Mark your calendar: Bobby Deen, star of "Not My Mama's Meals" on the Cooking Channel, will be signing copies of his latest cookbook at 7 p.m. Feb. 12 at the Barnes & Noble store in Cary.
Deen, whose latest book is "From Mama's Table to Mine," takes his mother's indulgent dishes into healthier fare. His mother, Paula Deen, is a Savannah restaurateur, Food Network star and cookbook author who revealed last year that she has diabetes.
The bookstore is located 760 SE Maynard Road, Cary.
Introducing John Frank, our new beer news columnist. Frank, a political reporter by day and craft beer lover at night, will be writing a weekly beer column for the blog and the food section. Here's the first installment:
The craft beer experience is as big a part of the Triangle dining scene as food trucks and farmers markets.
The N.C. Brewers Guild lists 15 breweries in the Raleigh area and another dozen are in the works. The names Brad Wynn and Chris Davis, the brewers at Big Boss and Fullsteam, respectively, aren't as well known as Ashley Christensen and Andrea Reusing -- but hopefully that will change with this new weekly craft beer column.
To recognize the artisan brewmasters and beer in our midst, this column will bring you the latest news from the local scene, highlight big events in the area and offer a few tasting notes along the way.
It's my pleasure to serve as your guide. I spend my nine-to-five as a political reporter at the newspaper and my five-until hours as a craft beer lover. My wife calls it an obsession; I prefer the word aficionado.
If these count as credentials, I've tasted hundreds of craft beers and spent more than $30 on a six-pack, as well as toured dozens of breweries in many different states. And I'm a homebrewer, which gives me a good appreciation of the artistry involved in making good beer. So welcome and feel free to send feedback to jfrank@newsobserver.com or on Twitter @ByJohnFrank.
Carolina Brewery offers small batch beers
A mainstay in the local beer scene is reviving its beer lineup with six new small-batch beers. The new offerings double Carolina Brewery's selection at its Franklin Street location in Chapel Hill, where the small batches are made. With the brewpub approaching its 18th anniversary next month, owner Robert Poitras said he "made a commitment to go back to our roots and our roots are being a pioneer in craft brewing."
The new beers include old recipes the brewery hasn't put on tap in years, such as the Franklin Street Lager, Funky Monk Ale, Alter Ego Altbier and Old North State Stout. Other new beers include a tan-headed black IPA and an 8-percent ABV tripel.
A constantly evolving tap list with new styles of beer is becoming an industry norm. Carolina Brewery is late to the game compared to its other local peers as it focused on expanding production at its Pittsboro location and reaching a wider audience in South Carolina, Tennessee and even Virginia Beach, Va., later this spring.
So far, Poitras said, the response to the new beers is exceeding expectations. And he said the brewpub is doing more to appeal to the increasingly savvy consumer by aligning glassware with beer style and offering more beer-food pairings.
What I'm drinking
As part of each column, I'll include a few notes about recent tastings. The first strays from the local scene but it's a regional find and a 100-point masterpiece.
Hardywood Park Craft Brewery in Richmond, Va., released a Gingerbread Stout in time for the holidays as part of its Reserve Series. It is a dark, velvety smooth milk stout made with local honey and ginger that is worth putting on your beer bucket list. My brother, who lives in Richmond, gave it to me as a Christmas gift. He said the whole batch sold out in less than an hour. Stats: 9.2 percent, 55 IBU. Sold in 750ml bottles.
Go HERE to read the review.
One of the highlights of the upcoming Triangle Restaurant Week will be the three-course dinner at Southern Season's Weathervane restaurant.
Between Jan. 21-27, dozens restaurants from Raleigh to Chapel Hill will offer two-course lunches for $10 and three-course dinners for $20 to $30.
Chef Ryan Payne won the statewide Competition Dining contest, where chefs compete against each other in a secret ingredient cook-off. Payne won the Fire in the Triangle contest and then won the state finals last fall. This week's menu will feature his winning dishes.
The meal costs $30 and an additional $15 for wine pairings. To make a reservation, call 919-929-9466.
For more information about Triangle Restaurant Week: trirestaurantweek.com
Southern food doyenne Nathalie Dupree is coming to Fearrington Village for a lunch featuring dishes from her new cookbook, "Mastering the Art of Southern Cooking."
The lunch will be at 1 p.m. next Wednesday at The Granary restaurant.
The price is $75 for a four-course meal and a copy of the book. The courses include bourbon sweet potato and greens soup, beef tenderloin stuffed with country ham and Parmesan, roasted Brussels sprouts and sunchokes and
rice pudding with butterscotch-thyme sauce.
To make a reservation, call 919-542-3030. For details: goo.gl/iZKH1
Crank Arm Brewing Co. announced today that it plans to open this spring in downtown Raleigh's warehouse district.
The craft brewery with a seven-barrel system will open at 319 W. Davie St. The location will not only house a brewery and a bar but also a rolling team of rickshaws to take people on tours of downtown Raleigh and make beer deliveries to individuals, bars and restaurants. (The brewery is an expansion of the local rickshaw company, Crank Arm Rickshaw. Their press release touts their commitment to green transportation. They also own a delivery truck powered by used vegetable oil.)
There will be two flagship beers on tap at all times when the brewery opens: Rickshaw Rye, a Rye India Pale Ale, and White Wall Wit, an American Wit. Those two beers will be joined by a rotating list of four seasonal beers.
For more information, go to the company's Facebook page.
A new dinner series has launched to help raise funds for beginner farmers and new food entrepreneurs in North Carolina.
It is called Funds to Farms
and here is how it works: diners pay $15 at the door for a buffet meal and listen to presentations from five people seeking funding for their farm or food business. The diners will vote on which person should get a micro-grant. That person will take home the money raised from ticket sales and donations at the door.
These dinners are a collaboration between The Abundance Foundation, Carolina Farm Stewardship Association and Slow Money NC.
The first dinner will be 7-9 p.m. Jan. 27 at Fullsteam Brewery, featuring soup and salad from Vin Rouge Bistro and Piedmont Restaurant and bread from Ninth Street Bakery. Plus, Fullsteam will be donating $2 for each pint sold of their new beer, Cackalacky Ginger Pale Ale, at its launch party from 3-5 p.m. Jan. 27.
And if you would like to be one of the five applying for a micro-grant, applications are due Jan. 16.
For tickets or information, go to fundstofarms.com.
Casalinga Ristorante Italiano, an Italian-American restuarant in Mini City shopping center on Capital Boulevard, closed earlier this month.
A note on the restaurant's website announced the Jan. 4 closing. It said: "We at Casalinga would like to thank you a wonderful 18 years. Your support and friendship has meant the world. To us 2013 is the beginning of new opportunities. We wish you health and happiness in the New Year! Thank you again for all your support. Love, Josephine and the Casalinga family."
The restaurant was started in 1995 by Manny LoGuidice, who ran the kitchen, and his sister-in-law, Josephine Cappiello, who ran the front of the house. In 2003, LoGuidice moved back to New York, leaving the restaurant in the hands of Cappiello and her husband, Carlo.
A few years later, the Cappiellos got divorced. LoGuidice returned to help Josephine with Casalinga. Carlo now run Casa San Carlo on Falls of the Neuse Road. (Greg Cox gave 3 stars to Casa San Carlo last year. Go HERE to read the review.)
Raleigh chef Ashley Christensen has bought the Wilmoore Cafe, a coffeehouse and sandwich shop owned by David Fowle, a longtime fixture in the Raleigh coffee scene.
The Wilmoore Cafe will stay open until next Friday. Christensen says she will close the restaurant for about six weeks and reopen sometime in March. She plans to keep it as a coffee shop but expand the hours to seven days a week and into the evening. She will offer an expanded menu and a beer, wine and cocktail list. She plans to change the name.
"We're excited," Christensen said Tuesday morning.
Fowle, who owned a coffee shop downtown in the 1990s, explained that his expertise is serving coffee to the business crowd during the week. That business had grown steadily at the Wilmoore Cafe, Fowle said.
But Fowle said Tuesday: "Here's the rub: The property is too valuable to not do nights and weekends. I don't have the expertise, energy or bandwidth to do it properly."
But Christensen does, Fowle said.
"She recognizes what a jewel and potential jewel this place can be," he said.
The deal signed Monday happened organically. Commercial real estate agent Carter Worthy is Fowle's cousin and works with Christensen, who also rents space on the second floor of the building that is home to the Wilmoore Cafe. Christensen was looking at other downtown opportunities and Fowle and Worthy were discussing how to best expand the Wilmoore Cafe into nights and weekends.
"She made an offer we couldn't refuse," Fowle said.
With this purchase, Christensen expands her reach north along Wilmington Street. She already owns Chuck's, a burger joint, Beasley's Chicken + Honey, a fried chicken spot, and Fox Liquor Bar. All three are located in the same building at the corner of Wilmington and Martin streets in downtown Raleigh. She also owns Poole's Diner, a finer dining spot, on South McDowell St.
Fowle said he is going to enjoy his time off, take his teenage daughter on some college visits and then get a job.
(Get over there before next Friday to say goodbye to Fowle and be sure to buy one of his chocolate chip cookies. I consider them to be the best in the Triangle.)
Dimples BBQ Sauce, the creation of Wake Forest couple Rich and Jan Campana, placed first in the tomato mild contest at the National BBQ Festival's 2012 best of the best barbecue sauce competition in Douglas, GA.
The sauce also won reserve grand champion.
Jan Campana explained that she and her husband moved to the Triangle eight years ago from California and became immersed in North Carolina's barbecue culture. Her husband joined a competition barbecue team and started testing sauce recipes. After lots of positive feedback, Jan Campana, then a stay-at-home mom, decided to try to turn their sauce recipe into a business. Two years ago, Dimples BBQ Sauce was launched.
A 16-ounce jar costs $5 online at dimplesbbqsauce.com. The website also lists local retailers that carry the sauce.
We're giving away a jar of Dimples BBQ sauce, thanks to Jan and Rich Campana. To enter to win, leave a comment below this post before noon, Friday, Jan. 25. I'll choose a winner at random and the Campanas will send you the sauce. Good luck.