In the mood to drink a cocktail or listen to a record? At Little Gem, a new spot in Chapel Hill, you can do both, with a menu of “sprightly” drinks that have musical nods. As Brian Howe writes in this week’s issue: “The generous use of vermouth, amaro, and fortified wine lends smoky, savory, herby layers to 18 drinks, divided equally among “Originals,” “Covers,” and “Remixes.”

The bar is the brainchild of musician Paul Finn, who has played in bands like Kinsbury Manx and Evening Pines. Finn has a philosophy about the crossover of songs and spirits: “You want there to be multiple layers to it, with bass, treble, and midrange, a beginning and an end.”

There’s a handful of new-ish spots in Chapel Hill that also revolve around themes, like the Wedgewood Cheese Bar, where I went with a friend the other weekend. It was fun! But also kind of an overwhelming amount of cheese. 

Happy Halloween. Here are some ideas for things to do this week. Thanks for reading!

Little Gem customers. Read the story here. Photo by Heba Salama.

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also in the culture section

In other alcohol-related news, Starpoint Brewery has new ownership under a trio of local industry veterans. 

A loan shark, a mermaid, and several Harry Potter characters walk into a bar, looking for love: Read Chase Pellegrini de Paur’s dispatch from a Halloween-themed event hosted by local dating app Shipp. 

I always find Glenn McDonald’s writing delightful, and his film recommendations this week are no exception. (Have you seen One Battle After Another yet? It’s great.): 

“Bugonia is technically an English-language remake of an older South Korean film. But like Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle after Another, it’s really a redirected energy scan aimed at the heart of our global nervous breakdown. The film might look like a standard kidnapping thriller. But check the trailers online and you’ll clock the familiar 21st-century concerns: ecological collapse, sociopathic corporations, political violence, ambient dread.”

A new short story collection reimagines classic North Carolina lore like Virginia Dare and the Brown Mountain Lights through the eyes of contemporary Tar Heel writers. I spoke to the collection’s editor, author Ed Southern, about what makes a good ghost story. And if you missed it from before, here’s Jane Porter’s feature on calling in ghost-hunting reinforcements. 

ICYMI: Thoreau and climate change, Nnenna Freelon’s new book, and popular pop-up Hatch Burritos has found a permanent home.

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out and about in the triangle

Two brothers walk into a coffee shop. The coffee shop is in Durham, and the brothers’ names are Joe and Kevin. There’s a sad dearth of ping pong spots in the Triangle, so praise be that a new bar with ping pong is opening off Glenwood South. Sunflower’s Cafe is coming back. Very bummed to hear that event space PS37 in Durham is closing.  

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— Sarah Edwards —
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Sarah Edwards is culture editor of the INDY, covering cultural institutions and the arts in the Triangle. She joined the staff in 2019 and assumed her current role in 2020.