Raleigh's Culinary Scene Sizzles

RALEIGH, N.C. (December 2005) -- Famous country cooking isn't the only thing Raleigh's culinary scene has to offer. While superb southern flavor can still be sampled for bargain prices, Raleigh restaurants are transforming the southern dining scene with "Nouvelle Southern" cuisine, a fusion of traditional southern and global flavors. Talented chefs dish up unconventional plates that continue to inspire discriminating palates. 

"Nouvelle Southern" Cuisine Bursts On The Raleigh Scene
 
Bloomsbury Bistro: Considered one of the most romantic restaurants in Raleigh, Bloomsbury Bistro is home to the city's most buffed and polished set. Here, oil paintings, beautiful landscape murals, plush carpeting and a team of graceful wait staff abound. Chef John Toler has won a loyal following with his continually changing menu by using his classical French cuisine background and mixing in a Southern-style palette in creations like his Creole-spiced-she-crab bisque to bobwhite quail stuffed with black truffle brioche. http://www.bloomsburybistro.com/raleigh/

Glenwood Grill: Nouvelle southern cuisine shines at this upscale, low profile establishment. Expect southern cuisine with lighter modern twists and a few trendy dishes. Chef John Wright creatively fashions seasonal dishes such as grilled boneless lamb loin with pineapple salsa and southern classics including fried green tomatoes, onion pancakes and carpetbagger steaks. www.glenwoodgrill.com

Margaux's Restaurant: Diners are in for an eclectic treat at this sophisticated contemporary venue. Margaux's fine cuisine is a mix of seasonal specialties that include lamb with a coconut curry sauce, and chopped pork barbecue served on a buttermilk pancake. Take advantage of their comprehensive wine list in the dining room or at the bar, and live music on most Friday evenings.
www.margauxsrestaurant.com

Zely & Ritz
Zely and Ritz opened its doors in the hip Glenwood South area, serving tapas style small plates combining fresh, organic and locally grown products with Mediterranean and Middle Eastern spices. The owners have integrated a farm-to-restaurant concept, featuring meat, vegetables and herbs from their own Coon Rock Farm. Each spring, the animals are raised hormone and chemical free, and soil readied to plant heirloom tomatoes, peppers, and other vegetables for use in summer. Once dishes are prepared, all organic scraps generated by the restaurant are returned to the farm for composting. The restaurant truly brings farm-to-restaurant, center stage in Raleigh. www.zelyandritz.com

Raleigh Showcases The Best In "Southern Americana" Cuisine

The Barbecue Lodge: This restaurant is the place for an affordable American fare with a menu largely based on barbecue. Where the king pig still rules and meals are served family style, The Barbecue Lodge offers bottomless bowls of fried chicken, barbecue, slaw, Brunswick stew and veggies as well as a variety of quality foods in an informal friendly setting where the average entrée costs under eight bucks!
 
Big Ed's Market Restaurant: Big Ed's lives up to its big name with their large portions of traditional country cooking set in their warehouse sized former garage. Offering 12 fresh vegetables from the farmer's market as well as eight fresh meats each day Big Ed's boasts variety! Proprietor "Big Ed" Watkins has led the extensive success of his restaurant with his friendly staff and a menu where the options for a hearty breakfast are always abundant. Big Ed's offers big flavors in their staple hits like their biscuits with blackstrap molasses and their fluffy hubcap sized pancakes, made from his mama's pound cake recipe. Fortunately the only things not big thing about this place is it's moderate prices.

Cooper's Barbecue: Since the 1920's, this local landmark has attracted many loyal pig pickin' fanatics. This cozy downtown establishment offers its customers true southern meals like chicken, ribs, and Brunswick stew, a thick chicken-and-veggie mix. Stay for dessert and try velvety banana pudding. Cooper's also prepares foods to go for a no-fuss picnic and in stash-able freezer containers to store their classic ribs.

The Roast Grill: When it comes to hot dogs the Roast Grill is an expert. Not only do they serve up over 200 Southern style blackened hot dogs a day, but they have been in the same spot serving the same dogs since 1940. Their simple philosophy of "limited options, limited toppings, and no menu's" keeps loyal customers coming back for the ever-so-popular all-the-way dog, loaded with mustard, chili and onions.  Oddly enough, this is a no catsup establishment!

Raleigh's No Stranger To Fine "Wining and Dining"

Angus Barn: In their nationally recognized wine cellar, The Angus Barn holds 30,000 bottles of fine wines representing 1,200 different selections from 29 distinct wine regions. The big-barn theatrical setting also sports a walk-in humidor containing 1,700 cigars as well as a Country Store where visitors can buy almost anything the restaurant serves. As for the finest steaks in Raleigh, cooks serve between 600 and 700 steaks a night, making the Barn one of the top 50 grossing restaurants in the United States.
 www.angusbarn.com

Enoteca Vin: Recently profiled in Food & Wine, this small yet influential wine bar is a comfortable eatery with an array of exciting dishes with an unpretentious emphasis on wines. Opened in 1999, this restaurant became the first wine bar in the state. Both their food and wine selections offer unprecedented quality as young hip chef Ashley Christensen heads their kitchen and Co-owner Chrish Peel encourages customers to create pairings with their wine friendly dishes, including black tea cured Maine Salmon and scallops with cider sauce. www.enotecavin.com

Second Empire Restaurant & Tavern: Located in downtown Raleigh in the elegantly restored Dodd-Hinsdale house, Second Empire combines history, atmosphere and gourmet cuisine for an unforgettable dining experience.  It captured a Distinguished Restaurants of North America Award (DiRoNA) in 2006. Chef Daniel Schurr creates flavorful dishes each month with a new menu using the freshest seasonal ingredients. A fine example is his rack of Australian lamb with celery root cream sauce and chipolinni onion puree with grilled asparagus and creamy sweet potatoes. As a service to diners, a shuttle to and from the BTI Performing Arts Center is available for those catching a show, and on the first Monday of every month, wines by the bottle and by the glass are 50% off! www.second-empire.com

Chic Chefs Gracing Raleigh's Creative Culinary Scene

Ashley Christensen, Chef, Enoteca Vin: This young chef caught the attention of Food and Wine magazine in 2004 where she was featured in the eight-page spread on Enoteca Vin.  At 28, Christensen, a Carolina native, has a natural passion for food. A self-taught chef, she credits her beekeeper and organic gardener dad as instilling in her an appreciation for fresh, seasonal ingredients. She arrived at Enoteca Vin in 2001, following study with chefs Andrea Reusing and Scott Howell of Nana's. Since that time she has wowed diners and the community alike with fantastically unique dishes and philanthropic projects. Her wine auction in 2003, featuring bottles from the restaurant's private collection, raised a record $55,000 the Tour de Friends AIDS fundraiser.

Scott James: Chef, Blue Martini: Shifting culinary gears is tough, but well done by Scott James. James moved to Raleigh in 1996 and manned the kitchen at Seldom Blues Café, and Fox and Hound Pub and Restaurant before premiering Blue Martini. Featuring a mix of tapas, including a French and Spanish cheese plate and smoked rabbit gumbo, this popular venue opened in Raleigh's Glenwood South district in 2003, featuring live jazz on the weekends. With the help of James' menu, this trendy scene was quickly hailed as more than just the usual bar fare.

Dean Ogan & Kevin Summers: Co-Owners, The Twisted Fork: Creators of the hottest restaurant concept in Raleigh, Ogan and Summers are certainly not newcomers. Together they have opened six different concept restaurants in North Carolina. The Twisted Fork, considered as a new breed of interactive restaurants, is their most novel concept yet. Here they combine a twist of a restaurant/bar/gourmet take-out and gift shop. The Fork's #1 rule?  There simply are no rules! Customers create their own meals each visit. Options are endless at the deli, which has 40 meat and seafood options on display daily. The in-house bakery produces freshly baked breads by the dozen and while the bar exudes many choices with its list of 300 wines and 30 draft beers.

Daniel Schurr: Chef, Second Empire Restaurant & Tavern: Daniel Schurr left the Angus Barn in 1998 and hopped on board his next venture, Second Empire. Schurr brought with him his talent, his number one class rank at the Culinary Institute of America and his seven-year apprenticeship with Jean-Marie LaCroix at the Four Seasons in Philadelphia.  While the Atkins craze has influenced his cooking, and he will prepare any dish according to the diner's desire. Each meal is complemented with wine, 85 percent of which he has developed since his arrival.

John Toler: Chef  & Proprietor, The Cosmopolitan: Having formal training in classical French cuisine and being first in his class at L'Academie de Cuisine in Bethesda, Maryland, Toler has worked his way to being recognized nationally in publications such as Southern Living and USA Today. His ingenious menus and cozy dining atmosphere, both at Cosmopolitan and at Bloomsbury Bistro in Raleigh, impress crowds by incorporating ethnic ingredients and styles from around the world to create exciting dishes like his Hawaiian-style salad of wok-seared tuna and charred pineapple. It's certainly a shift from his "previous life," which included formal study and a degree from West Virginia University in Fisheries Biology. 
 
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