The Gourmez

The Floridita Cuban Revolution American Tobacco District, Durham This cocktail, an alluring deep brown, was made with Bacardi Select dark rum, sweet vermouth, lime juice, and crème de cacao. If you’re thinking that’s an odd mix of ingredients, you’re right! But it’s a combination that works pretty well. The rum absolutely dominates the drink, and [...]

Pineapple Express Martini Rockfish Seafood and Grill Southpoint This translucent cocktail was a mix of pineapple Skyy vodka, white cranberry juice, and triple sec. A lemon twist was advertised as a garnish, but as is often the case with garnishes, it was left off the drink (stop doing this bartenders!). Somehow, the mix of cranberry [...]

Bull City Burger and Brewery 107 E. Parrish Street Downtown Durham Website Burgers start at $6 Hotdogs start at $5 This order-at-the-counter joint is a great setting for an after work meal and drink with friends. The long picnic tables are very appealing for a large group, and the atmosphere is nicely relaxed and neighborly. [...]

Time for another Six Sentence Sunday post–it’s been great fun participating and getting your feedback on such short snippets! Here’s another one from my romance novella, Maya’s Vacation. I’m out of town this week, so I many not be speedy on responding to comments, but please don’t let that discourage you from reading them! By the time [...]

A Taste of Tabla at [ONE] Restaurant 100 Meadowmont Village Circle Meadowmont Village, Chapel Hill Website $55 A few weeks ago, I attended my first prix fixe dinner at [ONE], a great restaurant that I loved last year when I tried it out shortly after its opening.  This dinner was thrown in honor of Floyd [...]

Sombras del Sol 2009 Carmenère Valle Central, Chile The nose of this red wine is cayenne, allspice, and cardamom swimming in a medium of tart berries. That fruit is much more prominent when drinking. The wine is warming and on the thinner side of medium-bodied. Just-ripened blackberries dominate the palate until the spices kick in, [...]

Durham Spirits Company 311 E. Trinity Avenue Website Single Classes run $49 to $59 Durham Spirits Company is a new venture by Katie Coleman, a chef and culinary instructor at The Art Institute of Raleigh-Durham with years of international training. She opened Durham Spirits Company to offer cooking and mixology classes, and I had the [...]

Tea Tasting at Tin Roof Teas 419-B Daniels Street Cameron Village, Raleigh Website $10   Tin Roof Teas is a heavenly store for fans of tea for a number of reasons. Not only do they have a huge selection of teas from all parts of the globe, they offer tea by the glass, all sorts [...]

Argiolas Costamolino 2009 Sardinia, Italy This Italian white wine made with the vermentino grape smells of orange blossoms and vanilla. It is very stony with herbal qualities like tarragon or majoram (though that may be the majoram butter from the corn on the cob I had for dinner talking). Banana, vanilla, and lemon notes abound, [...]