The Gourmez

I’m moving to California. There is no set “when” yet, but if all goes well after listing our house next week, it will be sometime in August.  There is no set “where” yet, but if all goes well with Ben’s employment options, it will be in the Bay Area, with LA as a second choice. [...]

Bangkok Fever @ Jujube Glen Lennox, Chapel Hill My Restaurant Review $10 Once again, Jujube proves to me that their cocktail list is second to none in the Triangle. Bangkok Fever’s ingredient list is Thai-chili-infused reposado tequila, passion fruit juice, and cinnamon salt. And it’s amazing. The essential cinnamon salt livens up every sip, playing [...]

Double Black Diamond Martini Firebirds Southpoint, Durham $10 This martini doesn’t have a long list of ingredients, but classic martinis never do, subsisting on quality liquor with a personalized touch of what gets the drinker’s juices flowing whether vermouth, blue-cheese-stuffed olives, or cocktail onions. The Double Black Diamond martini is even simpler than that, just [...]

Maximillian’s Grill 8314 Chapel Hill Road Cary Website $19-$35 Maximillian’s Grill, not to be confused with Maximillian’s Pizza Kitchen next door though I’m going out on a limb and saying they’re related, appeared this year on Greg Cox’s annual list of top 20 Triangle restaurants. It always flies under my radar; I keep forgetting people [...]

CocoNUT Margarita Firebirds Southpoint, Durham $9.50 Firebirds is one of the best spots to get a drink before catching a movie at Southpoint. The drinks are pricey, but aren’t they at most spots I frequent? I know what I like and that’s quality liquor and bartending, both of which chain restaurants often fail at spectacularly. [...]

Alley 26 320 East Chapel Hill St. Downtown Durham Website $9 to $12 per drink 4 pm to 2 am (May I take this moment to say I love a bar that posts a closing time?) To my disappointment, Alley 26, Durham’s newest upscale bar, is not located in an alley. It takes up actual [...]

The Boy’s Club The Borough Downtown Raleigh $7.50 This cocktail is a Kahlua, Bailey’s Irish cream, and Frangelico trio shaken up with chocolate and iced Counter Culture coffee. If you’re thinking dessert, you’re thinking correctly, as most coffee cocktails fall under that category. The drink is indisputably gorgeous with that chocolate pattern laced into the [...]

Pizzeria Toro 105 E. Chapel Hill St. Five Points, Durham Website $12 to 1$16 11 am to 11 pm daily Pizzeria Toro is an alluring and exciting gourmet pizza restaurant. I am jealous of downtown Durham residents who have this gem down the block.  At first look, the main dining room appears to be an [...]

Luxardo Maraschino Original Liqueur Veneto, Italy 32% ABV This is a spirit of legend for me, in that I’d seen it in a million cocktail recipes before I could ever track it down. Now that it’s finally appeared at my local ABC store, I can explore it. And it’s full of shockers. Per Luxardo’s website, [...]

elements 2110 Environ Way East Highway 54 Chapel Hill Website Entrees: $18 — $26 Opened in the fall of 2012, elements is a farm-to-table focused venture of Chef Michael Chuong’s. He opened ăn in Cary in 2006. I have never made it to ăn, but it’s always been high on my must-dine list, so I [...]