Claire Cusick

Food lovers of the Triangle, I ask you: Do we need Atlanta to tell us how Southern-style cooking is done? Nay, we scoff at the very idea. Still, we are friendly folks, as well aslet’s face itbig fans of all-day breakfast joints. So we welcome the newest outpost of Atlanta-based Flying Biscuit Cafe (2016 Clark […]

Mid-January. Sigh. It’s time to stop hoovering cookies like it’s mid-December, consider healthier food and maybe even … learn something? Duke and UNC are offering six free seminars on sustainable food systems. Staff and faculty at the two campuses have collaborated to produce the lectures, which are open to the public. The Robertson Seminars on […]

Continuing last week’s theme of new restaurants for the new year, Tobacco Road Sports Cafe opened last week in Raleigh (222 Glenwood Ave., 832-3688, tobaccoroadsportscafe.com). The Amra brothers, who also own Amra’s, a jazz bar down the street (106 Glenwood Ave., 828-8488, amrasraleigh.com), say the new place is not a sports bar. “Brian, Alex and […]

Just as every New Year has potential for peace and prosperity, every New Year’s Eve has potential for glamour and coolness. Cocktails, hors d’oeuvres on passing trays, candlelight, people around a table. This brings great hope and anticipation to those of us who somehow manage to spill red wine on ourselves, or sport the dregs […]

Now presenting: the Now Serving Gift Guide 2008. Here’s what I think you should get your favorite local food lover. IDEA 1: Gift cards or certificates to local food places. The national media is all frowny-faced about gift cards this year, bleating dire warnings that mass-market retailers issuing cards may not be around to redeem […]

Sing it with me, y’all: “Santa Claus … oops, I mean Rachael Ray … is comin’ to townnn.” She has a new cookbook out, Rachael Ray’s Big Orange Book, and she will sign copies at 3 p.m. Friday, Dec. 12, at the Barnes & Noble at Cary Commons (760 SE Maynard Road, 467-3866). In lieu […]

Around the Triangle, bar food doesn’t just refer to mozzarella sticks any more. (Not that there’s anything wrong with those!) A quick zip around the Web turns up bar menus at several fancy places, offering diners a chance to enjoy restaurants while still trimming their tabs in tight times. The Carolina Inn, Herons, The Washington […]

As Durham entrepreneur David Stemmle explains it, acid and fat are “the two things that make everything taste good.” Well, he adds, “that and salt.” As an example, he cites salad dressing, but you could include many condiments or sauces. You could also include Headstart Gourmet‘s “compound butter,” Stemmle’s creation that’s now sold in Whole […]

Cue Kool & the Gang, because it’s Ladies Night at the two locations of The Wine Merchant (www.winemerchantraleigh.com): Nov. 12 in Raleigh (1214 Ridge Road, 828-6929) and Nov. 20 in Cary (4240 N.W. Cary Parkway, 469-1330). Even without the Gang, these events have lots of cool stuff for the fair gender: free wine tasting, complimentary […]