Seven local chefs will compete Feb. 25 for the title of shrimp and grits champion in the first ever Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chefs' Throwdown.

The event at The Carolina Inn is open to the public who will vote for the fan favorite. It costs $15 to attend the event, which is from 1-4 p.m.

The participating chefs include: Jeremy Blankenship of Tyler's Taproom; Trey Cleveland of Top of the Hill Restaurant & Brewery; Adam Cobb of Glasshalfull; Bret Jennings of Elaine's on Franklin; Vimala Rajendran of Vimala's Curryblossom Café; Jimmy Reale of Carolina Crossroads Restaurant and Bar; and Adam Rose of Il Palio at the Siena Hotel.

For more information and tickets, go to www.CarolinaInnThrowdown.com.

A portion of the proceeds will benefit TABLE, a nonprofit aimed at helping children at risk of hunger.

Tyler's Bottle Shop, a small craft beer store behind Tyler's Taproom in Raleigh, opened yesterday.

The store is run by the folks who own the Tyler's Taprooms across the Triangle and a store, the Carrboro Beverage Co. in Carrboro. The Raleigh store will carry 400 different types of craft beer when they are fully stocked.

Owner Tyler Huntington says if you can get the beer in the grocery store, they're aren't likely to carry it. Rather, they are trying to select beers that aren't as readily available.

Patrons of the Carrboro store will recognize manager Jason Cole behind the counter. And Huntington says they plan to continue the Carrboro store's customer service where Cole and his employees get to know their customers' likes and dislikes well enough to recommend beers.

The store also will sell wine, brewery merchandise, barbecue sauces and North Carolina peanuts. Eventually, Huntington says, he would like them to carry packages of Farmhand Foods  sausage. And down the line, Huntington would like to offer coffee and espresso because there's no where nearby for folks to grab a cup of coffee.

The new Tyler's Taproom opened four weeks ago in Seaboard Station next to Peace College and in part of the space formerly occupied by Tookie's Grill. The address is 18 Seaboard Ave., Suite 150.

The entrance to Tyler's Taproom faces downtown Raleigh. The entrance to the bottle shop is on the backside of the building - the same side where patrons enter 18 Seaboard restaurant, which is next door to Tyler's Taproom.

The bottle shop's hours are 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Monday-Saturday, although they may stay open later on Friday and Saturday nights, and noon-8 p.m. Sunday.

Durham's Six Plates Wine Bar is hosting its annual Txakolifest from 1 p.m.-2 a.m. Saturday, July 23. For the uninitiated, txakoli is a sparkling wine from Spain's Basque region.  

Owner Matthew Beason explains they are selling $12 advance tickets to two tasting sessions from 1-4 p.m. and 4-7 p.m. Each session will be limited to 100 people who will have up to nine wines to taste. After 7 p.m., the public can pay $12 to join the festivities but Beason says the txakoli selection will be more limited. Each attendee gets a take-home glass.

Tickets can be purchased at the Durham restaurant or Wine Authorities. For more information, go to www.sixplates.com/txakolifest.

In conjunction, Taste Carolina Gourmet Food Tours is offering a special walking tour of downtown Durham, which includes admission to the Txakolifest. Participants will get to taste Basque food at Revolution, Toast, Piedmont and Rue Cler, and then a Basque cheese tasting at the Reliable Cheese shop and Basque cider at Tyler's Taproom. The cost is $51.

For more information or to register, visit www.tastecarolina.net or call 237-2254.
 

Tyler's Taproom, a Triangle restaurant with an extensive beer selection brewpub with locations in Carrboro, Apex and Durham, is expanding into downtown Raleigh.

Construction has started in the 10,500-square-foot space in Seaboard Station that occupied Tookie's Grill and was originally intended for Red's Beach Music Club. Originally, Tyler's was only going to occupy the Red's space but when Tookie's closed, the owner decided to take that space as well, which already included a kitchen.

Ted Van Dyk of New City Design Group said they hope to be open by September or October. He added that the space will include a 50-feet outdoor deck with an outdoor bar offering a view of downtown Raleigh.

In a press release, owner Tyler Huntington said, "We are excited about finally making our Raleigh location a reality. It took a while to get all of the pieces together, but the wait has been worth it.  In the end we will have more space, room for private events, and a great patio area."

Tyler’s Taproom, which signed a lease in downtown Raleigh's Seaboard Station before the economic downturn took hold, now expects to open the restaurant this fall.

Construction has begun on the more than 10,00-square-foot restaurant, which will include the space previously occupied by Tookie's Grill.

The restaurant will also feature an outdoor deck and bar facing Peace Street.
 
“We are excited about finally making our Raleigh location a reality,” Tyler Huntington, president of Tyler's restaurants, said in a release.  “It took a while to get all of the pieces together, but the wait has been worth it. In the end we will have more space, room for private events, and a great patio area.”

This will be the fourth Tyler's in the Triangle.

The others are located in downtown Durham's American Tobacco Campus, in downtown Carrboro and at Beaver Creek Crossings in Apex.

Construction on the new space is expected to be completed this fall.

REMINDER: A Southern Season runs a series of cooking classes featuring local chefs. So if you want to learn how to cook the food served at your favorite local restaurants, here are a few upcoming classes:

• Chef Masa Tsujimura of Raleigh's Waraji will be teaching a sushi class at 2 p.m. Jan. 16. The class costs $50.
• Chefs Alex Gallis of Cypress on the Hill in Chapel Hill and Chef Jeremy Blankenship of Tyler's Taproom in Carrboro are teaching together at 6 p.m. Jan. 31. The class costs $40.
• Chef Mel Melton of Papa Mojo's Roadhouse in Durham will cook as well as perform with his band, The Wicked Mojos. That class will be 2 p.m. Feb. 27. It costs $45.
• Jamil Kadoura, the gracious owner of Chapel Hill's Mediterranean Deli, will be there at  6 p.m. Mar. 8. The class costs $30.
• Justin Cole, the young new executive chef at La Residence in Chapel Hill, will be teaching at 6 p.m. March 14. The class costs $40.

To reserve your spot in any of these classes, call 929-7133 or go to www.southernseason.com

A Southern Season runs a series of cooking classes featuring local chefs. So if you want to learn how to cook the food served at your favorite local restaurants, here are a few upcoming classes:

• Chef Masa Tsujimura of Raleigh's Waraji will be teaching a sushi class at 2 p.m. Jan. 16. The class costs $50.
• Chefs Alex Gallis of Cypress on the Hill in Chapel Hill and Chef Jeremy Blankenship of Tyler's Taproom in Carrboro are teaching together at 6 p.m. Jan. 31. The class costs $40.
• Chef Mel Melton of Papa Mojo's Roadhouse in Durham will cook as well as perform with his band, The Wicked Mojos. That class will be 2 p.m. Feb. 27. It costs $45.
• Jamil Kadoura, the gracious owner of Chapel Hill's Mediterranean Deli, will be there at  6 p.m. Mar. 8. The class costs $30.
• Justin Cole, the young new executive chef at La Residence in Chapel Hill, will be teaching at 6 p.m. March 14. The class costs $40.

To reserve your spot in any of these classes, call 929-7133 or go to www.southernseason.com

My apologies: There will be a Gulf Relief Family Fun Day on Sept. 26. I got a message from an organizer after I had posted about the event that it had been canceled. Now I learn it has merely been scaled back. I apologize for any confusion. This is the deal:

Tyler's Taproom in Durham is hosting a Gulf Relief Family Fun Day from 1-5 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 26 at the American Tobacco Campus.

The aim is to raise money for New Orleans-based Abita Brewery's Save our Shores charity.

This is a family friendly event with many ways to donate: 

• There will be plenty of Abita's SOS beer available to purchase and 75 cents of each bottle are donated to the charity, as well as 100 percent of all merchandise. There will be a merchandise tent on site.
• U.S. Foodservice will be grilling up food for sale, and 100 percent of the proceeds will bedonated to the charity.

Plus there will be Durham Bulls' mascot Wool E Bull, games and other activities for the children and live music. For more information, call Tyler's Taproom at 433-0345.