Looking for some upscale restaurants around the research triangle that allows cork fees.
Paging Nick Christie.
Herons at the Umpsted hotel in Cary. Amazing space and wine list.
Also G58 in the same area. High end Chinese.
How about The Fearrington House
Fearrington and Herons are the ones I think of as ‘upscale’, somms and suits and all. I hardly ever eat like that locally anymore though. Did you want to specifically be in/near RTP, or downtown Raleigh Durham or Chapel Hill all ok? (BTW there was a topic on restaurants in the area within the last year in the Epicurean sub-forum.)
Place looks like the type of spot I would like. Thx for the suggestion.
I like this place as well. Will check it out more. Thx
All those locations are fine. Even Apex is good but I couldnt find anything good in Apex.
With the caveat that I haven’t eaten at these places since pre-pandemic times, and that I’d brought wine then but would check again.
Death and Taxes in downtown Raleigh. Casual upscale, fairly simple food. This Ashley Christensen place I had preferred in recent years to her signature place Poole’s. Selosse Rougeard etc. on the limited reserve list if interested.
The hot new-old place this month is Littler in downtown Durham. Casual upscale, small and unpretentious. Reopened after the pandemic earlier this month, the chef imported from Sierra Mar / Post Ranch Inn. Good potential. The plates were littler than I remembered, and the whole package is not entirely coherent yet, as I’d expect…will revisit.
Hawthorne and Wood on 54 heading into Chapel Hill from RTP. Casual upscale. I ate there within the first year of opening, convenient not super but with good potential then, need to revisit.
None of the above places are at the upscale level of Fearrington and Herons. Moving further towards casual:
Board member Nathan V.'s place Rue Cler in downtown Durham. Bistro casual nice rather. Interesting prix fix menu, interesting wine list.
Saint James Seafood between Duke and downtown Durham. Same bistro casual nice. Good.
Stanbury near downtown Raleigh. Warehouse bustling super-casual. Small plates crackling with extreme flavor.
Pizzeria Mercato in downtown Carrboro. We always get a pizza or two but go for the mains and apps. Casual-nice trattoria with a southern accent. Between here and Panciuto in Hillsborough my overall favorite places in the area.
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Will check all these places out. I have been to Rue Cler. Nice place. Thx
Ate at The Stanbury pre pandemic and brought a couple of bottles. Excellent food (at the time).
Yeah my caveat wasn’t entirely accurate, we ate at Stanbury late last summer and it was super, and at Littler and Mercato within the last few weeks. Also Mercato corkage is great, buy a bottle bring another for free.
I worked at RTP for a while and if I were back there I’d go Angus Barn. http://www.angusbarn.com/
They do allow corkage for $20 but they have an amazing wine list I spent ages with - it’s on line, all 100 pages here Angus Barn Wine List
They give diners a short list as few diners are wine geeks, but will gladly give the full list book on request and if they don’t offer, ask to visit the wine cellar
The food menu is also online so you can decide if it’s what you want.
In Durham, Rue Cler.
Their online wine menu is so interactive and fun to look through.
Some excellent suggestions. A few +1 and a couple that haven’t been mentioned. All allow corkage - policies somewhat broad re: $/bottle and # of bottles allowed.
Herons at the Umstead is the highest end place in the area with regard to setting, service, presentation, etc. Excellent food.
Fearrington House is in same category as Herons. Slightly more casual feel.
All the others have excellent food but are much more casual as Stan mentioned.
Chapel Hill:
Hawthorne and Wood. This is our go-to place in town. Always consistent. Chef/owner was former exec chef at Solage Calistoga for a number of years.
Pizzeria Mercato. Not much to add to the previous description. Love the family history of fine dining in the area. Come for the pizza but stay for the starters and whatever pasta dish they are serving is always good. Don’t miss the choc chip cookies.
Oakleaf. Some of the best pasta in the region.
Durham:
Mateo. Tapas style place. Busy atmosphere. One of my personal favorites.
+1 on St. James.
Raleigh:
Poole’s Diner: I like this place - though definitely has a much different feel than Death/Taxes, the other Ashley Christensen place noted before. Another place with fine food and casual feel. More bistro style like some of the others.
Crawford and Son: Similar bistro type style. Solid food.
Bida Manda: Thought I’d put point this out since pretty much all the others are derivations of the same type of food.
One wild card is Oakwood pizza box. Not the place I’d tell you to byo for dinner. But if you were looking for a casual weekend lunch, this is a fun place to go and check out what’s in the wine frig. Some pretty fine selections to dig out of there and and excellent pizza for sure.
I went to Angus Barn on the night I graduated from UNC in 1977. Amazed that it is still there. Wow!!!
Someone please go drink all of the 20 year old $2000 DRC at Angus Barn before I yield to temptation.
Not seeing what you are seeing.