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October Food Trucks

October Food Trucks

by | Sep 24, 2015 | Eat, October 2015

You’ve got one hour. Why waste time staring down the office microwave as a frozen meal goes round and round? Circle food trucks instead! Raleigh Magazine rounded up a few of the most popular Raleigh food trucks. Don’t see your favorite truck? Email us at [email protected]. (For an October listing with dinner times, visit raleighmag.com.)

Cousins Maine Lobster

@CMLobsterRAL

Sat. 10/3, 11 a.m. – 3 p.m.

Greenway Club at Falls River

Wed. 10/7, 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.

3201 Beechleaf Ct. Highwoods,

Tower Two

Fri. 10/30, 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.

Blue Ridge Road, The Atrium

Valentino’s

(meatballs & NY eats)

@ValentinoTruck

Fri. 10/2, 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.

Common Oaks Lunch, 11410 Common Oaks Dr.

Wed. 10/7, 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.

Six Forks Lunch, 4700 Homewood Ct.

Th. 10/22, 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.

N.C. Education Lottery,

2100 Yonkers Rd.

Soomsoom Pita Pockets

@SoomsoomPita

Fri. 10/30, 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.

Trinity Place, 1201 Edwards Mill Rd.

Philly’s Cheesesteaks

Mon. 10/5, 10/12, 10/19, 10/26,

11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.

Qualcomm, 8041 Arco Corporation Dr.

PhoNomenal Dumpling Truck

@PhoNomDumplings

Th. 10/29, 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.

Trinity Place, 1201 Edwards Mill Rd.

Even more food trucks! It’s the Food Truck Rodeo!

It’s a foodie’s dream: 50 food trucks covering 11 city blocks.

Bring friends and an appetite.

Downtown Raleigh Food Truck Rodeo

Fayetteville Street

Sun. 10/11, 1 p.m. – 6 p.m.

Dates and times subject to change.

And, in food truck news . . . 

Last month, after being presented with a petition signed by 1,600 Raleigh residents, the City Council voted unanimously to allow food trucks to operate in some mixed-use neighborhoods, including:

• Brier Creek

• Five Points

• Mordecai

Who Wants a Shot?

Who Wants a Shot?

by | Sep 24, 2015 | Eat, October 2015

Are those 21-and-up celebrating? Do they love the taste? Are they just too busy to commit to a cocktail? Or is it a “look- what-I-can-do” situation? There’s no elegant answer. But we came close at Fox Liquor Bar. “It kind of brings everybody together for a second . . .  drinking the same drink,” Matt Coleman, general manager, says about a group shot.

Not surprising: Some folks are looking for tipsy at a fast clip. (We trust that they’re looking for an Uber, too.)

So, we’ve scoured the local nightlife scene to find some of the best shots at Raleigh bars. For sippers, shooters and even “I-would-never” onlookers, here’s a glimpse at what’s happening in some tiny glasses around town.

 

WHISKEY SMASH (pictured above)

It starts with two lemon wedges, a dash of simple syrup and mint simple syrup. Up next: fresh mint sprigs smacked for flavor and muddled in the shaker. Finally: Bulleit Bourbon; otherwise known as “frontier whiskey.” What hits you first? The lemon flavor, says Raleigh Times bartender Cameron Burns says. “And you should get little mint pieces in there, too, if I did it right,” he laughs. “The simple syrup cuts the bourbon. You can taste the bourbon, but you don’t get that bite.”

 


JACK HONEY

There’s music, the clank-clank of air hockey and patrons in baseball caps. Inside Boxcar Arcade on West Davie Street, there are also shot specials such as the caramel-ly Jack Honey on Saturdays. Suggested chaser? Coca-Cola. (P.S. Any purchase on a Monday gets you two free game tokens.)

Jack Honey shot

3. FERNET-BRANCA (in the picture below the Fernet-Branca is on the left, the Raspberry Daiquiri on the right)

Often ordered with a beer, the Fernet-Branca shot is known in restaurant culture as a “bartender’s handshake,” Fox Liquor Bar manager Matt Coleman says. “If I was in New York and they found out I was a cocktail bartender, they’d probably send a shot of Fernet-Branca.”

4. RASPBERRY DAIQUIRI

Fresh lime juice, simple syrup, white Rum, muddled raspberries and bitters make this Fox Liquor Bar shot. It’s shaken with Kold-Draft ice, strained into a shot glass and served with a fresh raspberry. No chaser.

raleighmag28

5. BISON BOMB

This $25 dollar, multi-step shot is the thing. And it’s happening, albeit less frequently than a Miller Lite, at the Bison on Whitaker Mill Road. Ask the barkeep for a Bison Bomb, and he’ll start building with a one-ounce Fireball shot. In another glass: grenadine, more Fireball and Sprite. And in another one-ounce shot glass: Jameson Irish Whiskey and Bailey’s Irish Cream. In still another glass: four ounces of Guinness. Finally, it’s a pitcher with 8.5 ounces of Red Bull and a shot of vodka. (We know. You and your stomach barely made it through the written description, right?)

The pitcher, two glasses and two shot glasses are stacked together in Jenga-like fashion.

“I’ve seen people ages 21 to 88 try this . . .  it’s a novelty,” manager Scott Alexander says.

Shot glass

The order of events:

1. Pick up fireball (which sends the Jameson mixture into the Guinness) and consume;

2. Slide grenadine mixture into the Red Bull in pitcher;

3. Drink Guinness mixture;

4. Then, have what’s in the pitcher.

— Kate Turgeon Watson

Buying N.C. Moonshine — Legally!

Buying N.C. Moonshine — Legally!

by | Sep 24, 2015 | Eat, October 2015

October 1 is one big day. North Carolina’s distilleries, which make liquor such as moonshine, will be allowed to sell one bottle per year to each customer who visits. Because liquor sales are state controlled in North Carolina, you could previously only purchase moonshine from ABC stores or bars. (According to the North Carolina Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission, the Old North State is one of 17 control states.)

 

Here are a few N.C. moonshine flavors.

• Midnight Moon Blueberry (Piedmont Distillers/Madison, NC) • Midnight Moon Cherry (Piedmont Distillers/Madison, NC)
• Midnight Moon Peach (Piedmont Distillers/Madison, NC)
• Apple Pie (Howling Moon Distillery/Asheville, NC)

• Strawberry (Howling Moon Distillery/Asheville, NC)
• Legacy Appleshine (Broadslab/Benson, NC)
• Legacy Reserve – corn whiskey enhanced through charred oak (Broadslab/Benson, NC)

Former School Counselors Open Bakery

Former School Counselors Open Bakery

by | Aug 22, 2015 | Eat, September 2015

DSC_0992

Sugar sells.

But it took a while for Angie Tucker to realize just how well.

She knew that she and friend Christin Kubasko were onto something when their vanilla butter cookies began selling just about as fast as they could make them. A dozen a week turned into two dozen and, later, an order for 300 custom wedding cookies, and eventually a business—Southern Sugar Bakery, based here in Raleigh.

Propelled by Kubasko’s sugar cookie recipe and decorating prowess, the pair moonlighted in the baking business for about three years. They spent days working as high school counselors and evenings baking and decorating treats for friends and co-workers.

After a while, even their school co-workers begged the question: What are you still doing here?

“I told her, ‘Christin, I really think this could be something,” says Tucker, 35. “You really don’t have much competition. This is new. This is customizable.”

For Tucker and Kubasko, it was worth leaving careers with benefits to pursue a sweet dream. In June they moved their business from Tucker’s home to an industrial kitchen and office space off Lead Mine Road.

While their business name allows for growth and change, they plan to start out focusing on cookies. Their signature item is the vanilla butter cookie, which can be customized, decorated and even shipped thanks to the dry icing.

“The decorated cookies are very simple, but really rich,” says Kubasko, 27. “Almost like shortbread, but not crunchy . . . very soft. We wanted a cookie that not only looked really pretty, but tasted very good.”

Cookies start at $37/dozen. Southern Sugar Bakery, which isn’t running a retail location but accepting online orders instead, also offers chocolate sea salt cookies and cookie cakes ($35-$45.)

facebook.com/SouthernSugarBakery

 

Have Your Cake and Eat It Too (Gluten-Free)

Have Your Cake and Eat It Too (Gluten-Free)

by | Aug 21, 2015 | Eat, September 2015

Raleigh’s first 100-percent gluten-free restaurant, Fresh Levant will open this month at Lafayette Village. The name Levant comes from a region on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean sea.

“Our food will reflect the flavor of Levant Mediterranean food,” says owner Anita Khalek. “We’ll dispel the notion that gluten-free means no breads; we’ll have fresh baked breads and pastries available daily.”

Khalek is quick to add Fresh Levant isn’t just for someone on a restricted diet but for anyone who enjoys eating delicious and healthy food, although the all-natural component is bound to resonate.

“Everything will be organic and non-GMO as well,” says Khalek.

Fresh Levant will serve breakfast, lunch and dinner as well as beer and wine.

freshlevant.com