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

Justin Chen, a newcomer to the Triangle but a veteran restaurateur, has opened Chopstix (5607 Creedmoor Road; 919-7781-6268) at Creedmoor Crossing, in the space long occupied by Jin Yuan (and more recently, Rose Garden Asian Bistro).

A native of China's Fujian Province, Chen comes to Raleigh by way of Ocean City, Maryland, where he still owns Blue Fish Japanese restaurant. The broader Asian concept (not to mention the name) for his new restaurant is inspired by Chopstix restaurants belonging to a friend in Maryland. The restaurant is not affiliated with the Chopstix in Durham.

The bulk of the extensive menu is devoted to the reigning champs of Asian cuisine in terms of popularity: sushi and Chinese-American fare. The offering also includes a handful of tempura, hibachi, teriyaki and Japanese noodle dishes, as well as a token nod to Thai cuisine.

Chopstix is open for lunch and dinner daily. The restaurant doesn't have a website yet, but you can pick up a takeout menu that includes a couple of coupons for free sushi rolls. It is not affiliated with the Chopstix in Durham.

The restaurant does have a Facebook page.

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.

The James Beard Foundation's list of restaurant and chef award semifinalists was just released and there was a strong showing from the Triangle and the entire state.

• Durham's Mateo Tapas is a semifinalist for Best New Restaurant.
• Phoebe Lawless of Scratch Bakery in Durham is a semifinalist for Outstanding Pastry Chef.
• Lantern Restaurant in Chapel Hill is a semifinalist for Outstanding Restaurant. (Owner and chef Andrea Reusing won a James Beard award for Best Chef Southeast in 2011.)
• Angus Barn in Raleigh is a semifinalist for Outstanding Wine Program.
• Sean Lilly Wilson of Durham's Fullsteam brewery and Eric Solomon of European Cellars in Charlotte are semifinalists for outstanding wine, spirits or beer professional.
• Katie Button of Curate in Asheville is a semifinalist for Rising Star Chef of the Year.
• The semifinalists for Best Chef Southeast are Ashley Christensen of Raleigh's Poole's Diner among other restaurants; Scott Crawford of Herons at the Umstead Hotel and Spa in Cary; Vivian Howard of Chef & the Farmer in Kinston; Scott Howell of Nana's in Durham, Elliot Moss of The Admiral in Asheville; and Aaron Vandemark of Panciuto in Hillsborough.

To see the list of all the semifinalist nominees, go to jamesbeard.org/awards

The semifinalist nominees will be narrowed to finalists and those will be announced March 18 at a press conference in Charleston, S.C. The winner will be announced May 6 at a gala reception in New York City.

This how the awards work: The foundation puts out a call for nominations in the fall and this year more than 44,000 entries were received. A committee narrows the entrees to a list of semifinalists in each category. Then more than 600 judges across the country -- regional restaurant critics, food and wine editors, culinary educators and past James Beard Foundation Restaurant and Chef Award winners -- vote for the five finalists and then choose a winner in each category.

The James Beard Foundation is a nonprofit that recognizes excellence in the culinary field from chefs and restaurants to journalists and cookbook authors. James Beard was a television personality and food writer who championed regional American cuisine. The foundation was created by his friends after his death in 1985.

A new event, the Bull City Food & Beer Experience, will be from 4-8 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 24 at the Durham Performing Arts Center. (So many tasty events this Sunday! Go HERE and HERE to see my previous blog posts.)

The event organized by the folks at DPAC, Sam's Quik Shop and Tyler's Restaurant and Taproom brings together 20 chefs from local restaurants and more than 50 local and national craft breweries to offer tastings. Plus, there will be appearances by national brewers Ken Grossman of Sierra Nevada, Kim Jordan of New Belgium and Dale Katechis of Oskar Blues.

Tickets cost $75. Attendees get a souvenir glass and tasting notebook. To purchase tickets, go HERE.

Southern Living magazine is running a contest to let readers decide the "Tastiest Town in the South." Right now, Durham is in the lead with Memphis right beside. For much of the voting, it was between Durham and Asheville.

That dead heat convinced chef Justin Rakes to organize a dinner featuring chefs from both North Carolina towns. At 7 p.m. Sunday at Durham's Four Square Restaurant, diners can enjoy a six-course meal prepared by these chefs:

• Jacob Sessoms of Table in Asheville.
• Brian Canipelli of Cucina 24 in Asheville.
• Justin Rakes and Scott Martin of soon to open Salted Pig (Rakes is the former chef de cuisine at Four Square. Rakes is being tight-lipped at the moment about his next venture, the Salted Pig, but I will share details as I learn them.)
• Matt Kelly of Mateo in Durham.
• Shane Ingram of Four Square in Durham.

Tickets cost $75 per person. Wine pairings will be made available by Four Square
Sommelier Brandon Carr. Reservations can be made online at opentable.comor by phone 919-401-9877.

Be sure to cast your vote for your favorite Southern town. Voting ends Feb. 28. To vote, go HERE.

Tickets are still available for the Evening with Master Chefs event on Sunday, Feb. 24 to benefit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

The 5 p.m. dinner at The Carolina Club in Chapel Hill includes a reception with cocktails and appetizers, a multi-course meal and a silent auction. The chefs cooking for the event include: Dave Gaydeski of the Governor's Mansion, Walter Royal of the Angus Barn, Joe Lumbrazo of Backyard Bistro, Oscar La Fuente of The Carolina Club, Clifton Vogelsberg of Winston's Grille, Ian Sullivan of Urban Food Group, Virgil Wilson of Virgil's Jamaica and chefs from The Chef's Academy, a culinary school in Morrisville.

The silent auction includes a chance to have Chef Masatoshi Tsujimura of Waraji come to your home and prepare a sushi dinner and sake tasting for 10 guests.

Tickets cost $200. To purchase tickets or learn more about the event, go to
cff.org/Chapters/carolinas/ and click on Chapter events or call 919-845-2155

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

The folks behind bikeCOFFEE, the popular mobile coffee vendor in Durham, opened their brick-and-mortar location in late January. Sort of.

"We're doing a beta rollout," says Leon Grodski de Barrera, who owns Cocoa Cinnamon with his wife, Areli Barrera de Grodski. "We're about halfway there." He's referring to the gradual phase-in of the coffeehouse menu over the course of the first few weeks.

They're already serving the ground-to-order coffees that are bikeCOFFEE's claim to fame, as well as espresso drinks, single origin loose leaf teas, sipping chocolates (which are to American hot chocolate as foie gras is to chopped liver) and a modest selection wines by the glass. Look for the offering to broaden over the coming weeks.

The furnishings are likewise a work in progress, but with comfortable seating, colorful tile floors by local artist Heather Gordon, and lots of natural lighting, Cocoa Cinnamon is already a warmly inviting space. Not to mention a welcome newcomer to the Durham Athletic Park area, where it joins Motorco, Fullsteam Brewery, Geer Street Garden and King's Sandwich Shop at what has become one of the area's premier dining and entertainment destinations.

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.

Carolina Ale House, the Raleigh-based popular sports bar chain, plans to open seven more locations within the next 18 months, including one on Glenwood South in early 2014.

The company owned by successful restaurateur Lou Moshakos already has 20 locations from North Carolina to south Florida. This expansion includes the company's first ventures into Texas and Tennessee.

A press release sent out today announced the upcoming locations:

• Concord, 8695 Concord Mills Blvd – July 2013
• Winston-Salem, Haynes Mall – Aug 2013
• Killeen, TX – August 2013
• Downtown Charleston, S.C., corner of King St. & Calhoun St. - October 2013
• Downtown Raleigh, NC, 500 Glenwood South – early 2014
• Knoxville, TN – early 2014
• Summerville, SC – early 2014

A successful coffeehouse operator is taking over the space formerly occupied by Chapel Hill's 3Cups.

Owners Ann and Lex Alexander announced the closing of their wine, tea and coffee shop last month. (Go HERE to read our earlier blog post.)

But Dr. Stephen DeCherney, who owns a Market Street Coffee & Ice Cream in Chapel Hill's Meadowmont Village and the Bean Traders coffeehouse on Durham's Ninth Street, has taken over the former 3Cups location. The store will reopen as Market Street Coffee on Feb. 22, according to general manager Sara Owens.

Owens said the customers at the Meadowmont location were upset that 3Cups was closing and asked her and DeCherney to take over the space.

"It was the customers who made it happen," Owens said.

The new coffeehouse will no longer sell wine, instead focusing on coffee and tea. But Owens said they hoped to serve wine and beer by the glass once they get the proper permits.

And with Lex Alexander as an advisor, they plan to continue to sell gourmet food items, including North Carolina specialty products like jams and pickles, and high-end cocktail ingredients, such as bitters.

The location's hours will be 8 a.m.-7 p.m. but Owens said those may change. The location is 227 S. Elliott Rd., Chapel Hill.

Owens also noted that the company is in the process of changing the name of the Bean Traders Coffee shop on Ninth Street to Market Street Coffee. Owens said it will clear up any confusion between the locations that DeCherney owns and the location at Durham's Homestead Market operated by the original owners.

Go HERE to read Greg's review.

http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/02/15/2677183/go-for-the-pho-not-for-the-japanese.html

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

Gianni Cinelli, one of the Cinelli brothers of local pizzeria fame, is back in action. And this time he's aiming higher.

Cinelli, whose latest venture (Gianni's in Wake Forest) has closed, has turned his attention to Vivo! (no website yet, but you can find it on Facebook), which he opened in late January in North Raleigh's Peachtree Market shopping center.

An emphasis on scratch preparation is reflected in everything from meatballs to lasagna noodles to fresh mozzarella, made daily. Pastas not made in house are imported from Italy, as are San Marzano tomatoes and cheeses bought by the wheel.

The menu focuses on regional Italian fare, from linguine Amatriciana (authentically prepared with guanciale) to gnocchi bianco in sage-butter-cream sauce to slow-roasted porchetta served with baby red potatoes.

"This time, I want to cook the foods I ate in Italy, before I came to America," Cinelli says. As a nod to market realities, he's also making a few Italian-American favorites - "chicken parm and such, the food a lot of people expect when they go to an Italian restaurant."

Naturally, being a Cinelli, he can't resist offering pizza, too.

Vivo! (7400 Six Forks Road, Raleigh; 919-845-6700) is open for lunch and dinner daily. To see their Facebook page, go HERE.

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.