Archive for the ‘Durham NC’ Category

Bull City Vegan Challenge 2010 – Thinking Outside the Meat Box.

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Posted 13 Aug 2010 — by chefshirle
Category Durham NC, Features, Vegan, Vegan Brunch, Vegetarian

BCVC Bull

BULL CITY VEGAN CHALLENGE 2010
Come October of this year there is going to be a unique Durham event that yours truly along with my good friend and documentarian/vegan advocate, Eleni Vlachos, are curating. The first ever Bull City Vegan Challenge, or BCVC as we like to call it.

Building on the popularity of “Meat Free Mondays” and Durham’s popular monthly vegan brunch (Now run by my friends Caroline Morrison and Siobhan Catherine from Fiction Kitchen who recently served 163 people within 30 minutes!), we thought it was time to encourage adding inventive vegan options to our favoriterestaurant’s menus — in a fun way.

To this end, Eleni and I hit the streets asking Durham chefs to add a vegan entree, appetizer, or dessert for the month of October. To our surprise, 90% of the chefs agreed to the challenge. Each entree will be voted on by the public, and the winner will receive recognition and a prize.

Thus far, participating restaurants are: Piedmont, Alivia’s, Dos Perros, Rue Cler, Beyu Caffé, Nosh, Toast, and Federal (a few more to come!) We targeted restaurants carefully since the voting public may not be able to eat?out several times per week.

A short documentary will also be included and screened following the October challenge.

Here is the link to the official BCVC site:http://bullcityveganchallenge.com

Yay for Durham Chefs!!!

Eating Off The Land…or attempts at an organic backyard garden.

12 Comments
Posted 23 Oct 2008 — by chefshirle
Category Compost, Durham NC, Herbs, Organic Gardening

summer-garden-04-beauty.jpg

Do any of you know that person who can grow anything, anywhere with little to no effort? My Mom is one of those people. She can pick a sprig of who-knows-what off the parking lot of the Home Depot, stick it in some dirt at home and the next thing you know, there’s a tree! Really.

I, on the other hand, have not been that successful of a farmer (except for all the cacti I have, which are hard to kill).  As a kid we always had a garden. Didn’t matter where, my Mom always planted one where ever we lived and it always thrived.

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Wine and Cheese?…Oh Pul-eeze! The Wine Authorities Take On Food & Wine Pairing Class

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Posted 05 Sep 2008 — by chefshirle
Category Durham NC, Kitchen Tips, Restaurant Review, Wine

wine-authorities-beauty.jpg

On June 26th of 2008  I was lucky enough to get a seat at the table for one of Durhams Wine Authorities Food & Wine Pairing classes. It was held at the Wine Authorities store, a locally owned shop that specializes in small vineyards that produce small quantities of very good wine at very good prices. Hosted by owners Craig Heffly and Seth Gross the event was catered by the wonderful and talented chef, Tom Ferguson, of Durham Catering Co.

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Durham’s TOAST is More Than Just Bread

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Posted 03 Apr 2008 — by chefshirle
Category Durham NC, Restaurant Review, Vegetarian

Toast - Durham NC

About a month ago, I was sitting at the table eating my breakfast with David. He was reading the paper when he saw that a new restaurant had opened in the downtown Durham area. For those that aren’t familiar with Durham, NC let me explain that we are going through a rebirth. The downtown area has laid dormant for many, many years. With the vision of a few key groups this area is now fertile ground for entrepreneurs to move in and begin opening businesses of their dreams. We have had more restaurants open in the last year than ever before, making all us hungry locals very happy Durhamites.

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