UPDATED: A Heaping Portion of Media Coverage

Durham is a place for food lovers - this is widely known. Despite the loss of culinary icon, The Magnolia Grill, last month, there are plenty of places in Durham that are generating buzz (and drinks and food) that will surely make folks look forward to great meals in the place where great things happen.

Below are two three links to articles that show off some of Durham's great food places. Recently, journalists from Southern Living and the NY Post have spent time here, and their articles indicate they had a mighty good time.  The latest addition is a piece in the Oxford American.

Read the NY Post piece by Jennifer Ceaser. Ceaser hit some high spots in Durham on her visit, including some of Durham's most notable fine dining establishments, and one of it's high end watering holes. This is an example of a journalist making the most of a visit to Durham.

Read the Southern Living Piece by Graham Averil. This article is about the Best Burgers in North Carolina. Two of them can be found in Durham.  Read on and see which ones made the cut.

Read the Oxford American piece by Erin Sroka.
Sroka is from Durham, and this piece is about Dame's Chicken and Waffles. Forewarned is forearmed, it's like to make you very hungry.

The Spirit Of Bob Fowler

 Durham blogger and President Emeritus of the Durham Convention & Visitors Bureau shares his thoughts on integrity and authenticity as embodied by Durham's gourmet food markets of past and present...

The Spirit of Bob Fowler

Bull City Mutterings
Reyn Bowman

The original founder of Fowlers would be proud of Jennings Brody.  From a family of traditional grocers, he founded Fowlers in its former downtown location at the far southwest end of Brightleaf Square, two blocks from where it has been reborn in Peabody Place under another name today.  Bob Fowler displayed a genius feel for how to make a store gourmet while keeping it genuine, authentic and inviting to everyone.

I feel fortunate to have visited with him many times during my former life as a community/destination market executive.  Listening to him helped me more rapidly gain a feel for what makes Durham, North Carolina so unique, a sense that far too many in that field fail to grasp as they approach communities as generic “plug and play.”

After Fowlers sold and moved to a new location, it lost its way and failed.  Resurrected as Parker & Otis by Ms. Brody, the store exhibits the authentic feel and sense of Bob’s original store as though he was still perched in the “crows nest” office from which he kept a close eye on what mattered to his customers.
The sense of how to mix the old and the new as Jennings does cannot be mimicked by those without it, even if as she was, they are tutored in Foster’s Market by one of the best.

People in communities with a strong sense of place such as Durham are sensitive to the difference between knock-offs and the real thing.

In the words of Scott Russell Sanders from his essay about what makes a place real, “what all of us long for, I suspect, is to love the places in which we live and live in places worthy of love…we hunger for integrity and authenticity.”

Fortunately, people from or drawn to Durham know exactly what he means and have found such a place.

Shop Local for Durham's Sake

In a time when most cities continue to suffer from the economic downturn, Durham businesses continue to grow at an enviable pace. One way to ensure that this trend in economic growth continues is to shop local.

The "shop local" mantra is far more than a message of community boosterism. A number of researchers in recent years have taken a look at the impact of keeping money circulating in the local economy. One study by the Michigan State University Center for Community and Economic Development found that for every $100 spent at a local business, $73 stayed in the local economy as compared to $43 when the purchase was made at a non-local store. Even modest changes in consumer spending can have substantial impact on local economies.

Durham is home to a number of one-of-a-kind boutiques and shops stocked with unique finds and local products. These shops keep Durham different and contribute dramatically to Durham's unique sense of place.  Sustain-a-Bull Durham's Shop Independent Durham Week continues through the weekend. The following is one Durham Convention & Visitors Bureau staffer's contribution to the local economy.

The following items were found within a mile radius of Downtown Durham for under $50:

1. Hello!Lucky Wrapping Paper, Parker & Otis
2. Handmade Gift Tag, Magpie Boutique
3. Assorted Nifty Buttons, Parker & Otis
4. NC Made Toffee, Parker & Otis
5. Mandarin Shea Butter Soap, Parker & Otis
6. Matchbook Post-it Notes, Parker & Otis
7. TokyoMilk Honeycomb Parfum, Magpie Boutique
8. Hand-pressed Durham Notecard, Shed Letterpress
9. Burt’s Bees Pomegranate Lip Balm, various retail locations

The 7th Annual Beaver Queen Pageant is a Must-See!

Preparations for the 7th Annual Beaver Queen Pageant are well underway and the excitement is building! The pageant is scheduled for Saturday, June 4, in Duke Park Meadow (near the intersection of Acadia Street and Englewood Avenue in Durham). The pre-show activities begin at 4:00 PM and the pageant itself begins at 5:00 PM.

The theme for this year’s pageant, Streampunk is a mash up of riverboats, Streampunk and a futuristic optimism. What a spectacle it will be! Costuming is encouraged and attendees are welcome to pack a picnic or chow down at Durham’s food trucks. The event takes place rain or shine.

For the fifth year in a row, the Beaver Queen Pageant will raise funds for the Ellerbe Creek Watershed Association. Over $15,000 have been raised for Durham’s dirty little creek in the last four years.

The Annual Beaver Queen Pageant is a free, family-friendly, Beaver Drag fund-raising event that encourages play, honors diversity, supports community and promotes creativity through interactive performance. It is live cartoon and cabaret. Kits can make their own beaver tails, splash in the beaver pond, march in the parade and sing the beaver chant.

Contenders for the Beaver Queen Crown are scored for the quality of their tails, wetlands ready-wear, talent, personal essay and evening wear. Like real life, the audience bribes celebrity judges, pays poll taxes and purchases beaver swag to raise money for ECWA. This year corrupt judges will buy their appointments. Cash and checks buy votes and bribes. As former celebrity judge Frank Stasio says, “Not everybody can be a Beaver Queen Pageant judge. I'm honored to have served. And grateful too, that I was not compelled to screw the whole dam country.”

Judges this year’s judges are bought to us by Shelly Green-DCVB, Brian Bottger-Only Burger, Carol Anderson-Vaguely Reminiscent/Board of Elections, Jana Shannon Bradley-Casbah, Jennings Brody-Parker & Otis, and Sean Wilson-Fullsteam Brewery.

This year we hope to raise $7,000 to help ECWA in its mission to keep our wetlands clean. Keep updated on pageant news here.

Freeze Your Balls Off...really, it's going to be fun!

Yup...that's what they're saying because that's the actual name of the event.  Freeze Your Balls Off is a scooter rally that starts today and runs through the weekend.  Take a look at the website for the organization and at the itinerary for the event and a clearer picture emerges.

Organized by The Incriminators, a local scooter club that meets every other Sunday at Parker and Otis, the events are really meant for all comers...especially those on two wheeled vehicles. So, if scooters are a passion, or hanging out at some of Durham's hot spots with those who ride them is, then make your plans accordingly and be at The Green Room tonight at 8:00. The rally also has stops at Fullsteam Brewery and Tyler's Taproom over the weekend.

Oh, and dress warmly - the event is so named for good reason. It's supposed to be about 25 degrees tonight.