Crawford Leaves Herons for New Hospitality Group
More big news from Raleigh’s culinary scene…. Scott Crawford, the chef at Heron’s (in The Umstead) for the last 5 years, has left the restaurant and has joined with John Holmes of Hobby Properties to form the Nash Square Hospitality Group.
The group has two concepts underway, Standard Foods and The Nash Tavern. Standard Foods will be a grocery store/restaurant located in Person Street Plaza (map it) and will open in the Fall. The store will contain an 80-seat restaurant serving casual Southern cuisine (eg. chilled Strawberry Soup with yuzu and jalapeno, Fresh Bacon with Boiled Peanut Chowder, marble potatoes & leeks, Tomato Popsicles with spicy pickled okra, fried Rabbit with succotash, Pork Cheeks with pickled peppers & apricot mustard, puddings, pies and peach-ginger sorbet). The grocery end of the concept is slated to feature a whole animal butchery, brown butter, duck fat, demi-glace, stocks, and a fresh seafood selection.
Nash Tavern will be a full-service restaurant on Nash Square, and is slated to open in 2015. It will feature Modern American fare and will have private event space.
Maybe the Foxes Are Sending “Triangle” a Message
For five decades now the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill area has been termed “The Triangle”, and for good reason. As three cities/towns hosted the most important academic, medical and business centers, it was only natural to focus on the three entities. While we expected infill in The Triangle, we perhaps didn’t see our grown concentrations morph the area into a different shape; a red fox.
The area’s satellite imagery reveals much growth from Chapel Hill and Carrboro toward Raleigh, but Raleigh’s growth has been along outward spokes to the northeast, southeast, and southwest. According to the figure, Umstead park appears like a saddle on the little fox, and Jordan Lake looks like a long line of droll from Carrboro/Chapel Hill, the mouth of the dog.
While I’m not assigning any character traits to communities based on this morphology, the shape does spur some interesting questions such as:
- Why hasn’t Creedmoor Road/hwy 50 seen any retail development?
- Why has the Apex/Garner axis been kept so rural?
- Why has the Durham/Wake Forest axis been kept so rural?
Maybe these little red foxes that are invading our cities are simply a calling; the new mascots for the area. Instead of “The Triangle”, we could be called “The Fox”. The airport code could be changed to “FOX”. The 10 o’clock news could be the Fox News Hour….oh wait.
Curated Stringed Instrument/Wine Event Coming to Downtown
On Saturday, May 24 Pasewicz String Instrument will present Meritage, a unique show featuring fine wine, instruments, and music. Attendees will have the opportunity to see and hear some of the finest stringed instruments in the country, and hear a sampling of of works from artists like Mendelssohn, Schubert, and Brahms. Some anticipated instruments on display are over 200 years old.
The event is presented by Pasewicz String Instrument, a Raleigh-based instrument shop which has earned a reputation for being one of the finest instrument repair and craft shops in the country.
The event takes place from 6 to 11pm in the AIANC Center for Architecture & Design, and advance tickets are $18.
Ashley Christensen Wins Best Chef in Southeast
A huge congratulations for Raleigh’s Ashley Christensen who tonight was named “Best Chef in the Southeast” at the James Beard Awards! Christensen first made a name for herself in this market with her food at Enoteca Vin, but then moved on to open the Raleigh Times Bar with Greg Hatem. After leaving the Times Bar, she opened her best-known restaurant, Poole’s Diner, which set the tone for her interpretation of classic comfort foods.
Keying on resonating trends at Poole’s, Christensen branched out to open Chuck’s, Beasley’s Chicken + Honey, Fox Liquor Bar, and Joule Coffee. The endlessly energetic Christensen will soon expand her territory with the opening of Death & Taxes and Aux Kitchen.
This marks the first Beard award winner for Raleigh and another for the Triangle region. Raleigh’s proud of Ashley for finally getting this prestigious award and helping to cement this area as one of the best culinary markets in the country!
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