by Anna Beth Adcock | Oct 30, 2023 | Buzz, November 2023
Are you bready for it? Rise to the occasion and flaunt your familiarity with the NC baking scene—from our state’s oldest bakery to local bread so good it’s earning national attention. Stop loafing around and get to it!
Let’s get baked. Established in 1807, Winston-Salem’s Winkler Bakery is likely the oldest bakery in the state—and maybe the country (!). Which OG cookie recipe is the beloved bakery still whipping up since its start ~200 years ago?
a. Chocolate chip
b. Oatmeal
c. Gingerbread
d. Snickerdoodle
Baking is a fine art. Which Raleigh higher education institution boasts a Baking & Pastry Arts program?
a. Wake Tech
b. NC State
c. Meredith
d. Shaw
Nice buns! Find Emily Martin’s Cinnamon Rolls on offer year-round at Cantina 18 for your sweet treat fix. What is the secret starter ingredient used in these decadent desserts?
a. Wild yeast
b. Sourdough yeast
c. Levain
d. Poolish
“Grown and ground in the South,” Western NC’s Carolina Ground Flour sources the majority of its grain from large-scale organic growers around the state and other regional locales such as Virginia and Georgia. But what country is the organization’s mill from?
a. Germany
b. Italy
c. Norway
d. Austria
Step into Hayes Barton Cafe & Dessertery for fine food and feel-good simplicity—NTM delish desserts! Which cake is the most popular (read: most sold) at the Five Points eatery?
a. Lemon blueberry
b. Coconut
c. Chocolate Heath bar
d. Red velvet
Local baker Andrew Ullom is now at the helm of his own uberpopular operation, Union Special, which first bowed in 2019. Under which celebrity chef did he previously amass experience as executive pastry chef?
a. Ashley Christensen
b. Scott Crawford
c. Cheetie Kumar
d. Vivian Howard
What’s up, dog? Yellow Dog Bread Company creates delish culinary creations and, ahem, golden community. What farm animals did owners/husband-and-wife duo Tanya and Matthew Andrews once acquire to provide a certain dairy product for their recipes?
a. Goats
b. Cows
c. Chickens
d. Pigs
Bolt to Boulted Bread for a lineup of delish loaves and premier pastries at its recently relocated Boylan Heights locale. Earning national attention, the DTR bake shop once received a shoutout from which renowned publication?
a. Food & Wine
b. Bon Appétit
c. The New York Times
d. All of the above
Orange County-based farm Red Tail Grains specializes in growing heritage and modern grains for local bakeries, breweries and consumers. Two of its crops this year, NuEast Hard Red Winter Wheat and Appalachian White Wheat, are bred by which NC university?
a. NC State
b. Duke
c. UNC Chapel Hill
d. Wake Forest
Answers: 1. C; 2. A; 3. B; 4. D; 5. B; 6. A; 7. C; 8. D; 9. A
by Raleigh Magazine | Oct 30, 2023 | Eat
The views expressed in this rant are those of the author and do not purport or reflect the opinions of Raleigh Magazine.
I get it. I have a car and I can drive it, but—like all of us—I’m busy, and sometimes I just need to have my food delivered. I don’t think it’s too much to ask a delivery service whose sole mission is to deliver (looking at you DoorDash) my Jersey Mike’s sandwich a meager 4 miles in less than two hours—if at all… by which time I’m ravenous, annoyed and somehow still subless.
Y’all. It’s a joke how often the delivery driver will just disappear without so much as a message or call (bro, I know your phone is in your hand). Yet, here I continue to shell out delivery fees and tips upfront while my driver bails on my order because they “can’t find me.” Um, do you know how to read an address?
Or if they do “find” me, they just drop my dinner two doors down?! Once, I even ordered Chinese food and they left it at my office rather than my house! (Yes, I confirmed I ordered it to my home address. Don’t @ me.) And nobody wants to chance Chinese takeout after it’s been sitting out unattended on a humid summer night.
Needless to say, DoorDash and I have parted ways, despite the coupons they continue to barrage me with. It’s not worth the drama, the hangryness—and damn sure not worth the delivery fee. Anyone know if Uber Eats is any better?
—Disgruntled Ex-DoorDasher
Got a rant or rave? Email it to [email protected] for consideration.
by Melissa Howsam | Oct 30, 2023 | Eat, November 2023
Spy Raleigh Magazine’s Best Bartender nominees—then vote.
’Tis the season to be jolly—and getting our spirits high this season is our cast of 2023 Best Bartender nominees. These top 10 ’tenders have no doubt earned their bar shakers—but only one will earn the crown. You be the judge.
As part of our annual Best Bars Issue in February, one of these crafty cocktailiers from our highly curated cast will take 2022 Bartender of the Year Colby Kress’ trophy (the highly coveted prize gets passed to the champ a la Stanley Cup). Voting for Best Bartender (and Best Bars across a range of categories) is open through Dec. 15. Meet these top mixologists—and get a taste of their talent—on Nov. 18 as the noms mix up 10 riffs on classics (think Old-Fashioned, Negroni, martini) in tandem with a top-shelf liquor brand at our inaugural Cocktail Classic presented by The Exchange Raleigh at Killjoy. The grand tented layered affair will serve up unlimited ’tails, tastes and tunes weaving through the entire space into Killjoy, where you can reserve a front-row seat at the bar to watch your favorite bartender in action—not to mention a themed afterparty on-site.
Grab your tickets before they’re gone and raise a glass to the city’s best bartenders of 2023—then rock the vote and stay tuned for our February Best Bars Issue. cocktailclassicraleigh.com
One Rule: Spread the love across the bar community! You cannot repeat the same bar more than three times. If the same bar is voted on in more than three categories, the entire vote will be disqualified.
Voting closes at midnight on Dec. 15, 2023.
Reese Hailey, Aunty Betty’s: Tom Collins + Cathead Honeysuckle Vodka
Connor Cooke, Clockwork: Old-Fashioned + Southern Star Bourbon
Christian Gibbs, The Haymaker: Daiquiri + Outer Banks Distillery Silver Rum
Serena Thurston, Dram & Draught: Mint Julep + Woodford Reserve
Ian Murray, Foundation: Gold Rush + Cook’s Mill Whiskey
Zoe Palmer, Fox Liquor Bar: Penicillin + Johnnie Walker Scotch
Will Bryant, The Parlor at Heights House: Margarita + Adictivo Tequila
Kelly Lynch, Watts & Ward: Negroni + Sutler’s Gin
Ingrid Folkers, Whiskey Kitchen: Cosmopolitan + Deep Eddy Vodka
Clovis LaCour, William & Company: Gin Martini + Durham Distillery Conniption Gin
![Shaking Up Bloc[83]](data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHZpZXdCb3g9IjAgMCAxMDgwIDY3NSIgd2lkdGg9IjEwODAiIGhlaWdodD0iNjc1IiBidi1pbWctdXJsPSJodHRwczovL3JhbGVpZ2htYWcuY29tL3dwLWNvbnRlbnQvdXBsb2Fkcy8yMDIzLzEwL0luY2VuZGlhcnkuanBnIj48L3N2Zz4=)
by Anna Beth Adcock | Oct 30, 2023 | Eat, November 2023
Incendiary Brewing now open—with cocktails
New DTR brewery with cocktail bevs? Bet. Highly anticipated Winston-Salem-based brewing biz Incendiary Brewing Company recently opened its doors to the public at its new Bloc[83] locale—and beyond the lineup of 24 rotating draft beers and an array of wine selects, the sip spot also touts a mixed-beverage permit (!). Translation: Cocktails will also be on offer for your non-beer-drinking buds.
“We have a specific brand and have translated that from our original location to Raleigh,” says co-founder/operator Brandon Branscome. “We’re extremely excited about being here and the Bloc[83] area in particular. We’ve been exploring the Raleigh area for years and feel like we have definitely found a home where we fit.” Belly up to the Bloc for a sip-sational time and a slew of boozy bevs and spirits—complete with a private patio. …We’ll drink to that!
by Anna Beth Adcock | Oct 30, 2023 | November 2023, Stuff
Fine Bikes recently launched in Raleigh—and it’s simply off the chain.
“It’s like riding a bicycle.” … Find Charles Thompson fabricating, welding, brazing and painting road, gravel and mountain bikes built to communicate coolness and elicit a higher-quality ride via Fine Bikes, now available at Oak City Cycling. The Raleighite initially pedaled into bike maintenance as a passion project that quickly blossomed into more thanks to a mixture of mechanic experience and an extensive background riding bikes “as hard as possible.”
“I grew up around bikes,” shares Thompson. “My mom and brother worked at a bike shop when I was in my early teens, and it was a shared interest in our household.” However, after a BMX-related concussion at age 15, the biking enthusiast walked away from the sport—that is, until he moved to Raleigh during his mid-20s and returned to biking as a means of transit.
“That snowballed, and I found myself working at a bike shop part-time—and, eventually, I committed to full-time,” he explains. In 2016, he left that shop to make his way to DTR’s Oak City Cycling, with Fine Bikes marking OCC’s first-ever brand launch.
After taking a frame class with Steve Garn of Brew Bikes in 2020, Thompson slowly developed his process by making bikes for himself, his partner and his co-workers—all while garnering increased interest from the community.
“Due to getting asked many times over, I got my legal and insurance [stuff] sorted out, and I made a bike for my first ‘real’ customer earlier this year,” says Thompson. “I’m still working at OCC, and, through the shop, we are able to offer custom frames, paint and high-quality builds for those who are seeking more out of their bike.”
There’s no question that Raleigh’s bike culture is booming—and this local cycle biz only serves to further showcase the ever-burgeoning cycle culture, whether you’re zooming around the city or taking your two wheels off-road. Let’s get spoked! @fine_bikes
