Eating our way through town.

Read anything about the Durham social scene, and you'll sooner or later read that Durham was voted by Southern Living as one of the "Tastiest Towns in the South." That was one of the things that I held onto to keep myself encouraged and motivated about moving from Boston. (Do not misunderstand: Boston has EXCELLENT food. I wasn't expecting Durham to be superior; I was just encouraged that it should at least be good.) Brad, Claire, and I dearly love our food. 

I grew up in the Huntsville, AL area, which primed me for a particularly demanding palate. Huntsville is chock full of amazing local cuisine. I am not even kidding. Without even meaning to, I grew up as a person who naturally shies away from chain restaurants (with a few exceptions: Chick-fil-A), and naturally gravitates toward local eateries or LOCAL chains (Huntsville/North Alabama has quite a few awesome local chains: Rosie's...can I get an "AMEN!!"?) One time, Brad, Claire, and I were flying South (from Boston, obviously) for some holiday or another, and as we landed in Huntsville, I overheard the two businessmen in front of us talking about where to eat in the area. The first guy said something about finding a <insert generic chain restaurant name here> to eat at for dinner. The other guy said, "I hear Huntsville has really good food. We should look up some local place." If the hustle and bustle of deplaning hadn't already started, I had a list ready to reel off to them, whether they were ready or not.

Brad wasn't quite so picky about this kind of thing until we lived in Boston. I've mentioned it before, but Boston is very anti chains (except local ones: Boloco, Dunkin Donuts- that's right, it's originally from Providence, Home Goods). So, outside of a few carefully selected chains that make modest appearances, you don't find too many chain restaurants, which leaves GOBS of awesome local places. If you're ever visiting Boston, you should check in with me. I can make you a nice list. 

Anyway, we were very excited about trying local places in Durham. So far, we have had some good experiences. We haven't been to too many, but the ones we have been to have been worth mentioning:

1. The Q Shack. Not unsurprisingly, this is a barbecue place. Happily for me, it's not Carolina-style bbq (I'm sorry if you love Carolina-style; I'm not so into vinegar-y bbq). It's definitely more along the lines of Memphis bbq, which I definitely prefer. The first two times we had Q Shack, we ignorantly ordered pulled pork. This is a mistake. You must always order either the ribs or, better yet, the brisket. It is fantastic!

At the Q Shack with Nastia (blog on that to come!)

2. Bull City Burger and Brewery. First of all, I'd like to mention that this one is downtown and has parallel parking. And when I say "parallel parking," what I mean is that the clearly delineated parking spaces are so big that Boston drivers would wedge two cars into a space meant for one. They are shockingly big. The burgers at Bull City Burgers (Bull City is a nickname for Durham) are really unique and specialty. They come with interesting toppings like pimento cheese and tomatillo salsa (not on the same burger). We really enjoyed the food, but the BEST part was the CORNER FULL OF KIDS PLAYING APPARATI. It was awesome. We snagged a table right next to the little play kitchen and the bookshelf full of books and toys. It made for a very peaceful meal; we ate, Claire played. Glorious.

Play area. THIS IS GENIUS.

3. Foster's Market. We were invited to join some acquaintances for a Labor Day brunch at Foster's. It's definitely a local place that uses primarily local produce and meat. In fact, Foster's provides land to a local CSA (community supported agriculture) in exchange for produce. They serve regular Southern breakfast dishes plus some more interesting/gourmet style options. For example, I ordered an English muffin topped with two fried eggs, pimento cheese, and tomato jam. It was de-licious. My dad would have hated it; he hates pimento cheese AND tomatoes. Isn't that sad? I'm definitely looking forward to a return visit. I hear their chess pie is fantastic.

4. Jimmy's hot dogs. The hot dogs aren't necessarily worth writing home about, but the BANANA PUDDING. Whoa. It's a dollar for a big individual serving, and it's the best dollar that you could spend. It's so good. Mm Mmm.

5. Kipos. Technically, Kipos is in Chapel Hill. It's Greek, and it's awesome. We ordered a bunch of dishes, so that we could try several things. We made total pigs of ourselves, loved every bite, and can't stop thinking about it. Also? Claire had a total crush on our waiter. That girl.

We plan to keep eating our way across Durham. It's a good thing that Brad's program is five years; we'll need it to get to all of the places we want to try. I'll keep you posted.