by Raleigh Magazine | May 5, 2025 | Buzz, May 2025
Raleigh’s top 30-somethings showed up and showed out! Our Millennial Mavericks Awards, honoring the 30-somethings shaping the future, lit up Maeve Raleigh on May 1—and we’re still buzzing. Peruse the recap album to get a glimpse of our cast of Mavericks—those Raleigh rooftop pics promise to live in your head rent-free—and share your faves on social. Just be sure to tag us @raleighmagazine and credit the photog @jesuscabrera16. Cheers to Raleigh’s Millennial Mavericks!
Click the photo below to visit the full Flickr album:
by Heidi Reid | Apr 29, 2025 | Do, May 2025
This month, he is your man. Singer-songwriter and rapper Teddy Swims is rolling into Red Hat Amp May 17 on his I’ve Tried Everything But Therapy tour to take a hammer to your heart (!) with a signature genre-blending combo of soul, country, rap and pop. So, bring your worries and woes and prepare to unleash them amid mellow and moody music under the shimmer wall. What more can we say?! Turn the page for more May events to fill your up cal. ticketmaster.com
by Heidi Reid | Apr 29, 2025 | May 2025, Stuff
Meet the local illustrator capturing the Cap City.
The City of Oaks is ripe for creative expression—and has become both a canvas and inspo for actual canvases. Putting this sentiment to work is local illustrator and creative Lindsay Uckar Boone—the mastermind behind Lindsay’s Paperworks, raising Raleigh up through illustrations of local landmarks on greeting cards, postcards and prints.
“Whenever you’re in places like New York City, there are so many illustrations you can find,” notes the Jersey native-turned-Raleighite of her many depicted landmarks. Think those ever-present prints and postcards donning the Empire State Building or Christmas-decked Rockefeller Center snagged by locals, wannabe locals and visitors eager to take home a slice of the city. “They have this certain look to them—and that is what I’m trying to mimic. I want to show we have a city here too.”
Uckar Boone’s portrayal of Red Hat Amp’s ice rink framed by the surrounding skyline, the Krispy Kreme sign aglow, and Oakwood Pizza Box’s storefront strike a similar chord here—and, to boot, start conversations about what it means for artists to draw inspiration from a city and for a city. To cover our vast local landmarks, the illustrator turns to her followers for what inspires them most about or in Raleigh—and then puts it on paper.
Alongside capturing an intimate understanding of the Cap City, Uckar Boone—who has been creating cards since she first learned to work a computer as a child—also captures the essence of local living via doodles of lipstick-stained cocktails, Miller Lite boxes on porches and backyard cookouts. Each sketch, whether of a local landmark or a quiet moment, reflects a unique perspective of the city’s soul that will forever be an art form. Hartwell; etsy.com/shop/lindsayspaperworks; @lindsayspaperworks
Upcoming Pop-Ups
by Heidi Reid | Apr 29, 2025 | Buzz, May 2025
What will the Michelin Guide American South mean for Raleigh?
Raleigh may finally be seeing stars. The Michelin Guide announced the launch of its Guide American South, encompassing NC, alongside five states including Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and Tennessee, plus the preexisting Atlanta Guide. Inspectors are already scouting out the South’s top culinary gems to be featured in North America’s first regional guide—meaning they could be right here in Raleigh already.
Long the gold standard of culinary excellence, Michelin is the authority on the best dining across the globe, only launching guides in dining destinations it deems worthy. These guides impart a host of short reviews and symbols for restaurants, the most esteemed being the star—which can be added or taken away. And, no doubt, the star’s reverence is in how hard it is to achieve.
Man of the Hour
Yes—this Michelin is the same one fitting up your ride. Before “Michelin” became a beacon of foodie fame, it was—and still is—the French-born tire company that splashed onto the resto scene with the launch of its first guide in 1900.
For years, Raleigh restaurateurs have been working to raise the bar within our local food scene, and, clearly, it’s already paying off. The Cap City has definitely earned its pushpin on the foodie map—for starters, see this year’s list of James Beard Foundation Awards semifinalists. But as illustrious as Beard is, Michelin is next-level.
The exclusivity factor alone tells most of the story. Michelin dropped its inaugural North American Guide in New York City in 2005 (expanding to include Westchester County in 2020), continuing its U.S. rollout with editions in Chicago, DC and San Francisco—the latter marking Michelin’s first statewide expansion to California in 2019, created in partnership with Visit California. And, in 2022, Michelin launched its premiere Florida Guide in collab with Visit Florida, spanning Tampa, Miami and Orlando—with three additional destinations added this year to include Greater Fort Lauderdale, The Palm Beaches and St. Pete-Clearwater.
Making the Cut
Michelin awards up to three stars based on five criteria:
- Quality of ingredients/products used
- Mastery of flavor and cooking techniques
- Personality of the chef in cuisine
- Harmony of flavors
- Consistency between visits
Beyond winning bragging rights and exclusive status, stars translate to tourism—and dollars. Pundits have long postured that restaurants play a significant role in a city’s economic prosperity. Researchers observing Michelin’s impact in Chicago found “an increase of one Michelin Guide restaurant leads to a .5% increase (or roughly $1,141) in the home value of the median home in a neighborhood.”
The undeniable boost in business aside, Michelin recognition can represent the pinnacle of a chef’s aspirations. “…I never dreamed Michelin would come to the South,” reminisces Crawford Hospitality’s Scott Crawford. “Having cooked in the American South most of my career, it is amazing to see Michelin recognize our region as one worthy of a guide. Southern cities can now attract more hospitality professionals with aspirations of opening or working in Michelin-star restaurants.” Beyond Raleigh, culinary hot spots across the South will finally get the recognition they deserve.
Who Judges?
Inspecting potential star-studded restaurants are highly trained and educated critics with seasoned résumés. And adding that certain je ne sais quoi factor—and ensuring they receive the real resto experience—the true identities of inspectors are kept quiet. Think Central Intelligence Agency meets Culinary Institute of America.
Which local restos—if any—make the list won’t be unveiled until the annual Michelin Guide ceremony for the American South (date TBD). Until then, you’ll find us still wishing on that star.
by Heidi Reid | Apr 29, 2025 | Buzz, May 2025
Raleigh is upping its fun factor—and not just for kiddos. The largest adventure playground in the Southeast is expected to open in Dix Park next month, following almost three years of construction. Enter the highly anticipated Gipson Play Plaza.
The 18.5-acre elevated playspace was designed and built to uplift Dix Park. Expected to bring in a whopping million annual visitors from Raleigh and across the region, it will be a hub for community and a hot spot for fun via a variety of playgrounds, climbing towers, a sensory maze, watermill mountain, fountain plaza and more. “It’s the only place in Raleigh easily accessible from lots of different neighborhoods that has the type and scale of play equipment we built,” Dix Park Executive Director Kate Pearce told RM in an exclusive interview. “It’s unlike anything else Raleigh has in its system.”
But the magic of the Plaza isn’t just in its play structures. There’s a seat for all walks and ages at the Plaza—and not just on the 91-foot megaswing. Offering “play” to please all from Alphas to Xers, the play space uplifts adults… because grown-ups need a little recess too. Think sipping beer and wine at the House of Many Porches Market, or basking in the quiet Woodland Garden underneath the Sunflower Power Poles.
As the first major project to come out of the Dix Park Master Plan, the Plaza is only a sneak peek of the park’s ultimate transformation, and sets the tone for future development. “It’s the beginning of showing the community what building something of this aspiration means,” emphasizes Pearce. And while Dix Park is ready to grow, Raleigh is ready to play. Grand opening & celebration June 6–8, dixpark.org
