By Sean Lennard, Triangle Food Guy

Durham, N.C. — WRAL’s Sarah Krueger reported that the Liberty Warehouse Apartments will not only have the Durham Food Hall locating in their first floor retail space, as well as Dame’s Chicken & Waffles, but apparently there is also a coffee shop in the works – Foster Street Coffee. Lots of exciting things happening there, just across from Durham Central Park. The Durham Dame’s location is closed in January for the move. Foster Street looks to open in February as well. And the Food Hall will open later in 2018.

Featured Foodie News

With 65,000 votes cast in his year’s WRAL.com Voters’ Choice Awards, the winners were announced this past Tuesday at Level 7 at AC Hotels in North Hills. I am humbled to share that yours truly, Triangle Food Guy, was voted Best Blogger – so a huge thank you to the readers for throwing a little kudos my way. Lots of great people, programs and businesses were recognized – including some great restaurants throughout the Triangle. The highlight of the night was Ashley Christensen hauling in the Woman of the Year award!

Wake County Restaurant News

Two years after a fire completely destroyed their restaurant, Sushi Nine on Western Blvd. in Raleigh has reopened, according to WRAL. Located at 3812 Western Boulevard, the building is certainly new, but the menu will be just like their customers will remember.

John Huisman, aka Triangle Explorer, shared this week that Michael’s English Muffins announced that the new store will swing open their doors on Jan. 30 in a space at the Towne Square shopping center (corner of Capital Blvd. and Spring Forest Rd.).

The North Ridge location of Zoe's Kitchen on Falls of the Neuse Road opened this past week. Apparently this new store will be the prototype for all future locations.

And if you were eagerly anticipating a location of Ed Mitchell’s BBQ in Brier Creek, the News & Observer reported this week that that project has stalled. Ed and his son have redirected their focus to online endeavors. He did leave the door open that at some point there would be another Ed Mitchell barbecue joint. The truck concept has been parked as well.

Durham, Orange & Chatham Restaurant News

Also in Durham, WRAL reported this week that Vegan Flava Café recently opened on Guess Road in Durham, near Northgate Mall. The menu has all kinds of comfort food, from curried lentils and rice to red beans and rice.

A quick update on Chapel Hill’s Monterrey Mexican Restaurant from reader Cassie Spracklen…she learned a little more about the move from the current restaurant to the Rams Plaza location in the former Bailey’s spot, but this is more to do with the current location. During a recent visit, she learned that the current location will be converted to a more casual “grab and go” concept (similar to Chipotle) which will have a completely different menu and will feature empanadas. Sounds great! Stay tuned and thanks Cassie for the updates!

Closings

Got word from reader Chris Creighton that the Bob Evans on Walnut Street in Cary has closed.

Also in Cary, got word from reader Rachel Goer that Uncle Maddio’s in Parkside Town Commons closed in December.

​Food Trucks

Two great sites to keep up with your favorite food trucks. Street Food Finder and another, aptly named, is Roaming Hunger.

Events

Here’s a great time. I mean a really great time. The guys behind the NC Food & Beverage Podcast (Max and Matt) have teamed up with John May over at Piedmont in Durham to offer up their first dinner called Pork & Rum on Jan. 28. They will be pairing rums from Lassiter Distilling with a menu by May – think Caribbean-meets-Hawaiian-meets-North Carolina. And for the best part, it’s family-style, i.e. big tables, big plates and flowing cocktails. Tickets are $65.

Also, the dates for the Lucy Daniels Center 2018 version of their popular Cooking for a Classic have been set. This year’s event consists of three rounds and eight chefs vying to win a restored ’49 truck. It is gorgeous! The first round kicks off Jan. 22 and continues through the week. The semifinals are the following week and the final showdown will be on Feb. 7. This year’s competing chefs are Trey Cleveland of Top of the Hill, Chapel Hill; Matt Hannon of Ironwoods Cafe, Southern Pines; Jonathan Ballardof Dean’s Kitchen and Bar, Cary; James Patterson, McConnell Golf Dining; Troy Stauffer, City Club, Raleigh; Aaron Matyac, Whiskey Kitchen, Raleigh; Dean Thompson, Raleigh Renaissance Hotel; and Nick Fay, Coquette, Raleigh.

• Triangle Restaurant Week 2018

Mark your calendars for the return of Triangle Restaurant Week – January 22-28, 2018. During TRW, participating restaurants offer special three-course menu options and fixed pricing, a great opportunity to try places you’ve never been before – or to enjoy your old reliables with a new twist. No reservations, tickets or passes required.

The Cary Rotary Club is hosting its 15th annual Chili Dinner Fundraiser to Stop Hunger on Jan. 26 at Kirk of Kildare Presbyterian Church between the hours of 12 and 2 p.m. and 5 and 7 p.m. This year they are working toward providing 94,000+ meals internationally and generating $11,000+ to support local hunger relief efforts. Each $8 ticket purchased will send ~19 meals internationally and $2.40 to relieve hunger in our own neighborhoods.

Tyler’s Restaurant & Taproom and Sam’s Quik Shop will host the 6th Annual Bull City Food and Beer Experience on Feb. 25. The event features 30 restaurants paired with 30 breweries spread throughout all three DPAC floors featuring unlimited samplings and showcasing local food trucks with the help of County Fare, a daily food truck rodeo opening soon.

March 17 is the date for the second annual Food Shuttle Garden Gallop 5K to benefit the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle’s Growing School Gardens program (better known as the Sean is Faster Than Gordon race). Put it this way, if I can do it, you can do it!

Durham Magazine, Chapel Hill Magazine and Chatham Magazine return with their popular culinary event, Taste, to take place April 18-22, highlighting the culinary talents along the Durham/Chapel Hill corridor. The event will feature over 30 of the area’s top chefs at four unique events throughout the week.

And looking ahead a bit, it was announced this week that Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina will host a culinary event called Thrive NC set to take place at downtown Raleigh’s City Market on May 10-11. The two-day event will highlight the fact that 1.5 million people in the state struggle to buy affordable and fresh foods. A highlight of the event will be a two-day food festival featuring top chefs from 50 North Carolina restaurants serving food and drink samples against a backdrop of live music each night. Tickets will go on sale in February.

Food Bank Corner

Looking to get your company involved (in a very easy way) in fighting hunger in our community? Virtual Food Drives increase the impact of your donations! For every $1 donated, the Food Bank can provide $10 worth of food, thanks to their partnerships and buying power! Create a personal page and invite your friends and family to browse through our virtual grocery aisles, add items to a shopping cart, and check-out by making a monetary donation. Consider making it a team effort by organizing a competition between your neighbors, within your company, or among your community by easily setting up a team page.

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Sean Lennard covers the Triangle food scene on his site Triangle Food Blog.