Aug 27 2012

Dame’s Chicken and Waffles, Durham, NC review

This past weekend, a colleague and friend of mine talked me into going to a place in Durham, NC that is famous for a somewhat unusual pairing of two foods: fried chicken and waffles. Saturday evening after the wine tasting, we headed to Durham to eat at Dame’s Chicken and Waffles. If you haven’t had this combination before, you should certainly try it, as it combines the salty / savoury wonder that is fried chicken with the sweet breakfast treat of waffles.

To start off, I had a side of grits, which is a southern dish that is made from coarsely-ground corn or hominy. I’ve had grits many, many times in my life, but their take on it was a little different. Usually, I eat them in one of two ways (although there are many other ways to prepare them): with just a pinch of salt and a lot of black pepper, or with stewed tomatoes. At Dame’s, however, they made them with some butter (probably a lot of butter), which made them very creamy:

Dame's Chicken and Waffles, Durham, NC - grits
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Though the grits were some of the best that I’ve had in a very long time, the main course was the part that shocked me. I ordered the Orange Speckled Chabo, which is a sweet potato waffle with a fried chicken cutlet on top:

Dame's Chicken and Waffles, Durham, NC - Orange Speckled Chabo
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With every dish, you get to choose a shmear, which is a ball of butter with some other ingredients worked into it. Those ingredients change the flavour of the butter mixture, and they can be either sweet and/or fruity. I went with the vanilla-almond, which was a good choice for the waffle. However, part of the way through, I decided that I wanted to try the chocolate-hazelnut, so I ordered it. If I had to have a gripe about the experience, it would be that I was charged $1.25 USD for the extra shmear. In my opinion, that is absolutely insane, as it is essentially just a small ball of butter (which you can see in the picture below).

Nonetheless, I finished off the entire meal, and left completely satisfied (and miserably stuffed). 🙂

Dame's Chicken and Waffles, Durham, NC - cleaned plate
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Overall, though it is certainly not a type of food that I eat very often, Dame’s was a nice treat and deviation from my normal routine.

Cheers,
Zach

Aug 26 2012

Monuts Donuts, Durham, NC review

Ever since moving out to The Triangle area in North Carolina, I’ve been searching for good doughnut shops. The only places that I could find were the huge corporate chains like Dunkin Donuts and Krispy Kreme, which are bearable and downright awful, respectively. I also found some regional chains, but they weren’t much better.

The types of doughnuts that I really like are the ones that are made by independent bakers who really appreciate their craft, and spend countless hours perfecting new and enticing flavours. A couple months ago, I found that Rise Biscuits and Donuts would be opening, and got to attend two samplings. However, they won’t be officially open until sometime in October, after I’ve already left the area.

Unfortunately for me, I just found out about a place that has been a staple of the Durham Farmers Market for quite some time–Monuts Donuts. Though there is not a bricks-and-mortar store, owner and baker Lindsay, travels around the area with her cart and trike. This type of doughnut shop is exactly the type that I like, so naturally, I had to try them. Yesterday, I showed up a little before 08:00 to get some of that day’s offerings. Though she had quite a few types, there were two that jumped out at me: the peach cake doughnut, and the Dulce de leche yeast doughnut:

Monuts Donuts, Durham, NC - peach cake and dulce de leche
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Sorry about the photo not really showing the peach cake doughnut all that well. I wanted to take a quick bite, and then I was going to take a picture of the two. However, one thing led to another, and I just couldn’t help myself; the doughnut was just that good! I generally prefer yeast doughnuts, but this cake doughnut was so perfectly made that it took the cake (yes, yes, pun intended :razz:). It had a very delicate peach taste, and a lovely light glaze atop. However, what made it perfect was the consistency; the edge was golden brown and had a slight crunch to it, but the inside was incredibly moist and spongy. The Dulce de leche doughnut was also quite good (and the texture there was very delicate as well), and had I not just eaten the perfect cake doughnut, I would have given it a 10 as well! The caramelised sugar and cream-flavour paired beautifully on the doughnut, and it wasn’t overly sweet.

I hope that Monuts is able to move into a full-time store at some point, so that more people in the area can become acquainted with their outstanding creations! The only thing that could have made the experience better is if they would have had the two doughnuts that I really wanted to try: a red velvet cake doughnut, and a toasted Amaretto yeast doughnut. As I am moving on Friday, I don’t know that I will get the joy of experiencing either of those, but I’m willing to bet that they are fantastic! So, if you’re in the area, make sure to go see Lindsay and crew on the Monut’s Trike. If you appreciate quality doughnut craftsmanship, you will be quite pleased. I’d even venture to say that you’ll go nuts for Monuts Donuts. 🙂

Cheers,
Zach

Aug 25 2012

Wine tasting review – 25 August 2012

Today, the tasting at Hope Valley Bottle Shop focused on some juicy French wines (two whites, one sparkling rosé, and two reds). As I am moving away from the Triangle this Friday (31 August 2012), this was my last tasting at HV Bottle Shop. That is sad, as the owner of the shop–Drew–was always incredibly helpful and offered fantastic insight about the wines that he sold.

The first pour of the day was a 2010 Blanc blend from Chateau Lamothe de Haux. It had a vibrant medium yellow colour at the edge, a thin ring, and no legs. I found it to be highly floral, and have a light lemon scent with a hint of honey. It had a nice mid-palate with a very smooth finish. It was a little light for my taste, but I can imagine that it would be quite pleasant when paired with the correct dish.

The second glass was a 2009 Pinot Gris from producer Philippe Zinck. It had a lovely golden colour at the edge, with a medium ring, and very few medium/thick legs. I picked up a combination of lime and green apple, although apparently the 2008 vintage had more of an emphasis on yellow fruit. It had a brighter acidity, and more crisp finish than the previous blanc.

The middle offering was a sparkling rosé, also from Philippe Zinck. It had a beautiful light peach / salmon colour, with many thick, medium-paced legs. With scents of apricot and red currants, it was very pleasant on the nose. However, to me, the carbonation interrupted the mid-palate and finish. Further, I found it to be almost metallic, which was unappealing.

The fourth wine was the 2009 Rouge blend from Chateau Lamothe de Haux. As a blend of 60% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 10% Cabernet Franc, it had a deep garnet colour with medium contrast between the edge and centre. It also had very few, but slow-moving legs. I picked up notes of licorice and chocolate from it. It was medium bodied, but had a soft mid-palate and even softer finish. Primarily, I found the flavours to focus on ripe red berries.

The last pour of the day was a 2010 Grenache from Le Paradou. It had a gorgeous deep purple colour, with very low contrast between the edge and centre, as well as low visibility when peering through it. There were medium legs, but they were very slow to start. It gave off a very nice aroma of black cherries, but the flavours were of spice and a subtle blueberry. Though it had a nice weight to it, I found the finish to be somewhat disappointing.

Cheers,
Zach