A Dinner to Celebrate Southern Living Magazine's Tastiest Town Competition

Durham is fortunate to have some of the best food in the country, at least according to publications like Bon Appetit and the New York Times. In fact, Durham has been nominated as one of the tastiest towns in the south by Southern Living.  Read more about that in a previous post.  So far the contest has amounted to an essential food fight between the two NC cities on the list, Durham and Asheville who topped the list until Wednesday, February 6th when late in the evening Memphis snuck into first.

Since this is a contest in the south, everyone is being pretty cordial, even polite.  So much so that on Sunday, February 24, a gathering of some of Asheville and Durham’s top chefs will host a dinner at Four Square Restaurant in Durham to promote Southern Living Magazine's Tastiest Town Competition.  The competition itself ends on February 28 and the public can vote every day from every email address they have. The upcoming dinner will draw attention to the fact that Asheville and Durham are contending for the top spot and promote both city's residents to vote.  The six course feast will be a celebration of the amazing food culture that makes North Carolina a great place to eat out!

Chef Shane Ingram will host the dinner at his landmark Durham restaurant Four Square.  The dinner will feature Asheville chefs Jacob Sessoms of Table and Brian Canipelli of Cucina 24.  Durham chefs will include Justin Rakes and Scott Martin of soon to open Salted Pig, Matt Kelly of Mateo and Shane Ingram of Four Square.

Each chef will prepare a course of their choice and meet with the guests after dinner to chat and possibly offer a little persuasion as to why their cities should win.

The dinner will be Sunday, February 24, at 7 PM and priced at $75 per person not including tax and gratuity.  In addition, wine pairings will be made available by Four Square Sommelier Brandon Carr.  Reservations can be made online through www.opentable.com or by phone (919) 401-9877.  Seating is limited to 75 guests. 

To vote for Durham to be the Tastiest Town in the South click here, and also learn more about all of Durham's dining options online.

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.

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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.

DCVB Earns Awards For Its Work, and Workplace

The Durham Convention & Visitors Bureau (DCVB) is Durham, NC.'s official marketing agency. Funded by a portion of the visitor-paid occupancy tax collected by hotels in Durham County, the organization is charged with getting people to visit Durham for both work and play.  Since its inception in 1989, DCVB has won nearly 140 awards and citations for its work, practices, policies.  In short, working at DCVB means producing top quality results in a top quality environment.

For the fourth time since the award's inception in 2005, DCVB has been recognized by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation for its excellence in workplace flexibility. 

"Flexibility in the workplace is as much about helping employees be effective and productive as it is about yielding positive business results for an organization," said Shelly Green, DCVB's President and CEO.  "We see great benefits (as do our employees) from the policies and practices we have in place that promote work/life balance."

The awards are part of a research-based initiative called "When Work Works."  The Foundation surveys employees and employers about the flexibility programs and practices at their workplace as well as the perceived level of  support fostered in their workplace culture.

“Our research consistently finds that employees in effective and flexible workplaces have greater engagement on the job and greater desire to stay with their organization. In addition, they report lower stress levels and better overall health,” said Ellen Galinsky, president of Families and Work Institute.  According to Galinsky, DCVB ranks in the top 20% of employers nationally in terms of its programs, policies and culture for creating an effective and flexible workplace.

The organization has also been recognized with several honors for its creative work - all of which is done in-house at DCVB. "The creative team at DCVB is outstanding.  Whether it's publications, direct-mail, or websites, these folks consistently produce innovative, award-winning work," said Green. 

The work they have done this past year has received two 2012 MarCom Creative Awards and three honorable mentions.  To date, DCVB has won four platinum awards and nine golds from MarCom, along with numerous honorable mentions.  This year the awards were:

• Platinum (highest award): 2010-11 Annual Report
• Gold: Mini-Meeting Planners Guide
• Honorable Mentions: 2011-12 Preservation Durham Fundraising Campaign
  2012 Visitor & Relocation Guide
  Durham LGBT Travel Portal

The MarCom Creative Awards are part of an international competition that recognizes outstanding achievement by marketing and communications practitioners. Entries were judged by industry professionals who looked for companies and individuals whose work serves as a benchmark for the industry.

DCVB was also recognized recently by the Destination Marketing Association of North Carolina (DMANC) with Platinum awards for the same two publications.  

In addition to the Sloan Awards, DCVB was the first CVB in the nation to achieve Green Plus certification  recognizing organizations that have achieved a high level of commitment to people, performance and the planet.  

The Durham Convention & Visitors Bureau is Durham's primary point of contact for visitors.  They operate the Visitors Information Center at 101 E. Morgan Street in Downtown Durham, and maintain the Durham Event Calendar, among many other resources.

Durham's Washington Duke Inn Ranked In South's Top 50 By Conde' Nast Traveler

There is a gentility for which the south is known; fine settings, service, food, and accommodations are all part of the package. In Durham, The Washington Duke Inn and Golf Club doesn't disappoint on any of those accounts.

The readers of top travel magazine, Conde' Nast Traveler, noticed, too.

The magazine recently announced the results of its 25th annual Readers' Choice Awards, ranking the best cities, islands, cruise lines, airlines, hotels, and resorts worldwide. Both the Washington Duke Inn & Golf Club in Durham, N.C. made the grade emerging as winners this year.  A record 46,476 readers participated, rating 370 hotels, resorts, and cruise lines worldwide. In total, the readers elected a grand total of 1,306 winners—so many, in fact, that the magazine had to make it easier for readers to locate by separating the United States into regions—the Washington Duke Inn & Golf Club was within United States/South which included Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia based on rooms, service, food, location and design.

The Washington Duke Inn & Golf Club is located on the campus of Duke University, only twenty minutes from Raleigh-Durham International Airport and ten minutes from Research Triangle Park, and is the only AAA Four Diamond hotel in Durham, N.C. Nestled on 300 acres filled with tall pines and hardwoods, the Inn is known for its beautiful facility and grounds, 271 elegantly appointed guest rooms and suites, extensive meeting and event facilities, a Four Diamond Award-winning restaurant, a Robert Trent Jones-designed 18-hole championship golf course, and convenience to local points of interest. 

Durham is an easy place to get to by car, plane, and train.  Learn more about ways to enjoy Durham online.

DCVB Wins Top Awards

The Durham Convention & Visitors Bureau (DCVB), the official marketing agency for Durham, won two platinum awards (highest honor) from the state-wide Destination Marketing Association of North Carolina. 

The 2010-11 Annual Progress Report won in the Local Constituent Communications: Annual Report category, and a new sales prospecting piece for meeting planners also won in the Destination Publications: Niche Marketing category.

DCVB submits its work for consideration annually. Awards to Destination Marketing Organizations (DMOs) are broken down into categories based on the size and budget of the organization.

Recognized nationally for best practices and excellence in Destination Marketing, DCVB has received more than 135 awards and recognitions over the past 15 years. 

Such recognition serves as affirmation of one the organization's most important core values:  CANI – Continuing and Never-Ending Improvement.