Frazier’s, the crown jewel of Hillsborough Street dining and the original restaurant of the Urban Food Group, will be closing after Valentine’s Day. After suffering through some recent chef changes, compounded by the double whammy of the bad economy and the Hillsborough Street construction project, Kevin and Stacey Jennings have decided to close Frazier’s and re-open as a wine bar with a substantial food focus.
The wine bar, which does not yet have a name (let’s have a contest!), will serve many small plates with a menu that changes frequently. The wines on the list will drive what’s on the menu, rather than vice-versa. Urban Food Group will have an enomatic or cruvinet, with the hope to pour 20 wines by the glass. The atmosphere of the place will be very casual. With wines and craft beers selected by Scott Luetgenau, I’m confident that there will be many offerings here that are not available anywhere else.
Although many foodies claim that the small plate concept is passe, it is actually thriving, especially for the younger diners that enjoy going out in crowds. The inspiration for this new wine bar is New York’s The Ten Bells, which has been quite successful since opening in May of 2008.
Personally, I’m sad to see Frazier’s go, and I wish I could get over there one final time before it closes. I always felt as if it were the poor stepchild in Raleigh’s fine dining scene, which is completely undeserved, as it’s been a great restaurant. The space is awkward, however, and I sense it sort of got lost in the Hillsborough Street scene. I suspect the wine bar will be a bit of a place to be seen, which Hillsborough Street is lacking. Many a wine bar has come to the area, and many have failed. Fortunately, for us, I suspect this new Urban Food Group venture will do just fine.
Come join me at Fleming’s Steakhouse at the Crabtree Valley Mall next Wednesday, February 10, from 5 to 7 to drink some wine, eat some appetizers, and support the Lucy Daniels Center.
I know, I know, Fleming’s is a chain restaurant. And it’s a steakhouse. But geesh, they really do give back to the community with their ”Wine Wednesdays” that support a different charity each month. This month’s designated charity is the Lucy Daniels Center, the area’s largest non-profit provider of mental health services to children (and I’m on the Board).
Here’s the deal: Fleming’s will have 5 different wines available by the glass at the bar. A glass of wine will cost you 10 bucks. You’ll also get some complementary appetizers. And 100% of that 10 bucks goes to the Lucy Daniels Center. Sooo, if we get 100 people there, each buying 2 glasses of wine, we just raised a couple thousand bucks for this extraordinary organization.
bu•ku, the new “global street food” concept of Chef William D’Auvray, will open today. The menu is an eclectic assortment of exotic soups, breads, and other street foods, focusing primarily on Asia, but with a great mix of other regions including Eastern Europe (pierogi), South America (empanada), and Mexico (cochinita). Everything is made in-house, including the fantastic cha siu bao, the steamed barbecued pork buns from China, and the paneer, served with kale, sweet onion and cardamom. Indian chapati and papadum are also made fresh, in house.
Fortunately, for those who were fans of Fins, you can still get a lot of D’Auvray’s signature dishes, including his Indonesian style snapper and the best sashimi in town.
The restaurant’s decor has not changed. It’s the same big space, with some additional prints added. This type of more casual dining, however, should transform the restaurant. Whereas Fins was a place you went to on a special occasion, bu•ku will be a place for a group to get together for drinks and lots of great snacks. It’s a festive place, with flavors from across the world. And if you want that special meal, you can still get it at bu•ku. We certainly know that with William D’Auvray heading up the kitchen, the food will be excellent.
bu•ku will only be open for dinner this week, but I suspect lunch service will begin next week.
Ever since I bought my cheap pressure cooker, I’ve been exploring ways to use it in getting dinner to the table more quickly. This is important to me, as I often don’t get home from work until 7 or so, and I don’t want to spend an hour or two putting together a nice meal. I’m trying to eat more high fiber foods, such as brown rice, so the pressure cooker allows me to cook that rice in 20 minutes, rather than an hour.
Last night, I tried making risotto in the pressure cooker. That’s right, risotto, which traditionally takes 20 to 30 minutes of constant attention. But not in a pressure cooker. You cook it for 8 minutes, without stirring. And damn it, if it didn’t come out perfect!
Now you still have to cut up your vegetables for the soffritto. Last night I used shallots, fennel, garlic and carrot. I browned some boneless chicken thighs in the cooker, removed them, added the soffritto, and cooked for a couple of minutes. Add the rice, stir to coat, some wine, chicken stock, and then the chicken. Seal the cooker and cook for 8 minutes. Release the steam, stir in grated cheese and butter, and serve.
This risotto was absolutely perfect. Creamy and rich. The starches from the arborio rice released into the broth, which surprised me. I thought that the dish would be overly watery, but it wasn’t at all. And the chicken was nicely cooked, too.
I may never make traditional risotto again.
Pressure Cooker Rissotto
1-1/2 cups aborio rice
2-1/2 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup white wine
1 pound boneless chicken thighs
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 shallot, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and finely diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 Tbsp butter
Heat oil in pressure cooker without lid over high heat. Salt and pepper chicken thighs and brown in hot oil. Remove chicken from cooker and add shallot, carrots and garlic. Stir for 1-2 minutes. Add rice and stir for another minute. Add wine, stir, and then add stock. Add browned chicken thighs (including any exuded juices), bring to a simmer, and seal pressure cooker. Reduce heat to low and cook for 8 minutes.
Release pressure, remove lid, and stir in cheese and butter. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
This Sunday and Monday, a number of Triangle-based restaurants will be donating 10% of their proceeds to two charities for the relief efforts in Haiti. This effort was initiated on Facebook by local chefs and foodies, and as of the time of this post, there are 20 restaurants participating. Here’s the list of confirmed restaurants:
SUNDAY, JANUARY 24
Watt’s Grocery (Durham)
Bogart’s American Grill (Raleigh)
Crook’s Corner (Evening Service Only – Chapel Hill)
Cup A Joe (Chapel Hill)
HI5 (Raleigh)
Joe Van Gogh (Durham)
Michael Dean’s Seafood Grill (Raleigh)
Milltown (Carrboro)
Panzanella (Carrboro)
Red Room Tapas Lounge (Raleigh)
Saladelia Cafe (Durham)
Saxapahaw General Store (Saxapahaw)
Southern Rail (Carrboro)
The Mash House (Fayetteville)
Twisted Fork (Raleigh)
West End Wine Bar (Durham)
MONDAY, JANUARY 25
ACME Food and Beverage Co. (Carrboro)
Cup A Joe (Chapel Hill)
Cypress On The Hill (Chapel Hill)
Foster’s Market (Durham/Chapel Hill)
GlassHalFull (Carrboro)
Globe Restaurant (Raleigh)
Joe Van Gogh (Durham)
Lantern (Chapel Hill)
Mad Hatter’s Bakeshop and Cafe (Durham)
Neal’s Deli (Carrboro)
Parker and Otis (Durham)
Pop’s (Durham)
Rockwood Filling Station (Durham)
Ruckus Pizza Pasta and Spirits (Cary)
Rue Cler (Durham)
Sandwhich (Chapel Hill)
Six Plates Wine Bar (Durham)
Toast (Durham)
Tyler’s Restaurant and Tap Room (Carborro, Durham and Apex)
West End Wine Bar (Chapel Hill)
Zely and Ritz (Raleigh)
More information on this fantastic effort can be found on this Facebook page or this new blog that’s been started. The blog says that 10% of profits will be donated to the charities, but that is a misprint. It is 10% of sales. So go to brunch on Sunday and then to dinner on Monday. And spread the word!
(Edited to reflect changes to participating restaurants at 8:15 AM, 1/23/10)
A family friend recently had a baby, and my youngest daughter decided she needed to make some special cupcakes for them. With the aid of her brother and sister and my wife, this is what they made. Pretty impressive!
News & Observer restaurant critic, Greg Cox, has named his top 25 restaurants in the Triangle, with Herons named as his restaurant of the year. There are a few new additions to his list, including Herons’ going from a no-show to the top performer. Others new to the list include Poole’s Downtown Diner, the Fearrington House, Second Empire, and Watts Grocery. Interestingly, the online version of this article only has 24 restaurants, unlike the print version, which included Fins on this year’s list. This is because this list went to press before the announcement was made that Fins is closed as it transforms to bu•ku.
Last year Cox included a number of value-type restaurants in his list, such as Allen & Son and China Palace, but no such cheap eats place remains on this year’s list. Cox has a completely separate list of top “Bargains.” Other restaurants that are no longer on the Top 25 are Bin 54, Dos Taquitos Centros, Enoteca Vin (closed).
This is a solid list and serves as a guide to the best of the best in the Triangle. One can argue about a restaurant here or there, but in the end, Cox does a super job helping his readers find the best places to eat.
For a geographic breakdown, of the top 24 restaurants, 10 are in Raleigh, 4 are in Chapel Hill, 6 are in Durham, 2 in Cary, 1 in Pittsboro and 1 in Hillsborough. Raleigh only has one of the “Best Bargains,” interestingly enough.
Greg Cox’s Top 24 Restaurants of the Triangle — 2010 Edition
Chef William D’Auvray’s fantastic downtown restaurant, Fins, is no more and will soon reopen under the name bu•ku. With its name coming from the mispronunciation of the French word, beaucoup, the restaurant will continue D’Auvray’s focus on Asian-influenced food, but will emphasize a “global street food” concept. Small plates will be the norm at bu•kuin a manner “inspired by the pushcarts of street vendors.” Fortunately, the restaurant will also focus on the lunch crowd. bu•ku will have a dedicated happy hour along with a strong craft beer and artisanal cocktail program.
D’Auvray has always been one of my favorite chefs in the Triangle, but Fins struggled in its large downtown location. With this new concept, I’m hopeful that more folks will discover this amazing chef. More details to come after I get a chance to talk to Chef D’Auvray.
Edit: Interestingly, D’Auvray intends at some point to have actual street carts downtown and to offer a dim sum brunch. Now that’s very cool. The web address is www.bukuraleigh.com.
While I continue to catch up with my work, I thought I’d post a few tidbits on some news involving local chefs and restaurants.
Phoebe Lawless’ Scratch Bakery will be opening a retail spot in the spring in downtown Durham at 111 Orange Street. The bakery will feature all of Phoebe’s great offerings, including pies and, of course, her legendary donut muffins. This doesn’t mean that Phoebe will stop going to the Durham Farmer’s Market, however, so you’ll have one more place to get her awesome stuff.
Herons was awarded 5 stars by News & Observer restaurant critic, Greg Cox, the first place to receive a 5 star review. Other establishments have the full 5 stars, but at the time they were reviewed, they received 4 stars, which was the top mark at the time. The N&O has since moved to a 5 star ranking. Herons’ chef Scott Crawford and his right hand, Steven Greene, celebrated in part by dining at Chicago’s renowned Alinea. They had to suffer through 35 of Grant Achatz’s courses, the poor guys.
Chef Rob Bland has parted ways with Urban Food Group’s Coquette. Bland was instrumental in bringing French brasserie fare to the Triangle. No word on what Bland will be doing next or who will be taking over that kitchen.
Speaking of Urban Food Group, they have taken over as the exclusive food provider of the Woman’s Club of Raleigh, giving UFG a legitimate catering presence in the Triangle.
There’s a number of other interesting tidbits that I’d love to share, but I’m currently sworn to secrecy. Let me just say that there will likely be a lot more action in the Raleigh food scene in the coming year, and I’m pretty damn excited about that.
OK, that’s an arrogant headline if there ever was one, but aren’t blogs really an exercise in vanity anyway?
I apologize for my absence, but I headed down to Florida over the holidays to see my parents and to watch my son play in a big-time soccer tournament. I don’ t have much to report on the food side of things from that trip (except that I tasted a premium Polish vodka that might have been the nastiest thing I’ve ever drunk in my life).
I do want to wish all of you a Happy New Year! I also want to let you know that I’ve got a bunch of great posts to come soon. Posts on Fullsteam Brewery’s construction, the menu development process at Lucky 32, and the opening of a new bakery. I’ve got posts on a very easy buttermilk pie recipe and the simplicity of making eclairs and gougeres. I’m also going to talk about Greg Cox’s rave review of Herons.
Of course, I’ll be writing about my kids and their relationship with food. Speaking of which, my wife’s clever meal planning device was mentioned in today’s paper. It truly has saved her sanity.
My wife’s family has a longstanding tradition for breakfast Christmas morning that is, well, rather disgusting. All it is is melted cheddar cheese, but we bake cubes of sharp cheddar until the oil starts separating from the cheese solids and a crust forms along the top and edges. This crust, called “frust” for some reason by my family, is the most desired part of the dish. We serve the cheese with freshly baked buttermilk biscuits and preserves (fig is the first choice). I generally serve some scrambled eggs, too, but it’s a simple breakfast where the frust is the star.
It’s funny how such a simple thing can be so special, when you serve it only once a year. May you have a little frust in your world this Christmas.
Ever drink an Abita Amber? Or a Turbodog? How about a Purple Haze? Well, those are all beers that my good buddy Brooks Hamaker formulated and brewed down in Abita Springs, Louisiana for the iconic Abita Brewing Company. Brooks was with Abita at its inception and helped grow the brewery into the South’s leading producer of craft beer.
And now he’s coming to North Carolina to join the crew at Durham’s Fullsteam Brewery as its Head of Operations. Brooks will initially focus on helping to move and install Fullsteam’s brewhouse to the new brewpad. He’ll work with brewer Chris Davis to help fine-tune the brewing system and scale brewery operations in anticipation of a spring launch.
Needless to say, I’m incredibly excited for Fullsteam, which will be opening in the spring, producing its fantastic Southern agricultural beers. I’m also excited for founder Sean Lilly Wilson, who now has the perfect operations guy to help run the show. But in the end, I’m excited for me, as one of my best friends in the world is relocating from New Orleans to Durham, and I’ll get to drink his beer.
Brooks isn’t just a brewer; he’s a food writer, too, who has appeared in many regional and national publications. Of course, we were both on the managerial staff of the eGullet Culinary Society. Salon.com recently appointed Brooks to the Salon Kitchen Cabinet, where he serves as the online magazine’s resident beer expert. And hell, he even dates a Beard Award-winning chef.
And I will be writing about the construction of the Fullsteam Brewery in the coming weeks. There’s a lot of work to be done, but now that Brooks Hamaker is onboard, I see nothing but smooth sailing — and drinking — ahead. Welcome to the Triangle, Brooksie!
Looking for that perfect gift for the food-fanatic in your life? Look no further than this, the banana slicer. Yes, for $2.12, you can have this amazing tool from Amazon. I mean, what would you have done without this baby? Use a friggin’ knife? Oh, that’s so, um, practical.
I’ve seen some stupid kitchen tools over the years, but this might be the absolute worst.
I feel like a Catholic school boy caught smoking after trying some of the ultra-cheap wine at Trader Joe’s (be sure to read all the comments on that post). First, the experience wasn’t all that great, and then there was the guilty aftermath.
Sure, the wine only costs 5 bucks a bottle, and sure, the first one I tried wasn’t bad. But everything went downhill from there. The OK wine was awful on day 2. The white wines were completely undrinkable. The Italian tasted like grape juice — without the fermentation. And those were the best parts — I got completely slammed by some folks whose opinion I completely respect.
Ultimately, two different wine merchants pretty much nailed it on the head: Trader Joe’s sells the “fast food” of wine. I’m going to quote an entire comment, because this reader really identified the issue:
$5 bottles of wine are like McDonald’s hamburgers or Applebee’s dinner – mass produced replicas designed and created in a lab specifically to taste like the real thing, and to taste the same the world over. The Applebee’s spinach dip in Seattle tastes the same as it does down the street in North Carolina. And there’s nothing wrong with that per se, it’s just not worth writing or reading about. It serves it’s purpose, but does little more than that. You don’t blog much about Applebee’s food because it’s not really worth discussing. I mean, you can get it cheap, but ultimately there’s not much to it beyond mass appeal and a low price. You blog about people like Ashley Christensen and not the line chefs at Applebee’s because there’s a story there, it’s worth telling, and it’s worth seeking out.
The same is true of good wine. Good wine is a product of a careful farmer working in collaboration with a gifted wine maker. There are stories worth telling, experiences worth seeking, and people worth meeting. You don’t have to spend a fortune, but it’s also unreasonable to expect decent wine at $5/bottle. Ashley doesn’t purchase her produce and meat by the metric ton and store it for months before hauling it out and reconstituting it. She’s very particular about what she uses, when she uses it, and where it came from. She’s no different than a gifted wine maker in that respect. The difference in resulting quality is evident to anyone who is interested in investigating, whether we’re talking about Ashley’s food or well made wine compared to the mass produced replicas you can get anywhere.
Here’s where I screwed up: I think of wine as a commodity. Wine is still pretty much a mystery to me. I enjoy drinking it, but again, my palate is unable to distinguish much other than body, acidity and fruit — oh, and sweetness, too. Moreover, I don’t make wine nor do I hang out with the winemakers. I just buy the stuff. With restaurant food, I actually have some sense of what goes into it, because I’m a decent home cook. And I hang out with chefs and other cooks. And, hell, I’ve even “worked” in a couple of restaurants. I understand that craft and style and how the care of a restaurant kitchen can translate to the plate.
I don’t see that with wine, and so I haven’t even thought about the issue. Until now. Yes, I still want to find cheap, tasty wine. But I want a story with that wine. I want to know what makes it distinctive. If I have to pay a few dollars more, then so be it. And you know what, I suspect that wine will taste a hell of a lot better than that Trader Joe’s shit.
I like to drink wine, but of all the essential criteria for being a foodie or gastronome or epicure, I’m weakest on the wine side of things. I’ve enjoyed some of the best of the “B” wines: Bordeaux, Burgundy, Barbaresco and Barolo. I visit wine shops and buy my fair share. I’m willing to follow the sommelier’s suggestions.
But at the end of the day, I’m not really sure that I can really distinguish a great wine from a good one. Or a good one from a passable one. I don’t taste tobacco and cranberries and leather in my wines. I can distinguish some fruit, acidity, tannins, and the finish. I’m particularly susceptible to tasting grassy flavors, as one of my dear friends has learned.
Ultimately, I’ve realized that I don’t need to buy $50 pinot noirs. I don’t need to focus on that amazing malbec from Argentina, that’s a steal at $25. I want a wine that cost me five bucks.
Hello, Trader Joe’s.
Trader Joe’s, home of the legendary Charles Shaw label (and affectionately referred to as “Two Buck Chuck”), has more wines priced less than $5 than any other place I know. Yes, I’m sure most of it is swill (and I do not care for the Two Buck Chuck that actually costs three bucks), but I’ve decided to try some of their selections.
So yesterday, during my lunch hour, I headed to the new Trader Joe’s on Wake Forest Road and bought 16 bottles of wine, including the following:
Contadino Pinot Grigio — $4.49
Zarafa Sauvignon Blanc — $3.99
Chiusa Grande Tommolo Montepulciano D’Abruzzo — $5.99
Il Valore Sangiovese — $3.99
Epicuro Aglianico — $5.99
Vintjs Cabernet Sauvignon — $5.99
Hans Lang Rheingau Pinot Noir — $6.99
Blue Fin Pinot Noir — $3.99
La Granja Tempranillo — $3.99
Black Mountain Pinot Noir – $6.99
I bought two bottles each of the first six wines listed above and one of the last four. I paid a total of $89.26, including tax, for this wine, which represents an average price per bottle of $5.58 (or $5.18 before tax). This is my kind of price point!
So I cracked open the La Granja Tempranillo last night, as I wanted to try one of the very cheap samples to see how bad they really could be. And what the hell, it was actually decent. No, it was better than decent, it was tasty. It was a bit tight, but opened up pretty quickly. It had a fair amount of fruit. It went well with my pasta. I actually said, “Wow!” when I sipped it, not because this was some kick-ass wine, but because it was a drinkable wine for FOUR FREAKING DOLLARS!!!
We’ve got friends coming for Thanksgiving, and I’ll not force my cheap wine on them, but for my wife and me, this may be just the way to go. Will report back after guzzling some more of this swill. Very tasty swill, at that.
Ashley Christensen, Bill Smith, and Smoked Chicken Wings
I’m sipping a cold beer on a gorgeous Sunday afternoon, lazing about on a screened-in porch in rural Mississippi. The conversation goes from football to Brazilian forestry camps and then to food. Ah, the conversation always gets back to food, and that’s because I’m surrounded by chefs, who I’ve learned, love to “talk shop” more than just about any other professional I know. These chefs include three winners of the prestigious James Beard Award, one who was recently nominated, and another who will likely win in the next few years. Chefs love to talk about food, and so do I, so I feel right at home on this early November day. Read the rest of this entry »
Frazier’s, the crown jewel of Hillsborough Street dining and the original restaurant of the Urban Food Group, will be closing after Valentine’s Day. After suffering through some recent chef changes, compounded by the double whammy of the bad economy and the Hillsborough Street construction project, Kevin and Stacey Jennings have decided to close Frazier’s and re-open as a wine bar with a substantial food focus.
Posted by Varmint 
