Barcelona Wine Bar offers a Spanish-inspired tapas menu with nearly 30 tapas.
Juli Leonard
jleonard@newsobserver.com
This Mother’s Day is different than the last one and that’s something to celebrate.
Last year, love meant staying apart, while this one may mean coming together for many families for the first time in months.
This Mother’s Day, Triangle restaurants are returning to what they do best, serving as scenes for special occasions. Because the pandemic remains very much with us, some are continuing to offer take-home feasts for picnics or porches or gathering around the dining room tables.
Here are some of the Triangle’s best bets for brunch, treats and special meals for mom.
While still taking reservations for its patio for Mother’s Day, Acme is also offering a take-home “picnic” for two, with chilled cucumber soup, a quiche Lorraine, cold dark meat fried chicken, potato salad, poached asparagus with lemon and mint and a strawberry skillet cake with whipped cream. The meal is $54 for two people and can be picked up Saturday, May 8.
Acme Food & Beverage Co. in Carrboro. Travis Long tlong@newsobserver.com
107 S. Edinburgh Drive, Suite 106A, Cary. 919-362-7882 or asalievents.com
This Cary cafe is serving a Mother’s Day tea party with sandwiches, labneh dip, desserts and pastries. The cost is $40 per person and is for up to six people.
Offering take-home wine and chocolate kits to make pan con chocolate. Kits include salted chocolate, olive oil, Maldon salt and a bottle of wine for $65.
Seared tenderloin with butter poached lobster tails is from the chef’s suggestions on the dinner menu at The Capital Grille in Raleigh. Juli Leonard jleonard@newsobserver.com
Serving Mother’s Day brunch and a three-course dinner in the dining room or as take-home packages. Brunch includes options like lobster frittata, steak and eggs and the regular menu. Take-home meals include a whole beef tenderloin or butter-poached lobster, sides, salad and dessert, ranging from $165 for two, to $295 for groups of four to six.
The Counting House in the 21c Museum Hotel. NEWS & OBSERVER FILE PHOTO
The restaurant of the Durham hotel 21c has two Mother’s Day options. They’re serving quiche to go, with a choice of mushroom or Lorraine for $30 or dine-in brunch specials, including baked eggs with tarragon cream and smoked salmon and bagels with the works.
The Durham’s dining room is an airy, casually inviting space whose vibrant mid-century modern decor takes its cues from the former Home Savings Bank building, an iconic 1968 structure that has been restored. Juli Leonard jleonard@newsobserver.com
315 E. Chapel Hill St., Durham, in The Durham hotel. 919-768-8830 or thedurham.com/dining
The restaurant at The Durham hotel is serving a three-course Mother’s Day brunch, with a plate of pastries to share and dishes like braised pork ribs with rice and hoison porridge, plaintain soup with smoked chicken, seafood ceviche, a waffle with North Carolina strawberries and shrimp and grits. The cost is $55 per person. The Durham is also serving Mother’s Day dinner at its rooftop bar, with a three-course $55 meal, with baked oysters, blackened pork belly, venison sirloin and either strawberry creme brulee or chocolate torte for desert.
Guglhupf in Durham still has one of the area’s most enchanting patios. Juli Leonard jleonard@newsobserver.com
2706 Durham-Chapel Hill Blvd., Durham. 919-401-2600 or guglhupf.com
The Mother’s Day specials from this Durham bakery include a strawberry-rhubarb tart, lime and strawberry meringues, french macarons and a strawberry trifle with strawberry mousse, compote and fresh slices. The deadline to order is May 6.
1505 E. Franklin St., Chapel Hill. 919-918-2545 or ilpalio.com
Serving up a three-course brunch with options like sliced prosciutto, sunny side up eggs with pancetta, brioche french toast, grilled mushroom bolognese with polenta, spaghetti carbonara and an Eggs Benedict trio. Dessert options include lemon sorbet and flourless chocolate torta with candied orange. The meal is $64 per person.
Three locations in Cary: 4248 NW Cary Parkway; 220 W Chatham St.; 5055 Arco St. lafarmbakery.com
This popular Cary bakery is offering a takeout brunch for Mother’s Day, including French toast casserole or quiche, seasonal fruit, candied bacon and chocolate and vanilla swirl cake. The package is $50 and is available for pickup May 7-9.
Offering a three course prix fixe lunch menu from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. for $55 per person. Options include deviled cab and lobster cake, wild boar lettuce wraps, fried avocado tacos, artichoke stuffed salmon and desserts like creme brulee and strawberry shortcake.
Offering Mother’s Day packages for two, four or six people people, including strawberry and spinach salad, chopped barbecue, a half chicken, sides, bread and dessert. Meals range from $50 to $140 and the deadline to order is May 5.
4325 Glenwood Ave., Raleigh. 919-787-3052 or seasons52.com
Serving a three-course family-style meal for four to six people for $100, including options like cedar roasted salmon, glazed ham or wood-fired beef filet, with salad, vegetables and dessert. Orders can be picked up May 7 or May 8.
The North Hills’ restaurant, STIR, touts its oyster bar as a specialty, and typically offers several East Coast varieties from North Carolina to P.E.I. Juli Leonard jleonard@newsobserver.com
4242 Six Forks Road, Raleigh, in North Hills. 984-200-8614 or stirraleigh.com.
Running a host of brunch specials Saturday and Sunday of Mother’s Day weekend.
The food is a key element in creating a soul-nurturing vibe, along with a bar with some 50 wines on tap and a dining rooms that offer a wide variety of seating options. Juli Leonard jleonard@newsobserver.com
500 Glenwood Ave., Suite 100, Raleigh. 919-803-6033 or vidrioraleigh.com
This Glenwood South spot is serving a Mother’s Day brunch with nearly a dozen specials, including crab cake Benedicts, creme brulee french toast, shakshouka and hummus with pickled cherries.
This Raleigh bakery is offering strawberry shortcake kits, which include a pound of Homeland Creamery ice cream, a pound of local strawberries and four Yellow Dog shortcakes. The kits are $20 and can be picked up Friday, May 7 and Saturday May 8. Yellow Dog is closed on Sundays.
This story was originally published May 4, 2021 at 10:00 AM.
Drew Jackson writes about restaurants and dining for The News & Observer and The Herald-Sun, covering the food scene in the Triangle and North Carolina.
