Ciao, bella! For a taste of Italy in the South worth melting for, look no further than Geluna Gelato, which is opening its first brick-and-mortar in Downtown Cary in April after several successful pop-ups—and almost five years of blood, sweat and tears (er, recipe-tasting, construction and sourcing!).
Owners Diana and Warwick* did their (tasty) homework with a true sweet escape—sampling gelato all over the globe (especially Italy, natch). But it was a shop in Australia, from where Warwick hails that inspired them to go to Carpigiani Gelato University in Italy (yes, it’s a real thing) and learn the scoop, if you will—plus train with a gelato maestro from Bologna. Now, they’re bringing those sweet skills to their gelato shop here in NC, slated to open in April as one of the first of its kind in the Triangle.
Not to be confused with ice cream (and, if you ask for our hot take, gelato is better…), gelato is denser, smoother and creamier, and is made with different ratios of milk, cream and sugar. But Geluna Gelato could be confused with an Italian gelateria—because it’s that good.
Starting with local milk and cream, and made with fresh, raw ingredients with no preservatives or artificial flavors, Geluna Gelato‘s rotating small-batch flavors include must-licks like peanut butter stracciatella, milk and cookies, sea salted caramel, blueberry yogurt, and chocolate—plus tangerine, strawberry and a variety of other dairy-free sorbets. Not to mention gelato pops (!) and cookie sandwiches.
“We’re really just going for giving people an experience, and just that pure pleasure of closing your eyes and being like, ‘Oh, that’s so good,’” says Diana. So, like Gwen Stefani said… “If I could escape and recreate a place as my own world … now wouldn’t that be sweet?” Yup. Essentially, it’s heaven—er, Italy?—in a cup.gelunagelato.com
… for a “house party” at DTR’s new “interactive social museum”—aka the House of Art pop-up bar that promises to be your new fave drinks (and art + music!) destination.
There’s a new pop-up bar near Moore Square hosting an adult “house party” every weekend—and everybody’s invited. Formerly known as The Outpost, House of Art puts unity, diversity, art and music at the forefront—along with fair-priced drinks, natch, that all mix to make for a killer-good time.
“The No. 1 thing we’re trying to do is create a space where everyone’s comfortable, whether you’re Black, white, gay, straight, old, young, male, female. … it doesn’t matter,” says owner Mikhail Wright. “We just want everyone to come in and feel comfortable, so that’s why we put so much work into the interior design.”
The “interactive social museum” features incredibly ’Grammable rooms designed by interior designer Brittany Singer—think colorful neon lights, balloons, vibrant art, walls made of cloud material and even a room designed to look like an igloo (and it’s either actually colder in there or your mind is playing tricks on you…).
Dante Jones Photography
And in an effort to help bring more culture into the city, House of Art hosts a variety of local music artists every Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Additionally on Sundays, they’re teaching the “art of yes” through different experiences like BYOI (bring your own instrument), local vendors and more. “We let artists do whatever they want,” says Saul Parada, who helps book entertainment for House of Art (as well as for Watts & Ward). “There are so many young, talented artists in this town… we want them to be able to have a space and give power back to the people.”
You can expect House of Art to keep it fresh—along with rotating entertainment, the spot will change up its decor and name (you might’ve known it as St. Nick’s Christmas House during the holiday season). But the one thing that won’t change is its dedication to the community. Says Wright, “We’re just trying to figure out a way to make Raleigh the ‘City of Art.’” @housofartnc
Morgan Street Food Hall’s Buena Papa Fry Bar is getting a little taste of stardom.
If there’s one thing that unites everyone in the world, it’s food. And in recent weeks, award-winning Mexican celebrity chef and TV personality Pati Jinich (of PBS TV series Pati’s Mexican Table fame) came to Morgan Street Food Hall’s Buena Papa Fry Bar as part of a new digital series called Thriving With Food with the nonprofit Stand Together—which premieres mid-April.
The series highlights local immigrant chefs’ stories, contributions and influences on local food scenes. During this special Raleigh visit, Buena Papa co-owner Johanna Windon (a native of Bogota, Columbia, who immigrated to the U.S. when she was 6 years old) and her husband, James, chatted with Jinich about “how, as Americans, we are all united by our shared connection of people coming from all over the world to contribute to our country—especially through food.”
Jinich also cooked side-by-side with the Buena Papa chefs in a Diners, Drive-ins and Dives-style format (minus the bleach blonde hair…).
But before you tune in to this little fry-day activity, a little background on Buena Papa… The husband-and-wife team founded the casual eatery in 2021 in Raleigh. Buena Papa’s (which translates to “good potato”) menu was inspired by the Columbian food Windon grew up eating—and, fun fact, the entire menu is in Spanish in an attempt to help English-speaking customers learn the language—plus, a lot of the ingredients are specially imported from Colombia.
Once you try Buena Papa’s loaded fries (topped with everything from Colombian refried beans and fried pork belly to meatballs and tomato sauce to grilled chicken and tzatziki), you’ll understand the a-peel… and that’s something everyone can agree on. buenapapa.com
A trio of Mexican concepts land in Raleigh + the burbs.
Giving Raleighites something to taco ’bout are three spicy Mexican concepts recently opened—or bowing soon—in both Raleigh and its burbs. (Hey, don’t tempt us with a good time… will drive for margaritas and tacos). For a sneak “taste,” we asked what to expect and how these hot spots’ll stand out from the rest.
“Welcome to Mexico City in Cary, where everyone speaks English,” says Top Chef alum Katsuji Tanabe of his recently opened a’Verde Cocina + Tequila Library. The menu features traditional Mexican food (think loaded nachos, enchiladas, street charred corn and more) made by “the son of a Japanese and Mexican family.” And no Mexican resto is complete without cocktails… so when you get thirsty, spring for the Like, Literally or Aloe You Long Time. averdecary.com
Although local bar owner Jason Howard’s concepts are usually small and simple, their quirkiness makes them especially distinct. Howard’s newest spot, Lil Hombre, will be no different—just in Clayton. “[Lil Hombre] is a taco version of The Cardinal,” says Howard—“simple, no frills.” In addition to tacos (feat. meat cooked outside over a live fire!), the spot will be tequila and mezcal heavy—and frozen palomas and margs will be on deck to enjoy either inside or out under a large pergola. Si, por favor! @lilhombreclayton
A gym that you’ll actually be excited about going to… Gym Tacos’ highly anticipated brick-and-mortar is finally open on Hillsborough Street (across from Meredith College) serving up OG faves from the food truck like tacos (natch), quesadillas and burritos. “Everything about Gym Tacos is fresh—from our homemade corn tortillas to our homemade salsas, as well as our homemade aguas, like Jamaica and Horchata,” says Gym Tacos GM Kayla Ramirez. “The facial expressions we see are all the proof you’ll ever need… the taste itself will get you that perfect out-of-this-world feeling.” Spec-taco-lar! @gymtacos
David Meeker is on a mission to preserve Raleigh’s character and culture—one project at a time.
The No. 1 fear you hear from locals? Raleigh losing its identity… morphing into a built-up blueprint of dotted skyscrapers with no forethought of connectivity or personality. Just a concrete and glass jungle where our humble but thriving tree-dotted small city built on Southern charm and a ton of history is but a memory.
Our warp-speed growth—and skyline, with new developments and tower rezoning requests announced on the daily—only serves to simultaneously accelerate our fair city’s cosmopolitan feel and people’s anxiety over losing our traditional culture. But one Raleigh investor is determined to preserve the places and spaces that make Raleigh, well, Raleigh.
Likewise fearing Raleigh is on the fast-track to becoming another Charlotte, Raleigh native and Carpenter Development managing partner David Meeker’s MO has been to keep the character of the City of Oaks with adaptive reuse projects, and he is now branching into new construction with a focus on sustainability via a handful of current projects.
A true investor in his home city, Meeker’s newest endeavors will take his mission of maintaining Raleigh’s personality even further. “We need the density because, without it, we couldn’t have the smaller spots,” he says.
Case in point, SoHi—a two-story, 25,000-square-foot, four-building development featuring retail, a restaurant and a yoga studio, with top-floor offices and coworking spaces to boot.
First announced in 2019 for an otherwise underdeveloped area just a mile south of Downtown on South Wilmington Street, SoHi (dubbed for its location south of I-40) will be one of the greenest developments in Raleigh. Think solar panels on every roof, water cisterns for every building—NTM more bike racks than parking spots (!).
“We are all personally into sustainability and stopping climate change, so it just made sense for us to do as green a development as we can afford to do,” says Meeker. “Hopefully we will have a lot of success with it and others will do the same.”
Projected for 2024 and anticipated to be one of the area’s first new spots, SoHi, Meeker hopes, will revitalize the area. “South Wilmington Street is the old southern entrance to Downtown Raleigh before South Saunders got the I-40 exit,” he says. “SoHi will hopefully bring back life to South Wilmington Street.”
Focusing his efforts elsewhere in Downtown, Meeker, who is also a partner in super-popular Trophy Brewing Co., is arguably positioned to define the future—while preserving the past—of Morgan Street.
In 2020, when now-former owner Arthur Gordon looked to sell Irregardless Cafe—one of Raleigh’s longest-running and most-popular Downtown restaurants—to someone who wouldn’t change it much, he sold it to Lee Robinson and Meeker, who grew up dining there.
Meeker recognizes the growing energy of Morgan Street and how it’s getting built up to become part of Downtown—thanks in large part, he says, to Bloc[83] and The Black Dollar Corp. CEO Johnny Hackett Jr.’s new creator’s space, The Factory. “Johnny’s coworking space (right behind Trophy Morgan) is a gamechanger for our neighborhood,” says Meeker. “The number of people he’s bringing here every day is just wonderful. … And I feel like we have a ton of energy now because of it.”
Now, down Morgan Street, Meeker’s other project —on “the bend” between Irregardless and Trophy Brewing + Pizza, where he bought three houses from a local business owner—will breathe new life into the otherwise arguably undeveloped strip that bridges Downtown to the Hillsborough Street Corridor and Village District. “I didn’t want them to get bought up by someone who was going to build a tower [there],” he says.
Dubbed The Bend, the trio of concepts—slated to bow in fall 2023—will be connected via an almost boardwalk-like shared front porch, so you can traipse back and forth between what Meeker envisions as a coffee shop, wine shop and neighborhood bar—each of which he hopes will be in partnership with established local concepts. The Bend will also include an outdoor area with tables, and a potential shipping container bar and semipermanent food truck.
Clearly, not all heroes wear capes—and this one is quietly quashing Raleighites fears of a concrete jungle while preserving our fave city’s authentic identity—one project at a time.
