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How Durham’s Culinary Entrepreneurs are Navigating a Challenging New Landscape
For over a decade, food magazines, national news outlets, and social media influencers have showered Durham with praise for its culinary excellence. The tastiest town in the South offers a smorgasbord of delicious food that satisfies a wide range of palates. And as Durham’s population grows, so does its list of James Beard Award-winning chefs. But being a foodie destination was not always the city’s destiny. Many of Durham’s flagship restaurants came from humble beginnings.
Preeti Waas Is Creating an Inviting Space at Cheeni Durham
When Preeti Waas first introduced herself to me at a hospitality industry event in November 2019, she said, “I brought you something,” and pressed a silver thermos into my hands. I unscrewed the lid and a current of steamy chai wafted upward, redolent of ginger, cardamom, and fennel. I took a sip and the hot, velvety tea slid down my throat like liquid comfort.
At Raleigh’s Ponysaurus Brewing, a Visionary Second Act In a Pizza Kitchen
Jeff Seizer spent much of his career in fine dining, but his first culinary idols were the cooks at the pizza shop in his childhood Brooklyn neighborhood. “They were like the coolest dudes in the world,” Seizer recounts. “The shop had this old-school Italian vibe. Everyone knew the pizza guys. They drove cool cars, and I looked up to those guys growing up.”
Good Moon Signs: Sylvan Esso On Making a Festival, Maintaining a Community Feel, and 90s Chord Vocoders
Amelia Meath and Nick Sanborn are ready to recharge. For the Sylvan Esso duo, years of back-to-back tours, managing their new recording studio, Betty, and new record label, Psychic Hotline, have left Meath and Sanborn ready for some hometown downtime. But that doesn’t mean taking a break from creative endeavors:...
Raleigh Food Truck Que Chula Es Puebla Serves Up Pueblan Dishes With Care
Had you tried to seek out Pueblan food in the area a few years ago, you would’ve come up short. While local Mexican fare is widely available around the Triangle, regional food is still somewhat limited. Case in point: despite the number of Mexican restaurants, grocery stores, and food trucks in the area, until recently, none offered regional Pueblan fare.
Incoming! Norwegian Mountains, Vicious Satire, and Shifting Perspectives
Whenever America gets me depressed—which is several times daily, of late—I try to remind myself that the world is a bigger place. Getting out into nature is a good way to find that perspective. Going out to the movies is another, especially if you seek out international films.
In Raleigh, Students From UNC System Schools Protest DEI Policy Repeal
Early Thursday morning, dozens of students from across North Carolina, some from as far as Asheville and Charlotte, gathered at the Dillon building in downtown Raleigh, home to the UNC System Board of Governors’ offices. Despite security escorting them to stand across the street from the Dillon, and construction...
“We are in a crisis:” Lead Cleanup in Durham Parks Expected to Take Years, Cost Millions
This story originally published online at NC Newsline. State environmental officials will conduct further tests in and near five Durham parks to determine the extent of widespread lead contamination that has disrupted summer camps, closed playgrounds and concerned residents whose children have frequented those areas. These areas could include private...
City of Durham’s Cemetery Maintenance Policy Raises Questions
When Meg Solera visited Maplewood Cemetery in March 2020, it seemed like a nice resting place for her granddaughter, Wren, who had been stillborn on the 16th of the month. She picked out a plot and, after the burial, went on to visit Wren’s grave weekly. Like other families with loved ones buried at Maplewood—one of two cemeteries owned and operated by the City of Durham—Solera and her husband, José, placed totems on or within a few inches of Wren’s marker: heart-shaped stones in a small bowl; real and artificial flowers; a metal post with a sculpture of her avian namesake.
Raleigh City Manager Presents $1.4 Billion Budget Proposal
At Tuesday’s Raleigh City Council meeting, city manager Marchell Adams-David presented her 2024-25 $1.43 billion budget proposal, a 12 percent increase over the last fiscal year. Adams-David emphasized that the growth in city expenditures “continues to outpace the growth in revenues.” Sales revenues, she noted, are leveling off following...
Voters in Chapel Hill, Orange County Will See Bonds on Their Ballots This Fall
This November, voters in Orange County will turn out to vote for the next president, governor, and a whole slew of state-level offices. They’ll also have a hyperlocal issue on the ballot—whether their municipal governments can issue hundreds of millions of dollars in two separate bonds. Chapel Hill...
Op-Ed: Downtown Durham Cannot Afford to Lose Durham School of the Arts
Before downtown Durham’s 21st century renaissance, it was home to a crumbling tobacco industry. Then, in 1995, two catalysts planted seeds for a radical transformation: the openings of the Durham Bulls Athletic Park and of Durham School of the Arts (then the Durham Magnet Center). These two events radically shifted Durham’s trajectory and contributed to the culture of innovation, tech, health, education, investment entrepreneurship, and arts that downtown Durham is known for today.
Five Things to Watch For in the Durham City Manager’s Budget Proposal
Durham city manager Wanda Page will present her recommendations for the City of Durham’s 2024-2025 fiscal year budget at the city council’s regular meeting this evening. While it’s not the final budget, the manager’s presentation will be a good indication of what the council’s priorities are going into the next year. Big considerations loom over the budget discussion. How will the city address its public safety challenges? Will city workers get the raises they’ve been fighting for?
There’s No Judgement (or Lululemon) In Durham’s Naked Yoga Class
This story originally published online at the 9th Street Journal. As you walk into the studio, you spot a couple of people sitting on their mats and your eyes dart away instinctively. You debate which row to claim with your mat—the front, where everyone will see you; the back, where you’ll see everyone; or in the middle, where, well, all of the above. You opt for the front. The arrangement is a little tight, and the back of your mat grazes the one behind you.
Suzi Analogue and Blu’s “Best 16” Sounds Like The End of the World
Normally, the fact that a UNC professor was the producer behind an unnerving, dystopian rap song that featured one of the most gifted emcees of all-time would be more reason for confusion than clarity. But when said producer/professor is Suzi Analogue—critically acclaimed beatmaker and songwriter, founder of the electronic/experimental label...
“Things Have Gotten Very Bad”: An Interview With “Bad Faith” Director Stephen Ujlaki
Bad Faith: An Unholy War on Democracy, a grim new documentary from filmmakers Stephen Ujlaki and Chris Jones, begins with rowdy footage from January 6, the familiar colors of the American flag bleeding into the whites and blues of the Christian flag, waving amidst the crowd, and aggressive reds of Trump paraphernalia. “Nobody knows what the hell is going on, there’s never been anything like this,” Trump tells the crowd. “We will not let them silence us.”
Parents Describe Growing Pains for Durham Schools’ ‘Growing Together’ Plan
This story originally published online at the 9th Street Journal. At a school board meeting in early March, a group of administrators shared updates on Growing Together, a reassignment plan going into effect in elementary schools in the fall. When the slide presentation ended, board member Millicent Rogers asked what seemed like a simple question.
Durham Bike Community Remembers Fallen Cyclists With Ride of Silence
Days of rain and cloud cover cast a gloominess over Durham throughout the week. But as dozens of cyclists gathered at CCB Plaza on Wednesday for the annual Ride of Silence, the sun pierced through the clearing sky just in time to offer a ray of hopefulness to an otherwise somber event.
Durham County Budget Proposal Falls Short of School System Request
This story originally published online at the 9th Street Journal. Durham County Manager Kimberly Sowell presented a recommended $955 million budget to county commissioners on Monday. And while the budget includes $201 million for Durham Public Schools—a $13 million increase—the proposal is still about $14 million short of the school board’s request.
Durham School Leaders Discuss Plans to Tackle Building Repairs
This story originally published online at the 9th Street Journal. Durham school leaders will catalogue the district’s most pressing building maintenance needs and spend more than $2 million in federal funds for HVAC and other building repairs, the interim superintendent said Thursday. However, district leaders said more money will...
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