The Gourmez

Cocoa Cinnamon 420 W. Geer Street Central Park District Website M – Th, 7:30 am – 10:00 pm Fri – Sat, 7:30 am – Midnight Sun, 9:00 am – 9:00 pm I’ve been to Cocoa Cinnamon twice now, and I already wish I lived closer so I could watch as their amazing, thoughtful drink lists [...]

Covington Sweet Potato Vodka Snow Hill, NC 40% ABV With a slogan like “the best yam vodka on Earth,” Covington gets out of my gate with a head start. If you are not a pun enthusiast, that may translate to a 10-second penalty. It’s made in North Carolina and thus qualifies as a local spirit [...]

With spring comes new dishes at many restaurants, and that includes Noodles & Company, a chain I’ve sampled a few times before. Well, readers, it’s your and my lucky day, because I was invited to come to their Erwin Rd. location in Durham to try their spring asparagus menu and you get the chance to [...]

I have blogged about Charlottesville’s downtown mall before, but the brunch that trip was not so memorable, and Charlottesville is a town that brunches, so I needed to fix that. Most places offer brunch until at least 3 pm on the weekend, and that’s a beautiful, beautiful practice for this late riser. I decided we [...]

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 [...]

Last year, Ben and I spent a weekend in Charlottesville, VA, which I blogged about previously here, here, and here. We happened to pick the weekend a derecho hit the East Coast, which is only relevant to this blog because we got a free hotel stay from that natural disaster. Yay? I use the question [...]

Kahlua Midnight Mexico 35% ABV Kahlua Midnight strikes me as the serious older brother of the regular Kahlua we know and love. It’s a mix of rum and black coffee liqueur, and that appeals to me because I don’t take cream or sugar with my coffee, never mind that it still has sugar in there [...]

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 [...]

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. [...]

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