Durhamites show your love for BBQ

I received this email in my inbox this morning so sorry for the late notice.

“I just wanted to give you an update on what is happening with Bullock’s BBQ. Tommy’s business has suffered through this presumptive salmonella issue…to the tune of an 80% drop in customers and cancellation of almost all of his catering business. DCVB has met with Tommy 3 times this week to help with strategies for coping with this. At 5:30 Tuesday night there were 8 cars in the parking lot…and as you know, this place typically has a line outside that wraps around the building when it opens.

This is the oldest continuing operating restaurant in Durham. It’s a Durham landmark that draws visitors and they are in trouble. In 58 years of business Bullock’s has never received a health inspection rating of less than an A. So far, the health department has found NO violations, NO sick employees and only have a presumption of salmonella…on an order that was taken from the building…but even that is not definitive as of yet. Bullock’s has cooperated fully as the health department came out and tested all of their food and processes.

Here’s what you can do to help:

We have planned an event at the restaurant at noon this Friday (tomorrow, May 7th) where we’ve invited all the chefs in Durham to come and eat lunch (with their chef whites on). Even though it is the Friday afternoon of graduation, most of the chefs contacted have said they will be there to support Bullock’s.

This is a pay-for-your-own lunch event…so just come on down. (Bring Cash…Bullock’s does not take credit cards.) Your attendance will go a long way in convincing the public that it is safe.

Jim Wise and Kevin Davis have already blogged about this.

We have commitments from at least 3 television stations to do a story and be there Friday. In addition to the story about Tommy and Bullock’s we’ll provide the media with information that will help emphasize again what a great dining destination Durham is.

What Bullock’s needs more than anything are some some customers to help boost consumer confidence.

Thanks for being there tomorrow (or any day) if you can to support Tommy and this Durham landmark..

Shelly Green
President & CEO
Durham Convention & Visitors Bureau″

Capriccio Ristorante Italiano – Roxboro Road, Durham

Since becoming a Northern Durhamite a couple of weeks ago, I've become painfully aware of our limited takeout options within a 4-5 mile radius. Don't get me wrong, we like living further out, but I do miss the plethora of options I had being closer to city center. Where we are now, we have several options for fast food, sandwiches, mexican and take-out chinese, but that's it.

Driving home this weekend I noticed a sign for a new retaurant next to Chik-fil-a in the old Bull City Deli building (prior to that I think it was a Schlotzsky's). I was intrigued and not two days later read the restaurant opening report at Carpe Durham. Last night, I dropped in to grab some take out. I noticed the signs advertising a take out window, but didn't see it set up just yet.

The decor is nice; a peachy stucco interior, filled with booths, soft Italian music playing. The lighting is soft, but bright enough to see your food. It felt very much like a family Italian restaurant to me. It's run by an Italian family and all the staff that I encountered was extremely friendly (especially Karen the bartender). While sitting at the bar, waiting for my food, I could hear only Italian being spoken in the kitchen – a good sign.

There are many vegetarian options and a lot of eggplant dishes, if that's your thing. For dinner, it's mostly pasta, brick oven pizza, panini, seafood and chicken. They also have a nice selection of salads. If you're a beefeater, this isn't the place for you. I found the pasta options to be priced kind of high for it not being freshly made pasta, but they do have a "make your own" section where you can customize pasta and sauce and add on homemade sausage or meatballs (not available last night).

I selected "Pasta Della Nonna" which was fettucine with ham and mushrooms in a tomato cream sauce. For the hubby, I ordered spaghetti with pesto and sausage. I tacked on two side salads with the house Basil-Chianti vinaigrette (for an extra $3.50$3.25).

The food was great. Everything was well seasoned. The pasta was cooked perfectly. The only complaint I have was portion size. The pasta dishes were definitely entree size, but not enough to have leftovers for lunch (which is what I'm used to from the nearby Pomodoro). The salads were honestly really pitiful for $3.50$3.25. 5-6 pieces of cut up romaine, 4 slices of olive and cherry tomato, some red onion, a few pieces of roasted red pepper, a couple of baked pizza dough squares and a slice of cucumber. This isn't local organic produce or anything so I really expected more lettuce for the price. The ingredients were great, as was the dressing.

We'll definitely go back, but probably for lunch or perhaps a special occasion. I'm curious about the pizza. The little breadsticks that came with the entrees were nice and crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. I can't see dropping $40 for take-out (entrees and salads only) on a regular basis. I think Pop's definitely has them beat for dinner (food and selection).

*Click for larger images of menu*

Los Portales - Fayetteville Road, Durham

I could eat Mexican food every day of the week and never get sick of it. One of my favorite parts of living in Mebane was having a really great Mexican restaurant to eat at. I love Durham, but find it seriously lacking a good family Mexican-American restaurant. I don't like Torerros or El Rodeo. El Custaleco was okay, but the flavors don't quite jive for me. And yes there are lots of great taquieras, but that's not what I'm talking about.

I strolled into Los Portales on Sunday afternoon after a trip to Babies R Us. My first impression was that the decor is bright and cheerful, and the restaurant is clean. I was promptly seated in a booth next to another table with a baby and handed a menu.

The menu is diverse and allows you to create your own combinations, along with a wide selection of their own specialties. The prices were quite decent too, especially for the Southpoint area. After ordering from the vegetarian menu (also featuring custom combinations), I snacked on chips and salsa. The chips weren't anything too special, but the salsa was great. It had a smooth texture and great flavor.

My potato burrito was filled with mashed potatoes, onions and cheese, and smothered with a lovely tomato-based sauce. My spinach enchilada was filled with fresh sauteed spinach and diced onions. The flavor in both of the items was fantastic, and the rice and beans were just what I like.

I've been eagerly awaiting the opening of this restaurant and am thrilled to no longer have to drive to Mebane for great Mexican food! Go check out Los Portales and let me know what you think!

Backyard BBQ Pit #2 - Guess Road, Durham

Friday night I got take-out from Backyard BBQ Pit #2. While this restaurant is not my idea of a great place to dine-in, the take out was GREAT! They have an extensive selection, the food was hot, good and extremely reasonably priced.

We got 2 small BBQ plates which come with 2 sides and hushpuppies. Between the two plates we had well over a pound of barbeque, homemade baked mac and cheese, homemade collards (not from a can), black eyed peas and green beans. All of the sides were fantastic. The mac and cheese was amongst the best I've had out in the area. It was filled with gobs of cheddar, no slimy velveeta sauce. The portions of barbeque were huge and more then we could finish. My husband wasn't wild about the sweeter sauce that came on the side (he prefers vinegary), but I thought it was great on the 'que.

All of this for $12 made one of our cheapest "date nights" on the couch ever.

George's Garage – Ninth Street, Durham

For date night on last Friday, we ventured to George's Garage. I was craving seafood, and knowing our remaining date nights are dwindling, we opted to spend more then usual. While I love Blu, the menu is rather limiting to me these days due to my restricted diet and my distaste for oysters.

It was early (5:30ish) and it was nice and quiet, relatively empty save for a few of the after work folks at the bar. We were seated, given our menus and told the specials by our fantastic waiter, Patrick. Seriously he made our seemingly average experience extraordinary. We opted for our appetizer and entrees from the specials menu.

For our appetizer we ordered a seafood platter. This consisted of fried calimari, two seared large sea scallops and two jumbo sauteed shrimp. My hubby ate most of the calimari and one of the shrimp. I ate the scallops, the other shrimp and a few pieces of the calimari. My only complaints about our entire meal stem from this dish. The scallops and shrimp were almost room temperature. Other then that, I thoroughly enjoyed it. The cocktail sauce and tartar sauce were fantastic. The tartar sauce differed from the typical mayo-based, relish over-run stuff you're used to. It was creamy and filled with what seemed like a mild minced onion or perhaps even some celery. I loved it.

For my entree I ordered the pan seared red snapper served over shrimp lemon thyme risotto. The snapper was tastefully seasoned, perfecctly cooked and served on top of a generous pile of arborio rice with healthy chunks of shrimp. The risotto was a little off in it's texture, not the creamy stuff I'm used to, but it was still very tasty. This entree was a steal at around $12!

My husband had the NY strip with mushroom jus. It was served with homemade fries and broccoli. He said it was fantastic. For dessert we shared bread pudding (he'd never had it) with caramel sauce and vanilla bean ice cream. Typically I order chocolate desserts, but this was completely satisfying and I also thought it was a steal at only $4.

As I mentioned before, the entire experience was lifted to another level by a fantastic, informative waiter, who urged us to ask for him by name when we returned post-baby. That, we will definitely be sure to do!

Magnolia Grill - Ninth street, Durham

Finally I get around to blogging our Valentine's dinner experience at Magnolia Grill. I'll try to make it worth the wait. It's funny that this comes just shortly after the announcement of the Barker's nomination in the Outstanding Restaurant overall category for the James Beard Awards (more info here). I regret to tell you I didn't take my camera, therefore, no photos accompany. I couldn't bring myself to do it.

I'd been looking forward to this dinner for two weeks (actually more like two years). We had an early reservation and the restaurant only had a handful of tables filled when we arrived around 5:30. It was filled with natural light and the music was low. The ambiance was relaxing. We were seated at a half-booth. This is one of those long benches that line an entire wall, where they throw table after table alongside it and flank the other side of the table with chairs. I experienced similar seating in Panciuto in Hillsborough (also a fine dining restaurant). I have to tell you, it's my least favorite seating setup. It's not as intimate as I'd like, and fellow diners can't help but look at what's on your plate with curiousity (since they're a whopping 2 feet away), myself included.

The host pulled out the table for my husband to sit down and then pulled out my chair. It was a nice touch. An extensive menu was placed in both of our hands and the hard selection began. For me, I'm limited with cheeses and seafood (not for much longer though), so it was a bit of an easier choice, but had I not been, I would have taken much longer to make my selections. The only complaint I could muster about the entire dining experience was that we waited quite awhile for our server to come and offer drinks initially. After that, she was top notch.

For my first course, I selected the smoked Eden Farm Berkshire pork belly in Sorghum-bourbon glaze on baby butterbean fondue with red mustard greens and pickled turnips. When this arrived, I was pleasantly surprised with not only the presentation, but the portion size. It was substantial for $10. I've never had pork belly before and I expected it to be mostly a big slab of fat, but it was quite meaty. It had a very subtle smoked flavor that was so well balanced with the sweetness and acidity of the bourbon glaze. The butterbean fondue reminded me slightly of the mashed peas I ate while in London. They were a nice accompaniament, both color and texturewise to the rest of the dish. The greens and turnips were minimal in comparison to the forementioned components but added lovely texture, color and subtle flavor to this excellent starter.

My husband had the cannellini bean soup with Carolina shrimp, apple bacon, escarole and roasted peppers. I tasted it and while it was very very good, I was happy to have all of my first course to myself !

For my second course, I ordered the grilled Maine scallops in red wine essence on couscous carbonara with oyster mushrooms, roasted root vegetables, apple-smoked bacon and arugula. I am not even slightly exaggerating when I say these are the largest scallops I have ever seen. There were two of these monsters on my plate, which again was beautifully presented. They must have totalled near a half pound together. They were the most perfectly cooked scallops I've ever eaten. They weren't gritty, or even slightly chewy. They were seasoned to perfection. Their perfect texture was well complimented with the meaty oyster mushrooms and the earthy root vegetables. The couscous was also a welcome punch of texture. It was the largest couscous I've ever had (the grains about half the size of barley). I also adored the red wine essence that graced this dish. It was a perfect dish and I ate every bit of it.

One of the things I really appreciated about the experience was that the server knew all of the dishes well, and she offered information about how things were prepared and made sure we were okay with them. For example, she mentioned that the scallops were grilled and just slightly translucent in the center and wanted to know if that was okay with me. For my husband, who ordered the grilled Berkshire pork rib chop in Bourbon jus on cornmeal spatzle with sweet potato, turnips, country ham and southern greens, she noted that they typically served this medium rare (reddish-pink) and inquired if that was acceptable to him. He opted for medium, which was perfect to his liking and he too ate up every bit of his dish.

The food was served warm, not hot, perfectly cooked. They pay attention to such small details here, that you definitely feel the difference between eating here and somewhere else that also uses fantastic local ingredients, like Piedmont. For example, when returning from my visit to the ladies room, I found the napkin I had left balled up on the table, refolded. It's small touches like this that make the extra money spent feel worth it. For two courses for the two of us, and a bottle of Pelligrino, the bill totalled out around $75. Add tip to that and we topped out around $100. I look forward to going to Magnolia Grill again for a special occasion in the future. It was the perfect dining experience.

Silver Spoon - N. Roxboro Road, Durham

Months and months ago, I read about Silver Spoon over at Carpe Durham. I had been wanting to try it, but often just didn't feel like that extra little bit of drive when starving for breakfast on the weekend. Today we ventured there and I can honestly say, I don't know that we'll eat breakfast anywhere else in this area again. We liked it that much.

It's quite obviously in an old Pizza Hut building and the atmosphere isn't changed much from it's predecessor. The staff is excellent: attentive, friendly and efficient. Coffee, water and to-go boxes were all brought prior to asking. It's very much a local's place. And my husband, being from New Jersey said it really reminded him of the diners up north.

The breakfast menu was expansive and some of the choices reminded me a bit of Brigs in RTP, but Silver Spoon far exceeded Brigs. For one, we didn't have to wait. The food wasn't even slightly greasy and it was seasoned perfectly. The portions were huge and definitely well worth the price. I loved the assortment of frittatas, omelets and skillets to choose from.

I ordered "The Duke" skillet. This was a plate full of homefried potatoes covered with sauteed mushrooms, onions, tomatoes, red and green peppers, crisp steamed broccoli, smothered in jack and cheddar cheese and topped with 2 eggs cooked to my preference (scrambled hard). All of the vegetables were fresh and cooked perfectly. The cheese was abundant, but not overwhelming and not greasy. The eggs were perfect as well. All of this came with an english muffin with strawberry preserves. I was unable to finish it. And ask I sit here typing this three hours later, I don't see eating lunch at all today.

My husband ordered "The Knight" skillet. It was homefries topped with onions, tomatoes, bacon, turkey, ham, loads of cheese and eggs. He loved his dish too. I can't wait to go back. The hostess strongly recommended trying the fried chicken and after reading about it at Carpe Durham, I'm sure I'll give it a try.

Akashi Japanese Grill & Sushi Bar - Hwy. 54, Durham

Over the last few weeks, I've had the opportunity to dine at Akashi a few times. I can't believe I'm just now getting around to writing about it. Akashi is my new favorite for sushi in Southwest Durham.

Currently, I'm only able to order cooked sushi, but their menu is helpfully labeled to aid me in making a quick, easy decision. I also like that they break their expansive sushi menu into descriptive sections (rice on the outside, fish outside, etc). They do a lot of business during the lunch hour, but they are still very efficient in taking orders, and turning good food out quickly and at a good price. The service I've experienced each time has been attentive and friendly.

One of the things I really like about their sushi is that with the shrimp tempura, the end shell that most places leave on, they actually remove. So you don't have to dismantle your last bite of the roll to eat it! Genius!

All of their rolls are half price (listed on the sushi menu) and I've yet to go with someone else who didn't love what they had. They also have a hibachi menu and offer bento boxes at lunch time. While I'm always tempted to try them, I opt for sushi instead. I'm a little sad that my work recently moved farther away from Akashi, but I'll still manage to get a lunch visit in here and there :)

Ole NC BBQ - Roxboro Road, Durham

I can't remember where I read that this place had decent barbecue, but since we were in search of a quick warm meal the other night, we decided to give it a try. They are located in a very nice old hollowed-out house of sorts and definitely have the nicest atmosphere of any BBQ joint I've ever been in. On this Saturday night they had an enormous buffet featuring carving stations and meats and veggies galore.

We ordered take-out on the spot and didn't have to wait long. I ordered the small BBQ plate. It came with my choice of two vegetables (sides) and 4 big, light and crispy hushpuppies. I opted for turnip greens and green beans, though I was very tempted to get the mac and cheese or mashed potatoes. All this food for only $5.79 seemed like a steal! I was excited to get home and dive in.

Sadly the hushpuppies were indeed the best part of the meal. Everything else was cooked to death and sitting in 1/4 inch of liquid. The BBQ was the least edible. It was incredibly salty, and lacked any flavor or texture. It was extremely mushy. The only thing I can think to compare it to is maybe high school cafeteria BBQ, but actually, ours was even more edible then this. The green beans were straight out of a can, as were the turnip greens. Both lacked any distinguishable flavor or color.

My hubby ordered the fried chicken and barbeque combo and was relatively pleased with the chicken. He felt the same about the rest of his meal though. I'm not sure we'll go back, but if we do, I'd like to try the chicken. It's hard to beat the amount of food for the money. Perhaps I'll go the next time I've got a cold and can't taste anything ;)

Vita again, in retrospect

Yesterday my angry post was fueled by a nasty headache and memories of frustrated hunger. Though I was extremely disappointed with my last experience at Vita, I do have to admit that I didn't comment on the food, our table placement or the fire alarm while I was there and therefore I didn't give them a fair opportunity to correct where I felt we were wronged.

In retrospect, I do feel a bit at fault for that. I think I was just really disappointed, not because I wanted a free meal, because I expect certain types of restaurants to handle the unexpected with the customer in mind. This wasn't the case during my visit. Now, if you look on my previous post, you'll see that Chef Yianni took the time to post a comment on my experience. I'm a little humbled by the gesture (and the offer of a free meal) and I really appreciate the time he took to express his concern. Thanks Yianni. We won't swear Vita off. Everyone has a bad day once in awhile.

Vita YOU SUCK- Erwin Square, Durham

Date night at Vita on Friday was a shit deal. It's only fair that I share it with you because I've given them two other shining reviews. Perhaps I'm being a little harsh in considering never returning after one bad dinner, but I'll let you be the judge.

1. We were one of three couples seated in the entire restaurant and we were seated directly between the other two couples. Nevermind that there were 20 other empty tables, I mean god forbid a couple have an intimate meal. Normally I wouldn't complain about this, but it was just the first thing of several to make my experience there bad enough to blog about.

2. I ordered the pancetta, spinach and goat cheese salad as my entree. Having had this before, I was sure that it was an entree portion and that it was a well balanced meal. What I got was literally two handfuls of spinach, three nickel-sized portions of goat cheese, about half a jar of roasted red peppers and about 1/8 cup of fried prosciutto or bacon. This salad was not an entree portion, didn't have the walnuts it was supposed to, nor the pancetta and it was covered in slimy roasted red peppers (which aren't supposed to be on it). I ate it nonetheless and didn't even comment on it to the waiter.

3. About 10 seconds after bringing our salads out the fire alarm started to sound. We were assured that we didn't need to evacuate and that it's just really sensitive. While the alarm went off, we were treated to a skipping Radiohead cd. After about 15 minutes of flashing lights and sirens, the fire department showed up and managed to shut the audible alarm off. The strobing lights continued, along with the skipping radiohead cd, even as we left 10 minutes later. The waiter and bar staff apologized a few times while waiting and I jokingly said, "Don't worry, you can just give us free dessert."

Perhaps my expectations are too high, but if I ran a restaurant with only three tables occupied on a Friday night at 6:00 and they were all couples that had to sit through 25 minutes of a fire alarm going off, I'd comp SOMETHING. Not a damn thing from Vita. Not a free beer, dessert, voucher, NOTHING. Nevermind that they own the restaurant next door too and could have offered to move us over there for a drink or something while we waited for the racket to end. NOTHING. Bad, bad, bad, bad Vita.

We left hungry and irritated (well mostly it was just me that was still hungry since 1 1/2 cups of raw spinach doesn't get it for dinner for a pregnant woman). We headed over to Cinelli's and got an appetizer sampler and some yummy chocolate cake. While the service was a little underwhelming, the fried platter was decent and the atmosphere was much better.

Blu Seafood and Bar - Hillsborough Road, Durham

For date night on Friday, we finally visited Blu. I've read so many good things about Blu on Lenore's blog and decided it was time to give it a try. It's on Hillsborough road, right near the intersection of Ninth Street, next door to vin Rouge. We got there around 5:30 so it was relatively empty and quiet with the exception of the reggae and blues softly playing in the background. The decor is elegantly casual. It's an eclectic mix of blues and crisp whites.

We shared an appetizer of spiced calimari. This was calimari that was lightly breaded with a spicy mixture and coated with poppy seeds. It was deliciously crunchy and tender. It was definitely the best calimari I've ever encountered and it was served with a cilantro based creamy sauce that was equally tasty.

For my entree, I ordered the sauteed shrimp and diver scallops with butternut squash risotto. This had crispy prosciutto and sage leaves garnishing it along with a few filet beans. It was rich and creamy and all of the flavors melded really well together and I loved the mixture of textures. The diver scallops were amongst the largest I've ever seen and were perfectly cooked. The shrimp were just a tad overdone but still very good.

My hubby ordered the shrimp and grits which were equally delightful. His dish was also seasoned perfectly and had wonderful texture. I loved the large pieces of mushroom and bacon in that dish! With the richness of both dishes, we opted to skip dessert, but will probably give it a shot next time.

By the time we left, Blu was filled with diners. The menu is expansive and is a seafood lovers paradise. They had many daily features and specials. The service was friendly and great. The food was perfectly cooked, portioned, served promptly and hot. I have absolutely no complaints. We'll definitely be going back!

The Deckhouse – Charlotte Avenue, Carolina Beach

Sunday night my husband and I ate at The Deckhouse for dinner. The restaurant is an old converted church with nautical decor. It has really high ceilings and lots of decorative nooks. It was dimly lit and country music played lightly. We were sat at a wooden booth in the center of the restaurant and from here we enjoyed looking all around at old maps, collected glass bottles and the like that adorned the restaurant.

We shared a very generous order of mozzarella sticks for an appetizer. The marinara that came with them was glorified tomato sauce, but the sticks themselves were delicious. It's really hard to mess up fried cheese though, I imagine.

For my entree I ordered the shrimp stuffed with crabmeat stuffing. This came with a side ( I chose sauteed veggies) and choice of salad or soup (I chose salad). The salad was huge for a side salad. It trumped the entree salad (half portion) I had at California Pizza Kitchen last week that I paid $9 for. It was full of fresh lettuces, ripe tomatoes and crisp cucumbers. The sauteed veggies that came with my entree were also good. They were cooked tender crisp and not drowning in butter. The stuffed shrimp weren't really stuffed at all. What I was presented with were 6 tails poking out of a large gratin dish that was filled with bubbly creamy crabmeat stuffing. Upon further exploration, I found the rest of the shrimp body buried in the stuffing. The portion was very large and tasty! A squeeze from the lemon garnish finished it off perfectly.

My husband had a potato crusted tuna with a shrimp and lobster sauce. He loved it. I did have a taste of the sauce and it was really good. Oh how I miss tuna!

For dessert, we took home a chocolate cake layered with peanut butter mousse. It was heaven. Our experience at The Deckhouse was great. We'll definitely go back next time we're at Carolina Beach.

Papa Mojo's Roadhouse - Hwy. 55, Durham

Yesterday I met an old co-worker (old as in I worked with her years ago) for lunch at Papa Mojo's Roadhouse. For those of you in the park, this is in Greenwood Commons over near where Park Diner used to be. Oh how I miss Park Diner :( When I go out for lunch, I tend to like to go places where I can't easily prepare the meal I'm about to eat at home. I often will choose sushi or japanese, but usually not a deli or a sandwich shop (unless options are limited or I'm in a hurry).

Papa Mojo's serves Cajun food. It was very busy and slightly noisy from the lunch crowd when we visited at noon, but the service was on spot and we didn't have to wait long for our food. The decor is definitely casual (no tablecloths, some booth seating) and delightfully eclectic. The menu is expansive (and all Cajun) compared to many in the park and I love that they use a lot of local farms and fisheries.

They started us off with a basket of jalapeno corn bread. It was the perfect amount of heat, moist and the tops were glazed with honey. I devoured two chunks in a matter of seconds.

We both ordered 1/2 po-boys. I ordered the shrimp and she ordered the barbequed yardbird (chicken) po-boy. Mine consisted of a lightly crispy hoagie roll, 6 large spicy grilled shrimp, lettuce, tomato and a cajun tartar sauce. It was phenomenol and messy and I loved every bit of it. The po-boys come with your choice of side (again, many to choose from) and I chose the garlic butter green beans. These were also wonderfully seasoned, tender and firm, and plentiful.

My meal needed nothing else to be perfect and the service was the perfect combination of attentive and laid back. My friend loved her yardbird po-boy and potato salad as well. I can't wait to go back!

Piedmont II - Foster Street, Durham

For date night last Friday, my husband and I decided on Piedmont. It's only a 5 minute or so drive and we knew being earlybirds that we'd have no problem getting a table. For those who may be unfamiliar with Piedmont, it's one of the many home-grown Durham restaurants that utilizes local and organic ingredients. This appears to not be just a fleeting trend in the area, but one that's caught national attention and here for the long run.

Their menu changes nightly, as you can see in their blog-format webpage, but they usually have staples there for a week or two with only a few items changing nightly. The entrees tend to have a somewhat Italian influence and usually have a homemade pasta or risotto. I've enjoyed all of the meals I've had at Piedmont and Friday's was no exception.

We started by sharing a cheese plate of two NC cheeses (green hill and new moon both of cow's milk). They were served with toasted hazelnuts, local peach jam and a heartly raisin-nut bread. Everything was great. I think I might have enjoyed a more neutral bread that allowed the cheese to be a little more of a star, but we ate every bite nonetheless.

For my entree, I had the risotto with roasted zucchini, tomato confit & fresh mozzarella. This was a large platter filled with tender risotto, perfectly cooked zucchini and onions and gobs and gobs of wonderful mozzarella cheese. I seriously loaded up at least 5 or six cheese only bites on my fork!

My husband had the local pasture raised ribeye with bearnaise sauce & pommes frites. His steak was perfectly seasoned (though a little on the rare side since the waiter never asked how he wanted it) and had a lovely light char taste. The fries were awesome. They were light, potatoey and crispy all at the same time. They were perfectly cooked fries both inside and out (which can be hard to find in my opinion).

We shared a chocolate torte with caramel sauce and a vanilla semifreddo. Translation: Rich, dense dark chocolate cake with caramel sauce and creamy vanilla ice cream. It was heavenly. It was rich, but not too sweet and it was the perfect ending to our meal.

Bull McCabe's - Main Street, Downtown Durham

Saturday night, for one of my oldest friends 30th birthday, we celebrated at Bull McCabe's Irish Pub for a few hours. We got there around 7 pm and had no problem finding room and tables to push together to accomodate our party of 7. We ordered the green onion hushpuppies and the deep fried banana pepper rings as appetizers as the pints started flowing.

The hushpuppy order was large for the price ($5.95), about 6-8 golfball sized hushpuppies, packed with chopped green onions and served with a side of some reddish colored aoili. They were great as the waiter suggested, drizzled with some malt vinegar and dunked the aoili.

The pickled banana pepper rings were dredged in what I think was a cornmeal batter and deep fried. They were served with a side of creamy, milky ranch dressing. It was really hard for me to share these with the other end of the table. Despite both appetizers having been deep fried, they were not oily at all and sat well in the tummy.

For my entree, I ordered the Irish burger with avocado. This was a half pound sirloin burger served on a big ciabatta roll (all bread comes from either Pop's or Ninth Street bakery) that was the perfect combination of soft, but crispy on the outside. It came with fresh green leaf lettuce, ripe tomato, a gigantic pickle spear and my choice of side. I opted for the understated fries. The garlicky fries were perfection. They give the Federal's fries serious competition. I ordered my burger well done, much to my own chagrin. I recently learned from my OB, that I am not to have anything cooked under medium-well. The burger was still wonderfully moist and juicy, despite being lean sirloin and cooked past medium. I did get to sample some of the potato salad, which I also really liked. It's a unique pickly flavor in lieu of that traditional, sweet as sugar potato salad.

Everyone ordered a variety from the menu, shepards pie, BLT, veggie burger and reuben. Everything looked really really good and all was eaten. The waiter even made me his special cocktail for pregnant ladies! There were lots of beers on tap and bottled. The service was friendly and we enjoyed sitting at the table in the back room, at the nice big wooden bar and at the tables outside. There's plenty of seating. The only thing I think I would have enjoyed more about the place was if they played a little more Irish music. We heard a good amount of reggae ;)

Sushi Love II - Erwin Terrace, Durham

Last night I returned to Sushi Love for the third time with a very old friend. Due to her later work schedule, we dined much later then I am used to eating out. I arrived around 8pm and Sushi Love was packed with people. All the tables were filled and it was pretty noisy. I will say that there were no noticibly loud and out-of-control children this time. Perhaps that was due to the later hour? My friend had already grabbed us a table and some spring rolls. Sushi Love is a mixture of chinese, thai and japanese, best described maybe as Asian fusion.

We both ordered sushi for our dinners. I ordered 2 of the crunchy roll (since all the rolls are buy one get one free). The crunchy roll has a tempura batter and spicy mayo inside and is topped with cooked shrimp and imitation crabmeat. I order it with sesame seeds instead of roe and I am always pleased. Last night the rolls were a little light on the spicy mayo (non-existant in one roll) but that wasn't an issue because the waiter brought a side of it at my request. She ordered the Crazy Roll and another roll that was a combo of jalapeno, cream cheese and tempura. She seemed pleased with her rolls. The service was good, the atmosphere was a little loud, but had died down to a nice lull maybe an hour or so later as the crowd thinned out.

Because I've been to Shiki Sushi a ton of times, I do miss the longer list of specialty rolls. I think part of this may be due to my limited options right now though (only being able to eat cooked sushi). However I love having Sushi Love in my neck of the woods!

Durham - America's Foodiest Small Town

I have to start post with saying I read about it over at Bull City Rising. Thanks Kevin! Bon Appetit has named Durham-Chapel Hill America's Foodiest Small Town in it's October issue. Check the article out here.

Mez II - Page Road, Durham

Friday night we visited Mez again with a couple of friends. Despite the rain, Mez was bustling at 7pm. There was mexican music playing softly in the background and the lighting was nice and dim, but not too dim. We sat near an indoor water feature which was also a nice addition to the ambiance. I was thrilled to learn from our informative waitress that all the cheese at Mez is pasteurized WOO HOO!!!

The four of us shared chips and guacamole (actually I ate most of the chips and guacamole) and the queso flameado. This appetizer is described as: Melted Chihuahua cheese, goat cheese, roasted poblano peppers, tomatillo salsa and a side of warm flour tortilla. After making numerous jokes regarding chihuahuas and their unlikelihood of producing cheese, I decided that, (a) I do not like tomatillos but (b) if you throw enough cheese at anything and it's absolutely edible!

For my entree, I ordered the spinach enchiladas. There were 3 corn tortillas stuffed full of creamed spinach, cheese and onions. They were topped with a poblano cream sauce and served with a side of really tasty black beans and a less traditional mexican rice. I was thrilled with my entree. I traded an enchilada with my husband, who had ordered the special smoked pork enchiladas. While his was good, filled with moist smoky pork, it was too smoky for my liking.

It seems like they've worked out some kinks since we first went and improved upon the menu as well. I have to admit that paying for chips and salsa still irks me (not that we paid this time, thanks Mel and Jed), but the food is adventurous and the vibe is nice.

Watts Grocery - Broad Street, Durham

Friday night, the hubby and I decided on dinner and a movie for our date. We went to Watts Grocery once for brunch in the past and I have been wanting to go back so that's where we headed. We got there around 5:30 and had no problem being promptly seated.

We ordered the hushpuppies to snack on (not realizing they were bringing cornbread) and they were tasty! They were moist, slightly sweet and served with basil aoli. These are big hushpuppies but we still managed to scarf all 6 of them down. Oh and we ate all the cornbread too which was also wonderful!

For my entree I ordered the grilled pork tenderloin over fresh corn pudding served with seasonal vegetables and a summer berry reduction. I asked for the pork cooked medium and it was served as such. The pork was well seasoned, a little heavily salted for my taste, and plentiful. It came with a small gelatinous circle of corn pudding. I ordered this dish because I am a big corn fan. I liked the pudding though it was a little light on flavor, the texture was lovely. The grilled veggies were a brown mixture of eggplant, squash and maybe zucchini. They were heavily seasoned and a good addition to the dish. The summer berry reduction was not present in my dish. I ended up using some of the hubby's bearnaise sauce to drown out the salt of the pork.

The hubby had the steak frites which was a hand cut NY strip with homemade fries served with bearnaise sauce and grilled vegetables. He asked for his steak medium. It was oddly cooked. 1/2 of the steak was indeed medium but the other half was medium well-well. Perhaps the hand cut aspect left it a little uneven? It was also very fatty for a NY strip. I sampled everything on his plate. The steak was seasoned to perfection, as were the fries. The fries were my favorite. The bearnaise sauce was great and there were no grilled veggies.

By the time we neared the end of our meal, about an hour later, the place was filled with people and busy wait staff. I felt the quality of the food was good, but with both dishes flavors seemed a little unbalanced due to the missing items. The atmosphere is great and despite being packed towards the end, wasn't too loud for our liking.

Now to the service. Our waiter was the worst I've had in the triangle. He even topped our ass of a server at Serena. We were one of two tables he was servicing (at the beginning). He was quite obviously new, uninformative, unattentive and bordered on being rude. Each time we needed something (a refill, our check, etc.) we had to wave him down. Our table was still covered in dirty dishes when they brought our entrees almost 30 minutes later. It was ridiculous. I understand everyone deserves a chance and I understand being a little uneasy in a new job, but for a $50 dinner (no alcohol or dessert mind you), I expect more from the staff then a shoulder shrug when I ask a question about the food.

Don't get me wrong, we'll go back. Hell we even had another server stop by and ask if we were waiting on our check.