State/Va. Tech is at 9 Tonight
Tonight’s NCSU vs. Virginia Tech basketball game was originally scheduled for 7:00pm, as a non-TV event. Recently, though, the game was moved to 9:00pm in order for it to be carried on ESPNU. So don’t rush through dinner so you can show up at the RBC Center at 6:30, because they won’t let you in.
This game time, incidentally, coincides with tonight’s UNC vs. Duke game.
Arctic Monkeys Coming to Disco Rodeo
On April 6th the Arctic Monkeys will be playing at the Disco Rodeo. Sleepy Sun will open. Tickets will be on sale Friday morning (see the
Cat’s Cradle website
for more details).
NCMA Rodin Lecture is Tomorrow Morning
Just a reminder that David Steel, Curator of European Art for the N.C. Museum of Art, will be hosting a free lecture entitled “New Rodin Acquisitions”. Dr. Steel will discuss several of the highlights and behind-the-scenes insights on the entire installation process of the pieces. The lecture is at 10am at Jones Auditorium at Meredith College. Doors open at 9:30am.
Meat House Brings First Rate Butcher Shop
![meathouse[1]](https://www.gogoraleigh.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/meathouse1.jpg "meathouse[1]")
It’s been at least eight long years since I walked into a retail store and was awestruck. That period of time ended when I recently visited
The Meat House
. The store is a national chain of butcher shops, but don’t be fooled. There isn’t a local merchant within at least 30 miles (maybe hundreds more) that remotely comes close to delivering the incredible product I saw.
The heart of the store is its meat counter, where a myriad of fresh meats are presented for the picking. Seafood is not available (except for some megashrimp), but pork, poultry, and a slew of red meat options are. I counted 10 variations on “steak”. The store also stocks a deep supply of frozen, difficult-to-find items such as venison, pheasant, duck, fois gras, ostrich, and more.
The Meat House is more than just a meat counter, though, as the specialty grocery items are larger in scope than expected. A new kind of tortilla chips I haven’t seen are delicious, as well as the three accompanying sample dips displayed (I especially liked the artichoke dip). The store also stocks prepared meals from Cafe 121 in Sanford. The meat prices are more in line with the Fresh Market, so it is noticeably cheaper than Whole Foods.
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While the Meat House’s standard meat counter is unmatched in the eastern half of the Triangle, the store really shines with its semi-prepared foods. I counted 25 different marinated meats, pinwheel steaks, kebabs, and the like. The store has a grill outside, and they constantly keep a chafing dish with two samples going at all times. I have tried 5 items now and each has been incredible. The chicken wings and the Sundried Tomato and Herb-marinated Chicken were fantastic, and so were a couple of marinated beef tips. The Burgundy Wine marinated Beef Tips, however, were so remarkable I have thought about them while trying to sleep. Not only are the marinades excellent for these items, but the quality and tenderness of the meat is so good that it shines through even the strong marinades.
If the store is a success, the owners will continue their pursuit of a North Raleigh location. I sent along my recommendation (of going in where Blockbuster on Wake Forest Road was), and it appears that their site selection criteria are on par with what will be a true success for Raleigh one day. The nearby Trader Joe’s opened with much fanfare a couple of years ago. However I never felt it was worth the drive to Cary. The Meat House, on the other hand, undoubtedly is.
Harris Teeter at The Lassiter’s Last Stand
Back in the early 70’s North Raleigh had just a few grocery stores. North Hills had a Winn-Dixie, there was a Big Star next to the Six Forks K-Mart (where Borders is), and an A&P was in Colony (now Food Lion). As North Raleigh grew and bigger, nicer grocery stores opened, the Winn-Dixie in North Hills Plaza deteriorated progressively, but inexplicably remained open (probably because the Big Star closed and the Holly Park Winn-Dixie came and went). Finally the grocery gods granted us mercy and closed the Winn-Dixie, replacing it with a swank, clean Harris-Teeter about a decade ago.
That store location, the one that has fed me for most of my life, closes at 6pm tonight . With it go many memories: watching the live lobster tank, shouting on the store PA from my child’s seat, the Long Island woman singing about bagels (whatever those are!) on the P.A., racing out to the parking lot to repark our car that had drifted away in neutral, and meeting employees who would become close personal family friends. The memories aren’t just the old ones, either. The Indian store manager has been one of my little girl’s favorite retail personalities. (He, incidentally, is moving back to the Glenwood Village location). The store, while not stocking the wide range we have all had the luxury of knowing in the modern era, was still great for staples and extremely convenient.
Tomorrow everything changes. A new, 48,000 square foot Harris Teeter will open across the Mississippi (Six Forks Road) literally in North Hills East’s parking garage. The store is two-stories, but don’t worry about that second level. It reportedly will contain coffee, flowers, and gift cards. (How long until they recognize that sales of those items will be non existent, and move more necessary household items up there?). The stock from the Lassiter location will be divided among 12 different Harris Teeter locations. Managers and their staff will come in and take an aisle-a-piece in order to distribute the merchandise and offer North Hills customers a turnkey experience during the transition.
Much like the closing of the Cardinal Theatres, the closing of a grocery store in old North Hills Plaza means the end of an era for North Raleigh. Perhaps the store will be filled with books in the moderate future. Perhaps it will be something equally serviceable. What it won’t be is food, and it will never quite be the same. As they say, “the only constant is change”.
Angus Barn Named as All-American Icon
Today the leading foodservice industry publication, Nation’s Restaurant News, has named the Angus Barn to its list of 50 All-American Icon restaurants . The Barn has “become synonymous with hospitality and service excellence” according to Nation’s Restaurant News. That’s one of the primary reasons why the establishment made the NRN 50. The Angus Barn is the only North Carolina restaurant on the list, and joins such noted dining institutions as Commander’s Palace in New Orleans, St. Elmo Steak House in Indianapolis and The Four Seasons in New York City.
This comes as no surprise. The Angus Barn is known for going out of their way to present an outstanding experience. The restaurant has a rigorous training program for its waitstaff, and only hires people who make it their profession. Owner/manager Van will not accept customers waiting unnecessarily. Case in point: I recently stopped by at 5:30pm one day to buy some blue cheese dressing from the gift shop. The refrigerators were out of stock, but the nice, helpful lady who was running the shop went to the kitchen to make a couple for me. When Van found out that I had been waiting 10 minutes for the dressing, she went to the back, got things rolling, and comped my purchase.
If one is paying attention, they will notice some of the many details that go into the experience at the Angus Barn. The restaurant’s Christmas Tree every year is the finest in any restaurant around. The relish station, an unnecessary perk that was put in place decades ago to placate those waiting for a table, is always fresh. Much of the wood from the restaurant was salvaged from barns in the area. Inset in the brick floor of the gift shop is a 6” thick disc of wood from the state’s largest loblolly pine tree. In the last couple of years, The Angus Barn opened The Pavilions, a rustic lakeside special events facility. A trip to the men’s room of the facility is another example of the fine detail that (along with the excellent, consistent food) has earned this restaurant’s status among the nation’s top restaurants.
The Angus Barn was already one of the early inductees to the publication’s prestigious “ Hall of Fame ” list. Magnolia Grill is the only other North Carolina restaurant to receive that honor.
Trio of Country Acts Coming to TWC
Time Warner Cable Music Pavilion at Walnut Creek (TWCMPWC) has added three country shows to its summer lineup that are sure to be big hits:
- July 10: Toby Keith
- August 28: Brad Paisley w/ Darius Rucker
- October 2: Sugarland
From the Vault: The Connells on 120 Minutes
Back when The Connells released their fifth CD, “Ring”, they were invited to be the guests on MTV’s 120 Minutes. The episode aired December 14, 1993, and featured videos for “Slackjawed”, a live performance of “74-75”, and three interview segments. While the segments weren’t as hilarious as those that Mike and Doug filmed a few years earlier with the airheaded Dave Kendall, they were nevertheless good segments for the guys. Here are the second and third segments of The Connells’ interview from 1993.
“Ring” went on to be certified Platinum outside of the U.S., led by the success of “74-75” in Europe. Man, do I ever miss 120 Minutes…
R-Line Goes Live with Real-Time GPS Reporting
The R-Line circulator bus in downtown Raleigh has gone live with their exact location data of each bus. The
full website
shows both buses’ locations on the fill R-Line route while the
mobile version
gives you the basics.
A link to the R-Line’s status page will live in the “Maps” section over to the right, and in the Mobile Tools, for easy access while you’re out and about.
ACC Football Schedules Posted for Easy Download
Today the ACC released the complete schedule for the upcoming football season. In typical fashion,
gogoraleigh has compiled the schedules
into a formats that are easy to import into almost all calendar applications. Included are not only downloadable files for the UNC and NCSU schedules, but also files for the entire ACC conference schedule.
Google Calendar users will find that the existing feed for each of these schedules has been updated, so there is no need change anything if you are already subscribed.
TV has not had a chance to affect the schedule, so the dates are not final and times are not set.
Patty Smyth and Scandal Coming to Cary
On April 15, Patty Smyth and Scandal will be playing at the Koka Booth Amphitheater in Cary.
Tift Merritt Returning to NCMA
On June 5 Raleigh native Tift Merritt will return to the North Carolina Museum of Art amphitheater.
Vowels From Durham
Each spring of the past decade has revealed some sort of nationally recognized hero from the area. Whether it was a team going deeply into hockey or basketball playoffs, or an American Idol contestant going far, spring has been a fun season for the Piedmont region of North Carolina. I guess our karma for this coming year was spent when the Tar Heels won it all, the Hurricanes reached the final four, and Anoop Desai reached American Idol’s Top 7.
This year the Hurricanes are near the cellar in the NHL, the Heels may not make the Big Dance, and AI is featuring this mess. There are no words to describe it. In fact, there hardly are any words at all; just vowels. Meet Kenny from Durham.
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