This weeks picture was taken on Person Street in Downtown Raleigh earlier this week. It looks like a new pie shop called PieBird will fill the location previously home to Conti’s Italian Market. No word yet on exactly when they plan to open, but I look forward to stopping in when they do and getting a pie on the way home from work! I hope to get some more pics when they open to share in a future blog post!
Filed under Businesses, Picture of the Week
The Foundation is a relatively new bar that opened up on Fayetteville Street in downtown Raleigh early last summer. This unique bar is located in what was once the crawl space of an older building . The owners spent several months “digging out” the crawl space space area to create enough living space to establish the bar. I beleive much of this excavation was done the old fashioned way, by hand. The entrance to the bar is a set of stairs leading down from the street level sidewalk along Fayetteville Street. There is a small window on the wall facing the stairs that kind of reminds me of the window from the bar in Cheers were you can see a view of the ankles and knees of everyone coming and going.
The bar area itself is not huge but could comfortably fit between 40-50 people. The atmosphere is somewhat dark but at the same time inviting with a rich wood bar and exposed brick walls with a glimer of natural light coming in from the small windows by the stairs. They sell only NC beers and have various wines from NC, VA, and a few from Washington state. They have all kinds of bourbon and make some fantastice mixed drinks. The last time Iwas there I had a Sangria that included in its recipe some Junior Johnson moonshine.
They don’t serve food so they are considered a “private club” but membership only costs $1 and you can bring any number of guests. The bar was smoke free even before the recent statewide ban, but I they do have a few tables outside up on the sidewalk level where smoking is allowed if that is your thing. To keep tabs on what they have on tap and any new arrivals or drink specials you can check out their facebook fan page for regular updates.
I hear they can get pretty busy in the early evening when folks are just getting out of work from the nearby office buildings and they draw quite crowd on weekend nights as well. If you are checking it out for the first time I recommend dropping by early on the weekend when it is a less likely to be busy so you can take in the subtleness of the design of the unique interior and strike up a converation with the friendly bartenders there. If you are lucky, they may even show you the earthen tunnel where they store the beer kegs to keep them cold. You can my other photos of the bar on flickr. Check it out!
Filed under Bars, Businesses
Last night my neighbor and I made the short trip over to the “Beer Olympics” over at my favorite wine store, Wine 101 in Wake Forest. As I described in an earlier post, the event was held in honor of the lighting of the olympic torch kicking off the 2010 winter olympics in Vancouver. The field of competition consisted of a grand total of 30 different beers from six different categories (Hefeweizen, Lagers, Belgians, IPAs, Strong IPAs, and Stouts). Joe, the owner of Wine 101, and his right hand man Jason poured 2 ounce tastes of each bear from unmarked half-gallon growlers. The honorable “ tasting judges” (myself and the 50 other people there) would then score each beer in this blind taste test on a scale of 1-10. At the end of the night the scores were to be tallied up and gold, silver, and bronze medals would be awarded in each category.
Although I didn’t plan on it, amazingly my friend and I made it through all 30 beers! This was in large part thanks to the dedicated staff at wine 101 who were working very hard to make sure everyone in the large crowd that came to the event had the opportunity to taste every beer. They were also incredibly consistent with their 2 oz. pours which went a long way to make sure you didn’t over do it and wouldn’t get worn out before making it through the catalogue of beers. As we worked our way through the many beers to taste I found that I was a big fan of the Hefeweizen and the Strong IPA’s but was not crazy about the Lagers and regular IPAs. The Jury is still out for me on the Stouts. I don’t think my palate is mature or fascinated enough to recognize a quality stout at this point! That is what year’s of drinking Coor’s Light and Corona will do to you I guess!
The “official” medal scoring is still being tallied and should be posted to their website soon, but in the meantime I did hear that one of the Hefeweizen I liked was the locally brewed Shotgun Betty from Lone Rider Brewery. I recently had this beer on a visit to the Rialto Theater in downtown Raleigh and think a visit to the brewery is in my future.
My friend and I met some very friendly people throughout the evening as we shared our critiques of each brew and debated which beer we liked best. As always, whether you’re looking for a bottle of wine for dinner, or just attending one of their wine or beer tasting events Wine 101 is at the top of my list of places to check out. It is not only a great wine shop (which sells great beers too), but Joe and his staff are so friendly and helpful which gives the shop a real social atmosphere with a “neighborhood store” vibe making it a great place to visit to get out and meet new people. For more information about Wine 101 and future events check you can sign up for teir newsletter on their website or follow Joe on twitter.
Filed under Businesses, Events
This past weekend I had the opportunity to stop in for a quick cup of coffee at Cafe Helios on Glenwood Avenue in Downtown Raleigh. Helios is pretty popular among the downtown crowd and is well known as spot to get a great cup of coffee, sandwiches, and other libations. They serve Counter Culture Coffee which is roasted in nearby Durham and I think you will find it to be pretty darn good. I was there on a Sunday morning so I grabbed a cup of coffee and resisted the temptation of ordering one of their delicious breakfast sandwiches and opted instead for a bagel with cream cheese.
On my few visits to the cafe I have noticed the crowd to be a good mix of ages. As I sat my table waiting for my coffee to cool down I noticed a steady stream of what I can only assume were regular customers being that they were on a first name basis with the barista. I even noticed a few familiar faces including the guy who sells me the occasional wine bottle over at Seaboard Wine, another of my favorite downtown haunts.
As with most coffee places they offer free Wi-Fi access so the cafe is populated with the typical laptop lurkers perched at tables quietly crusing the internet or working on their college research paper. I had my work laptop with me so I felt like I fit in nicely tapping into their wireless connection while I enjoyed my coffee. It has been a while since I last visited the Cafe, but I think I am going to try and stop by more often. It has a good vibe to it and offers more than just a good cup of Joe and free wireless internet access.
You can also stop by in the evening to enjoy a pint of beer or wine and take in some art and catch the occasional live music act. They even hold occasional events and will be hosting a Valentine’s Dance Party with a DJ this weekend. You can click on the flyer below for more information about their “Spread the Love” dance party. For more information on itshistory and how the cafe was created from what use to be the old North Carolina Association for Plumbing Heating and Cooling Control building on Glenwood check out this extemely informative blog post over on Goodnight Raleigh.
Filed under Businesses
This past weekend my wife and I went out to see the Jeff Bridge’s movie “Crazy Heart”. We enjoy going to the movies and one of our favorite places to go in Raleigh is the Rialto Theater in the Five Points area on the fringe of downtown Raleigh. The Rialto offers a different movie experience than what you typically get at one of the big multiplex cinemas. It only has one screen and typically shows independent and art house style films. Because it is a smaller theater they don’t have a lot of staff, but what they lack in numbers they make up for in service. It isn’t uncommon for the person working the box office to be the same person to help you at the concession stand. Oh yeah, make sure you stop by an ATM on your way because they don’t accept credit cards at theater.
The Rialto may be an older theater, but they have comfortable new seats that have those handy drink holders. The seating is not “stadium style” but more like a traditional theater with a gradual slope and a movie screen set up on a stage in the front (pictures). There is some interesting recessed lighting that gives the theater a unique ambiance while you are waiting for your movie to start. You can buy the typical movie candy and popcorn at the concession stand in the small quaint lobby but the great thing is you can also purchase beer and wine at the theater to enjoy with your movie. They have several different beers in bottles and on tap. Often times more than a few are brews made in North Carolina if not from a local brewery located right here in the Triangle. On trip there this weekend I had pint of a Shotgun Betty from the local LoneRider Brewing Company. I’m not usually a huge fan of wheat beers, but I found this one to be very good
One of the great thing about catching a movie there is that since it is located in the heart of Five Points you can easily grab at bite to eat at Lily’s Pizza or The Point before your show and then just walk over to the theater. Or after the movie you can drop into Third Place for a late night coffee of the Haye’s Barton Cafe for one of the famous pieces of cake. Parking can be a little tight on Glenwood on weekends, but I find there is always ample parking in the school parking lot just around the corner on Fairview Road (you are allowed to park there during the evenings and weekends). Oh, and remember, if you go to the last show on Friday night, you might be lucky enough to see the folks headed to The Rocky Horror Picture show, which screens every Friday at midnight.
Click here to see interior pictures of the Rialto as it looked back in 1942.
Filed under Businesses
The Triangle Explorer 