The Gourmez

Market’s Dessert and Cocktails 938 North Blount Street Mordecai, Raleigh Website Lunch: $6—$11 Dinner: $6—$18 Folks, I have been back to Market, and I can unequivocally bump up my rating for them to an If you’re interested in my first blog on them, head here. Would you like to know why I’ve given them extra [...]

Middle Sister Rebel Red Santa Rosa, CA This wine is thin bodied, yet it pulls off a great depth in its flavors. Clove dominates the glass, which is usually good for me, and cinnamon is a close second. The spices mingle with nice, ripe, and delicious cherries and some strawberries that fear being overshadowed by [...]

Pie Pushers On the go in Durham Website $3–$4 per slice $6–$18 per pie My thoughts on Pie Pushers, a mobile pizza restaurant, went up at Carpe Durham a couple of weeks ago, but I haven’t had a chance to publish them here yet. I tried them out during the Cookery’s open house, waiting in [...]

The Adventure of Parachuting Ninja When my sister was in town a few weeks ago, we went to Wilmington and found ourselves with a pile of tickets from an afternoon at the boardwalk arcade. For our prize, we chose the parachuting ninja. Awesomeness personified, am I right? And thus, I present to you the adventures [...]

Hello there, fine blog readers! Last week, I did my first reading as part of Bull Spec’s Issue #5 launch. My short story, Bother, is featured on the cover, and I got the pimp spot of the evening–by which I mean, I read after 7 other fabulous speculative fiction writers and editors did their things [...]

Starrlight Meadery Traditional Off-Dry North Carolina     Mr. Gourmez’s first, and only, thought on this honey wine from Starrlight Meadery in Pittsboro, was “popsicles.” I would disagree. It smelled like green apples and tasted, unsurprisingly, of honey and flowers. This is a dry mead, so it wasn’t nearly as sweet as I’d expect from [...]

Carolina Tiger Rescue 1940 Hanks Chapel Road Pittsboro Website When my sister was in town a few weeks ago, we decided, at long last, to check out the Carolina Tiger Rescue. Formerly called the Carnivore Preservation Trust, the Carolina Tiger Rescue takes in carnivores in need of a home, whether due to zoo closings or [...]

Dame’s Chicken & Waffles 317 West Main Street Downtown Durham Website $9.25–$12.25 When my family was in town, I had the chance to participate in a very important event for any Durhamite—I went to Dame’s Chicken and Waffles for the first time. This cafe, reorganized from a previous incarnation as Blue Mountain Catering to focus [...]

Eleni Vachos, of Bull City Vegan Challenge, is launching another endeavor to move Bull City residents toward meatless eats, at least one day a week. As part of the national movement, she has created Triangle Meatless Mondays and is encouraging restaurants to commit to offering a vegan item and eaters to pledge to abstain from [...]

Saketini Shiki Sushi Southwest Durham Website $8 This is a very simple martini, consisting of vodka and Gekkeikan nigori sake, which is the creamy type for those of you not up on your sake terminology. Frankly, there’s no need to have a martini this simple; you might as well drink vodka or sake on their [...]