Foodie events in the Triangle: Dinners, tours, tastings

The Carolina Inn in Chapel Hill has kicked off its weekly Friday night concert series. Every Friday through Oct. 13, from 5 to 8:30 p.m., there will be live music and food trucks near the front porch. For a schedule of music and food trucks, go to carolinainn.com/about/chapel-hill-event-calendar.

The town hosts Food Truck Thursdays from April through June and September through November at Knightdale Station Park, 810 N. First Ave. One truck is at the park for lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. while two to five trucks come to the park for dinner from 6 to 8 p.m. There are covered shelters. Live music is featured on the third Thursday dinner of the month. There won’t be lunch trucks July 20 or Aug. 17. knightdalenc.gov (search “Food Truck Thursdays”)

The Oregon-based brewery has two Triangle events to launch their beer in North Carolina. Find details at deschutesbrewery.com.

▪ Wednesday, 6-10 p.m.: Brunch: It’s What’s for Dinner. Beer Study Durham, 2501 University Drive, Suite 9, Durham, hosts a launch party with beer, live music, games and brunch specialties provided by Al’s Burger Shack.

▪ Thursday, 7-11 p.m.: Black Butte to the Blue Ridge Backyard BBQ. Raleigh Beer Garden, 614 Glenwood Ave., Raleigh, will have a selection of Deschutes beers. There will be live music and raffle sales to benefit Food Bank of Eastern and Central North Carolina.

The Umstead Hotel, 100 Woodland Pond Drive, Cary, hosts a tasting of rosés from France and the United States Wednesday at 6 p.m. Head Sommelier Casey Gamblin will help kick off the hotel’s Summer of Rosé in the Bar and Lounge, which features a different bottle daily. Tickets are $40 per person. Buy them by calling 919-447-4050.

21c Museum Hotel Durham and Counting House restaurant have joined with Durham-based Ponysaurus Brewing Co. to offer a look at the city’s brewery culture. Counting House will kick off the partnership Thursday at 6 p.m. with a five-course dinner by Executive Chef Thomas Card that features pairings by Ponysaurus Brewing Co. as part of the restaurant’s ongoing Fork + Bottle Dinner Series. Special guest Keil Jansen, brewmaster at Ponysaurus, will lead tastings of each pairing. The dinner will begin with a reception in 21c Museum Hotel’s gallery spaces. Tickets are $75 per person. Seating is limited. Reservations can be made by calling 919-956-6760.

The Dailypint Craft Beer Venue will have an official grand opening Thursday from 5-10 p.m. at 9521 Lumley Road, Raleigh. There will be beer specials on brews from area breweries as well as food and live music. There will be real time virtual reality and motion capture demonstrations. The taproom, open six days a week except for Sundays, features more than a dozen rotating beers on tap as well as a selection of canned and bottled beers. Cider, wine and sodas are also available. dailypint.com

A dozen food trucks will join the regular Holly Springs Farmers Market Saturday for the Park It in the Market Food Truck Rodeo. The rodeo is 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. across the street from Holly Springs Town Hall, 128 S. Main St., in the East Center Street Public Parking Lot. (The market starts at 8:30 a.m.) There also will be live music and children’s activities. Another food truck rodeo is scheduled Sept. 23. hollyspringsnc.us

La Farm Bakery owner Lionel Vatinet hosts his fifth annual Bread Bakers Guild of America Open House from 3 to 5 p.m. Saturday at La Farm Bakery, 4248 NW Cary Parkway, Cary. La Farm will offer behind-the-scene tours of the bakery, followed by a bread-shaping demo and an opportunity to see the bakers scoring and loading breads into and out of the hearth oven. A large variety of La Farm Bakery breads will be sampled – including Vatinet’s newest Barley Bread with Blueberries – and guests will take home a White Chocolate Mini Baguette. The event is free, but RSVPs are requested by emailing priya.joawn@lafarmbakery.com. lafarmbakery.com

The Raleigh Beer Garden, 614 Glenwood Ave., Raleigh, is hosting the Summer Cool Down 4-9 p.m. Saturday from 4-9 p.m. The beer festival will feature samples of summer offerings from 15 craft beer brewers from North Carolina and throughout the country. Live music will be provided by Shane Smith and the Irish duo Under The Radar. Tickets are $35 and include a free sample mug. Tickets can be bought in advance at theraleighbeergarden.com/events.

Cary’s Downtown Chowdown (formerly known as the Chatham Street Chowdown) is leaving its East Chatham Street home and moving to the refurbished Academy Street for its next rodeo from noon to 5:30 p.m. Sunday. Head to Academy Street between Chatham Street and Dry Avenue and the new Downtown Park. The Cary rodeo features 30 trucks, beer and wine vendors along with live music and seating areas. Other upcoming rodeos are July 30 and Oct. 1, all from noon to 5:30 p.m. townofcary.org (search “Downtown Chowdown”)

A live cooking show about Southern identities, “The Boiled Peanut Hour,” will feature The Lee Bros. (Matt and Ted Lee), with Andrea Reusing, chef at Lantern in Chapel Hill and the restaurant of the Durham Hotel, and choreographer Mark Dendy at 7 p.m. July 9 at Reynolds Industries Theater, Durham. Tickets are $50. Part of the American Dance Festival lineup. A limited number of $250 VIP tickets are available, which include a ticket to the performance and an after-show four-course dinner with the performers at The Durham Hotel prepared by Andrea Reusing. Proceeds will benefit the ADF Scholarship Fund. Tickets are available at the Duke University box office at tickets.duke.edu or by calling 919-684-4444. For information on the dance festival, go to americandancefestival.org.

The Wake Forest Food Truck Rodeo has two more events scheduled July 23 and Oct. 29. The July 23 event is noon to 4 p.m. at The Renaissance Centre at 405 S. Brooks St. in downtown Wake Forest. More than 15 trucks will be on site, plus a beer tent will be provided by Brooks Street Bowl. facebook.com/wakeforestfoodtruckrodeo/

Alley Twenty-Six in Durham will host two cider cocktail classes with Mattie Beason, owner of Black Twig Cider House. Each class will offer tastings of three cider cocktails and discussions with Beason, Alley Twenty-Six’s Shannon Healy, Rob Mariani of Alley Twenty-Six Tonic Syrup’s and North Carolina distillers. Beason will serve cider cocktails after each class. Classes are 4-5 p.m. Aug. 19 (with Fair Game Beverage Company). Cost: $25. Alley Twenty Six is at 320 E. Chapel Hill St., Durham. ticketbase.com/events/cidercocktails

A fundraising dinner series from Families Moving Forward continues at The Rickhouse, 609 Foster St., Durham. Proceeds will benefit the organization, which provides temporary homes to homeless families with children. Upcoming dinners are with Billy Cotter, Toast and Dashi, Aug. 21; and John May, Piedmont, Oct. 16. There will be a finale gala Dec. 8. Tickets are $75 and include the meal, wine and beer. A limited number of series passes will be sold for all four events and gala. Gala tickets are $50. Tickets are sold in advance only. familiesmovingforwardnc.org/chefsforchange

The Durham Central Park Food Truck Rodeo is five times a year and boasts that it’s the original food truck rodeo of the Triangle. More than 50 trucks congregate at Durham Central Park at 501 Foster St., accompanied by live music and local brewers. Upcoming rodeos are Sept. 3 (noon to 4 p.m.) and Nov. 5. durhamcentralpark.org

Tickets are on sale for October’s TerraVita Food & Drink Festival, which will feature award-winning chefs, journalists, authors and tastings along with a sustainable food message. The four-day festival, now in its eighth year, is Oct. 18-21 at various Chapel Hill venues. The festival features dinners, chef demos as well as the Sustainable Classroom – workshops and tastings with acclaimed speakers. This year’s festival also will feature a Seasoned in the Chef tribute dinner to honor Bill Smith of Crook’s Corner in Chapel Hill. Chefs will prepare courses to recognize Smith’s legacy as a chef. Ticket prices vary per event. A limited number of four-day passes are $550. TerraVitaFest.com.

Abundance Healing Arts is hosting a series of sessions for participants to learn about edible and medicinal trees while walking through woods and fields in Chatham County. Participants will learn tree identification, safe and sustainable harvesting, as well as food and medicine preparation and uses. Participants also will create tree-inspired teas and edible treats. Classes are Thursdays from 5 to 8 p.m. June 22 and 29. The cost is $165 per person. abundancehealingarts.com/events.html

Chef Gabe Barker of Pizzeria Mercato will teach a class from 6:30-9 p.m. June 28 at Midway Community Kitchen, 505 W. Rosemary St., Chapel Hill. There will be wine pairings with the food that’s prepared. $65. 919-280-0895, midwaycommunitykitchen.com.

Taste Carolina offers a variety of food tours in Chapel Hill, Durham, Raleigh and Hillsborough, including tasting tours, Raleigh Roots Tour, Dinner and Drinks tours and a Speakeasies Cocktail Tour. For descriptions, dates and reservations, go to tastecarolina.net.

Tobacco Road Tours offers several tours in Raleigh and Durham. They include the Raleigh Walking Culinary & Cultural Tour, Raleigh Craft Cocktail Tour and the Raleigh Pub Crawl & Haunted Adventure Tour. For descriptions, dates and reservations, go to tobaccoroadtours.com.

Guided culinary walking tours are offered in Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill and Cary on Saturday afternoons. Start times vary. Tickets are $45, plus a service fee. Reservations must be made in advance. For descriptions, dates and reservations, go to trianglefoodtour.com

Tap the Triangle offers craft beer tours in Durham, Chapel Hill and Raleigh. TTT will offer a Friday night “hop on, hop off” shuttle connecting the breweries in Durham for a flat rate. The company has partnered with a dozen breweries and bottle shops and offers tours from $24.99 to $69.99. They package beer tastings with transportation. TapTheTriangle.com

Tours are offered at Mystic Farm & Distillery, 1212 N. Mineral Springs Road, Durham. Participants will learn about the process of making Bourbon whiskey and other spirits from the fields to the bottling line. Afterward, there will be a walking tour of the farm or a game of giant Jenga. Tours are Saturday from 2 to 3 p.m. and 4 to 5 p.m. $10 and up. whatismystic.com.

Tour the facility in downtown Knightdale to see how Lassiter’s North Carolina Rum is made. Tours run 30-45 minutes and include a sample of rum for guests 21 and over. Lassiter Distilling Co., 319 N. First Ave., Knightdale. 919-295-0111, lassiterdistilling.com.

This story was originally published June 22, 2017 at 4:15 PM with the headline "Foodie events in the Triangle: Dinners, tours, tastings."