Sedona Opens Southwestern Options
6/30/08 Note: This restaurant is now closed.
The evolution of Raleigh is fun to watch. When I was young, my parents, who once relocated to Houston for a year, were big fans of Mexican food. Back then Tippy’s Tacos were it; the only thing in town. They dragged me there kicking and screaming and I’d steadily order the corn dog. I didn’t like that weird stuff.
I have evolved and so has Raleigh. I crave Mexican or Southwestern food several times a week and almost never eat corn dogs. My favorite celebrity chef is Rick Bayless, and his PBS show is fantastic. For years the options around here were limited to El Rodeo variants. opened the door to finer Mexican dining, and now gives us another great option.
Tucked away in a jinxed location behind the gas station at Pleasant Valley Promenade (), Sedona is the new concept by the owners of the site’s former oyster bar restaurant. The oyster bar and bar area occupy the majority of the restaurant’s space and the dining room has been minimally decorated to a southwestern theme.
Chef food is the star of this restaurant, though. The is varied, yet moderate in length. Eleven entrees offer four seafood dishes and no vegetarian dishes. Four-colored chips are all fried well and come with a delicious red salsa and an interesting tomatillo salsa. I am not a huge fan of tomatillo variant salsas as the primary option, so I was thoroughly satisfied by this delicious option.
During one visit I enjoyed the pork tamales on the lunch menu. The tamales are excellent and come with “Colorado sauce”, which was a dark mole-ish sauce that did not overpower the pork. I am excited to see places offer meats other than chicken and steak in these dishes and this one had me satisfied. We also enjoyed the fat chicken enchiladas which presented a quite “grande” portion for lunch. They, too, are covered in the Colorado sauce.
Dinner was excellent. I had the Skillet Seared Beef Medallions which are coriander-rubbed, goat cheese topped, and sit upon three different chili sauces; green, red, yellow. What I loved about this dish was the variety that the three sauces offer. Each sauce was somewhat light (especially the sweet yellow one), and did not overpower the beef. As I made my way through the meal, I never found myself bored. The dish also comes with a sweet potato version of pommes frites. These were not a success, however, as they were tough and akin to eating cardboard.
Other dishes at the table were the chicken quesadillas (mild and perfect for children) and the chicken chimichangas. The chimichangas were beautifully prepared, sliced and on-ends, but had a strange surprise to the palate. The sauce heavily leaned toward an Italian red sauce. The dish was delicious, it was just almost a fusion type of thing. I can imagine this is not by design.
Another dish at the table was tricolor tortilla battered fried shrimp. This was a flop, though, because the tortillas don’t add enough interesting flavor to the shrimp. It did come with a sweet sauce that I didn’t love (I’m having trouble finding this on the online menu).
Service at one visit was fair while another visit was poor (15 minute wait for drinks and scant refills on drinks and chips). The restaurant was only about 10% full at each visit. Hopefully that will improve because the food deserves it. The menu’s prices are somewhat between the level of El Rodeo and Jibarra, mostly in the $15 range. There is a now, though Sedona’s website is unclear as to when this menu is available.
Aside from the excellent food, the restaurant gave me a creepy vibe. This will surely fade as the restaurant fills and the wait staff smoothes out some glitches.
Ruth’s Chris Replacing JK’s in North Hills
TBJ reported today that in North Hills is being replaced with the area’s second , opening April 1. Rumors have been floating about Ruth’s Chris coming to anchor the (warning: music), but the formula didn’t seem right with JK’s just around the corner.
J.K.’s will close on February 23rd and will move to a new location in Raleigh later this year.
Umstead Hotel, Restaurant, and Spa Earn 4-Star Mobil Status
Cary’s () has been awarded 4-star status by the . The hotel joins other North Carolina hotels receiving 4-star status such as Asheville’s and , Charlotte’s , and Pinehurst’s . The was the state’s only 5-star designee.
restaurant (in The Umstead) (official link) also received a 4-star designation. It joins other North Carolina restaurants such as the in Chapel Hill, Charlotte’s , and Pittsboro’s . 162 restaruants received the award nationally. No restaurants in the state were among the 17 national 5-star award winners.
According to Mobil:
It seems like an oxymoron—gourmet dining in a suburban hotel, but Herons at the Umstead Hotel is an exception. Tucked inside a large hotel in Cary, a suburb of Raleigh/Durham, Herons puts a Southern spin on American cuisine in a fashionable setting complete with a 2500-bottle wine cellar. The food is seriously good, but far from serious, and there’s even a spa menu designed for those participating in the hotel’s spa program. Of course, decadence is also available, beginning with the restaurant’s homemade cinnamon bun French toast with brown sugar streusel at breakfast and ending with the luscious brownie sundae baked Alaska.
The prestigious 4-star award is the latest for the upscale hotel developed by SAS’ Jim Goodnight. The hotel won 5-Diamond honors by AAA recently.
Seem Familiar II?
One of the tallest buildings in Manhattan’s Lower East Side is the 687-foot-tall . It was built in 1974. Featuring an almost identical facade, was completed in 1977 and has 21 floors (~280 feet).
Midtown 115 Reopens
The former 115 Midtowne in The Lassiter reopened tonight as …or is it Midtown & Bar 115…or is it Midtown Metropolitan Cuisine 115??? The restaurant shut down on New Year’s Day and has spent four weeks enshrouded in plywood. Voila!
The restaurant now sports a more open bistro look. It’s facade is largely glass and allows two large red light fixtures to accent the inviting new look. The themes of brown/mocha have been replaced with a somewhat grayer look with accent colors, yet the restaurant still has a warm feel. Upon entering one’s eyes are easily drawn the restaurant’s new stone-draped rear wall featuring various wines. The wall comes alive due to a new all-glass enclosure for the restaurant’s rear room. The room has a projector screen and seats around 24 people comfortably and can be reserved for special events.
While there have been no staff or ownership changes, the menu has been overhauled. The contemporary menu features 10 entrees including 4 seafood and 1 vegetarian entree. Chef has been with the restaurant since its inception, acting as sous chef for Scott Cole in 115′s first year.
Midtown is open for but , but also features and menus (.pdf files).
Seem Familiar?
Check out the in Norfolk, VA completed in 1987. Standing at 340 feet tall, there are 26 floors. Raleigh’s was completed in 1991 and is 400 feet tall with 30 floors.
Powerhouse Plaza Plans 10 Story Hotel/Office Complex for Downtown
The (.pdf file) for a new 10-story highrise in downtown has just been submitted to the City of Raleigh. Williams Realty and Building plans a mixed use building at West and Jones Streets, across from 42nd St. Oyster Bar (), that will house 4 stories of office space and a 134-room hotel on 5 stories. The structure will have an internal 397-space parking deck, an indoor pool, 7,684 square feet of ground-level retail, and a 4,969 square foot rooftop restaurant.
That giant crashing sound you heard was the dam breaking. Both Bob Winston and the Williams are now interested in the redeveloping areas of downtown. For years now semilocal money has led the way in downtown’s redevelopment, but now we are seeing long-time natives getting in the game!
Note: The site plan portrays the building with East, not North, at the top of the page. The bottom of the page is bordered by 42nd Street, so the buildings across from the restaurant will be razed.
Krispy Kreme Challenge Set for Saturday
One of Raleigh’s newest traditions, the (ie. Insanathon), will begin tomorrow at 9:00am. The event benefiting the N.C. Children’s Hospital involves running two miles from the N.C. State Belltower to Krispy Kreme on Peace Street. Participants will then eat one dozen donuts, and run back to the Belltower; all in under an hour. Last year’s winner, Auburn Staples, finished in 24:32.
The real winner is the hospital because the event raised $10,300 last year. The race has 2,704 entrants so far, and registration will close at 3,000. Registration will be open from 5:00 to 8:00 tonight at Krispy Kreme.
CAPTRUST Tower At North Hills East Begins Construction
Construction has officially begun on the 17-story mixed use tower in North Hills East known as the . A joint venture between Duke Realty and Kane Realty, the tower will feature retail and restaurants on its first floor and will contain parking internally. A “high-end, national white tablecloth restaurant” is planned as well.
The tower is the centerpiece of the of the 100-acre North Hills complex. North Hills East plans include a high-density retirement community, residential tower, retail, and a full-size, two-story Harris Teeter supermarket.
CAPTRUST Financial Advisors will be the building’s major tenants, however according to , other tenants of the 274,000 square foot building include Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak, & Stewart, PC, and CD Richard Ellis. The building will be completed in 2009.
Solving RBC Center Ingress Problems (Part I)
Ever since the RBC Center’s opening in 1999 the traffic scheme in and out of the parking lots has been an enigma. Each year the traffic plan is changed, but a true solution is never found. While the plan for egress and ingress are different, hard game times make the ingress plan more important to the experience of the RBC Center’s customers.
I’m not sure if the traffic plan is different for NCSU games than it is for Carolina Hurricanes games, but the parking designation for the events is definitely different. The Hurricanes largely sell the lot spaces as day-of-event general admission while the basketball games get reserved section parking.
The arena has six paved lots surrounding its North, West, and South sides and has two small VIP lots outside its main entrance. The west side of the arena is served largely by access from the variable direction, five-lane Edwards Mill Road while the east side is served from a three-lane Westchase Blvd. All perimeter roads around the arena on the property have three lanes.
There are a few caveats to planning traffic ingress. There must be a lane reserved on each road for emergency vehicle egress. Thus, the 3-lane roads can only use two lanes in any particular direction. Additionally, it seems that the City of Raleigh insists that at least one lane on Edwards Mill Road be marked for upstream traffic.
Regardless, there are two easy answers for creating smooth ingress for events. Using the existing roads, simple lane assignments should solve all problems. Because there are three parking lots on the building’s West side (Lots 4, 5, and 6), one lane should be designated for each lot from Wade Avenue inward. The illustration above show the first solution, and is a detail view of . read more…
North Hills Club Manager Wins MOY Award
The this week named C.W. Cook as their North Carolina Manager of the Year. Cook has overseen a complete transformation of the club in the last two years and seems to have the place on track. Perhaps his most difficult task has been determining the true demand for the club’s full dining room capabilities while requiring no food minimum of its members. The offerings from the start have ran the gamut for periods lasting a few weeks, but have settled into meeting the club’s demands.
Congrats to CW!
New Project: The Lassiter
The final piece of the “ puzzle is . Standing at seven stories, the building’s plan includes 49 condominium units with 10-foot ceilings, underground parking, terraces, and an overall figure 8 design that allows each unit to be an end unit.
They’ve prepared a that includes renderings not featured on the project’s website.
Dunkin’ Donuts for 222 Glenwood?
Rumor has it that one of the street-level retail slots in the new will have a Dunkin’ Donuts. DD would join the Cinellis’ new family+fine project opening in the Summer.
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