David A. Ross

The Boot Rockwood Shopping Center 2501 University Dr., Durham 919-294-8383 www.thebootdurham.comMonday-Saturday 11:30 a.m.–10 p.m. If you were hoping for an S&M boutique, you’re out of luck. The Boot is a trattoria presumably named for the leggy geography of Italy. Located amid a cluster of restaurantsNana’s, NanaTaco, The Original Q Shack, Thai Cafeat the resurgent eastern […]

Last year’s self-imposed mission was straightforward: Create a chili (i.e., protein vehicle) that my 8-year-old daughter would embrace or at least ingest. I devised an intricate guajillo-based Tex-Mex chili that took on her palate like a water-balloon taking on a brick wall (enter keyword “Chapel Thrill Chili” on the Indy’s site for that recipe). My […]

Palak paneer belongs in a category with Spencer Tracy and football in the mudnot much to look at, but hard to dislike. Like Texas chili, another gloppy classic of world comfort food, its murk hides intricate cross-currents of flavor and heat. Arguably the Triangle’s best Indian restaurant for all its anonymity in a recessed corner […]

Chinese food in the U.S.unlike other Asian importshas an odd dynamic of wariness and condescension. Witness the Westerner ploughing through a mound of fried rice by way of entrée. He’s glad to avoid the unexpected or unidentifiable, while the restaurateur is equally glad to charge $10.95 for leftover rice studded with frozen peas and dirtied […]

Ed Mitchell’s Que 359 Blackwell St., Suite 130, Durham 919-813-4311, edmitchellsque.com Monday–Thursday 11 a.m.–9 p.m. Friday–Saturday, 11 a.m.–11 p.m. Sunday noon–8 p.m. Ed Mitchell’s Quenote the possessivearrives with some swagger. EMQ’s website describes Mitchell, who was raised in Wilson, as a “legendary pitmaster” and as a “North Carolina barbecue legend.” “Legend” is an ante-upping word, […]

Notes: Deep frying is our most dangerous socially sanctioned activity not involving a gun or an automobile. For reasons of both safety and conductivity, I prefer a 9 1/2-quart Le Creuset Dutch oven filled with 10 cups of canola oil. Specific advice: 1) Never overfill a pot with oil (a third of the pot is […]

A good man may be hard to find, but a good pancake is damn near impossible to find. In the 1950s, IHOP and its imitators arrived liked the meteor that erased the dinosaurs; the culture of the breakfast counter was largely wiped out. Our post-apocalyptic pancakes tend to be previously frozen, cakey, rubbery or fatally […]

Pompieri Pizza 102 City Hall Plaza (off Mangum Street) Durham 919-973-1589 Tuesday–Thursday 5–10 p.m. Friday–Saturday 5–11 p.m. Sunday 5–9 p.m. Bull City Burger and Brewery in downtown Durham now has a sister restaurant, Pompieri Pizza, just around the corner in the quaint shell of a 1924 firehouse. This crossover venture did not seem obviously promising. […]

The Pit 321 W. Geer St., Durham 919-282-DPIT Monday–Friday 11 a.m.–8 p.m. Saturday 11 a.m.–6 p.m. $$ Try as we might, we can’t bring ourselves to hate certain kingpinsBruce Springsteen, Wayne Gretzky, Apple, Pixar, J.K. Rowling. The Pit, one of the most popular restaurants in the Triangle, belongs in this unlikely category. It operates with […]