Straw Valley Café 5420 Durham-Chapel Hill Blvd. New Hope Commons, Durham Website You may not have heard about Straw Valley Café from the Independent Weekly, Herald-Sun, or Carpe Durham articles on this coffeehouse, bar, and art gallery, but that shouldn’t stop you from visiting it. What might is its difficult-to-access location. It’s right off of
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In Part 1 of our journey through two days of Brooklyn’s food and drink wonders, we started out in DC with some bacon and toffee waffles, then went to dinner at Buttermilk Channel in Brooklyn, and had brunch at Colonie the next day. Brunch was walked off with a visit to the waterfront and lovely
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Southern Hot Toddy Alivia’s Durham Bistro/My Review Brightleaf, Durham It’s been over a month since I tried the Southern Hot Toddy at Alivia’s Durham Bistro, so don’t be surprised if it was just a passing winter’s fancy on their drink list. It was made with Jim Beam Bourbon, orange wedges, sugar, and hot herbal tea.
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Espresso Martini Watts Grocery Review/Website Watts Hillandale, Durham $7 The espresso martini is hiding on Watt’s dessert menu. Combine a shot of Joe Van Gogh’s espresso, Stoli Vanil vodka, Chambord liqueur, and a splash of Bailey’s Irish crème liqueur, and you have a unique coffee cocktail that still manages to hit all the elements I
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Graniwinkle Watts Grocery Review/Website Watts Hillandale, Durham $9 This is a seasonal offering at Watts, and it’s the second I’ve had locally featuring Foggy Ridge cider—I must check into that label to see why our bartenders are experimenting with it! Including the cider, the Graniwinkle is made of house-spiced apple cider syrup, brandy, lemon juice,
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Drunken Horchata Dos Perros Dinner Review, Brunch Review Downtown Durham $9 This horchata, Kraken rum, and Licor 43 drink is a vast improvement over its predecessor, La Leche, which I tried over a year ago at Dos Perros. What’s the difference? Only the Licor 43 and a larger serving. It’s possible that the rum has
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Root Beer Flip Foundation Downtown Raleigh Website I shy away from cocktails that have soda as a main ingredient—I prefer less dilution and more thoughtful ingredient combinations than soda-based drinks usually reflect. The root beer flip at Foundation, however, is an absolutely delicious cocktail that I don’t regret breaking that rule for at all. The
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Corn ‘N Oil Geer St. Garden Central Park District, Durham $8 This unique cocktail was recommended to me by the lovely @nutellaisevil after she tried Geer St. Garden for the first time on the same day that I was about to do the same. It’s a simple mix of blackstrap rum, falernum syrup, and fresh
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Point Break The Pinhook, Downtown Durham $8 The Pinhook has a new list of specialty drinks out, which means it was time to head out for a show! Not only did Aye Nako! and Dangerous Ponies give great shows—with impressively sparkly outfits to match—but the Point Break cocktail provided a smooth drink to relax my
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Saketini Shiki Sushi Southwest Durham Website $8 This is a very simple martini, consisting of vodka and Gekkeikan nigori sake, which is the creamy type for those of you not up on your sake terminology. Frankly, there’s no need to have a martini this simple; you might as well drink vodka or sake on their
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