiday season, consider donating to the annual Holiday Food Drive being conducted by the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina. Their goal is $350,000, or 1.7 million meals before December 31st. Get all the details on how you can help here. 
Posted by at 2 comments:

Friday, December 6, 2013

Friday Fun Food Facts - December 6, 2013

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

Featured Restaurant News
  •  Here is an event you are definitely going to want to get on your calendar for 2014. Two words: Beer. Bacon. That’s right, a Beer and Bacon Festival is coming to Cary's Koka Booth Amphitheater featuring at least 75 craft beers and 10 varieties of bacon (who knew?). The event will be held on March 29 from noon until 6 p.m. Get all the details and ticket information here.  
Wake County Restaurant News 
  •  The N&O’s Andrea Weigl reported that Vincent Barresi (Vincent’s in North Raleigh and Cucina di Milano in Morrisville), has signed a lease for the old Bogart’s space on Glenwood South. While the chef hasn’t been announced, Barresi is targeting a February opening for the speakeasy-style bar and restaurant with a menu centered around steaks and seafood. We’ll keep an eye on it.
  • I’m not sure when this guy sleeps (or stops), but downtown Raleigh restaurant and bar owner Niall Hanley is switching from Irish to German in his latest venture in the Glenwood South district according to the Triangle Business Journal. Hanley will convert the space, which is an office building located at 614 Glenwood Avenue next to Harry’s Guitar Shop, into a two-story restaurant and bar, or Bier Garten. We will continue to keep an eye on this one.
  • While we cannot confirm this at this point, but New Raleigh suggested this week that the much-anticipated Gringo A Go-Go may be opening this weekend. Gringo is the creation of Ben Shelton, the chef who started Lilly’s Pizza in Raleigh. It is located in the former Ruben’s Downtown Diner spot at 100 N. Person Street. Keep up with the latest here.  
  • Bad Daddy’s Burger Bar has opened in Morrisivlle in the Park West Village Shopping Center according to their website. This marks their 7th location and the second in the Triangle (the other is in Seaboard Station in downtown Raleigh). Check them out here.
  • Right after our last post just before Thanksgiving reporting that Cameron Village’s Café Caturra was closing, we were able to confirm that Tazza Kitchen, a wood-fired cooking concept out of Henrico, Virginia was moving in. Check them out here.
  • The News & Observer reported that Happy + Hale, a fresh juice and salad delivery service and cart in downtown Raleigh, is opening a quick-service restaurant in early March. It will be located at 443 Fayetteville St., in one of those free-standing “pods” which was the former Collectors Gallery space in front of Bank of America. Check them out here.
  • Also just before the holidays we got tipped off to the fact that a place called Despina’s Café, which offers homemade baked pastries, sandwiches, soups, salads, and desserts with a European influence, will open in early January at 8369 Creedmoor Road in Raleigh. Check out their Facebook page here.
  • In our last issue, we reported that City Barbeque, a chain based out of Ohio, has begun renovation of the former Cinelli’s Ristorante building at 1305 Kildaire Farm Road in Cary. Turns out they completely tore down the Cinellis’s building and are starting from scratch. Thank goodness!
  • The News & Observer is reporting that another location of Denny’s has opened in the former O’Charley’s spot at 4380 Fayetteville Road in Raleigh. Also on Fayetteville Raod (4205 Fayetteville Road), a Chinese restaurant called Hibachi Buffet has opened in the former Mayflower Seafood building.
Durham, Orange & Chatham County Restaurant News 
  •  Zinburger Wine & Burger Bar, which took over the Rockfish Seafood Grill space, is opening at The Streets at Southpoint on Dec. 10. Zinburger is an upscale burger restaurant that sells gourmet burgers paired with wine selections. With locations up and down the east coast, this is the first North Carolina location. Get a sneak peek at them here.
  • Things are taking shape over in Durham at Straw Valley Café. They are closed through December 9th to undergo renovations. According to their Facebook page they will be installing a new design, food, coffee and juice menu by day w/ fresh juice cocktails and wines! Follow them on Twitter to get the latest updates.
  • The Triangle Business Journal is reporting that the burger joint Smashburger will be opening early next year across from Duke University’s campus in the Pavilion East at Lakeview complex on Erwin Road. This will be the chain’s second North Carolina location, and the first in the Triangle. Check them out here. 
Closings 
  •  None! Keeping eating local, folks!   
Food Trucks 
  • As the temperatures drop, so do your chances of a food truck rodeo - unless you are the folks over at Rebus Works in Raleigh’s Boylan Heights. This Sunday from noon to 5 they will have their Artwalk (over 100 artists on display). To keep you warm, they will have American Meltdown, Captain Poncho's Tacos, Sarge's Chef on Wheels, Chick-N-Que, King Creole and Muddy Dog Roasting Company there. Get all the details (and latest weather developments) here.  
Events 
  • Mark your calendar for 6 p.m. on December 11th when Chapel Hill’s Il Palio restaurant at The Siena Hotel offers up a five-course dinner with beer pairings from Durham’s Fullsteam brewery. The cost is $55 per person. For a reservation, call 919-918-2545. Get more information here. 
  • And next Thursday, December 12th, Cary’s An Cuisines will host a Winter Wine Social where you can enjoy a variety of wines paired with sushi and hors d'oeuvres prepared by Chef Steven Greene beginning at 5:30 p.m. With an opportunity to taste over 20 wines (which will be available for sale), the cost is just $25. To reserve a spot, call 919.677.9229.
  • Congratulations to Neomonde Café & Market in North Raleigh as they celebrate their 2-year anniversary on Saturday, December 14th. As part of the celebration, they will have wine, bread and food sampling, live Christmas music and Middle Eastern music and will donate 5% of their proceeds to Note in the Pocket. They will also give out a FREE piece of walnut baklava to every customer with their purchase! Get all the latest here.
  • And the Angus Barn is cooking up two very unique and special dining experiences this holiday season - a Christmas Dinner featuring the wines of the Biltmore House on December 23rd and a New Year’s Eve celebration on December 31st. Get information on the Christmas Dinner here and the New Year’s Eve Celebration here (early seating) and here (late seating).
Food Bank Corner   
  • If you are looking for a truly meaningful way to make a direct impact on someone’s life this holiday season, consider donating to the annual Holiday Food Drive being conducted by the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina. Their goal is $350,000, or 1.7 million meals before December 31st. Get all the details on how you can help here. 
Posted by at 1 comment:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)