The Gourmez

I posted this review over at Carpe Durham earlier today. It’s of a practically secret restaurant—amp up your excitement levels! Okay, not too high, though. The District 410 Blackwell Street The American Tobacco District $6–$11 Head inside the glass doors by the waterfall at the bottom floor of the Fowler Building in the Tobacco District, [...]

L’Uva Enoteca 406 Blackwell Street Tobacco District, Durham Website Lunch: $9–$15 L’Uva opened in the American Tobacco District last year, replacing a sushi restaurant that didn’t seem able to adapt to the crowds from the Durham Performing Arts Center. In its place is an upscale spot that focuses on using local ingredients to bring together [...]

Would you like to know how good of a year 2012 has been so far? This is the second time I’ve had to replace one of my planned bragging posts with a just published one instead!  Let’s hope this is a trend that continues. This week, I’m directing you to an essay I wrote for [...]

Southern Hot Toddy Alivia’s Durham Bistro/My Review Brightleaf, Durham It’s been over a month since I tried the Southern Hot Toddy at Alivia’s Durham Bistro, so don’t be surprised if it was just a passing winter’s fancy on their drink list. It was made with Jim Beam Bourbon, orange wedges, sugar, and hot herbal tea. [...]

Nanotaco 2512 University Drive Rockwood, Durham Website Meals: $5–$8 Nanotaco has been reviewed by multitudes of other bloggers—I’m always behind the curve in trying out new places. However, this sometimes gives me the chance to weigh in on differences of opinions on a newer spot, and the quality of Nanotaco’s margaritas is one of those [...]

PieBird 618 N. Person Street Downtown Raleigh Website Lunch: $4 to $10 Dinner: $10 to $14 PieBird is a cute little restaurant situated in the northern end of downtown Raleigh, almost at the Mordecai neighborhood. As one might guess from the name, its primary focus is on pies, both sweet and savory. For lunch, salads [...]

Yellowtail Shiraz Grenache 2010 Southeastern Australia Blueberry flavors come first with this wine, but they melt away into something that reminds me of the fig butter I just picked up from Trader Joe’s. But this wine is bitterer than the fig butter and pretty dry. There’s a heat to it, and I’d call it medium [...]

As you may have heard, we rang in 2012 two weeks ago. Crazy, right? Crazier is that I unexpectedly ended up hosting some friends at our place to celebrate and was reminded by one of them that there was a challenge on the table. You see, two friends, Steve and Chris, have this habit of [...]

Espresso Martini Watts Grocery Review/Website Watts Hillandale, Durham $7 The espresso martini is hiding on Watt’s dessert menu. Combine a shot of Joe Van Gogh’s espresso, Stoli Vanil vodka, Chambord liqueur, and a splash of Bailey’s Irish crème liqueur, and you have a unique coffee cocktail that still manages to hit all the elements I [...]

Two weeks ago, I posted the first in my series of self-promotional blogs on Thursdays, titled the Bragging series, because I always feel less self-conscious about anything if I just embrace it fully. This week, I’m pointing you toward the interview I did with WOW! Women on Writing as part of placing third with the [...]