Welcome to Friday Night Bites, your weekly roundup of local food and drink news and events. Have a tip for us? Email food@indyweek.com.
NEWS
Funguys Brewing Owners Wed at Their Brewery
Before brewers Carly and Nick Brango officially opened Funguys Brewing in Raleigh in April, they knew it would be also be their wedding venue come October.
“Nick and I decided at the beginning of this year that Funguys Brewing would be the location of our wedding, because of the extreme value it has in our lives. It is our livelihood, our combined passion, and dream,” Carly says. “Funguys Brewing is a two man team. We spend pretty much all hours of our days here, so why not make Funguys the center of the most special day of our lives?”
The pair tied the knot below the brew platform, and the reception followed in the brewery warehouse. Instead of champagne to toast their nuptials, the couple brewed their first sour gose ale called “There She Gose,” a highly carbonated, tart-sweet beer blended with muscadine grape juice made from grapes they picked at a local vineyard.
The wedding was such a smashing success, Funguys Brewing is now accepting inquiries from couples interested in hosting their wedding at the brewery. For more details, email funguysbrewing@gmail.com.
Pokéworks is Officially Open in Downtown Durham
Pokéworks, a national chain dedicated to serving poke, a dish of diced, raw fish, has opened the doors to its first North Carolina location at 122 West Main Street in Durham. To celebrate, the restaurant will host a grand opening on November 10 from 11:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. and offer a buy-one-get-one free” offer on all poke bowls, burritos, and salads all day.
Gone Fishin’ Raises Nearly $28,000 for N.C. Watermen Affected by Hurricane Florence
At last Saturday’s Gone Fishin’ event, Locals Seafood and local chefs raised nearly $28,000 to benefit North Carolina fishermen, fisherwomen, and oyster farmers affected by Hurricane Florence. Event attendees noshed on seafood-inspired dishes from fifteen local chefs, including a shrimp chowder topped with fried oyster crackers from Poole’s Ashley Christensen, an Indian riff on shrimp and grits from Garland’s Cheetie Kumar, and an oyster po’ boy from 18 Seaboard’s Jake Wood.
EVENTS
Get Your South on Tomorrow at Salt & Smoke Festival
Tickets are still available for Salt & Smoke, Acme chef-owner Kevin Callaghan’s annual celebration of Southern food, drink, and music held at Rocky Quarry Farm in Carrboro. On November 3 from 3:00 to 8:00 p.m., you’ll find whole hog barbecue, heaps of homey Southern sides (don’t miss the cornbread), raw and roasted oysters, plenty of local booze, and live music all afternoon long. Click here for more information or to purchase tickets.
Smash Don’t Trash Your Halloween Pumpkins
Hungry Harvest, a farm-to-doorstep produce delivery service, has teamed up with Raleigh’s CompostNow to fight food waste this Halloween season. On November 3, bring your leftover Halloween pumpkins to Trophy Brewing at Maywood from 12:00 to 4:00 p.m. All compost created from smashing pumpkins will be shared with Inter-Faith Food Shuttle’s Camden Street Learning Garden for its urban agricultural programs. For more information, visit the Facebook event page here.
Union Special Bread Announces Savory Pop-Up on November 4
Union Special Bread, the forthcoming bakery and cafe from all-star baker Andrew Ullom (and Ashley Christensen’s former executive pastry chef) is taking things savory at its latest pop-up at Edge of Urge‘s afternoon market on November 4 from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m. Look for square slices topped with combinations like tomato, olive, and burnt onion, or mushrooms, radicchio, and fennel, each paired with a salad of greens, radishes, and pickled cauliflower. If your cravings skew sweet, follow @UnionSpecialBread on Instagram to find out when it plans to pop up next with its croissants, cookies, and danishes at Videri Chocolate Factory.
BITE OF THE WEEK
M Tempura is still in its soft opening phase, so the choices for the donkatsu lunch sets—which come with rice, soup, and pickles—were limited to pork or Duroc pork on the day I stopped in for lunch. Happily, I’m a fan of pork, and here, in the traditional katsu, or breaded cutlet preparation, the panko crust was golden and crispy, and the Duroc pork, a rich, marbled variety, was tender and juicy. It’s a simple dish, but executed perfectly, which is a reflection of chef Michael Lee’s philosophy, whether it’s the delicately fried tempura omakase he serves here at dinner, or the pristine pieces of sushi he crafts at M Sushi.
The donkatsu lunch sets offer a substantial portion of food, and despite the richness of the pork, I found myself unable to put down my chopsticks. (I also reasoned that it’d taste best eaten hot and freshly fried). Even though I didn’t really have room, my dining companions and I decided that the one dessert on offer, a scoop of orange buttermilk sherbet, seemed innocuous enough (especially split three ways). The sherbet tasted like a grown up orange creamsicle, with a distinct buttermilk tang. The crumbles and shards of meringue added a subtle texture as they dissolved on the tongue, while the shiso leaf pieces added a refreshing minty chaser that seemed to linger for minutes. It was just the thing to cap off a meal, a palate cleanser and subtly sweet treat rolled in one.
