What's in a name? Plenty, as the owners of two restaurants with well-known names in the Triangle can tell you. Both have tweaked the names of their restaurants to reflect a change in focus, while keeping the most recognizable part.
Neo-China, a familiar name in North Raleigh for two decades, is now Neo-Asia (6602-1 Glenwood Ave.; 783-8383; www.neo-china.com). Owners Diana and Oliver Yu changed the name of the restaurant to reflect an expanded menu that now includes Japanese and Thai cuisines. A second Neo-China in Cary has undergone the same conversion, though fans of that location's weekend dim sum will be happy to know that it has survived the change.
In Chapel Hill's Meadowmont Village, David Susca has taken over La Russa's Italian Deli from his parents and is transforming the restaurant into La Russa's Trattoria (301 Meadowmont Circle; 945-0876; www.larussas.com). Gone are the freezer and deli cases (actually, they're in the back, so you can still get your deli takeout), and in their place is a casually romantic dining room with full table service and candlelight in the evenings. The new dinner menu lives up to the setting with the likes of pan-seared tenderloin, house-made ravioli with smoked chicken and fresh mozzarella, and a rustic stew of homemade Italian sausage, broccoli rabe, eggplant and tomato.
Meanwhile in Morrisville, a couple of new names have been added to the town's rapidly growing list of dining options. At C&T Wok (130 Morrisville Square Way; 467-8860), the initials stand for Chinese and Thai, the restaurant's specialties. C&T Wok opened late last month in the old China One space, and its Chinese-American offering will no doubt fill the takeout void that its predecessor left. The town's first Thai menu is sure to find a following, too.
But what sets this tiny eatery apart from the crowd is its extensive selection of authentic Szechwan dishes -- about 70 of them, from salt and pepper shrimp to tea-smoked duck to kung pao lotus.
Welcome as it is, the offering is no surprise when you learn that some of the owners of this family-run eatery previously worked at 35 in Cary, one of the few other area restaurants to offer an authentic Szechwan menu.
Rajbhog Café (3607-111 Davis Drive; 585-5333; www.rajbhog.com) is the first Triangle location of a New Jersey-based chain of eateries specializing in Indian snacks and sweets. The shop's mouthful of a name translates to "kings," according to the Web site, and the selection of exotic ice creams, pastries and spicy nibbles does indeed seem fit for royalty.
But the local franchisees, who describe themselves as "a group of techies from the Park," supplemented the corporate offering with a selection of wraps, biryani and hot entrees, served fast-food-style. It's fine to eat like royalty, they presumably figured, but we working stiffs have to eat, too.
Greg Cox is the restaurant critic and food writer for The News & Observer. He can be reached at ggcox@bellsouth.net. Read more about the Triangle dining scene at blogs.newsobserver.com/mouthful.
