Sunday, March 14, 2010

Taste Carolina Tour of Durham,NC

Yesterday I went on the Taste Carolina Tour of Durham, NC from 2 - 5pm EST. We visited these eateries:

1 - Toast
2 - Parker and Otis
3 - LocoPops
4 - Piedmont
5 - Rue Cler
6 - Tyler's Taproom

We also sampled cupcakes from Eatdaisycakes.com and ended the day tasting popcorn samples from Themadpopper.com. The tour guides were Joe, a co-founder and Jenn, a tour guide. Both were very friendly. Joe was really impressive in his knowledge of downtown Durham's businesses, architecture and restaurants. He was charismatic and really made me feel that he cares about Durham and about sharing his passion for the city with those of us on the tour. Before the tour, I had spoken with the other co-founder, Leslie, who was very helpful addressing my concerns about logistics and all the walking.

And now to the fun part!! A little about each place we visited:

Toast -- Modeled after a high-end Italian eatery, Toast has bright colored walls and a tasty menu. We sampled a soup and a crosstini with tomatoes and mozzeralla. I didn't sample the soup, but heard it was delicious. The crostini was fantastic. There was also plenty of seating outside which was nice.







Parker & Otis -- I have been there several times for delicious lunches and was glad to find that it was on the tour. We sampled a home-made pimento cheese sandwich and got to meet with the owner Jennigs as well. I am always impressed with their offerings of goodies -- everything from candy, to tea, to coffee to wine. Plus, they have a lovely outdoor patio that just makes me want to hang out there for hours. The owner was so friendly and spoke with us with pride in her voice about her business and how she really supports local vendors, doing her best to source only foods from local farmers.






Locopops -- We didn't walk all the way from downtown to their location at 2600 Hillsborough Road, which concerned me because that would have been a hike on foot. We met with the owner in the heart of downtown next to her facility where she makes most of her "locopops". She gave us samples of a brand new flavor -- Duck Rabbit Beer with chocolate which was delicious. She also had an interesting story about quitting a corporate day job, then discovering these popsicles on a trip to Mexico and then studying how to make them in Mexico for a whole year. It was a fun and inspiring story of entrepreneurship.

Piedmont -- If you've ever glanced at this blog, you'll know that this is my #1 favorite restaurant in the Triangle area. Every time I have been there, the selection of entrees is new and exciting and always fantastic. Even my father would agree, and he's not easy to please (aka: a foodie from New York City). He was also on the tour with us and the smile on his face when he sampled the home-made flat noodles with vegetables and shredded pork said it all. I sampled the vegetarian option which was light and wonderful. I'm running out of ways to say "delicious". My friend Ashley commented that Piedmont was her favorite on the tour. The owner was very gracious and caring. When my father asked to purchase a fresh loaf of French bread, the owner insisted that he take it for free; now that's great business savy.




Rue Cler -- The owner was extremely inviting to us and set up the bar area with place settings for everyone on our tour. Rue Cler and Piedmont seemed the most prepared for our visit. Each setting had a glass of white wine and a frieze salad with a shallot vinagrette and candied pecans. My father was tired from all the walking, so he took at pause at the Marriott. One of the tour founders, Leslie, insisted that we box up the salad to go so that my father could sample it too. I thought that that was very thoughtful.




Tyler's Taproom -- This was the only place where we sampled drinks and not food. Well, sampled is a relative term. Usually sampled means more than one, especially when it comes to beer. Instead, the lady who worked there gave us each 1 small glass of beer which was very hoppy and bitter. To my surprise, when my father said that it tasted like "mouth wash" the lady simply shrugged and said that smaller shot glass samples were available at the bar. My suggestion is that if they keep Tyler's on the tour, that they offer 3 glasses of 3 different beers, and keep that hoppy Indian Pale Ale only as 1 option, or remove it entirely.



Overall, it was a really fun way to spend a Saturday afternoon and even the Carolina skies were bright blue and sunny, except for a brief rain storm at the end. I'd really recommend these tours to local foodies, especially if they out of town guests visiting them. I plan to take the Chapel Hill/Carroboro tour soon and then the Raleigh tour.

Please let me know your thoughts about these places & feel free to comment if you've gone on this tour too!