Four Durham Restaurants & Chefs Recognized as Semifinalists for James Beard Award

More great things are happening on the Durham food scene! More because Durham is already in the running to be named the Tastiest Town in the South by Southern Living magazine.  Read about that here, and read on for some great reasons why, precisely, Durham is on that list to begin with.

Durham-admirers will be pleased to discover that the Oscars of the food world, The James Beard Awards, have recognized five Durham chefs and restaurants as part of its 2013 semifinalists list.

The honorees for the James Beard Foundation's 2013 James Beard Foundation Awards Restaurant and Chef Award Semifinalists are:

1. Mateo bar de Tapas in the category of Best New Restaurant
2. Pheobe Lawless of Scratch Bakery in the category of Outstanding Pastry Chef
3. Sean Lilly Wilson of Fullsteam Brewery in the category of Outstanding Wine, Spirits, Beer Professional
4. Scott Howell of Nana's in the category of  Best Chef in the Southeast

To learn more about great things happening in Durham, click here.  For more about the food scene in Durham, click here.

Southern Living Names Durham One of the "Tastiest Towns in the South" in 2013

Southern Living has named Durham, NC one of the “Tastiest Towns in the South” in its February issue, on newsstands January 18th.  Which town is the tastiest?  That's up to readers and fans.

Scan or click to Vote
Durham Tastiest!

To celebrate the many flavors and rich, diverse stories behind today’s Southern cuisine, Southern Living editors convened in its Birmingham-based Test Kitchen to identify the most compelling food destinations across the region. Durham made the cut, and now it's up to restaurants to rally their fans and customers to get out the vote.

"Durham's food scene is on par with the best in the nation. Chefs here have integrity, appreciation for the ingredients, the sourcing, the producers, the preparations, and the customers.  In Durham, food is a culture that rises above most barriers, and all of Durham's diverse inhabitants come together over great food all the time," said Sam Poley with the Durham Convention & Visitors Bureau, Durham's official marketing agency.  "Things like this are fun.  Folks in Durham are really proud of this place and the things that make it great.  We're hoping they, and the places they love, will work together so that everyone knows Durham is where great food happens."

Vote Here

“North Carolina’s Triangle has long been fertile ground for enjoying the region’s rich bounty,” writes Southern Living Senior Editor Paula Disbrowe. “From Scratch Bakery to Watts Grocery, where much of the menu is raised, caught, smoked, pickled or cured within a two-hour radius, Durham is brimming with spots that passionately support local businesses,” adds Disbrowe.

Readers will decide the winner by casting votes for the “Tastiest Town in the South” from January 10 to February 28 on southernliving.com/tasty or via smartphone by downloading the complimentary Digimarc Discover app and scanning the corresponding image in the magazine. Each daily vote allows a consumer to be entered for a chance to win $1,500 toward a trip to the Tasty Town of his or her choice.

“Southern cooking has become one of the country's hottest culinary obsessions,” says Southern Living Editor-in-Chief Lindsay Bierman. “But there's a lot more to it than pork belly and grits. Every day, we're discovering hyperlocal microcosms of food culture across our region."  Durham has exemplified that description for decades.

Southern Living will profile each of the towns and reveal the “Tastiest Town in the South” in the May issue, on newsstands April 19th and online.

Southern Living editors identified the top 10 “Tastiest Towns in the South” based on the following criteria:

• Food as a cultural identity: The unique food or ethnicity that defines a particular Southern region
• Growth of a culinary-minded community: The influence that the culinary industry has on the local community and tourism
• Diverse cuisine at a variety of price points: Accessibility to hearty, flavorful meals at any budget
• Local, sustainable food practices: The focus on sourcing products from local purveyors to geographically define where each meal comes from
• Hot chefs on the rise: The influence of the area’s culinary talent in the media and pop culture
• Abundance of buzz-worthy food events: The number of festivals in the area that celebrate all things food and drink

For the full list of towns, visit: southernliving.com/tasty. Rally around your favorite tasty destination and vote online from January 10-February 28.

One vote per day is counted toward the finally tally.  Learn more about Durham online.

Durham County Library Hosts Program on Local Artisan Bakers

Durham is home to learning opportunities available to people from all walks and stages of life.  Coming up in a few weeks is a great opportunity to combine a love of learning for a lifetime with another of Durham's great ingredients, food and those artisans who prepare it.

Long-time baker, Frank Ferrell of Ninth Street Bakery, will moderate a panel of Durham’s artisan bakers on Sunday, June 3 at 3 p.m. at the Main Library. Many different paths have led these food experts to Durham to bake professionally, and the region has become famous for their talents. According to Bon Appétit Magazine, the Durham-Chapel Hill area is ranked as “America's Foodiest Small Town,” citing partnerships between award-winning local restaurants, growers and organic farmers that have resulted in a thriving culture of eclectic cuisine.

Artisan bakers are credited with using local organic ingredients and traditional baking methods. As farmers’ markets have experienced great growth in Durham and the surrounding areas, the number of specialty bakeries has increased as well. The program features panelists from some of these well-known local patisseries including: Anna Branley of The Cupcake Bar, a custom order bakery featuring classic cupcakes and those inspired by favorite cocktails and other flavors; Claudia Kemmet-Cooper of Guglhupf, a European inspired café with a southern German twist; Kevin Farmer of Rue Cler, a Parisian style neighborhood restaurant serving downtown Durham since 2006; Phoebe Lawless of Scratch, one of Travel & Leisure magazine’s picks for “where to go for America’s top pies”; Durham resident Rob Nichols of Weaver Street Market, a community-owned cooperative grocery store, committed to supporting local farmers and small producers; and Ronald Graff of Loaf, a long-time presence at the Durham Farmers’ Market, now operating a bakery in downtown Durham.

Participants will learn how these bakers got started and what they love about the business. The panel will be followed by a Q&A session. This program is sponsored in large part by Durham Library Foundation. For more information contact Joanne Abel at 919-560-0268.

Durham County Library provides the entire community with books, services and other resources that inform, inspire learning, cultivate understanding and excite the imagination. For more information, visit your local library or visit online.

Program:       Artisan Bakers of Durham
Date:             Sunday, June 3
Time:             3 p.m.
Location:       Main Library, 300 N. Roxboro St.
Cost:              Free and open to the public

Eat Pie and Be Merry!

The 3rd Annual SEEDS Pie Social is this Sunday April 10th from 2-6 pm at the SEEDS Garden, 706 Gilbert St in Durham. Suggested donation of $10 comes with up to four slices of pie.  Proceeds benefit the Durham Inner-city Gardeners (DIG) program at SEEDS.

DIG is a youth-driven, urban farming leadership development program that empowers young people by teaching organic gardening and healthy life skills while providing them with meaningful employment and job skills. Pies are being generously donated by local Triangle restaurants and bakers including Toast, Watts Grocery, Scratch Bakery, Foster’s, Durham Catering, Daisy Cakes and more.



Farm Fresh North Carolina Launch Party March 7

Durham has long been a leader in the slow food movement through chefs like Shane Ingram (Four Square), Amy Tornquist (Watts Grocery), and Ben & Karen Barker (Magnolia Grill). But now Durham can also add to its list of “greats” a book on sustainable farms and restaurants.

Durham-based writer Diane Daniel has completed writing Farm Fresh North Carolina, “the go-to guide to great farmers’ markets, farm stands, farms, apple orchards, u-picks, kids’ activities, lodging, dining, choose-and-cut Christmas trees, vineyards and wineries, and more.”

A launch party for the book will be held Monday, March 7 at 6pm. Taking place at Fullsteam Brewery, Scratch Baking and Farmhands Foods will be on hand to provide the crowd with food while Piedmont Lowlanders will provide live bluegrass music.

Diane’s work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, National Geographic Traveler, Budget Travel, Gourmet, Backpacker, AARP Magazine, and more. She has also contributed to several other books including Checking In 2007: Places to Stay in New England and The New York Times Practical Guide to Practically Everything. In 2008, she received a prestigious national Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Award in the newspaper writing category.

Farm Fresh North Carolina was supported by a grant from the Golden LEAF Foundation and was published by UNC Press.

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.