Durham taquerias; Herons chef Phil Evans; 3CUPS serves Cakewalk cupcakes
by Claire Cusick @TheDoughEater
Five of Durham's taquerias, plus Fiesta Grill in Orange County, are featured in the September issue of Gourmet. In a three-page spread, writer Colman Andrews (who certainly knows his stuff—he co-founded Saveur magazine and was its editor-in-chief before joining Gourmet a year ago) begins the piece by narrating a trip up Durham's Roxboro Road. "I start to think that I'm in Mexico, or at least East L.A.," he writes. Then he sees a Biscuitville sign advertising fried bologna. Yes, that's us!
Andrews notes that North Carolina has the fastest-growing Hispanic community in America, the majority of which, in our area, are Mexican. He rambles his way around, sampling barbacoa, mole poblano, carne al pastor, carnitas and more from restaurateurs who hail from Veracruz, Oaxaca and Tijuana—and compliments much.
Here's the list: Los Comales (2103 N. Roxboro Road, 220-1614), Super Taqueria (2842 N. Roxboro Road, 220-9884), Taqueria Lopez (3438 Hillsborough Road, 383-1917), El Paraiso (111 S. Alston Ave., 680-4728), Taqueria La Vaquita (2700 Chapel Hill Road, 383-1917) and Fiesta Grill (3307 N.C. 54 West, 928-9002).
Congratulations to Phil Evans, the chef at Herons (100 Woodland Pond, Cary, 447-4200, www.heronsrestaurant.com). Evans has been invited to cook at the James Beard House in New York City, which is—how best to say this?—a very big deal. Many other local chefs have this honor on their resumes; a surely incomplete list includes Bret Jennings, Ben and Karen Barker, Scott Howell and Ashley Christensen. (For more on Evans, see our July 4 story about him at www.indyweek.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A156562.)
The house, which belonged to the late cooking teacher, journalist and cookbook author, is now home to the Beard Foundation, which celebrates, preserves and nurtures America's culinary heritage and diversity. Chefs are invited to cook for foundation members, journalists and the public.
For those who can't zip up to Greenwich Village Sept. 25, Herons is offering a preview of Evans' five-course, wine-paired Beard dinner menu next Monday through Friday. It includes offerings from local purveyors, such as Braised Kobe Short Rib and Elodie Farm Stilton Gougère (from Elodie Farms in Rougemont), Slow Cooked Cane Creek Pork Rillettes (from Cane Creek Farm, just outside Saxapahaw), and breads from La Farm Bakery in Cary. Cost is $125 per person and reservations are required; request the Beard dinner menu upon reserving.
Continuing our area's cupcake ascension, 3CUPS (431 W. Franklin St., Suite 15, Chapel Hill, 968-8993, 3cups.net) is selling the little bits of heaven made by Cakewalk Bakery in Carrboro for $1.75 each. If you can't get enough there, Cakewalk (260-9416, www.cakewalkcarrboro.com) offers delivery to anywhere in the Triangle for a flat fee. Cakewalk now offers the first of several seasonal flavors: apple spice cupcakes topped with cinnamon cream cheese frosting and a sliver of candied ginger.
Know about a special food happening in the Triangle? Send it to Now Serving at food@indyweek.com.
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