2022 saw the fall of skinny jeans (RIP), and this year’s fashion forecast expects a host of other once-trendy items to be more or less canceled—we draw the line at low-rise jeans though. But, as they say, out with the old and in with the new. Here are some of the top fashion trends you can anticipate in 2023—and where to shop for them locally
Baggy Jeans
Yep, skinny jeans are still canceled (but you’ll still catch us rocking them). Luckily, baggy jeans are basically like denim sweatpants—and that’s a trend we can get behind.
Nothing beats a hot bowl of soup on a winter day. And though I hate the cold, I look forward to #SoupSzn every year (but, tbh, you can also find me downing soup in the summer. Sue me!). This year, I leaned into my soup obsession extra hard to find some of the best bowls in Raleigh. After weeks of sipping, slurping and dunking, here are my top local soup-er stars.
This soup will no doubt have you scraping up every last drop from the bowl. It’s creamy, smooth and a little sweet thanks to the Granny Smith chutney—and you best dig for those rosemary croutons and blue cheese crumbles. bloomsburybistro.com
You could almost even classify this soup as a dip—it’s that thick (get a roll on the side for dipping!). Like your fave broccoli cheese soup counterpart, Cafe Carolina’s rendition is creamy, cheesy and hearty. Panera, who? cafecarolina.com
Everything’s better with cheese, and the amount of cheese on Jolie’s French onion soup is ideal (read: a lot). Underneath the thick layer, you’ll find soft onions in a hearty beef broth and crunchy croutons—altogether resulting in the perfect bite. restaurantjolie.com
Wye Hill takes everything you know and love about a loaded baked sweet potato and puts it into a slurpable soup form (um, yum). The toppings—fried sweet potato skins, country ham crumbles—take it next-level. wyehill.com
Creamy without being too heavy, Relish’s tomato basil soup is perfect for grilled cheese dipping (and the resto has plenty of those from which to choose), or just slurping by the spoonful. Childhood nostalgia, unlocked.relishraleigh.com
I didn’t know why they call it Italian wedding soup (turns out: “marriage” of greens + meat)—but it’s a thing. And you may just wanna marry Bella Monica’s. Starring fresh chicken stock, meatballs, spinach, egg drops and orzo, it’s a hearty yet light savory explosion. bellamonica.com
Exclusive first look: Stakeholders share their vision for development potential.
“I feel more optimistic about the street than I have in a while,” says Bill King—whose vantage point as Downtown Raleigh Alliance president and CEO is clearly in-the-know. “And I really do think you’re going to see Fayetteville Street start to look a bit different over the course of 2023 compared to 2022 and earlier.”
And major players like Fayetteville Street stakeholder Thomas “Skip” Hill are working tirelessly toward that goal. “We want to invest and make this the coolest street—certainly in North Carolina, but in the Southeast and beyond,” says the Highwoods Properties senior VP. “We’re all in soup to nuts, and we want to play a role in coordination with the City of Raleigh.”
Now, propelling that vision, a slew of concepts and activations are on deck—from signed leases to master plans. Here, 10 major updates coming to Raleigh’s Main Street.
Ink Is Dry
Chido Taco This colorful mercado-style taqueria ever so subtly announced its second location on Fayetteville Street by placing two ceramic Chido Taco mugs in the window of the former Living Kitchen space. The new 3,000-square-foot restaurant, slated to open toward the end of Q1, will feature the same menu as the original Chido Taco in McNeil Pointe—and, yes, you’ll be able to take drinks to-go.
HUBB Kitchens Partnership Giving minority and female food & beverage entrepreneurs a leg up is this new training program from HUBB Kitchens, Raleigh Founded and DRA. Expected to start up this summer in a restaurant space at Duke Energy Center before moving to the former Pizza La Stella location Downtown, the concept will train future business owners on cooking skills and the business of running a restaurant, as well as provide mentorship and financing help. It’s also a win-win for those who work/live Downtown, as it’ll add a new lunch option (!). “Being able to provide that, but also make it have an equity impact, is really important to us,” says King.
Mustang House After DTR’s Plaza Cafe owners announced its closure, two Triangle-transplant business partners out of California snatched up the space to open Nepalese concept Mustang House. Look for the spot to open any day now in a lightly refreshed space.
Mobile TV Screen Clearly, Raleighites dig live sports viewing—see the throngs of people who descended on Moore Square to watch the live FIFA World Cup Final via giant mobile TV screen. Now, the city has acquired that massive mobile screen and is evaluating the logistics of live City Plaza screenings of the NCAA tournament, ACC tournament, hockey games and the like.
Economic Development RFP The City of Raleigh is funding an RFP asking national firms to submit proposals for attractions and activations that would promote economic development Downtown (think: retail strategies, position of the DT office market, and supporting minority- and women-owned businesses)—to, in essence, “make Downtown, and Raleigh, great again,” says Hill.
In the Works
Sir Walter Coffee Owner Kevin Frazier confirmed Sir Walter Coffee is very close to signing a lease for the former B.GOOD space at Charter Square—one of four towers Highwoods owns on Fayetteville Street. In the “hip Panera,” as Frazier calls it, expect a slightly bigger breakfast and lunch menu of fresh salads, sandwiches & soups—plus a separate bar and potential for a light dinner menu. If signed, Frazier hopes to open this year.
Alexander Square Parking Deck In addition to the rollup garage doors and other upgrades Highwoods is making as part of the redevelopment of the deck’s ground-floor space we intro’d last summer, the company is also planning to upfit with outdoor dining and food concepts (think sushi, sandwiches, ice cream).
Wells Fargo Building Concept Hill says the lease is very close to being signed for the former Cafe Carolina space—closed since 2017—on a great full-service restaurant from a local hospitality group known for its collection of concepts.
Light Activations Visionary Hill’s, well, vision is to “have lights on every tree all the way down Fayetteville Street,” he says. “In fact, we’d love to have it so that the lighting is tied to a sound system and the lights go dancing on and off based on the music.”
Empire Properties Concept The now-defunct CVS space at 200 Fayetteville St. looks to be a big talker in the near future as Greg Hatem and co. revamp the space with a new concept. Stay tuned.
Ooh la la. Regal restaurateur Giorgios Bakatsias is opening passion project East End Bistrot in East End Market—and it’s a production, in the best way possible.
Going to a Giorgios Bakatsias restaurant isn’t just “grabbing dinner”—it’s a whole experience. “It’s a play,” says executive chef William D’Auvray, “and you’re not going to see the play until you come to the theater.”
The food, the drinks, the atmosphere and the service all come together to form a perfectly choreographed dance, if you will. And the same rings true for the prolific restaurateur’s newest concept, East End Bistrot, bowing in East End Market early this year.
The dance, of course, starts as soon as you walk through the door. A collaboration with local artists, the restaurant’s regal interior is, in a word, stunning. Inspired by Bakatsias’ pond-jump to Paris at a young age, the design evokes a whimsical sense of “pure joy and romance,” he says. Think bold red walls and gold and black elements serving in contrast to feminine large-scale florals by interior designer (and old friend) Tula Summerford and muralist Arianne Hemlein, a showstopping floor-to-ceiling gold tile wall anchoring the open kitchen, a sizable marble-topped bar, vintage French mirrors, and a host of nostalgic photographs and paintings—all grounded by a classic black-and-white French bistro floor. In essence, très magnifique.
Even the playfully wallpapered bathrooms—also selected by Summerford—are whimsically gorgeous. “Bathrooms can be small but clever little spaces to design,” says Bakatsias. “We like to remind our guests we don’t take ourselves too seriously. We’re here to escape—and enjoy each other!”
Outside, the sashay continues with a spacious garden terrace surrounded by lush greenery (perfect for more casual dining or groups, says Bakatsias) and a Champagne garden touting comfortable lounge seating that’s ideal for wine and cocktails and light bites or dessert before or after dinner.
Ultimately the “sexy French” bistro—as Bakatsias describes it—is “a place to dress up and experience the theater of dinner,” he says. But it’s the opposite of stuffy. Essentially, Bakatsias and D’Auvray (whom Bakatsias has a long history of working with at his restaurants, such as Parizade and Cafe Giorgios), are taking the old-school concept of a formal elevated dining experience and turning it on its head, giving it a modern spin that feels like, well, a fun production.
The level of service, the food and the wine will naturally remain high, as you’d expect from a Giorgios Group concept. In fact, Bakatsias is hiring a sommelier for East End Bistrot, which alone speaks to the concept’s caliber. As for food, diners can expect succulent seafood selects for which D’Auvray is known (oysters, crudos, raw, cooked, cured, smoked, etc.), plus delicious cuts of meat (chateaubriand, côte de boeuf, lamb—available a la carte with your choice of vegetables), dry-aged in-house and cured with different crusts and the like and presented tableside.
Don’t go looking for apps on the menu, though. Instead, East End Bistrot will feature hors d’oeuvres to up the tasting and sharing experience, says D’Auvray. “Obviously everything here is gonna be as local and organic as possible,” he adds, “but we’re not gonna beat our chest about it; it’s just a standard we have.”
The restaurant’s modern “return to the time-honored classics,” if you will, is fitting for the two seasoned professionals who are coming back together to provide something that’s unique to the area. “East End Bistrot will introduce a luxury dining experience to match Raleigh’s growth and character today,” says Bakatsias. “This is a jewel of a location, and we’re so excited for Raleigh to be part of the discovery.” Let’s dance. eastendbistrotraleigh.com
East End Bistrot (Forrest Mason)East End Bistrot (Forrest Mason)
It was a study abroad trip to Bangkok that changed Desmond Barnes’ outlook on travel. Despite temporarily losing his wallet on the way there, the well-seasoned globe-trotter—who’s visited 32 countries (!)—was welcomed with open arms by his host family and ultimately experienced his “golden years,” he says. “Studying abroad was, hands down, the best choice I ever made.”
Upon returning to the States, Raleigh-based Barnes wanted others to enjoy the same travel awakening. After organizing small vacations stateside with friends, he began planning international trips with fellow wanderlusters—and so began Views Weekend, which curates stress-free global group trips.
“I like to think of Views Weekend as the bait,” says Barnes. “So I bait people with all these amazing things we’re gonna see, but, deep down, my goal is to help people get their first travel experience—to explore destinations they may not have known they had access to—and break down those travel barriers to show them there’s a whole world out there.”
Since his first international trip to Jamaica with ~60 participants, Barnes’ travel company has transported some 1,200+ vacationers from Raleigh, Winston-Salem, and Charlotte (though anyone in the U.S. can sign-up for a trip) to destinations like Saint Lucia and the DR. This year, ops include Riviera Maya, Mexico (June 22–26); Cartagena, Colombia (July 20–24); and Dubai (Sept. 27—Oct. 2).
Each trip is all-inclusive (food and liquor) and competitively priced (from $1,250, including cancel-for-any-reason trip insurance), with curated experiences based on trip tier: Summer Homecoming (Mexico), Views Culture (Colombia) or Views Platinum (Dubai).
Summer Homecoming, Barnes explains, is geared toward first-time international travelers and those who enjoy a more upbeat experience—aka a jampacked week of excursions (boat party, anyone?!). Views Culture, as the name suggests, leans luxe experience + destination education, by, say, visiting a UNESCO site. And Views Platinum “helps members check off bucket-list locations like Paris and Dubai with luxurious stays and meals,” says the master curator.
In 2024, look for the premiere Views Unplugged trip to Bali to hone in on “slow travel” for those who feel travel burnout and just want to silence their phones and put the world on wait.
“A lot of people—especially Americans—leverage their vacation days very differently than people from other countries,” says Barnes. “And I understand this may be their only vacation for the year, or may be their first vacation abroad, so we just want to be extremely mindful about what our members are entrusting us with—their time and money.”
In addition to the curated outings, each trip also includes five-star accommodations and what Barnes has dubbed a Views Token, enabling tripgoers to customize their experience based on interests—say an ATV excursion or a massage.
“All of our members have different travel styles,” explains Barnes, “and we understand everyone is not going to want to do the same things.” No matter the “view,” though, everyone ends up having a blast. Pack your bags! viewsweekend.com
