Carrboro Taco Truck

Saturday night the Carrboro Taco Truck pulled up to the Southern Village Club - however, I never saw that truck. Instead, a wonderful family set up shop and made the most delicious mexican food I have had in years!

I told my husband after my first bite, why don't we eat this food every night?

The event had been publicized around the club for a few weeks. Since we love the pool, but don't like to cook in the Summer, we were in! There is just so much pizza you can order for the pool.

Choice of fresh corn or flour tortillas grilled and filled up with beef or chicken, cheese, lettuce, fresh cilantro, lime, avocado...and did I mention the fresh mangos on a stick? How wonderful it felt for my kids to be eating mangos, instead of those gross ring pops!

The Carrboro Taco Truck is in the Fitch Parking lot on Friday nights - I will get more on their schedule so I can post future locations!

Chili and Corn Bread at Sandwhich...going, going, gone

Wow - I may have to leave my desk after receiving an email from Janet at Sandwhich. She's made fresh chili and corn bread. And after we get the rain that's predicted for this weekend, I can't imagine we are going to want anything more then that.

My big plans for the weekend include making a big pot of beef stew. Might be the irish in me, but once the weather cools and Fall comes, I need something hearty and comforting. Hopefully we'll get some soccer practices and games in for the kids too.

Enjoy your weekend.

Lantern Specials this Week

With compliments to the incredible staff at Lantern, I just have to include the text and photos of this email I just got!






Dear Friends,

Just a quick note to let you know what we have cooking at Lantern this week - a good part of a whole (1100 pound!) dry-aged Jersey steer who was born just a few miles away at Chapel Hill Creamery and raised there on pasture for the last 2 years. While Jerseys are most often thought of as dairy cows, their meat is considered among the most flavorful and tender in the world. Because they are relatively small and slow-growing, they are quite expensive to raise and so not often seen on menus. We also just got a big box of foraged chicken-of-the-woods mushrooms in the mail from Alan Muskat in Asheville, which we will be pairing with the braised short ribs and shanks in a rich broth. Our thanks to Portia, Flo and Alan for the rare treats! Also, Monica just added a late summer favorite to the dessert menu: local fig sundae with creme fraiche ice cream, red wine caramel and pistachios.
We hope to see you soon!

Here are the specials for the next few days:(as quantities are limited, please call for nightly availability)
Pot on fire soup with Chapel Hill Creamery beef - dumplings, chicken-of-the-woods mushrooms, consomme and fresh wasabi
Flash fried shishito peppers with sea salt
Warm beef tenderloin with toasted pine nuts and roasted black sesame and korean chile sauce
Japanese-style steak tartare with local onions, foraged purple shiso and a farm egg
Sake and tea-cured Cold Mountain red trout bento box with house pickled ginger and red cabbage, wasabi, miso-mayonnaise, sticky rice and nori
Salt grilled ribeye steak with roasted local shiitake mushrooms, marinated sesame-spinach, azuki bean miso mayonnaise and warm green tea sushi rice

Lunch in Chapel Hill

This is the worst part of a delicious lunch during your workday -- the need to go back to work after such a lovely break! Today I went to what has now become one of our most famous restaurants - Sandwhich. I finally strayed from my old familiar tunafish with thick bacon on crusty bread and tried the meatloaf!

After lunch we stepped across the courtyard for a cupcake at Bliss Bakery. This meal was not even close to being on any diet - but was a welcome Friday date!

Bruschetta Anyone?

Tonight I went to a wonderful party in Greenwood. Greenwood is a wonderfully wooded section of Chapel Hill that reminds me a great deal of the towns I knew growing up in Westchester County. The party was a wedding shower for a coworker and a number of the women had brought dishes to for the buffet in the dining room.

Spring rolls, little mini biscuits with chicken salad, fresh fruit, sushi -- but by far the most eyecatching was a beautiful platter of bruschetta. Fresh, fresh tomatoes and basil on crostini with fresh whole milk mozzarella. The olive oil was rich and the whole package was a wonderful two bite hors d'oeuvre. I could not resist it - and isn't that what we all want from a really wonderful cocktail party - tasty pieces that we remember long after we've gone home.

Here's to Summer -- 92 in Chapel Hill today!

And so it begins....

My first post leaves me wondering. Should I have a mission statement? A list of goals? How about I just share my views on the really great food life we have here in Chapel Hill and Carrboro. Restaurant reviews, tips on the farmers markets, the take out and the myriad supermarkets, coops and of course, Trader Joe's that we have here.

When I moved here from New York, I was still working as a freelance event planner. I'd travel to New York, Washington or Paris once a week. I ate at some of the world's most exciting restaurants. I met some of the most accomplished chefs -- I learned alot and enjoyed it even more.

As my husband and I traveled the world with our toy poodles, we thought we could continue this lifetsyle with a baby in hand. But once you have one child, travel becomes more challenging and four star restaurants are slightly less welcoming.

Figure in three children - and you better live in a town with some great restaurants. Stand by - we do!