NORTH CAROLINA
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Afternoon Tea at Sugar Magnolia Cafe
For my mom’s birthday this year, we did an afternoon tea at Sugar Magnolia Cafe in Wake Forest, North Carolina! We were making a reservation a bit late, and thankfully Sugar Magnolia could fit us in on my mom’s actual birthday. Making a reservation was easy and straightforward! I called first but their voice mail directs you to send them an email. They are extremely responsive, which I appreciate. Sugar Magnolia offers a few different tiers of afternoon tea, and we opted for The Donna Lou “Magnolia Tea”, which is about $26 per person. While it is their fanciest option, it is comparable to the standard option for afternoon teas…
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Durham Date Night: Fairview Dining Room at Washington Duke Inn
I actually used to work at Duke a while back but I only recently visited Fairview Dining Room for the first time. As a part of Washington Duke Inn, Fairview Dining Room provides a fine dining experience as you would expect. It is definitely fancier and would be great for date nights, birthdays, or celebrations of all sorts. I don’t know about you but I have been to upscale restaurants where the service was not up to expectation, but that was most definitely not the case at Washington Duke Inn. Literally everyone I interacted with was cordial, polite, and welcoming. The dress I had worn was very cute but perhaps…
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Pit Stop in Asheville
Alex and I went down to Clemson this weekend for a football game (with our N-95 masks)! We stopped by Asheville on the way back for just about a day and tried quite a few new-to-us places so I thought I would share our experience. FYI, there is a county-wide mask mandate for all indoor spaces at this time. Rosetta’s Kitchen & The Buchi Bar I had Rosetta’s Kitchen bookmarked on Yelp for the longest time because we love The Buchi kombucha. So when my friend Nicole suggested Rosetta’s Kitchen for lunch, I said yes immediately! Rosetta’s has vegan soul food made with locally sourced ingredients. We started with Vegan…
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Durham Date Night: Gocciolina
Gocciolina has been on my list of restaurants to try basically since I moved to Durham four years ago, and I finally crossed it off the list this weekend! If you haven’t heard of Gocciolina, it’s an Italian restaurant located at an unassuming strip mall in North Durham. They are open for dinner only Tuesday through Sunday. Alex and I were able to make a reservation for Friday dinner earlier in the week though there were limited time slots left. When you make reservations, you can choose from dining room, lounge, or patio. We sat outside and felt comfortable with the spacing between the tables. It’s peak mosquito season though…
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Park’s Food St. – Durham’s Korean Food Hall
JULY 2022 UPDATE: Unfortunately, Park’s Food Street has permanently closed according to their website. Hi, friends! You know I have been a big fan of Itaewon Grill since it opened a few years ago. When Jay from Itaewon Grill mentioned that he was working on a food hall concept, I was so excited! Naturally, I went to check out Park’s Food Street as soon as it opened—literally on their first day of soft opening! Park’s Food Street has three different menus—Cupdak, Ramyun Time, and Taco Park. I recently went back and was happy to see they have improved their menu even more. Keep reading to see photos and find out…
