Dairy Queen on Western Blvd Closes
No more drive-thru Blizzards on Western Boulevard. The store (which always had a creepy vib to it) has closed.
Urban Planning Panel Session Today
At 5:30 pm today, the planning department will present a 4-person panel discussion concerning design for urban living. The panel features guests Simon Atkinson, Robin Moore, and Michael Pyatok, as well as Raleigh Planning Director Mitchell Silver. The free event will take place in the Council Chamber of city hall (222 W. Hargett St.)
MINI Coming to Raleigh
Jack Hagel reports in
today’s N&O
that
Flow Automotive
(from Winston-Salem) has purchased the former O’Neal Saab dealership on Capital Boulevard, across from Leith Automotive. The article reports that almost half of Flow
Mini’s
MINI’s customers are from the Triangle.
Hillsborough Street Festival To Celebrate Revival
For the first time since its original construction in 1972, Hillsborough Street will be closed for an all day eco-friendly arts & music festival on Saturday, March 14th . The Hillsborough Street Renaissance Festival has been created to showcase the construction changes occurring on the street over the next two years, and to revitalize Raleigh’s famed Hillsborough Street. Proceeds from the festival will go to support student and community non-profit organizations focused on renewable energy research, sustainable development, and community improvement projects. The event will feature a wide variety of activities as well as live music and ton of vendors. Check out live bands, an Eco-Fashion Show, a Fraternity, Sorority & Business BBQ Taste Testing Competition, an Iron Chef Cookoff styled after March Madness Basketball Brackets, and more!
Wake Delays Courthouse Construction
The News & Observer is reporting that the Wake County Commissioners has delayed construction of the county’s new courthouse (planned for Martin and Salisbury Streets) for one year. Demolition of the Garland Jones building and its adjacent parking garage (which recently closed) will continue.
Yves Delorme Closing
The Yves Delorme store in North Hills is closing. The last day for the store is Saturday, and the remaining stock is being discounted 40%.
Joan Jett Coming to Downtown Live
The Bud Light Downtown Live
free
concert series will bring in Joan
Jett and the Blackhearts
on July 11. (I hear she has a bad reputation.)
Elbow Opening for Coldplay
Brit pop band
Elbow
will make a rare appearance in Raleigh on August 6 opening for Coldplay at Time Warner Pavilion. London trio
Kitty, Daisy, & Lewis
will also open.
ACC Football Schedules Are Now Available
On Thursday the ACC conference released the complete schedule for the upcoming football season. In typical fashion,
gogoraleigh has compiled the schedules
into a format that is easy to import into almost all calendar applications. Included are not only files for the UNC and NCSU schedules, but also files for the entire conference. This worked really well as an iPhone subcalendar last season, and I hope it can do the same for you. TV has not had a chance to affect the schedule, so the dates are not final and times are not set.
Sitti Brings Lebanon to Downtown Raleigh
It is refreshing to see American palates expanding beyond the usual international fare. It wasn’t long ago that Mexican was hard to find, Italian meant pizza, and Greece and Lebanon were represented only by Hector’s in Crabtree (which is still outstanding).
One of Raleigh’s best-kept secrets has been the Neomonde bakery. Located behind the Waffle House across from Meredith, Neomonde is part middle-eastern grocery, part bakery, and part deli. The food is excellent, but it is perfect for lunch and doesn’t quite satisfy people’s idea of a good supper. Thankfully the Saleh family has teamed up with Downtown Raleigh revivalist Greg Hatem to bring us Sitti .
While there is quite a buzz about Sitti, don’t be fooled into thinking the restaurant is trying to explore new realms of chic or our wallet. Translated as “grandmother”, Sitti merely wants to bring the best of Lebanon at a reasonable price, and does this well.
The restaurant is in space that for decades held a furniture store. The understated renovation preserved much of that feel, keeping the elevated window showcase areas, wood flooring, and tin ceiling all intact. The decor is a bit on the plain side. Walls are white with small, old portraits from the middle east. The wall containing the kitchen’s service window has tile mosaic coverage, but doesn’t make a huge statement. Music? I never even noticed if they play music because the hard walls, ceiling, and flooring make for a fairly loud environment.
I decided to keep things simple at lunch (.pdf) by ordering an appetizer of hummos, which was good, but (like my long-held complaint with Neomonde’s food) was overly garlicky. The chicken kabob was excellent, and swam in a marinade extremely similar to that found in The Grecian Plate cookbook. What was really interesting and lovable was the Sitti rice; tan with a nutty, aromatic flavor. Finally, the onion and tomato on the kabob were good, however I’d prefer the onion to be cooked a little more; a familiar problem with kabobs.
Sitti’s Dinner menu (.pdf) is largely the same as the lunch menu, but the portions and prices are a little bigger. We started with Baba Ghanouj which, admittedly, has never been one of my favorites. Sitti’s was no exception as one inedible bite was all I could stand. I moved on to my Sitti salad which was a bit bland. Personally I think the Greek version of this salad, which adds feta cheese and olives, is more interesting. Far more interesting is the Goat Cheese and Orange Salad. In this salad, the understated dressing has something to support; the oranges and goat cheese. I moved on to the Mixed Grill which is a sampler of chicken, lamb, and kafta. The chicken was overcooked and the lamb was tough, however the kafta was fantastic. For this I highly recommend the $11 Kafta Kabob as a full entree instead of the mixed grill. One weakness of the menu is the presence of only one seafood entree. We had the Samkeh Harra (baked salmon) which did not disappoint. The only other food I have heard about is the shrimp appetizer, which got glowing reviews from a trusted friend.
Sitti is a fantastic addition to downtown. It is nice to see the chain of more and more expensive restaurants being broken. Also, the decision to not overpower the food with spices will suit the restaurant well. However, the restaurant is low on wow-factor that we frequently experience at Durham’s Taverna Nikos and once got at Sadak’s (on Hillsborough St.). While the Nikos is a slightly different fare, the two are similar enough for comparison. The Saleh family has always worked really hard and I’ll continue to root for them. Hopefully some kitchen refinements will elevate Sitti to being a no-brainer for out-of-town guests.
Magnolia Grill Named Beard Semi-Finalist
VarmintBites
has a good post today informing readers that Ben and Karen Barker’s
Magnolia Grill
has been named by the James Beard Foundation as one of 20 finalists for the nation’s Best Restaurant award.
I’m not surprised. The unassuming grill continues do wow decades into its existence. One gains a true appreciation for the restaurant when trying to cook Barker’s recipes . Many included in the Not Afraid of Flavor book literally require days in advance of preparation.
What makes Barker special is his ability to blend deep layers of flavor without overpowering a dish. All too often popular local chefs think that the way to impress is to serve the culinary equivalent of german speed metal music. (one chef who was once in Cary, then in Raleigh, and now has left the country comes chiefly to mind). Not so with Barker. Magnolia Grill is one of the few restaurants where each bite should be savored instead of serving as a backdrop for mundane conversation.
Chapel Hill chefs Bill Smith, Andrea Reusing, and Chip Smith, along with Durham’s Scott Howell were nominated for Best Chef of the Southeast award.
Best of luck to all!
Few Local Stations Proceeding with Analog Shutoff
The analog to digital television transition was to occur on all stations this coming Tuesday. Last week, however, the Senate and House passed approved the DTV Delay Act which sets the mandatory switch date to June 12. The change is creating a lot of confusion because some TV stations (.pdf) are going ahead with their transitions this coming Tuesday anyway. The transition is not easy for some stations as they will have to broadcast their new digital signals with new equipment that cannot be used until the transition occurs.
As a general rule, affiliates of the three major networks are waiting to transition on June 12, and our three are no exception. Three other local stations, however, will go ahead with the transtion; WRDC (MyTV), WLFL (CW), and WRAY.
Of course, if you haven’t seen the video of the old lady fumbling with her converter box , it is a must see!
Cordmaker Field of Dreams Wins at Westminster
The N&O today has a good article describing a Raleigh puli’s triumphant Best of Group (Herding Dog) performance at the Westminster Dog Show.
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