Serious Coffee at Golden Belt This Weekend

This weekend The Cotton Room in Golden Belt is going to smell like heaven to coffee lovers. It's also going to seem like heaven since it is the location for a regional barista competition this weekend. 

As The Tastiest Town in the South and home to one of the nation's top 10 coffee roasters, Durham is home to a ready-made audience for an event like this. It's also centrally located so people from all around can attend.

“The Big Eastern,” a Regional Barista Competition presented by the Specialty Coffee Association of America and the Barista Guild of America takes place this weekend, January 17 – 19. Free and open to the public, the three day event features top baristas from the entire East Coast.

Competitors will battle it out for the regional titles in a competition format that tests the barista’s technical skill as well as knowledge and passion for coffee, in a viewer-friendly way. Spectators will get to sample the drinks prepared by baristas similar to those being prepared by competitors.

Carrboro Coffee Roasters will host a pop-up Café in the Lobby of Golden Belt which will also serve as a 'hands-on' environment for barista's to work with various pieces of equipment and where the barista community can interact and learn from one another. Many events are planned around the main competition to further increase awareness of coffee, and its inter-relationship with the culinary industry.

Learn more about Durham's Tastiest Town in the South title online.

Craft Beer Cookbook Coming to NC

Food? Check.  Beer? Check. Durham? Big check! Tonight, John Holl, noted beer journalist and editor of All About Beer (a Durham magazine) will be at Fullsteam Brewery (also in Durham) to sign copies of his new book about cooking with craft beer.

Holl will be signing his book, The American Craft Beer Cookbook,  from 5:00 - 8:00 pm at Fullsteam Brewery at 726 Rigsbee Ave.

Cooking with beer is not a new concept.  However, with this book, Holl brings his considerable craft beer experience to the subject and makes it accessible - especially in Durham. Two of Durham's three "big" craft breweries contributed recipes for the book, and Fullsteam is offering a free Pork and Porter handpie (with help from Scratch Bakery) to all who order a copy of the book tonight.

Durham is a beer and food destination on track to be considered with the best in the US. Named The Tastiest Town in the South by Southern Living magazine, the local beer scene was named a point of consideration. Two Durham breweries now have restaurants.  Bull City Burger and Brewery, which contributed to the book, and Triangle Brewery which just opened their restaurant Triangle Pint and Plate. Fullsteam is a destination for Durham's vibrant food truck scene.

For those interested in cooking with the beers mentioned in the book, Sam's Quik Shop in Durham has one of the largest craft beer selections in the US.

Learn more about great events in Durham with the Durham Event Calendar.

NC Craft Brewers Guild Hires Metzger

Today, the North Carolina Craft Brewers Guild announced that they have hired a new executive director, Margo Knight Metzger.  "This great news for us in Durham," said Sam Poley, Director of Public Relations and Communications for the Durham Convention & Visitors Bureau (DCVB), the organization charged with marketing Durham as a place to visit, live, do business.  "Margo has been such an asset to us in her current post, and now we're excited to be helping her and the Guild in any way we can to cement the idea that Durham is a great destinations for beer lovers," he added.

Durham is home to All About Beer magazine, and the original World Beer Festival held annually in October.

Metzger brings ten years of experience to the role, including government affairs, tourism promotion and alcohol beverage industry insight. She will lead the guild’s efforts to advance the interests of the state’s craft breweries and to promote North Carolina craft beer.

Craft beer is an undeniable trend in Durham, and across NC, too.  With three operating breweries, and more on the way, the beer scene in Durham was part in parcel of it earning the title Tastiest Town in the South.

“We are thrilled to bring Margo on board,” said Sean Lilly Wilson, president of the North Carolina Craft Brewers Guild and the Chief Executive Optimist of Durham's Fullsteam Brewery. “While we had an impressive slate of highly-qualified candidates, Margo’s extensive experience in government relations, tourism, and the alcohol industry made her the perfect fit. Even better, she’s passionate about craft beer and loves her native North Carolina.”

Metzger attended the NC School of Science and Math in Durham, an experience that left her with a strong appreciation for Durham. She leaves her position as public relations director for the North Carolina Division of Tourism, Film and Sports Development, part of the North Carolina Department of Commerce. She previously served as Executive Director of the North Carolina Wine & Grape Council. Prior to that, Metzger led marketing for a beer and wine wholesaler in the Triad region of North Carolina. She graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a B.A. in Journalism and Mass Communication.

Learn more about Durham's beer scene online.

DCVB Brings Home Numerous State and National Awards

The Durham Convention & Visitors Bureau (DCVB), the official marketing agency for Durham, is competing in the big leagues, and winning.  Just announced this week, DCVB has won two national PR awards from industry powerhouse Ragan Communications.

For its Tastiest Town in the South campaign from which Durham received more than $3.3 million in exposure in a single announcement, DCVB has also now been recognized with two awards from Ragan's PR Daily. Ragan Communications and their associated outputs including PR Daily, are global leaders in the public relations arena.

"Recognition like this doesn't happen every day," said DCVB President and CEO Shelly Green. "The campaign was one we put together quickly to seize an opportunity.  Our team set a goal to earn the Tastiest Town title and stayed focused on it until we won. That we have received recognition like this from a firm like Ragan is a spectacular endorsement of our achievement," she added. DCVB was the only convention and visitors bureau named as a winner. 

The campaign was submitted for consideration in two categories, both of which were named winners against steep competition. The awards are as follows:

Best Location-Based Campaign
Winner: Durham Convention & Visitors Bureau, "The Tastiest Town in the South"
Honorable Mentions:
·         CBRE Group, Inc., "Real Estate 360 in 60 Southern California Forecast"
·         MWW for the McDonald's New York Nutrition Tri-state Owner/Operators                 Association, McDonald's New York Metro Nutrition Network

Best Digital PR Campaign – Budget Under 25,000 

Winner: Durham Convention & Visitors Bureau, "The Tastiest Town in the South"
Honorable Mentions:
·         AMD, AMD Radeon HD 7990 eBay Publicity Stunt
·         AMD, Social Media Launch of AMD's “Never Settle: Reloaded”
·         BolderBOULDER, "I AM BOLDER"
·         Proudly Represents & Mediatic for Domino's Pizza Netherlands &               Indie Amsterdam, Domino's Pizza "Safe Sound"

DCVB also won a platinum award for its 2011-12 Annual Report recently from the state-wide Destination Marketing Association of North Carolina.  
Recognized nationally for best practices and excellence in Destination Marketing, DCVB has received more than 150 awards and recognitions over the past 15 years. 

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

Learn more about Durham online, and on Facebook and Twitter.

Nominate a Durham Restaurant for a Nature’s Plate award

As the Tastiest Town in the South, Durham has some heavy hitting players that should be nominated in a current contest being run by The Nature Conservancy (TNC).  Known as a major food destination, Durham foodies are being asked to nominate their favorite green restaurants for Nature’s Plate, a contest to name the people’s choice for each area’s top green restaurant.  

Vegans, vegetarians and meat-eaters, enjoy their healthiest and tastiest foods from nature. Whether it's oysters growing out in the Pamlico Sound or tomatoes soaking up the sun at the farm down the road, healthy food demands a healthy planet. And our planet is nurtured when food production is sustainable.

That's why The Nature Conservancy is to working with food producers everywhere and bringing together traditionally unexpected partners in the name of healthy food and a healthy environment, finding solutions that are good for their businesses, for consumers and for nature.

TNC's work is innovative and pragmatic. In the Albemarle and Pamlico sounds they are helping to build oyster reef, and they are working with landowners across the state to create more than 225,000 acres of state game lands – providing North Carolinians with the opportunity to serve up the ultimate local food.

Readers can make a difference by nominating their favorite green restaurant in Durham for a Nature's Plate award.  Wondering which restaurants to vote for? Consider eateries that are using sustainable seafood, free-range and grass-fed meat, organic produce, locally sourced food, and tap water (rather than bottled water).

While the contest is focused on restaurants, it’s only the start of a conversation about food, conservation and The Nature Conservancy’s work with farmers, fishermen and ranchers.  To participate, GO ONLINE AND NOMINATE a favorite green restaurant in Durham. There is also information about what makes a restaurant green.

Nominations will be open until September 16, semifinal voting will begin October 1, and the winner(s) will be announced October 17.

Learn more about all of Durham's great restaurants online.

Farmhand Foods Announces Name Change to Firsthand Foods

That Durham was recently honored with the title of Tastiest Town in the South is no surprise to those who live there - and businesses like Farmhand Foods are partially responsible.  The company exemplifies much of what Durham food fans seek including local product: authenticity, integrity, and responsibility. The brand is undergoing a name change due to a legal battle, but while the name will be different, the product and commitment to quality will remain the same.

Beginning May 1, Durham-based Farmhand Foods will officially change its name to Firsthand Foods.  Farmhand Foods launched its business in 2010 with a food truck, known around town as the Sausage Wagon.  Since then, the company has grown into a sizable wholesale distributor of high-quality, local, pasture-raised meats.

In late 2011, Farmhand Foods received a “cease and desist” letter from S.F. Investments, Inc., owner of “Farmland Foods,” a branded line of Smithfield Foods’ pork products worth $3 billion in sales annually.  While Farmhand Foods received federal trademark protection for the right to use its award-winning mark, indicating that the US Patent and Trademark Office had no concern for consumer confusion, SF Investments was not satisfied.

“After a year of trying to protect the rights to use our name, we decided to embrace Firsthand Foods as our new name and focus on growing our markets, supporting the farmers in our network, and continuing to help build a robust local food system here in North Carolina,” says Tina Prevatte, Co-CEO.

Firsthand Foods now has well over 60 customers, including fine dining establishments, specialty retailers, natural foods grocery stores, mobile markets, food trucks, and institutional food service providers such as Carolina Dining Services at UNC-Chapel Hill.  The company sources its meats from a network of close to 40 small-scale beef and pork producers from over 15 counties in the state.  These remarkable farmers, most of whom are in rural areas and do not otherwise have access to larger-scale markets, raise their animals humanely, on pasture, without using added hormones or growth-promoting antibiotics.

Notes Jennifer Curtis, Co-CEO, “We’re excited to re-brand as Firsthand Foods, a name we believe speaks to our core mission to create a direct and transparent connection between our customers and the farmers in our network.”  Firsthand Foods traces every piece of meat it sells back to the farm of origin so its customers know exactly where and how it was raised.

The company has changed their name on Facebook, but have not updated their Twitter account to reflect the new name. For more information about great eating in Durham, visit online.

$3.3 Million and Counting

Being named the Tastiest Town in the South has some serious economic power.  In the content marketing world, a big objective is to get recognition by others of the things that a product or brand has to offer.  That happened in spades with the announcement that Durham had earned this distinction.

What does it mean, in dollars and cents?  "Aside from all the potential visitor traffic that will come as a result of being exposed to Durham as a food destination, we have to look at what it would have cost us to buy this amount of exposure," said Shelly Green, President and CEO of the Durham Convention & Visitors Bureau.  DCVB is Durham's official marketing agency and was the driving force behind winning the title. "It would have cost us $3.3 million," she added.

And counting, apparently.

"Every time we talk about this, that number grows," said Sam Poley who handles marketing for DCVB. "That's why we worked so hard to get people aware that winning this was important.  Titles are great, but value like this is simply undeniable, and we need to capture opportunities like this whenever they arise.  We hope that this kind of statistic will help engender support for such efforts in the future among our fans, residents, and business owners," he added.

At last count, more than 41 million impressions had been made by the more than 50 television broadcasts, well over 100 printed and web posted articles about the accolade.

DCVB's use of social media was key in winning, according to representatives from Southern Living Magazine.  To that end, DCVB has begun to use the hashtag #DurhamIsTastiest! and encourages everyone to tag images on Instagram and Tweets to help others know in real time what is happening on Durham's highly-acclaimed food landscape.

It's Easy Being Tasty

Hungry?  Like most people that depends on how good the food is.  Sure, we all need to eat, but we get hungry when we know the kitchen is cranking out tasty goods.

Turns out, Durham has more good stuff coming out of the kitchen than anyplace else in the South...and that's saying something!

For those who do not know, Durham, NC was named to Southern Living Magazine's list of The Top Ten Tastiest Towns in the South in January.  It made the grade over places like New Orleans, Charleston, and Miami. Durham earned the top spot being named The Tastiest Town in the South by the magazine at an April 9th press conference. The story appears in the magazine that hits newsstands today, April 19th.

So then how is this information useful to the consumer, the diner, the resident, and the visitor?  Well, it means they should go to Durham because apparently that's where this is where the good food is. But how does one find all that local goodness that issues forth from the kitchens of the South's Tastiest Town? There are three easy ways.

First, there is a list on the official Durham, NC Facebook page that can be followed.  The list is shared on a post on the page that has been set to stay at the top of the feed, so it's easy to find. This list of all the locally owned restaurants in Durham that have pages on the social networking site.  Many use their pages to share special dishes, special events, and special offers, as well as to make announcements.

Second is also in the social media realm.  Twitter users, as well as those on image sharing platform Instagram are encouraged to be using the hashtag #DurhamIsTastiest! when sharing.  Following those tags will be an easy way for users, both residents and visitors alike, to see what others are finding tasty in Durham in real time.

Third is to stay on top of what happens on the dining page on the Official Durham Visitors Website. Set a shortcut to this page on mobile devices, and just remember the convenient sub-domain eat.durham-nc.com as a way to go right to this page.  There are links to important resources for diners there including the list of Celebrated Cuisine restaurants that have gotten significant regional or national media attention.

Durham is home to 700 restaurants, many of which are locally-owned.  Learn more about them online, and be sure to share when visiting some by tagging experiences in social media.

Durham Secures the Title of Tastiest Town in the South

In January, Durham and its food scene were catapulted again into the national spotlight by inclusion on Southern Living magazine’s list of the Top 10 Tastiest Towns in the South.  It shared company with culinary mega-star destinations like New Orleans, Charleston, and Miami.  The publishing of this list initiated the magazine’s annual national voting process to name The Tastiest Town in the South.

That town is Durham, NC.

Toward the end of the six week process, according to the leader-board on the magazine’s website voting page, what emerged was a spirited and friendly bout between Durham and the nearest competitor on the list, Memphis.  At three times the size of Durham, the odds were in Memphis’ favor, but Durham did what Durham does…stayed true to its convictions and reigned victorious.

Durham is no stranger to great accolades, and the community is proud to add this one to the list. “Durham is regularly recognized for its creativity, openness, diversity and quality of life.  We've always had a terrific food scene here, and this is a great honor to have everyone else stand up and agree that we are the Tastiest Town in the South,” said Shelly Green, President of the Durham Convention & Visitors Bureau (DCVB), the organization that spearheaded the promotion of this competition. “This is validation of what we've been saying for a long time!”

Visitors to Durham spent a total of more than $780 million last year, and more than $200 million was spent on food and beverages.  Durham’s culinary identity is an important part of the brand that the community has, and is a major component of what Durham promotes to visitors. “Whenever possible, we connect the ideas of ‘visiting Durham,’ and ‘great food,’” said Sam Poley, DCVB’s Director of Marketing and Communications. “This is a message we share as often as possible because Durham’s culinary community is an amazing asset to visitors, and is a major reason to come and explore here.”

Durham has more than seven hundred restaurants, many of which have achieved a status DCVB calls Celebrated Cuisine.  This elite group of restaurants has been regionally or nationally reviewed, not part of a chain, independently-owned, and noted for unique regional cuisine or a custom menu designed by a Durham chef. There are 52 restaurants in Durham that have achieved this status, all of which are listed online. “Being listed as a Celebrated Cuisine restaurant is nice feather in the cap of a chef and restaurateur, and a visitor convenience to help them identify places of interest when planning a trip here," Poley said.

On Tuesday an announcement was made at the Durham Convention & Visitors Bureau. Jennifer Cole, Southern Living’s Travel and Features Editor came in for the announcement.  “The South has a new culinary capital—Durham, NC,” said Cole. “With beer and pizzas made from seasonally minded local ingredients, to pies and even coffee elevated to an art form, the city's artisans are taking Southern cooking to new heights." She added, “The South's culinary scene has become richer and more diverse than ever. Whether you’re a native or a tourist, there's an endless variety of dishes, restaurants and local flavors to discover across our region.”

The announcement will be in the May print edition of the magazine which will be on stands on April 19. DCVB plans to incorporate this honor, as it does the many others the community receives, into its marketing messaging throughout the upcoming year.

Learn more about Durham, NC online, and read more from Southern Living about this story on their website.