It isn’t easy to narrow down the list of culinary talent in this area to just 20 important players. There are so many more that deserve recognition, not to mention the floor managers, servers, pastry chefs and sous chefs who support every great restaurant and receive little press attention.
Let me say, right off the bat, that some of my favorite chefs don’t appear on this list. Ironically, their consistent excellence (at Provence, Acme, and Underground to name a few) keeps them out of the limelight. I hope that knowing the joy they provide with their delicious food is its own reward.
The following choices are mine alone, determined by each person’s significant contributions to our restaurant scene this year. Many are familiar faces, whose work just keeps on getting better and better — their stars are still rising and the national media just can’t get enough of them. Others are brand new to the area, or were chosen because of changes in their career paths.
If you disagree with me — and you should, since taste in food is purely subjective — don’t write me. Take out your frustration by going straight to your favorite restaurant for dinner and let the chef or floor manager know that their place is one of the reasons life in the Triangle is so good.
THE MEDIA MAGNETS
Sara Foster, Foster’s Market, Durham and Chapel Hill
Sara Foster, once Martha Stewart’s personal caterer, has been steadily building a career in the Triangle since opening Foster’s Market in 1990. Her “simple honest food” was such a hit that another Foster’s followed in Chapel Hill. The rest of the country discovered Foster after the success of The Foster’s Market Cookbook: Favorite Recipes for Morning, Noon, and Night. Her second cookbook, Fresh Every Day, became an Amazon best seller and led to a regular food column in Cottage Living magazine. We will be seeing a lot of Sara this year on television and in print media as she promotes her third book, Casual Cooking: Simple Fresh Recipes for the Way We Eat Today.
Walter Royal, The Angus Barn, Raleigh
The announcement that Chef Walter Royal was invited to compete on the Food Network’s hit show Iron Chef America created a huge buzz. Then, for almost a year, total silence. By January 2007, just when most of us had forgotten about the appearance, there he was on the tube — dignified, unruffled and characteristically regal. Royal showed those TV chefs just what to do with a great big bird … and he won!
Royal will repeat his award-winning ostrich dinner at the Barn’s wine cellar on March 10. Our own Iron Chef’s special wine cellar dinners are legendary, one of many reasons Southern Living magazine chose The Angus Barn as one of its top three restaurant splurges in the South this fall.
Ben and Karen Barker, Magnolia Grill, Durham
Every five years Gourmet magazine publishes a list of the 50 best restaurants in America. In 2006, Magnolia Grill was chosen for the second time — No. 11, perched impressively between New York’s Le Bernardin and The Inn at Little Washington.
Gourmet claims, “Ben Barker’s cooking is daring, almost reckless … Karen Barker’s desserts end the roller coaster ride with the pleasure of a knockout chocolate cake or a classic lemon tart.” The Barkers have racked up tributes from the national media since opening Magnolia 20 years ago, and we predict the accolades will continue for many more.
Andrea Reusing, Lantern, Chapel Hill
Andrea Reusing’s Chapel Hill restaurant, Lantern, joined Magnolia Grill on Gourmet’s list of the Top 50 restaurants in the country. Saveur magazine named Lantern as a reason Chapel Hill was pinpointed as one of the five best food towns in America. Reusing has received coverage from Bon Appétit, Food & Wine and her recipes appear in the March 2007 issue of Fine Cooking.
Presently the leader of the North Carolina Slow Food movement, she joined other famous culinary authorities — Alice Waters (of Chez Panisse) and Michael Pollan (author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma) — as a featured speaker for the international Slow Food Conference in Turin, Italy this fall. Her charismatic personality and reputation as a farmers’ activist have earned Reusing international recognition.
I just pray the woman doesn’t run for political office. It would be difficult to run both a restaurant and the state of North Carolina. But knowing Reusing, she could manage it.
Bill Smith, Crook’s Corner, Chapel Hill
Every winter Bill Smith tries to abandon Crook’s and all things Southern by heading to icy Québec City for much needed R&R. While dining in a favorite French bistro, he found himself reminiscing about childhood food and began to write. After several more jaunts to Québec, the chef of Crook’s produced Seasoned in the South, an immediate smash. The memoir/cookbook has piled up accolades from Bon Appétit, Food & Wine, The New York Times, and Pages Magazine, among others. He has appeared on both Bill Friday’s North Carolina People and DG Martin’s Bookwatch.
Rumor has it that his next book will be about Québec, written in Chapel Hill.
RISING STARS
Aaron Vandemark, Panciuto, Hillsborough
Panciuto is a family affair, the collaboration of Aaron Vandemark, his wife and parents, who live above the restaurant. This loving support system allows Vandemark to concentrate on the kitchen where his talent shines. His earthy Northern Italian cooking pays homage to his Il Palio mentor, Gennaro Villela. But his deft touch with fresh local ingredients is all his own.
Michael Chuong, An, Cary
Michael Chuong isn’t really new to the Triangle. Members of Prestonwood Country Club in Cary have enjoyed his extraordinary cooking since he arrived there in 1997. Born in Vietnam and raised in New Orleans, Chuong has a unique cultural perspective that influences his culinary style. The accomplished chef had already forged a successful career in his home town before landing in Cary. Prestonwood owner Ann Goodnight was so impressed with Chuong, she collaborated with him on the spectacular new restaurant An, a perfect showcase for his scintillating Asian-French hybrid cuisine.
Phil Evans, Herons at The Umstead Hotel and Spa, Cary
Cary’s spectacular new hotel needed someone special to head its ambitious restaurant. After a nationwide search, Phil Evans was persuaded to leave the St. Regis Aspen to bring world-class hotel dining to The Umstead. His impressive bio includes stints at France’s Le Parnasse and Houston’s Remington Grill. As the new kid on the block, Evans will be under heavy scrutiny this year. So far, so good — Herons just opened in January to raves.
Chip Smith and Tina Vaughn, Bonne Soirée, Chapel Hill
So perfectly does this husband-and-wife team complement each other, it’s impossible to mention one without the other. Tina Vaughn gave up a career as an actress to support Chip Smith’s culinary ascent. “Chip was more talented at cooking than I was at acting,” she asserts. Smith’s country French cuisine is indeed stellar, but Vaughn’s expert management of the front of the house calls for equal billing.
Jeremy Sabo, South and Vivace, Raleigh
Jeremy Sabo is a rarity in the food world. His career isn’t the accidental detour of many of the best chefs of this area. He recognized his calling at an early age and entered Pennsylvania’s Academy of Culinary Arts after high school. Years later, he landed at Frazier’s where he transformed the casual bistro into a sophisticated and critically acclaimed dining destination. Frazier’s owners, Kevin and Stacy Jennings, offered the gifted chef another challenge when they enlisted him to open Vivace in Raleigh’s North Hills. Now Sabo has helped the Jennings develop the newly opened South in the same shopping center.
THE QUIET ONES
Ricardo Quintero, Jibarra, Raleigh
Many of the Triangle’s best chefs trained at some of the premier restaurants in America — from the French Laundry to Charlie Trotter to The Inn at Little Washington — and share familiar techniques. Ricardo Quintero listens to the beat of a different drummer entirely. Raised in Mexico City, Quintero apprenticed at the world-famous Akelarre in San Sebastian, Spain. His unique cuisine, a combination of Mexican ingredients and avant-garde Spanish technique, is a revelation. The modest Quintero has avoided the spotlight, but Jibarra’s first-class food speaks volumes about his talent.
Bret Jennings, Elaine’s, Chapel Hill
“Seared foie gras on pineapple upside-down cake with rum-vanilla syrup,” may seem like a bizarre appetizer, but Bret Jennings pulls it off. A protégée of Ben Barker’s at Magnolia Grill, Jennings learned to take chances — as anyone can tell from his adventurous menu. The cozy Elaine’s is a place other chefs go for inspiration and remarkable seasonal food. Jennings has received plenty of accolades, but he generally stays out of the spotlight. To his many patrons, Jennings’ star has been shining brightly and steadily since he opened Elaine’s eight years ago.
William D’Auvray, Fins, Raleigh
Fred Thompson of The News & Observer cites Fins as the “best place to eat seafood in the Triangle.” High praise coming from the man who wrote The Big Book of Fish & Shellfish. Having spent a good portion of his career cooking in Los Angeles, William D’Auvray brings a unique Pacific Rim sensibility back to his home state. His Asian flavor combinations and deft technique have delighted patrons of his modest North Raleigh restaurant where he has been quietly turning out exquisite food for over a decade.
Lil Lacassagne, Saint-Jacques, Raleigh
Happily, French food is undergoing a revival in the Triangle, but only one is owned and run by a living, breathing Frenchman. Lil Lacassagne, trained by the great Chef Roger Vergé at Moulins de Mougins, brings “cuisine of the sun” to Raleigh at his unpretentious eatery in North Raleigh. Lacassagne’s enthusiasm for the food of his native region brings legions of hungry Francophiles to his door, and his annual food and wine tour of the South of France is always booked solid.
Shane Ingram and Elizabeth Woodhouse, Four Square, Durham
After leaving Charlie Trotter’s eponymous Chicago restaurant, Shane Ingram worked with Patrick O’Connell at The Inn at Little Washington. He fell in love with the Inn’s beautiful pastry chef, Elizabeth Woodhouse, and moved to North Carolina to head the kitchen at Fearrington House. In 1999, the couple opened their dream restaurant in Durham. Since then they have been quietly wowing Triangle food lovers with their impeccable American contemporary cuisine.
RETURNING HOME
Scott Howell, Nana’s, Durham
For a couple of years, Scott Howell enterprises were mushrooming like housing developments in Cary. Nana’s Chophouse opened in downtown Raleigh, then The Q Shack appeared in Durham, quickly spawning two more shacklets in Raleigh.
Then the balloon popped. Howell returned to the original Nana’s, having divested himself of the excess baggage.
Nana’s loyal clientele is delighted to have their favorite chef’s full attention again, and Nana’s is thriving once more. Howell is in the kitchen full time, as well as teaching a cooking class at Nana’s once a month. Count on him to focus on the restaurant, his firstborn and now only child — at least for now.
Ashley Christensen, Enoteca Vin, Raleigh
When Greg Hatem persuaded Enoteca Vin’s talented “Chef Ashley” to create three new downtown restaurants, nobody was surprised. Her first collaboration with Hatem Enterprises, The Raleigh Times Bar, opened to critical and popular acclaim. A soul food restaurant, the Kitchen, was scheduled to follow. It never opened.
Like Scott Howell and many chefs who expand too rapidly, Ashley Christensen was simply stretched too thin. Now she’s back at Vin with a new menu that offers smaller dishes at affordable prices. And when you drop by to see Chef Ashley’s friendly face, it will be right there.
Jason Smith, 18 Seaboard, Raleigh
“Someone made me an offer I couldn’t refuse,” explained Jason Smith when asked why he left Charleston’s Peninsula Grill to create a new restaurant in the old Seaboard train station in his home town. After years spent at New York’s Union Square Café and Gramercy Tavern, then a gig cooking for scientists in Antarctica, Smith’s wanderlust seems to be sated. His contemporary American cuisine is a good fit in downtown Raleigh. We hope he’ll settle in and be around for a long, long time.
John Toler, Bloomsbury Bistro, Raleigh
When John Toler opened Bloomsbury Bistro in 1995, the neighbors rejoiced. Toler’s imaginative French food seemed a perfect fit for sophisticated Hayes Barton diners. The restaurant garnered national attention, then Toler expanded his sights, opening Cosmopolitan in Cary. With the sale of the Cary restaurant last year, Toler is keeping his eye on the ball at Bloomsbury, pleasing his loyal patrons with his consistently good cooking back on home base at Five Points.
Mickey Maloney, Glasshalfull, Carrboro
Twenty or so years ago, Mickey Maloney teamed up with Ben and Karen Barker to open Magnolia Grill. Hospitable, knowledgeable and attractive, he was a natural for running the front of the house, and he accumulated a large following. When he left the restaurant business to open a wine distributing company, no one was surprised that it succeeded, but Maloney was missed on the restaurant scene.
Maloney must have missed us, too. He sold his wine company to open a tapas/wine bar in Carrboro this month. He’s back! I haven’t heard whether he’ll be on the floor every night, but the place couldn’t possibly find a better host.
Food Writers’ Favorites
by Moreton Neal
Considering our extraordinary restaurants and impressive literary scene, it’s no surprise that the Triangle area attracts some of the best food writers in the country. You wouldn’t recognize their faces, but these luminaries are all around you — standing in line at the farmers’ market or sipping an aperitif at the next table of your neighborhood restaurant. If you subscribe to a food magazine, own a bookcase full of cookbooks or read Metro, you are probably already familiar with their work.
For our special food and wine issue, I have invited some of the best food writers from our own backyard to reveal favorite dining experiences from the Triangle to the coast. By nature, these professionals are risk takers, undaunted by the likes of tripe or sea urchins and eager to try the next foamy food trend. Adventurous eating goes with the territory, yet many of their choices are refreshingly mundane. A few are not really about food at all, but other factors that make a meal memorable.
Kelly Alexander, Jean Anderson, Susan Ely, Marcie Cohen Ferris, Nancie McDermott, Bill Smith and Fred Thompson allow us to peek into their lives and discover what they love to eat when “off duty.” Joining them are Metro’s own food-loving columnists — Carroll Leggett, Barbara Ensrud, Louis St. Lewis and myself.
Guiltiest Pleasure
For a reformed New Yorker returned to her Southern roots, the primal pull of the utterly addictive hot sausage buttermilk biscuits at the Sunrise Biscuit Kitchen cannot be denied. Although I try to limit myself to one of the quarter pounder-sized treats per week, it doesn’t always hold. There are lots of good biscuits around town, but for my money, none are made fresher, with more care — and, perhaps more importantly, with more butter — than these. Yep, that’s me blocking your way up Franklin Street on Saturday mornings.
Kelly Alexander is a contributing editor to Saveur magazine and a food commentator for National Public Radio. Her first book, a tribute to Clementine Paddleford, will be published by Penguin in 2008.
Most Unusual Restaurant
The Cypress Grill in Jamesville is nothing more than a shack, and it’s about 100 feet from the latte-colored Roanoke. I was told that it started as a fisherman’s club. I was also told that there had been many of these little shack restaurants in Jamesville along the Roanoke. But Cypress Grill is the only one left. It’s open just four months each year, from January through April.
The deep-fried, fresh-caught herring is so brown, so crunchy that the locals call it “cremated.” A lot of Triangle folks make pilgrimages to Cypress Grill during the annual herring run on the Roanoke River, so I drove down to see what the fuss was all about. I ordered the herring and what arrived was a 6-inch fish fried so hard my fork bounced off it. Seeing my frustration, the waitress sidled over and said, “Do you mind if I touch your food?” She plunged a knife into the the fish, parted it down the middle, nudged the flesh off the backbone, and told me to eat everything else, small bones and all. The herring tasted, well, “fishy” until the waitress approached once again, this time to suggest that I shake a lot of Texas Pete over the herring. “Just upend the bottle. That’s the Jamestown way.” I did as she said and must say that the cremated herring, presented with sweet slaw and hush puppies straight from the deep fat fryer, was delicious. I’m planning a return trip next month.
Jean Anderson has written dozens of cookbooks, including The Doubleday Cookbook and the James Beard award-winning Food of Portugal. Her articles appear frequently in Gourmet and More magazines.
Most Revelatory Food Experience
Just when my jaded palate had drifted into the “been there, eaten that” range, I attended a sake-paired dinner at Jujube. Not the hot, nasty stuff; this was premium, artisanal, chilled sake. It was, as Jujube’s chef/owner Charlie Deal likes to say “an epiphany.”
The sakes themselves were phenomenal, and as a writer, I loved their names: Divine Droplets (and they were) Well of Wisdom, Root of Innocence. Deal’s pairings were genius. Along with several Asian-inspired courses, Deal matched Dreamy Clouds — a fruity sake with a nutty taste — with Roasted Pork Loin and Sweet Potato and Chestnut Purees.
I am now a fan of chilled sake and Charlie Deal.
Susan Ely is a food and lifestyle columnist for Cary Living, Pinehurst Magazine and Triangle Business Journal.
Most Inspired Match
At loose ends before dinner one evening, I stopped in at Raleigh’s Enoteca Vin for a glass of wine. What luck! They were featuring a tasting flight of red Burgundies (my favorite reds). The three were from the Côte de Nuits, including a Chambolle-Musigny and Gevrey Chambertin — both reeking with dark cherry flavors. I ordered a small cheese plate, and to my surprised delight it came garnished with a clutch of dried cherries. The cheese, the wines, the cherries — a thrilling match-up of flavors.
Barbara Ensrud, Metro’s wine columnist, has written several books about wine including Best Wine Buys for $12 and Under. She teaches wine appreciation classes at Duke Continuing Education.
Most Comforting Meal After a Long Day
Everybody needs a restaurant haven on a week night after a day that was TOO long, when the going was TOO rough, when you feel just plain tuckered out, or you wish mom would cook dinner, but she’s doesn’t do that anymore! For husband Bill and me, that place is Squid’s in Chapel Hill, where manager Jamie LaForce is always cheery and welcoming (how does he do that?!), and even if there is a wait, you are welcome to sit at the bar for a drink, and to eat dinner there if you choose. Squid’s serves my favorite weeknight meal of grilled fish and roasted vegetables — it’s healthy and the ingredients come from local farmers and purveyors. Chef Andy Wilson fixes it any way you want it, and the wait staff is stellar. Now, that’s comfort in my book!
Marcie Cohen Ferris, a professor at UNC-Chapel Hill, is the current president of the Southern Foodways Alliance and author of Matzoh Ball Gumbo.
Best Barbecue
I am devoted to Wilber’s barbecue in Goldsboro. It has great texture — bits of gristle and fat and mysterious things that define Eastern-style barbecue — and always tastes as if it were straight from the pit. And, in fact, it is. Wilber’s “barbecue” chicken is some of the world’s best eating, too, so I always order a combination platter. I have never figured out how it is prepared, except I don’t think it is “barbecued.” (Excuse the slip. I know “barbecue” is a noun.) I am guessing that the chicken is baked. The meat is moist and falls off the bone. The sauce — smooth and thin with perhaps a bit of mustard (but no tomatoes, thank goodness, that I can discern), is unique and from heaven. Add to this the fact that Wilber’s is about the only place I know that serves potato salad with its barbecue — really good, homemade potato salad — and you have a major dining treat. I also salute the sweet tea, slaw, hushpuppies, knotty-pine paneling, wooden “straight chairs,” and the what-will-you-have-honey waitresses. Wilber’s does it all right — perfect comfort food in the perfect Down East barbecue house environment.
Carroll Leggett writes Metro’s monthly column, “Between You and Me.”
Favorite Fast Food
The scheming starts as soon as my Chapel Hill-based minivan merges onto I-40 heading east: Can I work in a sandwich-and-coffee pit-stop at 9N9 Vietnamese House of Noodle in RTP? Since this friendly little café is handily located in a vast brick shopping center at the intersection of Miami Boulevard and Alexander Drive, the answer tends to be “yes.” Their version of the classic Vietnamese-style submarine sandwich, known as banh mi, is spectacular: a demi-baguette of perfect French bread, filled with house-made char-siu pork, thinly sliced and dressed with tangy carrot-and-daikon slaw, mayo, a little forest of leafy cilantro stems and just enough slices of fresh jalapeño to make you pace yourself instead of bolting the whole thing down with too much speed.
It’s worth waiting for, but you really needn’t do that since they will have it made up to order in the time it takes to pay up and step out of the line to glance at the sports event, game show or soap opera on the ceiling-mounted corner TV. With its satisfying, familiar-but-exotic flavors and the fact that it can be so quickly ready to travel with you to the beach, the mountains or a picnic spot, the $2 price tag will come as a surprise.
The coffee isn’t quite so quick, but it is worth every one of the 10 to 12 minutes it takes to brew up. Like the sandwich, it’s made to order and the process of watching your very strong coffee drip through a hat-shaped metal filter contraption onto a dollop of sweetened condensed milk in a sturdy glass is just the right invitation to take a very deep breath and smile. Stirred up and poured over a glass of ice, the sweet strong coffee is fantastic. If they’re blowing the horn for me out in the parking lot, I simply indulge in a take-out tumbler of bubble tea, a sweet treat available in fanciful flavors including coconut, pineapple and green tea.
Nancie McDermott has written about Asian food in several cookbooks, including Quick & Easy Vietnamese: 75 Everyday Recipes.
Best Service
Years ago when I ran a restaurant, I hosted a small dinner party at my own place. That evening I particularly wanted to impress my guests, but our service turned out to be so lackadaisical it was embarrassing. Later I asked the waiter why he hadn’t come by the table more often. “You all were talking and seemed so happy,” he explained. “I didn’t want to interrupt.” Since then, whenever service at a restaurant is particularly neglectful, I stop talking and put on an unhappy face.
At Bonne Soirée you never get a chance to be unhappy. Under the brilliant tutelage of co-owner Tina Vaughn, the wait staff is as attentive and knowledgeable as their counterparts in a Michelin-starred restaurant in France. These folks appear to have a PhD in table service. They treat you as an honored guest, anticipate your every need without hovering, know exactly the right wine to recommend for each dish, and make you feel just the way you should, but rarely do, in other fine dining rooms in the United States — totally pampered.
My Favorite Dinner Outdoors
I’m always looking for an excuse to go to the Outer Banks. Last summer, I was clever enough to arrange book signings at some of those wonderful little book stores found in our beach towns. After an afternoon on the front porch of Books To Be Red in Ocracoke, my brother, sister and I had the evening free. It was Wednesday, so the town was a little quiet. We wandered into the shady outdoor bar of The Pelican. The menu looked good so we stayed for supper. You can eat outside in the garden. It was nothing fancy really, just good coastal food, carefully prepared and served by a pleasant staff. The three of us can hardly ever get together, so it was an especially nice evening.
Bill Smith, executive chef at Crook’s Corner, is the author of Seasoned in the South.
Best Chef to Invite to Dinner
Some meals are magical and memorable. Just like great music, a wonderful culinary repast can often be remembered in vivid detail forever. One night, good friend Bill Klapp had just flown in from his summer home in the Italian countryside with that rarest of edible jewels, perfect and fresh white truffles! Several of us met for a late night fête at the elegant home of Ann Stewart and Randall Roden. Chef Andrea Reusing from Lantern restaurant was present, along with her husband Mac McCaughin of the band Superchunk. Reusing immediately prepared the most perfect soft scrambled eggs that were lavished with generous gratings of the truffles. The sublime intoxicating aroma! The delicacy of flavor! So simple, so decadent, all washed down with liberal doses of the finest pink champagne … now that’s living.
Louis St. Lewis, Metro’s art editor, is an artist, a bon vivant and a closet gourmet.
Food I Miss When I’m Away
Travel, while exciting, carries its burdens. Being on the road — sometimes a month at a time — always makes me long for the tastes of home, no matter what fabulous food I have encountered. Those tastes are the ones that embrace you and say, “Welcome back!” and are comforting and familiar. And for me, it’s a downright weird collection.
Ever since my mom poured me a bowl of soup, that potage said something special to me. Today, I crave of bowl of any of Ben Barker’s extraordinary soups at Magnolia Grill. If I’m lucky, a piece of Karen’s lemon tart will follow. Then there’s Lantern, for bright and bold flavors. I like to take a seat at the bar at Fins and delight in the exotic and delightfully mysterious foods that jump from their kitchen. In oyster season, a Malpeque on the half-shell with a Margarita Ice atop its brininess at Elaine’s is heaven. But a weekend wouldn’t be complete without a stop at Matt’s hot dog wagon at Lowe’s and Hwy 70, for the ultimate in fusion cuisine — Yankee hot dogs with Southern fixin’s.
The excuses I can come up with to head for Holt Lake Bar-BQ in Smithfield are silly. I go, not for their above average “’que,” but for their perfect fried chicken, the kind that every Southern grandmother used to make on Sundays. A color of a great handmade table, that perfect walnut brown, the crust cracks as your teeth hit the surface, and then bends to allow a spray of moisture to wash your taste buds. Finally, you experience the tenderness of the flesh that denotes great fried chicken. It is a thing of beauty, worth the trip.
Now, which one first?
Fred Thompson, columnist and food stylist for Raleigh’s News & Observer, has written many cookbooks including The Big Book of Fish & Shellfish. He stars in NBC Knoxville’s popular TV show, Kart to Kitchen.
NIBBLES
Tickets are now on sale for the second fabulous Beaufort Wine & Food Weekend scheduled for April 26 – 29. The Festival will move this year to the Olde Beaufort Seaport and Historic Beaufort Waterfront to showcase signature wine and food in a unique venue. Winemaker dinners will take place at local restaurants including Beaufort Grocery, Williams, Aqua, and Shepherd’s Point. Each dinner will feature the food of both the host chef and a visiting guest chef with wines chosen from sponsor vineyards.
Guest chefs for the four day feast will include: Joël Antunes from Joël in Atlanta; Ashley Christensen from Raleigh’s Enoteca Vin; Shawn Wellersdick from Port Land Grille in Wilmington; Jason Smith from 18 Seaboard in Raleigh; Walter Royal from Raleigh’s The Angus Barn; Matt Upchurch from M. Stephen’s in High Point; Leonard Logan from Elizabeth's Café in Duck; Bill Smith from Chapel Hill’s Crook’s Corner; John Toler from Bloomsbury Bistro in Raleigh; and Ashley McGee from Johnson & Wales, Charlotte.
The Beaufort Wine & Food Weekend has been selected as one of the Top 20 events in the Southeast by the Southeast Tourism Society.
Find out more about the festival at www.beaufortwineandfood.com.
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One of the most exciting annual food events in the area is going strong after 22 years. A Toast to the Triangle offers a tempting spread from over 40 of our finest restaurants. The event will take place on Sunday, April 1 from 5:30 to 8:00 p.m. at the NC State University McKimmon Center in Raleigh. Proceeds from the evening will benefit the Tammy Lynn Center for Developmental Disabilities, featured in Metro’s February issue. For information, link to www.atoasttothetriangle.com or call Lynne Wilkerson at 832-3909 (ext. 107).
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Bistro 64 welcomes a new executive chef, Alan Batson. The former chef/owner of Southern Star in Cary, Batson has traveled all over the world acquiring his culinary experience. You can sample Batson’s international cuisine at a bargain price if you arrive early. Bistro 64 now offers a three-course prix fixe menu Mon.-Thurs. from 5:00 to 6:00 p.m. for just $20 per person.
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Those who remember French Country Inn in Selma, as well as anyone who loves French food, will enjoy Cree Forman’s memoir/cookbook, Phil and the French Country Inn. The book includes a travelogue of trips to France, as well as Phil Forman’s menus and recipes used at the Inn. It is a loving tribute from the woman at his side through over a decade of innkeeping in the heart of Eastern Carolina tobacco country.
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Brian Stapleton’s followers have mixed feelings about his new appointment as director of culinary standards for ARAMARK Harrison Lodging, the company that manages the Carolina Inn and other resorts around the country. Executive chef at the Inn’s CrossRoads Restaurant since 1999, Stapleton has made a name for himself as one of the top chefs in the Triangle. He will help select his successor and continue to be involved in the restaurant, but Stapleton’s fans will miss his presence in the kitchen.
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Indulge yourself in a sinful dessert for a good cause! Every month Il Palio at the Siena Hotel offers a special with proceeds going to a local nonprofit. This month, the restaurant features chocolate soufflé, a classic dessert so delicate that it’s rarely found in restaurants these days. Ten percent of the proceeds of all soufflés ordered will be donated to the Junior Service Leagues of Orange and Durham Counties.
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The bistro boom continues in Durham with Alivia’s across from Brightleaf Square, the brand new eatery by one of the owners of neighboring eateries Federal and James Joyce. Expect good things from a kitchen manned by a team from Nana’s, Four Square, and Lantern. Huge booths, lots of outdoor seating and reasonable prices, Alivia’s offers creative chow in a casual environment from breakfast to late night.
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As promised by the Urban Food Group, South opened in time for Valentine’s Day in Savannah’s spot at North Hills Shopping Center. The menu created by Vivace’s Chef Jeremy Sabo should cheer up Southern food enthusiasts who embraced the concept of Savannah and were sad to see it go.
North Carolina Wines:
QUALITY, VARIETY AND MORE RECOGNITION
by Barbara Ensrud
Things are progressing smartly with North Carolina wines. They’re getting more recognition — even abroad. Only recently wines from Childress Vineyards, Shelton Vineyards and Duplin were invited to a major tasting in London, where they impressed English wine writers.
With good reason — the wines are getting better, improving in style and quality. Don’t expect the massive proportions found in California wines. Our wines are more subtle, but often far more balanced than the oaky, tannic, alcoholic blockbusters that overwhelm fine food — and the best ones are beginning to find their way onto Triangle wine lists. Herons, the restaurant at the new Umstead Hotel and Spa in Cary, has its well-chosen selection of NC wines right up front on its impressive wine list.
For the first time this year, NC wines were a part of the Triangle Wine Experience, the state’s largest annual wine event, a benefit for the Frankie Lemmon School. In February, the three-day event raised nearly a million dollars to support this school for children with special needs. About 21 NC wineries brought their current wares to the Crabtree Marriott, offering a great opportunity to get a taste of North Carolina.
New wineries continue to spring up, even as existing wineries gain experience and know-how. It shows in the wines, especially those from the 2005 vintage, one of the best in recent years. Consider Stonefield Cellars, for instance, a new winery north of Greensboro. Winemaker Robert Wurz was trained at California’s leading wine school, the University of California at Davis (familiarly known as UC Davis). From the winery’s first vintage, 2005, Wurz produced two very attractive dry white wines, Pinot Gris and Chardonnay Doux. Though doux means “sweet” in French, Wurz pointed out that it also means “soft.” And indeed, Stonefield’s 2005 Chardonnay is dry and smooth — though the name might prove a little confusing to some people.
There were several other discoveries at the tasting — wines worth tracking down. As spring approaches, wineries will be open for tours, tastings, picnicking, as well as outdoor concerts. For a complete list of NC wineries, go to ncwineries.org.
Here are some of the highlights from among wines I’ve recently tasted:
Shelton Vineyards Madison Lee Red, $10. This sturdy, meaty red is a blend of cabernet sauvignon, merlot and sangiovese — great for grilled meats and hearty pizzas. Shelton’s unoaked Chardonnay 2005 is too sweet for me. At the Wine Experience Gala Tasting, however, Shelton presented an excellent 2005 Family Reserve Chardonnay, $35, which is dry, rich and well-balanced, and the 2004 Family Reserve Claret, $40, a more elegant red blend.
RagApple Lassie Zinfandel 2004, $17. Who knew we could grow zinfandel in North Carolina? RagApple Lassie has only about 3 acres, so maybe they’ll plant a little more or others will be encouraged to do so. It’s a light red zinfandel but quite tasty. Look also for the winery’s 2004 Viognier, which is refreshingly dry, as is the 2004 Chardonnay, $15.
Grove Winery Nebbiolo 2005, $18.69. The mid-Atlantic is proving a very good region for growing Italian grape varietites such as sangiovese, pinot grigio, vermentino and others. This Nebbiolo is quite good, rich in color and flavor. Grove’s Virginia vineyard also produces a very good Chardonnay, $15.
Childress Vineyards Cabernet Franc Reserve 2004, $24.99. An extra year in bottle has only made this wine richer and smoother, a good bet for roast lamb or duck. It was a big hit at the London tasting. And check out the 2004 Merlot Reserve, $24.99, which is also quite good. If you’re celebrating, try the new Childress Victory Cuvée Blanc de Blancs sparkling wine, $24.99, dry, lively and very good.
Stony Knoll Vineyards 2005 Viognier, $15. Bright fruit, crisp and dry. I found the 2004 barrel-fermented Chardonnay appealing, too.
Cypress Bend Riverton Reserve, $9. It’s rare to find a muscadine that is genuinely dry — and tasty, as well. Made from Carlos and Noble, two white muscadine varieties, the Riverton Reserve is zesty and refreshing. Cypress Bend also makes a very nice, lightly oaked Chardonnay, as well as some luscious sweet reds: Campbell, $9, and Daniel, $12 — try these with chocolate desserts.
Chambourcin is a red French hybrid that grows well in our area, producing a medium-bodied red that works nicely with a variety of foods, from burgers to pizza to roast pork, even barbecue (hey, don’t overlook it just because it isn’t cabernet, merlot or syrah, few if any of which can ever handle Carolina barbecue). Chambourcin (pronounced SHAM-bur-sin) can be especially attractive when blended with other varieties to add extra flavor. Cabernet sauvignon, for example, lends dimension and structure to Horizon 2004 Chambourcin. By the same token, a touch of chambourcin will add a punch of fruit and sometimes much needed acidity to other reds. Other wineries with appealing Chambourcin: Iron Gate, Silk Hope, Stony Knoll.
Sangiovese, the main grape used to make Chianti, is another red variety doing well in mid-Atlantic growing regions. Versions here are deceptively light in color, but like young Chianti, can still have plenty of flavor. Ones to look for: Buck Shoals, Childress, Raffaldini, Round Peak
Grapes of the future? NC growers are experimenting. Raffaldini planted four acres of the Italian grape montepulciano a few years ago and in 2005 produced a knockout red, Montepulciano, $15. This grape originated along Italy’s Adriatic coast in Abruzzo but shows terrific promise for these shores. Raffaldini will plant more of this grape in 2008.
Grove Winery is excited about tempranillo, the principal grape used to make Spanish Rioja. If it produces a solid red like the Nebbiolo, it will be worth the wait.
Another NC connection in Napa Valley: Triangle builder Todd Zapolski is a partner in Girard, one of Napa’s leading wineries. Girard’s top-notch red, Artistry, has won high praise (recommended in February Metro). Now, two more North Carolina businessmen — Dusty Field and Jason Earnest of Boylan Investment Company in Raleigh — have a start-up venture in Napa Valley to produce “world-class” Cabernet, Pinot Noir and Syrah. No question that it will bring attention to North Carolina (positive, we hope) with a name like Tobacco Road Cellars. The partners will buy grapes from top coastal regions, so it appears promising. Keep us posted fellas, and make sure we get the wines back here.
Sonoma is not forgotten — Alexander Julian makes his splendid red blend, Private Reserve, from his namesake region: Alexander Valley.
The Craze Is Real:
10 Great Cocktails From Area Restaurants
The cocktail craze has hit these parts just as it has all major metropolitan regions. Restaurants offer some pretty alluring drinks, as recent sampling revealed. The barstool set never had it so good. There is every possible variation on the martini (some of which make it unrecognizable as such!). The drinks creating the buzz seem to be based on tequila, gin, vodka or rum, but classics, like the Old Fashioned, Sazerac and Manhattan, have been refurbished or given a new “twist.” I have to admit, I like cocktails that aren’t too syrupy, so if you like really sweet and slurpy, most bars and restaurants offer them, but check these out first:
Champagne Mojito, Elaine’s, Chapel Hill. My favorite cocktail is the Champagne Cocktail, and I make a great one using good Champagne. Nothing is more refreshing, but this variation is a winner. Bartender Seth Gottlieb shakes up Mexican mint with bitters, sugar and ice “bruising the mint instead of muddling it,” topping it off with bubbly. Exhilarating.
Classic Beefeaters Martini, JK’s, Raleigh. Is there anything better than the classic done right? Everybody lays claim to the Triangle’s best martini, but I’m not sure they can top John’s favorite — and our Gourmet-At-Large agrees. Scintillating.
Dirty Martini, The Angus Barn’s Wild Turkey Lounge, Raleigh. Piquant to say the least, this Grey Goose Martini will please blue cheese lovers. It’s not too “dirty” — only a little olive juice with a couple of fat olives stuffed with blue cheese. Unusual.
Gin Rickey, Bin 54, Chapel Hill. An update on the old 1930s drink, Bin 54’s secret is Hendrick’s Gin; the cucumber accent, combined with fresh-squeezed, sweetened lime juice is topped with club soda. A zesty palate-full.
Hibiscus Petal, The Lantern, Chapel Hill. The Lantern has a number of exotic drinks, but the Petal is original and not too sweet — hibiscus-infused vodka, fresh-squeezed lime juice and Thai basil. Unique. I also like the Junebug, made from Pimms, fresh ginger and lemon soda with cucumber. Bracing.
Mint Julep with a Smash, The Bar at The Umstead Hotel and Spa — you might want to sip this one come summer on the Umstead’s handsome terrace, watching the sunset. Fresh mint muddled with fresh lemon juice, Knob Creek’s inimitable small-batch bourbon and Rock Candy sugar syrup — over crushed ice. Seductive.
Mint Sidecar, Elaine’s, Chapel Hill. When I was growing up, a Christmas morning tradition was Sidecars at a neighbor’s open house. Things got fairly jolly by early afternoon, as you can imagine. This variation is a nifty blend of Courvoisier, Cointreau, fresh mint — and just enough lemon to keep it from being too sweet. Served straight up, it still packs a wallop.
Mojito Italiano, Vivace, Raleigh. An irresistibly appetizing green hue, made of Limecello (homemade lime-infused grain alcohol), fresh mint and mint zest topped with soda. Brisk and invigorating.
Pomegranate Manhattan, Acme Restaurant, Carrboro. Bartender Bryan uses Pama, the pomegranate liqueur in place of sweet vermouth in this classic bourbon drink, but I think the key is that he first rinses the glass with a swirl of Angostura bitters. Smashing.