Forget about dinner at your favorite fancy restaurant. If you really want to impress out-of-town visitors with the Triangle's vibrant food scene, sign them up for one of the food tours recently launched by Taste Carolina (237-2254; www.tastecarolina.net). Be sure to get a ticket for yourself, too. Even if you consider yourself an in-the-know foodie, you'll probably make a few discoveries on these behind-the-scenes peeks at the local food scene, where you'll meet chefs, culinary artisans, even the farmers who grow your food. Oh, and did I mention you'll get to sample the food at nearly every stop?
Taste Carolina is offering regularly scheduled walking tours of Durham and Chapel Hill/Carrboro. Owners Joe Philipose and Lesley Stracks-Mullem, both avid foodies, plan to launch a Raleigh tour by mid-April. Other tours, from tapas crawl to bus tour of area barbecue joints, are available by reservation. Check the Web site for details.
New blood in the kitchen
It's hard to imagine two more different restaurants than Herons ( www.heronsrestaurant.com), the fine dining restaurant in the deluxe Umstead Hotel in Cary, and the Durham Irish pub James Joyce ( www.jamesjoyceirishpub.com). But the two share at least one key feature: Both have recently hired new chefs with the potential to elevate their offerings to best-in-category status.
Herons executive chef Scott Crawford, whose cooking in deluxe resorts in Georgia and South Carolina has drawn praise from Esquire Magazine and Wine Spectator, brings with him a reputation for building strong relationships with farmers. Sounds like a perfect match for Herons' stated goal of showcasing the best of local produce in the form of Southern-inflected contemporary fare.
James Joyce chef Paul Curley, who hails from County Clare, aims to bring what he calls "the real taste of Ireland" to Durham. On the menu, that translates to the likes of fish chowder, "pookies" (baked wild mushrooms) and West Clare fish cake topped with a rasher of Irish bacon and vintage cheddar. And that's only for starters. Main-course options include homemade bangers and mash; grilled porterhouse splashed with Jameson's and cream; and the Woodland Breakfast, which the menu describes as bacon, sausage, tomato and mushrooms, all cooked on a wooden stick, sitting on a fried potato."
Encore performances
Char-Grill, a Raleigh institution since 1959, has opened its first Durham location in Hope Valley Commons (1125 W. N.C. 54; 489-6900; www.chargrillfranchise.com). Durham returned the favor when Chubby's Tacos opened a location in Raleigh's Lake Boone Shopping Center (2444 Wycliff Road; 781-4480; www.chubbystacos.com), barely a year after the original Chubby's opened on Ninth Street. And Carrboro has landed its own location of The Q Shack, which you'll find by following the hickory smoke smell to the old Crawdaddy's spot (302 E. Main St.; 240-4043; www.theqshack.com).
Meanwhile in Durham, Sitar India Palace has moved to spiffier digs across the street (3630 Durham Chapel Hill Blvd.; 490-1326; www.sitarindiapalace.net). The original location is now devoted to catering. Péché de Chocolat has moved from City Market to Glenwood South (16 Glenwood Ave.; 754-1112; www.pechechocolat.com). And Ocean Grill has sailed away from SW Cary Parkway in Cary. Skipper Steve Adams hopes to steer the vessel into port in its new downtown Apex location (121 N. Salem St.; www.theoceangrill.com) later this month.
