A new bar and a new bakery now open in downtown Durham

I wanted to mention a new bar and a new bakery that opened last week in downtown Durham: Alley Twenty Six and The Cupcake Bar.

• Alley Twenty Six, a "fine drinking" establishment, is now at 320 E. Chapel Hill St. Shannon Healy, the longtime manager at Chapel Hill's Crook's Corner, opened the 1,300-square-foot bar last weekend. It is near Rue Cler restaurant and around the corner from Scratch bakery. Healy says they will offer a small curated wine list, quality cocktails using local ingredients and a small bar menu with charcuterie. For more information, go to www.alleytwentysix.com.
• The Cupcake Bar bakery opened last week at at 101 E. Chapel Hill St. Sisters Anna Branly and Katie Braam finally opened a brick-and-mortar bakery after making custom-made cupcakes at a commercial kitchen in Cary and delivering them to customers all over the Triangle since 2008. The bakery is open 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays But it will be open this Sunday only for Centerfest from noon to 4 p.m. or until they run out of cupcakes. cupcakebarbakery.com.

For Durham residents, I also want to mention that Sur la Table is scheduled to open Oct. 26 at Durham's South Point Mall, although that date could change. This is the third Sur La Table store in North Carolina; others are in Charlotte and Greensboro. The kitchenwares store also offers cooking classes for adults and children taught by classically-trained resident chefs.