Dispatch from Chapel Hill

[GogglesPaisano]

Hi all. I'm a lurker 'round these parts mostly, but came across a few tidbits that might be of interest to other Chapel Hill and Triangle hounds:

1) Three Cups -- construction is moving forward in the same Elliott Road shopping center with Great Harvest and Locopops. The new sign is up and the tagline has changed to "Wine - Coffee - Tea"; whether this portends a change in focus from the previous coffee-centric incarnation in the Courtyard, I don't know.

2) Parlez-Vous Crepe -- came across a fantastic crepe cart parked at 901 W. Main in Carrboro (out front of a tienda and Johnny's) called Parlez-Vous Crepe. They have a small line up of both sweet and savory crepes; wife and I had already had lunch so we were only able to try the sweet varieties -- I had raspberry and chocolate with fresh strawberries and Mrs. Paisano had lemon cream, each was around $4 or $5 and fantastic. The cart is there Wednesday evenings and Saturday mornings from 8am to 2pm. Definitely worth a stop in.

3) Bliss Bakery -- coming soon to the old Three Cups space in the Courtyard (also taking the spot next door formerly occupied by a landscape architect). I couldn't find out anything about them from the folks at SandwHich other than they are from Pittsburgh. Signage looks promising, though, and it will be nice to have something back in that space.

4) Bonne Soiree -- they have just re-started their Sunday night dinners once per month; went last night for our anniversary. I like this place more every time I go. The Sunday nights are great -- a little more laid back so Chip gets to come out from the kitchen now and again and watch everybody enjoying his food.

5) Starbucks -- perhaps not worthy of a CH post, but a SBUX opened in Eastgate (right on my way to work in the morning) last Friday. I'm a Driade loyalist, but this is going to be a good addition to my commuting life.

I think that's it. Just wanted to share. Happy chowing.

[KatyMcCay]

I think Bliss maybe dead. The owner of the Courtyard has given it back to the bank. He's bankrupt.

[mpjmph]

Bliss is opening this weekend (1/31/2009) according to an email sent to the Sandwhich mailing list (then forwarded to me by a friend on the list...).

[Noel_B]

Let me add...

6) Sandwich -- I was just talking with the owners of Sandwhich who wanted people to know they remain open and are still in the Courtyard behind Penang. (They mentioned that lots of folks had the impression that they had moved with 3 Cups because they thought the two were jointly owned, but that isn't true.)

They're busy enough, but the departure of the coffee place has slowed things down. Now is a good time to go support them while they await the Bliss opening. Sandwhich has a very affordable special going on. For $10 you get a sandwich, small chips or soup, one of their iced teas, and an Antidepressant Chocolate Chip Cookie. Had this lunch special today: it was a really good value. Great idea for taking a group to lunch. And delicious as ever. I got their email about this but had ignored it which was a mistake.

On Bliss, the bakery next door, I heard that they will have coffee, cupcakes and cookies
-- all from good ingredients. They'll be open until late, as a sort of dessert cafe, but I think they may also get a wine & beer license. Sandwhich will also start having coffee soon as well to help fill the 3-Cup void.

And thanks to people for these other great updates already posted.

[GogglesPaisano]

Thanks for the update on Bliss and the reminder on SandwHich. Mrs. Paisano and I are in there once a week or so; the Nueske (sp?) bacon and sweet corn sandwich they ran during the end of the summer was unbelievably great.

[LulusMom]

Thanks for a useful post. Can you tell me about the Sunday nights at Bonne Soiree? Are they somehow different from the rest of the week, or is it just unusual for them to be open on Sundays? Is there some sort of set schedule, like the first Sunday of every month or something?

[GogglesPaisano]

I think Sunday nights are only different in that they are usually not open on Sundays and they seem to do only one seating rather than two, resulting in a very leisurely pace to enjoy dinner. We were a party of 6 and were there for around 3 hours.

I don't know what the schedule is but I think they may have it on the outgoing message on their answering machine.

[LulusMom]

Thanks - I'll look into it. We went once and found it somewhat stuffy (we, in our 40s, were the youngest people there). And we've been to some *darned* stuffy places. The food was very good but the atmo somewhat off-putting. I'm guessing with the students in town it will be more fun.

[GogglesPaisano]

I initially found it stuffy, as well. They won me over, though, by showing genuine care that their guests have a great meal and by doing little things that make up for me not being able to wear jeans there.

For example, after having not seen us for 6 months or more, last weekend Tina remembered my favorite cocktail (Hendrick's martini) which was very thoughtful. And every time we have been in they have been very generous about sending over an extra dessert or cheese plate or comp'ing a round of drinks or some such thing. I really like that.

Magnolia Grill, which is my favorite restaurant in the area and at which we dine at least twice as frequently as Bonne Soiree, has never remembered a drink or comp'ed a cocktail or dessert. That said, we keep going because those people know how to cook.

[peetoteeto]

I waited tables for three years at the Grill, and I don't remember *ever* comping an item. It's just not done. (well, it wasn't then, at least.)

Now, not remembering a drink or special preferences...that I can't explain anyway. But the no comp thing was pretty much an institutional policy. YMMV.

[GogglesPaisano]

Interesting. That explains a lot. I should have also said in my prior post that I keep going to MG because in addition to great food it also has the most consistently knowledgeable, well-trained and professional waitstaff of any of the restaurants I frequent in the area.

[LulusMom]

The waitstaff at MG are really great, aren't they? Great food, and knowledgable service. While it isn't in the same category, I also think the service at Vin Rouge is great. They always remember us, always come over to say hi even if not our wait person that evening, remember our likes and dislikes in food and wine.

[GogglesPaisano]

Good to know. We haven't been to Vin Rouge often enough to experience that, but Mrs. Paisano would be pleased for their macaroni gratin to become a regular feature in our dining life, and I love their hanger steak.

[LulusMom]

Yeah, LulusDad is a huge fan of their hanger steak (and those fries are pretty great). The duck confit salad is wonderful too. I just really wish they'd do something about the roast chicken. Aside from that, I loved most of what I've had there. The fish specials can be really good.

[GogglesPaisano]

I've never had the chicken but it has been on my list of things to try there. They do so much of the bistro stuff so well, it's a bit of disappointment to hear that the poulet roti is not great.

Agreed, they do great things with fish and the fries are very good (though still a notch behind Enoteca Vin's, imo).

[LulusMom]

If you do try the poulet and have a good experience, please please report back. That is one of my favorites in a bistro, and to have it be a disappointment there was ... disappointing. It was dreadfully overcooked and dry. Could have just been an off day, but I've just avoided it ever since.

[mpjmph]

Thanks for the updates. I have seen signs for crepes on Saturday mornings, but haven't had a chance to explore and find the cart, which is sad b/c I love crepes. It's out of the way to stop on my way to/from the farmer's market, but I'll have to swing by on a Wednesday evening. btw, it looks like they're scheduling based on the market, do you know if they will continue to have the cart open on Wednesdays once the mid-week market closes for the season?

Also good to hear about Bliss. I haven't been terribly impressed w/ Sugarland (too unfocused - are they a bakery? a cafe? an ice cream shop?) and we really need a good bakery here. I haven't been visiting the courtyard much since 3 Cups closed/moved and the somewhat cooler weather dampened by LocoPops urges...

[GogglesPaisano]

I haven't been to Sugarland but my wife, Mrs. Paisano, has and reported much the same as you did.

I don't know about the crepe people's plans re Wednesday night, but they seem to share a lot of traffic with the folks going to Johnny's (also a neat little spot that we had never been to before this past weekend), so I hope they will stay around on Wednesdays. Need a chance to try their savory crepes!

[bbqme]

I'm not one to ever turn down another bakery but given that we already have Weaver St., Whole Foods, Fresh Market, Miel Bon Bons, and Fosters Market in Chapel Hill and Guglhupf just a few miles down the road in Durham we are hardly hurting for good baked goods for a town our size.

[GogglesPaisano]

Agreed. We are very lucky in our neck of the woods. That said, I think Weaver Street and Guglupf are at the head of the class on your list. I'm not a fan of the Fresh Market or Whole Foods bakery and haven't yet made it to Miel Bon Bons. As others have noted on here, as well, the bread turned out by Rue Cler's bakery is outstanding.

[LulusMom]

Weaver Street really does do a great job on the baked goods. I heard that they got a new baker recently ... haven't noticed any decline in quality at all.

[bbqme]

I like Rue Cler's bread a lot as well but they almost exclusively supply area restaurants. Is there another way to get their bread other than being one of the lucky few who happens to be in the downtown area around 2 PM when they put a few loaves out in their bakery area?

[GogglesPaisano]

Not as far as I know.

[romansperson]

Except one cannot find a decent loaf of Italian bread to save one's life around here ... I got one, once, at the market next to George's Garage. I don't get over there often, but every time I do I check for it again and have never seen another one. This makes me sad ...

[GogglesPaisano]

Agreed. I usually pick up a batard from Weaver Street as a pretty tasty, but different, substitute.