January 21, 2016 · 12:52 pm

Durham Food Truck Rodeo Rescheduled for Sunday January 31st

image

Captain Cookie & The Milk Man
Photo courtesy Paul Prause

Update: Due to the snow and ice from the weekend storm, the Winter Food Truck Rodeo in Durham Central Park has been rescheduled for Sunday January 31st from 12-4pm. There are 50 trucks scheduled including a few new trucks like the Captain Cookie & The Milkman truck pictured above. There will also be live music as well as local craft beer and cider from Fullsteam, Ponysaurus, Triangle Brewery, and Bull City Cidery. You can view the full list of all 50 trucks here.

Special thanks to my friend Paul Prause for the truck photo above. If you are a fan of North Carolina breweries and food trucks I highly recommend you follow Paul on twitter at @paprause.

Durham Food Truck Rodeo
Sunday January 31st, 12-4pm
Durham Central Park
501 Foster Street
Durham, NC 27701 (map)

Leave a comment

Filed under Durham, Food, Food Trucks

Tagged as , ,

January 20, 2016 · 7:05 pm

Nashers Sandwich House in North Raleigh

wp-1452805808109.jpg

Nashers Sandwich House ~ Raleigh, NC

The Triangle certainly has some great places for lunch, problem is not many of them are located very close to where I live. Fortunately that is no longer the case now that Nashers Sandwich House has opened on Durant Road in North Raleigh. They opened over the summer but I only recently had a chance to check them out. So far I have been there three times and I have been so impressed that it is quickly turning into my “go to” place for a great lunch.

image

Naskers Dining Room

Nashers has a pretty basic setup inside. You order at the counter and the food is brought to your table when ready. It isn’t a huge space but has several tables in a brightly painted dining room painted with warm colors. The menu focuses on “scratch-made” sandwiches, salads, soups and sides. There are at least 20 different sandwiches and 6 types of salad on the menu at any given time. They also offer  several soups and a bevy of sides ranging from french fries to cast iron corn. As an added bonus I noticed in addition to the typical soft drinks they have a few beers on tap including two from local breweries.

image

TK B.L.T. Grilled Cheese

Prices range between $7.99 to $849 for the sandwiches which come in sizable portions. You can add fries and a drink for an additional $3.75. So far I have had the chicken parm sandwich and the TK B.L.T grilled cheese. Both were excellent, but my favorite was the turkey B.L.T. It comes with roast turkey, applewood smoked bacon, sharp cheddar, shaved romaine, tomato, and Nasher sauce on griddled country white. You can view the full sandwich menu here.

image

Country Cobb Salad

Salads  will set you back between $8.49 to $9.99. Like the sandwiches, salad portions are quite large. My wife ordered the Country Cobb Salad which comes with mixed greens, roast turkey, Naturally smoked ham, tomato, hard boiled egg, green onions, avocado, crumbled blue cheese and balsamic vinaigrette dressing. She enjoyed it and had a little left over to take home. You can view the full salad menu here.

image

House made fries with sea salt & cracked pepper w/ side of Nashersauce

Nashers might not be the cheapest place for lunch but I found the quality of the food and the size of the portions in line with what we paid. A good choice for lunch is the “Pick Two” combo option where you can get half a sandwich or half a salad and half a soup for just $8.49.  Judging from the lunch crowds I’ve seen during my last two visits word has gotten out how good the food is. If you are up in the North Raleigh area I would definitely add this place to your lunch rotation and check it out for yourself. Nashers is open 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday.

Nashers Sandwich House
10630 Durant Road ~ Raleigh
website: http://www.nasherssandwichhouse.com/
facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nasherssandwichhouse
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nashersandwichhouse/

3 Comments

Filed under Events

January 12, 2016 · 5:10 pm

Picture of the Week: Historic Wake Forest

house2

North Main Street ~ Wake Forest, NC

Lately I’ve been spending some time exploring Wake Forest.  The town has a small but quaint downtown area lined with local businesses including antique shops, a hardware store, and the popular White Street Brewery. A recent addition just one block over from the main drag on Brooks Street is the new coffee roaster and pour over bar called Back Alley Coffee Roasters. A place I recommend checking out if you are a coffee lover.

One of my favorite things to do in Wake Forest is go for a run along the stretch of historic homes on North Main Street. Many of these homes date the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. My favorite one is the “Queen Anne” style home pictured above. I love the huge front porch, lattice work, and polygonal tower. The plaque out in front of this home indicated that it was built in 1892. I still have a lot to explore in Wake Forest, but in the meantime I suggest adding it to your list to check out soon.

Also, keep an eye out for Wake Forest’s new spring concert series “Friday Night on White” featuring food trucks and free outdoor music on South White Street the second Friday of each month from April through September. You can view the scheduled performers here: http://www.wakeforestnc.gov/friday-night-on-white.aspx.

2 Comments

Filed under Picture of the Week

Tagged as , ,

January 8, 2016 · 12:33 pm

Some Fun Things To Do in January

Raspberry

Things tend to quiet down event wise around the Triangle during  January, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of fun things to do. A few things on my list to check out this month include the M.C. Escher exhibit at the NC Museum of Art, which has been extended through January 24th. Also worth visiting is the Chinese Lantern Festival in Cary at the Koka Booth Amphitheater which runs through January 17th.

This weekend in Durham the Bulltown Strutters kickoff Mardi Gras season with a show at the new Blue Note Grill location on Saturday, January 9th at 8pm. It will be a night filled with New Orleans inspired music by the Strutters,  Boom Unit Brass Band and MSA Cajun Band. Cover is $8.

You can also find some great music this Saturday night (Jan 9th) at Nickelpoint Brewery in Raleigh. Acoustic guitar player and singer-songwriter Zach Wiley will be playing at the brewery from 6-9pm. You can always count on a great food truck being there as well if you want to get some dinner. Some other local beer destinations to check out over the winter are the recently opened taproom at Oak City Brewing Company in Knightdale. If you are up for driving a little beyond the Triangle I hear that the new Koi Pond Brewery in Rocky Mount is also worth checking out.

Another great place to visit in January is the Durham Farmer’s Market which is open each Saturday from 10am-12pm all winter long. It’s a great spot to pick up seasonal veggies and locally made products. You can also find several food trucks there each morning along Hunt Street. Speaking of food trucks, there will be a Winter Food Truck Rodeo in Durham Central Park later this month on Sunday January 24th.

And finally, if you are just looking to get out of the house to grab a baked good and some coffee January is a great time to visit one of the great local bakeries or coffee shops around the Triangle. Two of my favorites are both in downtown Raleigh. Boulted Bread on W. South Street and Yellow Dog Bread on Person Street.  There are also two “newish” coffee shops I’ve recently visited that I think are worth checking out. The first is Liquid State located on Hillsborough Street across the from the NCSU bell tower. They have great carrboro coffee and also serve wine and beer. The second is Gray Squirrel Coffee on Main Street in Carrboro. They are located inside the Yester Years brewery space. Both are great spots to explore.

If you have additional suggestions for the month of January feel free to add them in the comments section below. Happy exploring!

2 Comments

Filed under Events, Weekend Picks, Weekly Event Roundup

January 7, 2016 · 5:13 pm

CockADoodleMoo “Takes Over” the Kitchen at Berkeley Cafe for an Evening ~ January 12th

Moo

CockADoodleMoo Food Truck

“Takeover Tuesday” is a special night at the Berkeley Cafe in downtown Raleigh that  gives some of your favorite local food truck chefs the opportunity to “take over” the cafe’s kitchen for the night and serve their popular fare. The next “Takeover” is Tuesday, January 12th, and will feature Chef Doug Rollins of the popular Triangle food truck CockADoodleMoo. The menu for this truck features traditional and global BBQ along with gourmet sandwiches made with fresh, all natural and local ingredients. To get a sense of just how good the dishes are I’ve heard their ribs described as “life changing”.  The special Prix Fixe Menu for next Tuesday evening at the Berkeley Cafe is provided below. Cost is $25 per person. Dinner service runs from 5-9pm. Reservations not required but recommended (919) 821-0777. The Berkeley Cafe is located at 217 W. Martin St. Raleigh. Make sure you come hungry!

MenuDivider
~Menu~ 
January 12th, 2016

Starters
(Choose one)
Smoked Crab & Avocado Salad/Local Greens/Bell Pepper Coulis
Roasted Beets/Baby Arugula/Roasted fennel/Candied Pecans/Farmer’s Cheese/Apple Cider Vinaigrette
Pulled Pork and Crispy Slaw Spring Roll/DMZ Dipping Sauce

Main Event
(Choose one)
Raleigh Brewing Hidden Pipe Porter Braised Angus Beef Short Rib
Raleigh Rum-Browned Butter Smoked Spaghetti Squash
Local Mushrooms/Tangerine Gremolata/Crispy Leeks
Smoked Pork Belly/Stone Ground Polenta/Red Eye Gravy/Fried Collard Greens
Semi-Boneless Buttermilk Fried Chicken Breast/Sweet Potato Malted Waffle/Spiced Maple-Molasses Butter

Dessert
Warm Bread and Butter Pudding/Whiskey Creme Anglaise/Almond Cookie

MenuDivider

You can learn more about the husband and wife team (Jolie and Doug) behind CockADoodleMoo and their inspiration for the truck in The Wandering Sheppard’s “Behind the Wheel” post here.

 

Leave a comment

Filed under Food, Food Trucks

Tagged as , , , ,