OC Bar & Grill Coming to Oberlin
A new bar and restaurant is finally coming to the vacant restaurant space in the Oberlin Court project. will open within a month, and its shows a wide selection of burgers, sandwiches, grill items, and pastas all generally in the $8-$15 range. If the food is good…this will be a huge hit in a part of Raleigh craving more family-friendly menus.
WhichWich Coming to Cameron Village
that WhichWich will be coming to Cameron Village this summer. They will be in the space formerly occupied by Quizno’s, next to the ABC Store. They also are reporting that Uncle Fatty’s recently closed, and will be replaced by a sushi/burger concept called Sushi Gami.
WCPSS Student Assignment Meeting Tonight at BHS
Tonight begins a series of important meetings by the Wake County Public School Board. The meeting is at Broughton High School from 6:30pm to 8pm (presumably in the auditorium, which is in the building’s corner closest to the intersection of St. Mary’s and Peace Streets). Most likely the hot topic will be the assignment of students from the JY Joyner Elementary School () district. The zone which currently predominantly feeds into Daniels Middle School and Broughton High School, is slated to inclusively feed East Millbrook Middle School () and Millbrook High School ().
The (.pdf) is intended to keep students closer to home and minimize long-distance student commutes. The plan looks logical for nearly every school in the system, however it certainly breaks down for Joyner. Under the proposed plan Daniels would be fed by Root, Stough, York, and Jeffrey’s Grove. Martin would be fed by Lacy and Olds. I don’t have access to the number of seats in those eight schools, but it seems strange that Daniels would be fed by four schools and Martin would be fed by only two. Perhaps Martin is smaller than Daniels, but from what I have heard they are roughly equivalent in size.
If the plan aims to keep students in the same part of the county as their residents, then sending people in the Five Points area to the shadows of Triangle Town Center, just inside of I-540, seems completely counterproductive. If the plan moves forward, the property values of houses along Anderson Drive will plummet while houses along Ridge Road in Raleigh will skyrocket. This is why there ought to be a very strong showing at this meeting tonight. There is much on the line for people who live in the Northeast quadrant inside of I-440.
There will also be meetings at Sanderson (Wed, 9/14), East Wake (Thu, 9/15), and Millbrook (Mon, 9/19). For more information .
Jack Astor’s, Foster’s/Nelson’s/Felson’s/Noster’s Close
Restaurant closings are hitting the mid-priced restaurants at these times. Jack Astor’s was simply an easy meal in Cary. Foster’s on the other hand, was an important ITB social spot over the last couple of decades. The brick arches inside were reminiscent of the old Darryl’s on Hillsborough St. Wood from barns out in Wake County was used to fabricate the large doors inside. There were Clarence Foster’s locations in Atlanta, Charlotte, and Wrightsville Beach, but the Raleigh store was bought by the local owners when the chain went down. Later on Ralph Nelson converted the space into an upscale oyster bar and restaurant. The space underwent a massively expensive, and poorly designed renovation. Nelson’s didn’t make it and the space was converted back to Foster’s. Foster’s…man….Faaaahhster’s.
It is hard to imagine that the Fosters space will be kept in its same configuration. Whatever is next is likely to be quite different, and an end to many memories. Along with the Brewery (which has already been torn down), the ITB crowd lost a a pair of fun spots this week.
Today’s Groupon Deal: Cantina 18
, in the heart of Cameron Village, is . They offer $7 for $15 of food at the southwestern restaurant.
Raleigh Accepting Appearance Award Nominations
The City of Raleigh is accepting nominations for the 2010 Sir Walter Raleigh Awards for Community Appearance. The annual awards recognize outstanding new development, building rehabilitation efforts, and natural resource conservation within the Capital City. The awards program was established in 1983 to commemorate exemplary achievement in enhancing the city’s appearance. More than 200 projects, sites, and individuals have been honored.
Awards are offered in 11 different award categories, including new residential, commercial, or institutional construction, plus historic preservation, sustainable design, and tree and landscape conservation. The award for “Maintained Outstanding Appearance” honors appearance contributions by projects 5 years old or older. The “Individual” award is presented to a citizen who has consistently worked to preserve or improve city appearance.
The deadline for entries for the 2010 Sir Walter Raleigh Awards is Friday, July 9. at or by completing a printed form available at City government offices. In addition to project information, six or more digital photos of each nominated project or individual, submitted on CD or flash drive, are also required.
An independent jury will meet in July to review the nominations. Award winners will be selected based on specific criteria, including exhibition of a new standard of excellence, awareness of land stewardship, innovation, conservation of natural and/ or historic resources, and exceeding applicable ordinances. The Raleigh City Council will confirm the jury’s selections in August. Awards will be presented in October.
Fosters Celebrates 15 Years With Block Party
Fifteen years ago Clarence Fosters opened and was a key player in the rebirth of Cameron Village. This was an important event in getting people’s attention focused back on older parts of Raleigh. Some of the ownership has changed, but still today, Fosters stands proud at the base of the Taj MaTeeter.
Beginning at 5pm today they will have , and Soul Posse. Admission is free until 8pm, and appetizers are just $5.
Community Gro For Sale
The Community Grocery store at Oberlin and Van Dyke has been for sale for a while, and earlier this week. The little store has had two owners in the last 61 years, and this one is ready to retire. As a favorite hog dog and chicken salad spot for many, the future is up in the air for the little place. One potential buyer this year was ready to go, but couldn’t secure funding, so back to the drawing board. One of these days, you’ll get to go fishing, Gro-man!
TeaGschwendner Now Open in Cameron Village
The worldwide tea sensation, TeaGschwendner has landed their fourth U.S. store in Raleigh’s Cameron Village.
TeaGschwendner began as a small tea shop in Trier, Germany, and features a selection of more than 250 varieties of tea, including black, green, oolong, white, rooibush, herbal and fruit. Seasonal specials will be e-mailed or listed on the store’s Facebook site. They will also offer “Introduction to Tea” classes in 2009 which include teaching mixed with tea tasting. More classes will come early next year.
The store is located next to Globtrotter, facing the Village Draft House.
Bloomsbury Brings Back Tasting Menu
Raleigh’s best restaurant, , has reintroduced its popular (.pdf) for two. The menu is available from Monday thru Saturday nights and includes items such as Sautéed boneless Carolina mountain trout wrapped in Prosciutto di Parma over a big bowl of roasted acorn squash bisque with wild rice risotto, haricots-verts & jumbo lump blue crab as well as the delicious Chicken Normandie (Roasted breast of all natural chicken over blue cheese gnocchi & haricots-verts with green apples & smoked bacon in creamy cider-rosemary sauce.)
The price is $50 per couple which includes an appetizer, an entree, and a desert. (Tax, tip, and drinks not included).
Five Points Charrette Coming Saturday
On Saturday morning the City of Raleigh is hosting a charrette to focus on the strategic vision for the Five Points area. The meeting runs from 9am to 1pm at and will feature an on-site Five Points walk as part of the meeting.
For additional information, contact Carter Pettibone with the Raleigh Department of City Planning at 807-8482. Participants are asked to RSVP to carter.pettibone@ci.raleigh.nc.us by tomorrow (Thursday).
Zoës Kitchen Opens at Oberlin Court
, a 22-store fast casual chain out of Birmingham opens today in Oberlin Court. (.pdf) features “Mediterranean – Southern Style”, with a mix of dinner entrees, sandwiches, wraps, salads, and more.
The restaurant’s space is open, with two sides wrapped by large, south and west-facing windows. So, the restaurant will get a generous dose of sunlight every day. The interior features a hard gray floor with red and yellow coloring on the walls and ceiling. One might expect noise to be an issue, however in a mostly full room, it didn’t seem any noisier than Moe’s at North Hills. The funkiest aspect of the decor is the artwork by local children. The restaurant is supplying local elementary school students with art supplies, and posting their work around the restaurant. Each piece can be purchased for $20, with the proceeds going to the artist’s school. They plan to cycle the collection every quarter, freshening the decor.
I settled on the chicken kabobs for lunch, and they did not disappoint. The pair of kabobs included onions, green peppers, and tomatoes, which is especially rare in a casual restaurant. The chicken was good quality, and the marinade, while a bit heavy on the oregano, was nevertheless excellent. The platter was generously heaped with rice, grilled pita, and a side Greek salad. The rice and pita were fine, but the salad really was the star here. The vinaigrette salad dressing was delicious, especially with bites containing feta cheese.
While a better kabob dinner does exist in Raleigh, Zoës offers an extremely good, large plate of food at the $9 price point. As with the addition of Noodles & Co. to the area, it is refreshing to find good food requiring a fork that doesn’t cost $15. It is entirely reasonable to imagine a family of 4 sitting down and having a good, non-greasy meal here below the ever-vanishing $30 price point.
An interesting offering from Zoës is the menu’s Dinners For Four section. Aimed at the To-Go crowd, the four hot dinners offered can be ordered ahead and picked up at around the $25 price point. They also offer some of their salads and hummus in pound and half-pound tubs, as well as a full catering menu.
The restaurant’s hours, if I recall correctly, are 10am-9pm, 7 days a week. They are located in Oberlin Court, the mixed-use development on Oberlin Road near Wade Avenue.
Cameron Village and Wake Forest Road Blockbusters Closing
The that both the Cameron Village and (beyond horrible) Wake Forest Road Blockbuster locations will be closing on July 12. Somewhere that North American Video guy (who incidentally was charging over $100 for video rental memberships at one point) is laughing uncontrollably.
In other news I just cancelled HBO, TWC’s HDSuite, and got a Netflix subscription yesterday.
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