The Gourmez

Bar Lusconi
117B East Main Street
Downtown Durham
Website
Weds – Sat, 5 pm – 2 am

Hey folks, I posted this review of Bar Lusconi over at Carpe Durham last week, and I didn’t get the chance to report here until now! So here you go:

Bar Lusconi is a downtown beer and wine bar that soft-opened this week, so don’t expect perfection or a wide food selection just yet. However, I was very happy with everything we tried last night and can report no kinks in the service. There’s a great article in the Herald-Sun that covers the details of the bar opening. It’s owned by Timothy Neill and Jesse Gerstle, who opened Peccadillo last year, which is a somewhat secretive cocktail bar in downtown Carrboro. Bar Lusconi is at a readily accessible streetfront location, but right now, the main sign there’s anything going on behind the butcher-paper-covered windows is the sound of an animated crowd when you walk by. Eventually, those windows will be covered with curtains, but it’s one thing at a time for this bar. So far, that’s been renovating the space, keeping the beer and wine list stocked and the bartenders well versed in its particulars, and working on a selection of small plates from Chef Eric Akbari that will hopefully be expanded soon, once logistics of their tiny kitchen space are worked out and more dishes make their way through the bartender-approved quality assurance method.

The space is narrow, loud, and lively, and it feels bright although the lighting was mostly a warm glow from candlelight and a few overhead ceiling fans. It was packed until late last night with a crowd of mostly 30-to-40 somethings.

Owner Timothy and Dean James, one of the super friendly and knowledgeable bartenders you must make friends with, gushed about the distressed walls and white tin ceiling. We particularly liked the wood bar that lines one wall and was made from reclaimed wood found on the property. Tim is especially excited to open the small beer garden space in the back once the weather cooperates and allows him to finish renovations for it.

Read the rest of this entry »

Time for another installment of Triangle Foodie Happenings! These are events coming up in the next week that I wish I could make, but hopefully you can! We really do have a ridiculous amount of foodie fun options in this area.

Spanish Wine Dinner with Laurence Vuelta at Jujube! 4/30, 7 pm, $47. Jujube’s wine dinners are my favorite in the area, and they are usually pretty affordable, which is always a plus for a food blogger like me. Charlie Deal, Jujube and Dos Perros’s chef/owner, hit some highlights of the wines and menu, describing it thusly, “When we sat down and started tasting through them [the wines], I thought it might be fun to put together a Spanish-inspired menu using Asian touches, which should be really fun for me to make and really tasty for you to eat. If I had to pick a star in the line-up, it would be the refined and effusive Terras Gauda Albarino. … Minerally, briny, but so lush and supple, all at once.  In honor of its Basque origin, we thought we’d serve it with a few pintxos, just like they might in Donastia. Well, they might if someone was working out of an Asian cupboard .Bookending the meal are a bright and lovely Cava from Gran Bach (paired with what I think is going to be an exquisite croqueta of local ham) and a friendly, yet regal Priorat, paired, as I think it should be with roasted lamb.”

Here’s the dinner menu:

JohnstonCounty country ham croqueta with Asian pear coulis
-Gran Bach Cava Brut NV

Pintxos platter of friend anchovy with almond-chile sauce
and radicchio-mizuna “ramo” with Chinese olive aioli
-Terras Gauda Albarino Abadia de San Campio 2012

Grilled quail with peanut sauce and cucumber salad
-Raimat Tempranillo 2008

Shiitakes a la Plancha
-Vina Zaca Rioja 2008

Roasted lamb with grilled onion-mixed grain salad, and yogurt sauce
-Scala dei Negre Priorat 2011

Reservations can be made at 919.960.0555.

Taste Carolina Tours Artisan Series! Next one is 4/30, 6 pm, $45. Taste Carolina is in the midst of a series of events focusing on local food producers, farmers, and chefs, and the next one is coming up on Tuesday! The series is intended as a package deal, but two events have already passed us by. The good news is that there are four more coming, and you can still buy package deals for the remaining ones if you’d like. Single event tickets go on sale the week of the event. This time around it’s Cackalacky Hot Sauce, Fullsteam Brewery, Pie Pushers, American Meltdown, and The Parlour: An Amalgamation. The event is described as follows, “Beer, hot sauce, food trucks, and ice cream? Perfect! Learn about these five local companies while enjoying food and drink. The evening will begin with a tour of Fullsteam’s Brewery and a beer tasting. Over dinner prepared by Pie Pushers, American Meltdown, and the Parlour (with off-the-menu items) and featuring Cackalacky products, we’ll talk with owners and operators of the businesses collaborating on this event. Arrive at Fullsteam at 6pm sharp. Dinner will take place inside the brewery.”

Upcoming events will focus on TOPO Distillery and the Crunkleton, several of Durham’s taquerias, and Two Chicks Farms and Panciuto. For tickets or more information, head here

Derby Day at Washington Duke! 5/4, 11:30 am to 12:00 am. Washington Duke is hosting a variety of events to celebrate the Kentucky Derby this Saturday. They are having special brunch, tea, and dinner menus, and you can watch the race over three courses if you’d like. Most intriguing to me are the special cocktails of the day: Kentucky Derby: Mint Juleps, Belmont Stakes: Black-eyed Susan, and the Preakness Stakes: White Carnation. There’s also a Derby Day hat contest! Click on the image for the complete details. As the brochure describes it, “Join us for Derby Day at the Washington Duke Inn & Golf Club’s Fairview Dining Room and Bull Durham Bar while watching the early show coverage, race and post show coverage on the big screens with winning Derby Day cocktail and food specials.”

Straw Valley Cafe’s Farmers’ Market! Thursdays, 4 pm to 6:30 pm. Last week, Straw Valley Cafe started hosting a farmer’s market in the parking lot in front of their cafe and Once and Again. That means you should actually be able to see it from 15-501, which is helpful for this notoriously hard to find, but amazing once you get there, cafe. Who doesn’t want another option for fresh produce in the area? Straw Valley says, “Come by to help support your local businesses and farmers and grab a snack or drink from the cafe or bar!” Their Facebook page is the best place to get more info.

Trader Joe’s Grande Reserve Carneros Pinot Noir 2011
Napa, California

I tasted this wine before purchasing it at Trader Joe’s, and I’m glad the sample convinced me to get a bottle. Its rich, medium-bodied boysenberry digs into me and won’t let go. The nose has a fleeting burst of fig newton, but is otherwise lackluster. That’s fine because the wine’s taste more than makes up for it. It’s sweet and tart in complementary proportions. Cocoa gives it depth, though that may be the chocolate-dipped apple I just ate. The texture is velvety smooth. Its tartness reminds me of aloe vera, and it’s just enough to give the wine some verve.

I will call this a gateway wine, one with no dryness so the uninitiated will think only of those bright boysenberries and how delicious it is. Could it be more complex? Of course, but I’m smiling as I drink it.

Read the rest of this entry »

In February, I let you all know about the opportunity to get your hands on one of my short stories for free for a limited time. And now that time is almost at an end! “Bother,” along with many other fantastic stories collected by M. David Blake for the 2013 Campbellian Pre-Reading Anthology, will only be available until 4/30. So what are you waiting for? Click your browsers on over to Stupefying Stories and get your copy! And be sure to give Durham author Mur Lafferty your congratulations on being nominated for the Campbell Award for the second straight year. Some of her work is also available in the anthology. You can find her at the Murverse.

Here’s what I posted to explain the anthology in February:

Published by Stupefying Stories, the 2013 Campbellian Pre-Reading Anthology is now available for free — that’s right, free! — for anyone interested in perusing the works of authors eligible for Campbell award nominations this year. What’s that? As M. David Blake, editor of Stupefying Stories explained,

Named for John W. Campbell, Jr., whose 34 years at the helm of Astounding Science Fiction (later renamed Analog) defined the “Golden Age” of the genre and launched the careers of dozens of famous writers, the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer is presented annually at WorldCon to an outstanding author whose first professional work of science fiction or fantasy was published within the previous two years.

What does this have to do with me? Well, with my sale of “Bother” to Bull Spec nearing on two years ago now, I became eligible for the Campbell Award. I have absolutely no expectations of being nominated, especially because I haven’t had other speculative fiction published since then — I’ve been working on my first fantasy novel instead of sending out my short stories. But “Bother” has been reprinted in the anthology, and now’s your chance to read it for free along with other worthy works by a large list of fantastic speculative fiction authors. All for free until the Hugo nominees, including for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, are announced at the end of April.

To take advantage of this amazing access to these stories, just click here and chose the e-format you prefer at the end of the publication announcement post. And if you do read “Bother,” please let me know what you thought! Us writers do thrive on feedback.

Flights
4100 Main at North Hills
North Hills Renaissance, Raleigh
Website
Entrees: $17–$28

Sweet hostess. Only dessert was sweeter.

Normally, I jump right into a review, leaving any musings on my experience for the end. This one requires more set up because Flights is in a transition period and it shows. So you should understand before I go on what we learned from the manager: Flights’ executive chef had been promoted about a month before we dined there to a regional position with Marriot Hotels. Which means the current executive chef is new to the position, so the cuisine is not as refined as it may grow to be with time. And I sincerely believe the front-house staff must also be in transition, because I have no other explanation for why we’d have a server in a fine dining restaurant mess up the sheer number of times that ours did. It was pretty ridiculous: providing a substitute glass of wine with no explanation that the requested glass was unavailable, asking for a new dinner entrée selection for an 86ed course after appetizers had already been served, sharing that the seasonal fruit selection for a dessert didn’t ever change … I could go on but that’s enough to paint a picture. When the timid, nervous man explained at the end of the meal, after confirming who ordered what for at least the third time, that it was his first night on his own, we merely nodded, having figured that out within minutes of ordering. I’m still rather surprised management allowed someone that unprepared to be a server. The poor man was really, really not ready for the dinner shift. Hopefully, by now, that’s changed, but it definitely made a difference in our impressions of dinner at Flights, which had been portrayed to me as a hidden gem of fine dining in the Triangle.

Flights could be considered a hidden gem because it’s a hotel restaurant. The entrance is in the back of the North Hills Renaissance hotel lobby. And Flights is a hotel restaurant in every sense of the word. A mixture of unobtrusive, pastel, geometric patterns on the fabrics combined with uncomfortable booths with high backs and difficult to navigate table legs, and the ubiquitous Muzak set an atmosphere that did little to remove us from the feeling of being in a hotel.

Let me also take a moment to point out I don’t get the appeal of passing around wine lists on iPads. At all. I’ve seen it in a number of restaurants, and usually, those screens look greasy and scream of germs, which was the case at Flights as well. I know paper menus are likely just as germ covered, but at least they don’t look dirty! I promise I’ll still think you’re hip without them, restaurants. Speaking of the menu, Flights offers a small selection of appetizers, salads, and entrees on their normal dinner menu, featuring a mix of Southern and Italian options, and a larger, changing small plates menu.

The small plates are affordable and plenty of food, in my experience, so I’d recommend ordering from it. But before we ordered at all, we were given amuse bouches of crab and shrimp on parmesan crostini with raspberry coulis and pesto.

They were well executed with some lively fruit to whet our appetites and the seafood kept simple. The French bread served before the meal was warm, packed with herbs, and had a great crunchy crust. So after our poor waiter’s initial awkwardness, I was hopeful the food would salvage the experience. Onward appetizers!

Read the rest of this entry »

Meadow of Love Absinthe Superieure
Delaware Phoenix Distillery
Walton, NY

Let’s be real — Meadow of Love is a very hippie name for a spirit. And let me be realer — hippie names speak my language. I went to college in Santa Cruz, people. I’m not an ideal hippie myself, but the culture is part of my lifeblood. Meadow of Love is made in a pot still with grand wormwood, anise, florence fennel, roman wormwood, hyssop, lemon balm, and violet. I haven’t even uncorked the bottle and I’m already wishing I had patchouli lip balm on and was lazing among the wildflowers, enjoying a Pacific Ocean sunset from the sun-drenched Oakes Lawn at UCSC.

The absinthe’s color pre-louche is a lovely pastel yellow with a halo of mint green at the edges. Soft legs indicate the presence of sugar but not in large volumes. The nose of a straight shot borders on nail polish with sweet violet, anise, and mint, though the mint is likely a tingle from the lemon balm that my tongue misconstrues. It has the melting, airy texture of Laffy Taffy. Sugar dominates at first sip, but alcohol takes over with bitter floral notes and evergreen. Its potential is obvious, but a louche is definitely needed to mellow this absinthe out.

Following the bottle’s instructions, this absinthe should be louched with 3 to 5 parts water, leaving out the customary sugar cube. After my first post-louche sip, I’d agree. It has a natural sweetness, and more sugar would take away from the multiple herbal layers.

The color post-louche is nearly completely milky, preserving only a hint of yellow-green. While I do like a vivid imbiber, I appreciate the lack of chemicals in this spirit. Stick closer to a 3:1 ratio for water to absinthe; at 4:1, the flavors aren’t prominent enough. At 3:1, the alcohol is tamed and the natural sugar tantalizes, making the fennel and violet notes float down almost too easily. The texture is velvety. Grassy floral notes and licorice rise up after the sugar takes a backseat, and they beckon for a second sip, and a third … and a fourth.

Meadow of Love is perhaps a tad too at one with itself, bordering on a blend that makes those layers nearly indistinguishable. But it’s groovy, man, groovy.

Read the rest of this entry »

Rise
1800 Renaissance Parkway
Southpoint, Durham
Website
$1–$5

Rise is the newest venture by Durham Catering Co. chef and owner Tom Ferguson, who you may know for that little food truck and brick and mortar store called Only Burger of which he is a part-owner. Only Burger has earned a lot of cred in the local food scene for being an essential player in the explosion of food trucks, often organizing the earliest food truck rodeos in addition to maintaining a fantastic hamburger shop and truck. The community has been paying Tom back by swamping Rise to get their hands on the handmade biscuits and cake donuts available at the shop. The creative configurations of both, think red velvet donuts and sloppy joe biscuits, change on a daily basis. You can usually find a list at their Facebook page. They also have donut seeds instead of donut holes—don’t ask me what the difference is.

I’d heard several tales of long lines at Rise, so I went with a pair of friends on a weekday rather than brave the weekend crowds. There’s not much seating, just a long counter on the side and a few patio tables, so food is taken to go.

Counter seating on the left.

Grab a number on the way in and expect a ten-minute or so wait after ordering food. The interior is kid friendly with chalkboards and an assortment of toys.

Whimsical artwork, a line of t-shirts, and bright orange walls keep the atmosphere lively. The display case is drool worthy all on its own and will keep you happy while you wait.

Pineapple-basil glaze donuts on the top. Maple bacon on the bottom.

Peanut buttercup donuts.

Chocolate chocolate cake donuts.

Bean Traders coffee is offered, which makes me happy as I’m a huge Bean Traders fan. Milk, OJ, tea, and water are also available.

Read the rest of this entry »

I’m a little (a lot) behind on the times in that I’m just now posting this teaser here, and it was published about a month ago at WRAL‘s Out and About blog. Oops! My time from reviewing a spot/drink to posting about it is on a month lag right now, so that’s par for the course! Oh well. Someday, I’ll get back to more of a 1–2 week lag.

But enough of my behind-the-scenes issues. Here’s a teaser of my review of Sarah’s Empanadas:

Durham, N.C. — Sarah’s Empanadas is one of those lunch locations the RTP crowd keeps close to their vests. I’ve spied it many times when heading to dinner at Papa Mojo’s or Thai Lanna, but it’s only open at midday, so getting there during operating hours was a challenge—a challenge now conquered!

The Company: A pair of women whom I meet up with every month to try a new-to-us lunch location, which was quite convenient for this purpose.

The Location: A nondescript strip mall exterior hides a cozy restaurant. Inside, Sarah’s Empanadas is adorned with tropical bird decorations, creamy mint walls, and a giant, colorful mural. It’s also likely to be packed with diners and a long line of patrons paying at the register. Never fear, the cashier is speedy and has amazing credit-card-sliding reflexes….

Want to know more about the Bolivian empanada wonderland? Read on here or head to Carpe Durham for a slightly different version.  And I wouldn’t leave you without some food porn. Here’s the chicken and cheese empanada.

LaCheteau Vouvray 2011
Loire Valley, France

The nose of this white wine is subdued. Honeydew and the tickle of tannins are all I get from it. On tasting, it initially reminds me of Southern white wines with a lot of sweetness. Luckily, a healthy dose of acidity counteracts that. It’s bright and buttery, and lime, green apple, and mellow honeydew notes give way to lots of rich vanilla custard.

LaCheteau Vouvray 2011 is a good, solid, by-the-book white wine. Ultimately, though, it’s not my cup of tea wine.

Read the rest of this entry »

Kinston, NC, Blogging: Chef and the Farmer

Outside the Chef and the Farmer.

This is the third and final installment on our recent day trip to Kinston, NC. Blog 1 covered the various ways we amused ourselves by the Neuse riverfront last month. Blog 2 was on Mother Earth Brewing, which we were delighted to discover is based in downtown Kinston — oh happy Providence! This one is devoted to Chef and the Farmer, the farm-to-fork restaurant of Chef Vivian Howard, a James Beard semifinalist, and her husband, Ben Knight, an artist and the front house and beverage manager. Located just around the corner from Mother Earth Brewing at 120 W. Gordon St., it’s ideally located for a final destination on a day spent downtown.

The restaurant felt lively without feeling pretentious.

Ben deserves accolades for the interior design of the restaurant. I loved all the different textures and colors used to create a refined yet playful dining room full of odd angles. There was brick, tile, paneling, wood, and stone in a palette of dark brown, yellow, and sage green. Even the bathroom had its own bevy of materials with cork, slate, and vanilla coloring. The menu features a hodge-podge of dishes as well, with a few each in small plates, specialty grits, pizzas, salads, and entrees. The menu was heavy on grains the evening we were there.

I love that it’s printed daily and an 86ed stamp signifies any options they’ve run out of. The bread service set the stage for the meal that followed.

It was so good with rosemary, sweet potato, and caramelized onion bits. The crust was crunchy, but the centers were soft and delicious, and its fragrance was divine.

Read the rest of this entry »