Scratch Makes The List

In the event that an occassion for pie arises, Durham's newest bakery, Scratch, can fill the need.  That they are being nationally recognized - again - for the quality of their product is not really a surprise.

Travel and Leisure magazine posted a ranking of America's Best Pies on their website, and sitting tasty at number four is the Shaker Lemon Pie created by Phoebe Lawless and her crew at their downtown location on Orange Street.

Open for breakfast and lunch with coffee and baked goodies available until 4 PM, the store has generated quite a buzz in its short tenure.  It has been nationally recognized before...and it hasn't been open a year.

A long-time Durham chef, Lawless is a chef's baker using as much local product as possible and crossing the line into the savory realm more than most pastry chefs do.  With savory sandwhiches involving house cooked meats, their own pickled vegetables and fresh made condiments, the shop is a place for those with and without sweet toothes.  There's even a sandwich called the Hot Mess...it's open-faced, it has a poached egg on it.  Get extra napkins.

Scratch also returns to the Durham Farmers' Market each week.  The place where the bakery really got its start, the thousands of Lawless' fans that came there each week also make up some of the customer base at her store.  The now famous donut muffin is available in both locations each week.

One of Durham's more than three dozen nationally celebrated restaurants, Scratch joins Guglhupf, another Durham bakery and restaurant that has received significant national praise most recently in Cooking Light magazine.

Media Coverage Doesn't Just Happen

As Durham's official marketing agency, the Durham Convention and Visitors Bureau does a lot of work behind the scenes that many never see.  In it's 21st year of operation, the work of the organization directly affects the local economy by getting potential visitors to consider Durham as a destination for a leisure visit, meeting or convention, sporting event or film location.  It uses all manners of outreach to promote Durham.

One specific, and very effective method utilized, is media relations, whereby DCVB pitches stories about Durham to media outlets.  One such pitch was made in March, and the resulting article in Cooking Light, largely about Durham, is the result. 

Once a pitch is made the direction of the story might fall out of the Bureau's hands, but DCVB helps with everything from identifying potential interviewees, providing photography and fact-checking stories upon completion.  Having a strong command and inventory of the destination, brand, community image and unique sense of place is how DCVB ensures that stories about Durham get consideration in national and global publications.

Great publicity doesn't happen by accident, it comes from somewhere.  This time, it came from the official marketing agency of the place where great things happen.