Durham's The Cookery is hosting a fundraising dinner later this month for Pet-Tich-Eye, a collaboration between Triangle musicians, artists and photographers that will produce a 10-song record and a 24-page art book.

Raleigh chef Ashley Christensen, a James Beard finalist for best chef in the southeast, has organized the April 21 event. Among those cooking will be Christensen, who owns Poole's Diner, Chuck's and Beasley's Chicken + Honey in Raleigh, one of Matt Kelly's chefs at Mateo in Durham, Billy Cotter of Toast in Durham, Mike Hacker of the Pie Pushers food truck, Gray Brooks of Pizzeria Toro in Durham, Cheetie Kumar of the soon-to-open Garland in Raleigh, Sam Ratto of Videri Chocolate in Raleigh. (The event is being organized by Heather Cook of Shindigs. Cook is an event planner who helps plan weddings to fundraisers.)

UPDATED: Tickets were originally available via Pet-Tich-Eye's kickstarter page, which has since closed. The remaining tickets, which costs $85, will be for sale Wednesday (4/3) morning at goo.gl/XTcgo . (The link will not work until Wednesday morning when the page is no longer private.)

The Pet-Tich-Eye project has musicians work in groups of three to create original songs, artists create album art and photographers document the recording process. Ten community organizations, including Farmer Foodshare and the Frankie Lemmon school, will receive $1 from each single and record sold. The record will be released April 20.

To download the record, go to petticheye.com. To purchase the vinyl record and the art book, those will be available at Schoolkids Records in Raleigh, Bull City Records in Durham, All Day Records in Carrboro and CD Alley in Chapel Hill.

This is a post by N&O restaurant critic Greg Cox:

Giorgios Bakatsias, prolific restaurateur whose eclectic portfolio currently includes nearly a dozen establishments ranging from steakhouse (Bin 54) to French bistro (Vin Rouge), is at it again. This time, he's returning to his Greek roots.

And it looks like he's pulling out all the stops for Kipos (431 W. Franklin St.; 919-425-0760; kiposgreektaverna.com), which opened over the weekend in the erstwhile home of local landmark Pyewacket (and more recently, the Malaysian restaurant Penang). The location in The Courtyard comes with a bonus of three al fresco dining spaces that more than live up to the restaurant's name, which is Greek for "garden."

An extensive main menu of hot and cold meze, house-made phyllo pies, and entrees ranging from whole roasted fish to pastitsio and moussaka to rotisserie-roasted lamb is just part of the attraction.

Daily features include temptations such as Wednesday's braised pork shank, Thursday's lamb meatballs in Smyrna tomato sauce, and Saturday's eight-hour braised wild rabbit with pearl onions and fresh bay leaves.

You could make a vegetarian feast from the likes of gigante beans in tomato sauce with fresh herbs, simmered wild greens with lemon oil and sea salt, and a salad of local roasted beets, Greek skordalia and baby arugula in a dill lemon vinaigrette.

The restaurant and in-house bakery (which turns out an international assortment of breads and pastries) are open Tuesday-Thursday from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m., Friday-Saturday from 8 a. m. to midnight, and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Send restaurant news to Greg at ggcox@bellsouth.net. Be sure to tune in to Greg's radio show at 11 a.m. Saturdays on WPTF.

Chef Matt Kelly hopes to open his new restaurant, Mateo Bar de Tapas, next Wednesday, in downtown Durham. 

If not, it will definitely be open by next weekend, Kelly says.

Kelly, the executive chef and an owner at Durham's Vin Rouge, is opening this restaurant in the old Book Exchange building at 109 W. Chapel Hill St.

The 4,000-square-foot restaurant space will seat 96 people, including 28 seats at the bar. There will be a private dining room on the second floor but that is still under construction.

The restaurant will be open for dinner on weekdays from 5-10 p.m. and on weekends from 5 p.m.-midnight. The bar will be open until 2 a.m. and they will serve a limited bar menu.

The main menu includes four types of ham, including two from Spain and two domestic; Spanish and local cheeses; and meat or seafood paella. The restaurant's slogan, "Spanish heart, Southern soul," can be seen all over the menu with its smoked bbq marcona almonds, chicken fried chicken skin with piquillo chow chow and the Huevo Diablo, or a Spanish deviled egg.

The wine menu includes an extensive list of sweet and dry sherries, as well as 3-ounce and 6-ounce pours of the wines by the glass.

To see the food and wine menus that Kelly shared with us, I've attached them below.
 

Documents:

Here are a few upcoming wine and beer dinners across the Triangle:

• Hope Valley Bottle Shop has seven upcoming wine dinners, including an Italian wine dinner at 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 20 at Nana's in Durham. It cost $55. To see the complete list of wine dinners, go HERE. Call 493-8545 for a reservation.
• Guglhupf in Durham is offering an Austrian wine dinner at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 21. For details and the menu, go HERE. For a reservation, call 401-2600.

• Jibarra restaurant in Raleigh is offering a four-course dinner with five Saison-style beer pairings. The dinner is 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 21. It costs $55. Go HERE for details and menu. Call 755-0556 for a reservation.
• Durham’s Vin Rouge is partnering with Wine Authorities to offer a five-course wine dinner at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 22. Winemaker Joseph Landron will be the special guest. It costs $75. Go HERE for the menu. Call 416-0466 for a reservation. (If you can’t make the dinner, you can meet Landron and taste his wines from 5-6:30 p.m. Thursday at Wine Authorities. For more information, go to http://wineauthorities.com.)
• Jujube restaurant in Chapel Hill is offering a four-course dinner with wine pairings  from the Paul Hobbs Winery. It will be 7 p.m. March 28. Go HERE for the menu. Call 960-0555 for a reservation. It costs $57.50. 
• ADDED: Weathervane, the restaurant at A Southern Season in Chapel Hill, is offering a five-course dinner featuring wines from Gil Family Estates at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 28. Go HERE to read the menu. It costs $70. To make a reservation, call 929-9466.

I just got word that Todd Whitney, the chef at J. Betski's in Raleigh, has joined the staff at Durham's Vin Rouge, according to general manager Michael Maller.

Don't worry: Matt Kelly, Vin Rouge's chef and owner, isn't going anywhere. He is focusing on opening a Spanish tapas restaurant in downtown Durham this fall. (I'll report details as soon as Kelly shares them.)

I've also reached out to the J.Betski's folks to find out if they have a replacement. (I'll certainly miss Whitney's cooking. I cried when I first tasted those pierogies. It's a German girl thing. And it was one of the best meals I've ever shared with my parents.)

UPDATE: J. Betski's owner John F. Korzekwinski says they don't have plans to replace Whitney. They have just shifted the workload internally. He had nothing but good things to say about Whitney and his five years as the restaurants chef. "Every day, he would treat it as his own business," Korzekwinski says.

My e-mail is filling up with details on local restaurant's New Year's Eve offerings:

Margaux's in North Raleigh is offering a four-course prix fixe menu for $69 for the 5:30-6:30 p.m. seatings and $89 per person for the 8-9 p.m. seatings. The later seating includes a champagne toast and party favors. It's a masquerade ball theme and the best costume will win the diner a $100 gift certificate to the restaurant. Call 846-9846 for a reservation.

Piedmont in Durham is offering a four-course prix fixe menu for $50 per person or $75 with wine pairings. They'll be seating from 6-11 p.m. Call 683-1213 for a reservation.

Raleigh's Savoy restaurant is offering a six-course meal for $100 per person or $125 with wine pairings. (No coupons or Groupons accepted though.) Seatings start at 5:30 p.m.and end at 8:45 p.m. Call 848-3535 for a reservation. (The menu is below.)

If you missed my earlier posts, I've already posted information about Jujube's menus and Zely & Ritz's menus.

UPDATE: Michael Maller, the manager at Vin Rouge in Durham, sent this note about them offering their usual menu on New Year's Eve and Day. He wrote: "I don't know if not doing anything special is "news worthy" but I'm sure lots of people are looking for something to do other than prix-fixe or tasting menus."

Click READ MORE to see the complete menu for Savoy's New Year's Eve offering.

REMINDER: Durham's Vin Rouge is celebrating Beaujolais Noveau Day on Thursday, Nov. 18.

That means they will have several natural wines, including Pierre-Marie Chermette and Jean-Paul Brun. The wine will be offered by the glass, carafe and bottle. And there will be a few food specials, although general manager Michael Maller says, "Our menu is so Beaujolais friendly already."

For a reservation, call 416-0466.

Durham's Vin Rouge is celebrating Beaujolais Noveau Day on Nov. 18.

That means they will have several natural wines, including Pierre-Marie Chermette and Jean-Paul Brun. The wine will be offered by the glass, carafe and bottle. And there will be a few food specials, although general manager Michael Maller says, "Our menu is so Beaujolais friendly already."

For a reservation, call 416-0466.
 

Looks like we have another Carolina cook to root for on television. 

Born in Valle Crucis and raised in Wilmington and Mebane, aspiring chef Aaron Seelbinder's southern roots and love of good food paid off this spring when he was invited by Food Network to come to New York and participate in their show, "24 Hour Restaurant Battle."

It all started when Aaron's friend Baylor Ferrier landed a spot on the show and producers asked him if there was someone he'd like to open a restaurant with. He immediately thought of Aaron. Food Network contacted Aaron, flew him to New York City, and the rest? Well, the rest we'll have to watch when the show airs tomorrow night.