Go HERE to read last week's review.

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:

Greg Cox gives 3 1/2 stars to Taste, an "American tapas" restaurant off Dixie Trail in Raleigh. Go HERE to read his review.

Oro Restaurant and Lounge, a new tapas place in downtown Raleigh's RBC Plaza building, will open Sunday night.

I got to walk through Oro yesterday afternoon with co-owner Cara Zalcberg Hylton. I have to say it is beautiful inside: sleek white leather chairs, a 17-foot wooden wine carousel in one corner and two huge light fixtures dangling from the ceiling that dominate the space. The lights are these bronze cylinders decorated with circles. (I can't do them justice so go to the restaurant's website and there are photos on the front page.)

The decor will make you feel like you are enjoying a sophisticated adult evening but with more reasonable prices. The tapas cost between $7 to at most $15. (To see the menu, go HERE.)

The restaurant is for evenings when "you want to feel like you are in a big city but with Raleigh prices," says Cara Zalcberg Hylton. 

They offer six local beers on tap and 16 wines on tap. The wines on tap allows you to "taste wine that you wouldn't otherwise buy by the bottle," she says.

Hylton's husband, Chris, is the chef and worked most recently at The Mint restaurant, which has since closed in downtown Raleigh. (Go HERE to read an earlier post about his background.) He's joined in the kitchen by Lauren Smaxwell, who most recently worked at The Pit with barbecue legend Ed Mitchell.

Tapas, mezze, wine bar nibbles -- whatever you call them, you'll find big flavors on small plates at these area restaurants.

Frazier's
2418 Hillsborough St., Raleigh
828-6699
www.frazierswinebar.com
GlassHalFull
106 S. Greensboro St., Carrboro
967-9784
www.glasshalfullcarrboro.com
Humble Pie
317 S. Harrington St., Raleigh
829-9222
www.humblepierestaurant.com
The Red Room
510 Glenwood Ave., Raleigh
835-1322
www.redroomraleigh.com

Click READ MORE to see the entire list.

Greg's Hot List: Tapas Time

You'll find big flavors on small plates at these area restaurants.

bu.ku
110 E. Davie St., Raleigh
834-6963
http://bukuraleigh.com
GlassHalFull
106 S. Greensboro St., Carrboro
967-9784
www.glasshalfullcarrboro.com
Humble Pie
317 S. Harrington St., Raleigh
829-9222
www.humblepierestaurant.com

Click READ MORE for the entire list.