Go HERE to read the story from business reporter David Bracken about the Empire Eats owner's latest projects.

Empire Eats owns The Raleigh Times, Sitti, Gravy and The Pit in downtown Raleigh.

Several Triangle restaurants are among the finalists named in the annual Best Dish in North Carolina contest.

The contest, sponsored by the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Our State magazine, recognizes the use of North Carolina products at casual and fine dining restaurants. Judges choose first, second and third place winners in two categories, fine dining and casual dining, in two regions across the state, east and west.

The restaurants serve a special dish or series of courses highlighting North Carolina ingredients for a month this summer. Anonymous judges travel the state tasting the dishes. Winners will be announced in November.

In the East region, which covers Chatham County to the coast, the finalists include:
In the casual dining contest, Rhett's Restaurant in Southern Pines, Market Restaurant in Raleigh, Sitti in Raleigh, Angelina's Kitchen in Pittsboro, Bull Street Gourmet & Market in Durham and Gravy in Raleigh.

In the fine dining contest, Catch in Wilmington, Bald Head Island Club in Bald Head Island and Tonali in Durham.

For more information about the contest, go to www.bestdishnc.com.

The annual Triangle Signature Chefs Auction featuring food from more than a dozen restaurants and caterers will be 6 p.m. Nov. 13 at the Carolina Club in Chapel Hill.

Among the Triangle restaurants serving up tasting-sized portions of their signature dishes will be Winston's Grille, Gravy, The Mint, Solas, Coquette, Il Palio and Revolution.

Tickets cost $150.  Proceeds benefit the North Carolina March of Dimes.

To buy tickets or for more information about the event and the auction items, go HERE.
 

Chef Ludo Lefebvre brought his pop-up restaurant to Raleigh in March to make his own version of North Carolina barbecue, a la The Pit, and staged his event at The Pit's sister restaurant Gravy (Andrea Weigl explains more about what a "pop-up" restaurant is).

Everything was captured for Chef Ludo's Sundance television show, "Ludo Bites America," in which he travels the country with his business partner and wife (Krissy, riding the hog at left) creating a new one-night-only restauarant and menu for each episode. The Sundance website describes the Raleigh episode as "a BBQ pig out with a French twist" (short video promo).

Chef Ludo Lefebvre's visit to Raleigh earlier this year to tape an episode of "Ludo Bites America" will air at 9 p.m. Aug. 23 on the Sundance Channel. 

In March, Lefebvre and his wife came to Raleigh to create a pop-up restaurant at Gravy in downtown Raleigh. Lefebvre served up his take on Carolina barbecue.

Go HERE to read my article about Chef Ludo's pop-up restaurant.

Los Angeles chef Ludo Lefebvre (pictured left, photo by Nate Hoffman) is bringing his "pop-up" restaurant to Raleigh for one-night only. Lefebvre, a former Top Chef Masters contestant originally from France, will transform Gravy into LudoBites Thursday, March 24.

To get a reservation, call 896-8513 starting at 10 a.m. Wednesday, March 23. Only about 90 reservations are available. Dinner starts at 6 p.m.

Look for my story in tomorrow's News & Observer about Lefebvre. (HERE it is.)

Information will be posted later tonight at www.facebook.com/LudoBites or http://www.facebook.com/pages/Gravy-Raleigh/224196616994

Here is the menu:

• Fried pig ear with chili and lime mayonnaise.
• "Head and cheese" (Pig head rillettes, cheddar cheese custard with barbecue jelly and a slice of country bread and pickled baby rainbow carrots)
•  Blood pig terrine served with blackberry salad and purple potato chips.
• Crispy pork belly, mustard ice cream and a coleslaw made with savoy cabbage, potatoes, chive and smoked eel.
• A 63-degree poached egg with potato mousseline and chopped barbecue from the Pit seasoned with chorizo oil and cumin.
• Slices of salt-encrusted pork shoulder topped with a pork skin crumble and served with a Big Boss Bad Penny beer, five different cauliflower and pineapple.

And for dessert, two choices:

• Smoked vanilla bean bacon creme brulee
• A French-version of banana pudding with caramelized bananas and coconut macaroons and a secret ingredient.

Eat or drink at any of the six Empire Eats restaurants in downtown Rlaeigh(Raleigh Times, Morning Times, The Pit, Duck & Dumpling, Gravy and Sitti) today (Monday, July 19) and a portion of the proceeds will be donated to N.C. Theater.

The theater company is the region's non-profit producer of Broadway musicals.

Gravy is offering a five-course Sicilian feast at 7 p.m. Monday Feb. 8. This is the first of chef Tony Fusco's Italian food tour dinners. 

The menu includes marinated white anchovies with fennel sformato, micro arugula and Moroccan oil-cured olives, watercress salad with shaved pecorino, Sicilian tuna with caramelized fennel and Fresno chilies, grilled spiced lamb chops with spinach, pine nuts and raisin pesto and vanilla gelato with spiced almonds and biscotti.

The cost is $30 a person, plus $15 for Sicilian wine pairings.

Call 896-8513 to reserve your spot.

The downtown Raleigh restaurant is the brainchild of Empire Eats, downtown developer Greg Hatem's restaurant group, and Bella Monica, the popular Italian restaurant in North Raleigh.