VarmintBites » Durham

Channel Description:

Latest Articles in this Channel:

02/16/08--06:35: James Beard Award Pre-Candidates (chan 1313984)

Ballots for the 2008 James Beard Awards have been sent to the judges, and there are a number of Triangle chefs and restaurants on this very long list. Just being on the ballot is an honor (OK, the founder of the Chipotle chain is there, so maybe not such an honor), although these have rarely [...]


Varmint

jamesbeard.gif

06/26/08--15:14: Eno Restaurant & Market to Open in Durham (chan 1313984)

The folks behind Raleigh’s Zely & Ritz have combined forces with local food enthusiast and bon vivant Jamie DeMent to open a new farm-to-table restaurant in Durham, Eno Restaurant & Market.  Scheduled to open at the end of this year, Richard Holcomb and Sarig Agasi, will open in partnership with Holcomb’s Coon Rock Farm in [...]


Varmint

12/09/08--06:21: Living Life to Its Fullest (chan 1313984)

Most 59 year old men are starting to plan for their later years in life, for the time when they slow down, take on fewer responsibilities, and simplify. Mel Melton is no such man. Melton, chef and co-owner of Papa Mojo’s Roadhouse in Durham, is looking to go faster. To do more. To live life [...]


Varmint

mel-melton

04/13/09--12:10: Oregon Chef to Help Open Eno Restaurant (chan 1313984)

Chef Marco Shaw of Portland’s Fife will soon be headed to North Carolina to help open Durham’s Eno Restaurant and Market.  Shaw has been a major leader in the farm-to-table movement in Oregon, and Eno’s relationship with Coon Rock Farms should be a natural fit here in the Triangle. I had the pleasure of “hosting” [...]


Varmint

04/29/09--11:12: Triangle Restaurant Week Coming (chan 1313984)

The second annual Triangle Restaurant Week will be held across the Triangle on May 11-17.  Restaurant Week has been a fixture in other cities for years, where restaurants offer a three-course menu for a low, fixed price.  For the Triangle event, lunch will cost $15 and dinner will be $25.  Many restaurants typically provide a [...]


Varmint

trw

06/16/09--12:19: The Customer Wins at Wine Authorities (chan 1313984)

Ever since they opened their Durham shop, owners Seth Gross  and Craig Heffley have persistently emailed me, trying to get me into Wine Authorities.  They’d tell me that had a spot available for one of their wine classes at no charge.  They’d let me know about how they could help me to remember which wines I [...]


Varmint

WineAuthorities

07/08/09--02:55: The Triangle Top 50 (chan 1313984)

The News & Observer’s Andrea Weigl has put together a list of the top 50 food items/icons in the Triangle, and boy, what a list it is!  And you know what?  There’s no way in hell I could have come close to doing such a great job.  Now mind you, there are a lot more [...]


Varmint

08/04/09--14:31: Kudzu Beer (chan 1313984)

I love the folks at Fullsteam Brewery.  They’re not afraid to take chances, and they truly want to form novel connections between agriculture and beer.  They also aren’t afraid to let their southern side show, as evidenced by their beer that is designed to go with barbecue and a rhubarb-flavored ale.  This is really good [...]


Varmint

fullsteam

12/16/09--03:30: Big News at Fullsteam Brewery (chan 1313984)

Ever drink an Abita Amber?  Or a Turbodog?  How about a Purple Haze?  Well, those are all beers that my good buddy Brooks Hamaker formulated and brewed down in Abita Springs, Louisiana for the iconic Abita Brewing Company.  Brooks was with Abita at its inception and helped grow the brewery into the South’s leading producer [...]


Varmint

fullsteam

01/21/10--06:12: Dine Out for Haiti (chan 1313984)

This Sunday and Monday, a number of Triangle-based restaurants will be donating 10% of their proceeds to two charities for the relief efforts in Haiti.  This effort was initiated on Facebook by local chefs and foodies, and as of the time of this post, there are 20 restaurants participating.  Here’s the list of confirmed restaurants: [...]


Varmint

02/17/10--18:18: Restaurant Review Prognostication (chan 1313984)

Let’s start something really silly for the area.  Each week, the News & Observer tells us in its Wednesday edition what restaurant will be reviewed on the following Friday.  Greg Cox’s review of Durham’s Guglhupf will be published on Friday, and it’s time for us to guess how many stars he’ll give it. As you [...]


Varmint

04/07/10--06:45: Restaurant Review Roulette: Sansui (chan 1313984)

Since I started this silly game of guessing how many stars Greg Cox would give a restaurant, I’ve pretty much been on the money.  I’ve been spot on for the last three reviews, I missed by half a star for Mambo Italiano, and Mr. Cox surprised us all when he gave 618 Bistro a single, [...]


Varmint

04/07/10--17:11: Triangle Restaurants That Sound Like Sex Shops (chan 1313984)

This is a blatant rip-off of a recent piece in the Seattle Weekly, but I don’t give a damn.  Here are a few local restaurants that could be a sex shop if you didn’t know any better.  Sure, I may be making fun of some foreign language issues, but I’ll get over it if you [...]


Varmint

lips

05/05/10--14:54: Restaurant Review Roulette: Sitar Indian Cuisine (chan 1313984)

Boy, Greg Cox is making it tough on me.  This week’s review is of Durham’s Sitar Indian Cuisine (formerly known as Sitar India Palace, as evidenced by its web address).  This is not a new restaurant, as Cox previously reviewed it in 1998.  If you look up that old review on Triangle.com, it appears that [...]


Varmint

05/25/10--06:08: Scratch Bakeshop to Open Next Week (chan 1313984)

Phoebe Lawless, Durham’s baker extraordinaire, will be opening Scratch’s new bakeshop next week at 111 Orange Street in downtown Durham.  For those of you who do not regularly visit the Durham Farmer’s Market, Lawless is known for her fantastic pies, including chocolate sea salt, shaker lemon, and many savory varieties.  Of course, Phoebe’s donut muffins [...]


Varmint



05/26/10--07:10: Restaurant Review Roulette: Restaurant Eden (chan 1313984)

After last week’s review of bu.ku, where I was quite confident of what Greg Cox was going to do, I return to unfamiliar territory of restaurants about which I know nothing.  This time, it’s Durham’s Restaurant Eden, which based on its name strives to be a gustatory paradise.  Restaurant Eden opened in the same location [...]


Varmint

08/10/10--08:12: My Kids and Food (chan 1313984)

Many of you might think that my kids eat everything and anything put in front of them.  Not so.  Each of our four children has his or her idiosyncrasies,  things that are loved or loathed.  My oldest loves most food, but he hates legumes of any kind — except for roasted peanuts, perhaps.  He just can’t [...]


Varmint

11/03/10--13:43: Restaurant Review Roulette: Pop’s (chan 1313984)

A long time ago, Pop’s was a really hip restaurant owned by hipsters, visited by hipsters, and all with a hipster attitude to match. The menu was fairly ordinary semi-upscale Italian, but the food was good. But that was indeed a LONG time ago. A lot has changed over the years. There’s no more attitude. [...]


Varmint

12/08/10--07:14: Restaurant Review Roulette: Spartacus Restaurant (chan 1313984)

OPA!!!  You know, I really like Greek food, but I rarely eat it.  The saganaki is always a treat for the family, you can’t go wrong with kabobs, and any cuisine that highlights lamb can’t be bad.  There’s lots of great olive oil and herbs I love and feta and more.  Why, oh, why do [...]


Varmint

12/24/10--03:50: Adult Gingerbread for the Holidays (chan 1313984)

I love gingerbread.  It’s always been one of my favorite flavors, particularly when served warm with some soft cream.  It represents the essence of winter comfort food, not too sweet, with depths of flavor beyond most other desserts.  But that depth was sometimes illusory, as it was just a smack of molasses paired with a touch of [...]


Varmint

Gingerbread