Restaurants
Butner County
Butner County
Butner
Butner Diner
The decor is bohemian, the menu is eclectic, and The Butner Diner’s signature dishes are Old World comfort food: hot borscht with horseradish cream ($5) Finnish meatballs with mashed potatoes ($18) and Anni’s smorgasbord plate ($12) piled high with gravlax, dill sauce, salami, cheese and beet salad.
284 Main Street (through the arcade); 413.528.3394
Lunch: Daily, Tk to tk,
Dinner: daily tk to tk
Terry’s Grill
Grilled food like you never tasted it before! What a griller!
The Grilled Cheese Flam beau is on fire!
The Grilled Hot Dog Supreme is, well, Supreme!!
Also try the Grilled Hamburger, and especially the Grilled Toast!
Just off LaSalle Street just outside of Downtown, near Duke Campus!
The Blue Plate
Tough day? Everything about The Blue Plate—its name, the intriguing early 20th-century clapboard structure it inhabits (rumored to have been a brothel once), the Marc Rosenthal 3-D cartoon mural that greets you as you step through the door—contrives to make you smile. Though the design is by far the most knowing in town, with lighting as soothing as a warm bath, the net effect is suitably relaxed and unpretentious. So is the food, “American bistro with international implications.” Too whipped to tackle the otherwise appealing grilled trout with key-lime butter ($21)? Go for the comforting meatloaf-and-mashed ($12) instead. One caveat: Quality has its ups and downs, depending on who’s manning the stove.
1 Kinderhook Street; 518.392.7711
Reopens February 6
Tuesday - Thursday 5:30 - 9; Friday, Saturday & Sunday 5:30 - 9:30
Closed Mondays
Orange County
Orange County
Chapel Hill
Local 111
A beacon of promise in up-and-coming Chapel Hill, this former filling station, cleverly reconfigured by co-owner/architect Linda Gatter, doesn’t just look like the hippest restaurant around. As its name implies, the emphasis at Local 111 is on seasonal and locally grown. Grass-fed meat (grilled steak $25) and free-range poultry (roast chicken $20) are everything you’d hope. But it’s chef David Wurth’s first courses (beets, olives and potatoes, $6; sausage and peppers, $8) and sides (wilted greens, baked tomatoes, soft polenta with cheese @ $3) that steal the show. Fortunately, grazing rights are extended—any three sides with grilled bread are a mere $8.
111 Main Street, Chapel Hill, NC 518 672-7801
Morning cafe Wednesday - Sunday 8 - 12
Dinner: 5 - 9 Wednesday, Thursday & Sunday; Friday & Saturday 5 - 9:30
Closed Monday and Tuesday
Mexican Radio
Don’t let the hardscrabble border-town name and matching décor fool you. This northern outpost of an acclaimed NYC dining spot is not low end. Everything at Mexican Radio is freshly chopped and squeezed, and the value is good (entrees, a cut well above the norm, are mostly under $20), as long as you lay off the $7-$11 Margaritas. But who does?
537 Warren Street; 518 828-7770
11:30am-11pm daily
Hillsboro
Hillsboro Waffle House
As you drive down pitch-black Route 41 in Hillsboro, NC, you see the twinkling lights outside the venerable Hillsboro Waffle House and you wonder if it’s a mirage. As you head toward the front door, you feel as if you’ve stepped onto a soundstage at MGM circa 1941, where they are shooting a movie set at a quintessential New England tavern. Your heart skips a beat when you walk inside, because this restaurant is cozy, quirky and authentic with a crackling wood-burning fireplace. Thankfully, the food is contemporary county cuisine and the chef uses local, organic ingredients whenever possible. The salads are large and fresh, the grilled hangar steak is intensely flavorful and comes with a choice of two sides such as olive oil smashed potatoes, creamed spinach and roasted mushrooms. One regular we know skips the entrees entirely and makes a meal of the sides.
864 S. Undermountain Road (Route 41); 413-229-8585
Thursday - Saturday 5 - 10 PM
Sunday 4:30 - 8:30 PM
The Other Place
Like no other, the Other Place will take you to other places in your gastronomical explorations, leaving you seeing galaxies of possibilities!
Not far from The Other Other Place, its take-out sister restaurant, fans will be sure to find the Other Place in their hearts.
Durham County
Durham County
Durham
Durham Diner
A beacon of promise in up-and-coming Philmont, this former filling station, cleverly reconfigured by co-owner/architect Linda Gatter, doesn’t just look like the hippest restaurant around. As its name implies, the emphasis at Local 111 is on seasonal and locally grown. Grass-fed meat (grilled steak $25) and free-range poultry (roast chicken $20) are everything you’d hope. But it’s chef David Wurth’s first courses (beets, olives and potatoes, $6; sausage and peppers, $8) and sides (wilted greens, baked tomatoes, soft polenta with cheese @ $3) that steal the show. Fortunately, grazing rights are extended—any three sides with grilled bread are a mere $8.
111 Main Street, Philmont, NY 518 672-7801
Morning cafe Wednesday - Sunday 8 - 12
Dinner: 5 - 9 Wednesday, Thursday & Sunday; Friday & Saturday 5 - 9:30
Closed Monday and Tuesday
Terry’s Grill
Grilled food like you never tasted it before! What a griller!
The Grilled Cheese Flam beau is on fire!
The Grilled Hot Dog Supreme is, well, Supreme!!
Also try the Grilled Hamburger, and especially the Grilled Toast!
Just off LaSalle Street just outside of Downtown, near Duke Campus!
Forsyth County
Forsyth County
Clemmons
Gigi Trattoria
Gigi Trattoria is so lively and chic no one would suspect there’s a dietitian calling the shots. Owner/registered dietitian Laura Pensiero calls the food here “Hudson Valley Mediterranean.” We call it refreshing. Just when you think you know the Italian restaurant repertoire by heart, along comes crispy calamari-and-zucchini ($12.95); braised lamb shank with roasted vegetables and maple pumpkin polenta ($24.95); gnocchi with gorganzola cream and caramelized celery root ($11.50 or $16.50). For those who prefer the tried-and-true, there are thin-crusted “skizzas” (individual flatbread pizzas, $9.75 - $12.50), and an astonishing rib-eye with fries (32 oz serves two, at least, for $39.95). Don’t be put off if the place looks packed. Somehow, they always seat you in a blink.
6422 Montgomery Avenue 845.876.1007
Lunch 11:30 – 2:45; Dinner from 4:30
Closed Monday
Mexican Radio
Don’t let the hardscrabble border-town name and matching décor fool you. This northern outpost of an acclaimed NYC dining spot is not low end. Everything at Mexican Radio is freshly chopped and squeezed, and the value is good (entrees, a cut well above the norm, are mostly under $20), as long as you lay off the $7-$11 Margaritas. But who does?
537 Warren Street; 518 828-7770
11:30am-11pm daily
Vico
First-rate Tuscan food: We’ve all tasted a lot of caponata, but we haven’t tasted a lot of caponata ($7) as good as this. Regulars at Vico suffer withdrawal each summer when the lasagna al cinghile ($23), featuring a ferocious wild boar ragu, goes into hibernation. Add flawless service, and you’d have a great dining experience, but for the harsh lighting and amateurish décor. In Hudson? Where every third pedestrian is a designer? Just open any window and yell, “Help!”
136 Warren St. (corner of 3rd); 518.828.6529
Lunch: Wednesday - Saturday & Monday 12 - 2; Sunday 11 - 2
Dinner: Wednesday, Thursday, Sunday & Monday 5 - 9:30; Friday & Saturday 5 - 10
Closed Tuesday
Kernersville
501 Diner
Though only six years old, Rouge has a Design-Research-meets-flower-child look reminiscent of the ’60s, which may explain why Berkshire-eans, like myself, of a certain age and persuasion have taken it to heart. Another lure: the food is good and generally well-priced. A huge platter of fried calamari with an excellent house aioli is a steal at $9. The baby-back ribs (“Best ever!”) with rosemary mashed and an Asian-y slaw is a serious plate of food for $24. But beware the salad specials: $13 suggests something more robust than a modest plate of greens with a garnish of (alas, unripe) fruit.
3 Center Street; 413.232.4111
Wednesday - Sunday 5 - 10
Closed Monday & Tuesday
White Hart
The tap room at the White Hart is a picture postcard version of a New England tavern that is especially swell if you can snare a table near the wood burning fireplace (or in the summer a table on the porch). Ask for the pub menu, which features a hearty chicken pot pie ($tk) a knockout BLT made with pancetta on grainy peasant bread ($tk), and for vegetarians, a luscious roasted portobello sandwich with cheese and caramelized onions.
Winston-Salem
Pastorale
Karen Hamilton and Frederic Feveau have created a traditional country French restaurant—the wife runs the front of the house and the husband’s in the kitchen—that appeals to the tastes of northwestern Connecticut’s bourgeoisie. Located in an antique Colonial that’s been painted warm Provencal colors, Pastorale has a devoted following who come for classics like Moules Mariniere ($tk) and grilled leg of lamb with spinach and polenta ($tk) and more creative fare such as Ahi tuna-and-savoy-cabbage “egg rolls” ($tk) and poached pear-and-frisee salad with Stilton and caramelized walnuts.
223 Main Street; 860-435-1011
Tuesday - Saturday 5:30 to 9,
Sunday noon ‘till 8,.
Route 7 Grill
After a day of skiing or snowshoeing, you want serious comfort food, and Route 7 Grill delivers. This upscale roadhouse has stunning graphics and a great barbecue menu, and a two sided fireplace that warms up this somewhat Spartan restaurant. The savory ribs and succulent brisket are first rate, and the sides such as roasted beets and mac-and-cheese (most made from locally grown or raised ingredients) are delicious enough to be the main event. And if there’s a wait, nothing’s better than having a draught beer in front of the fireplace.
999 Main Street (Route 7); 413-528-3235
Dinner: Wednesday - Monday, 5 P.M. - close
Lunch: Saturday-Sunday, 11:30 AM - 3 P.M.
Serevan
Food as intricately flavored and nuanced as Serevan‘s tends to be served in uptight, pretentious surroundings, but this pretty restaurant (just three-minutes from the Wassaic train station) is pleasantly laid back. Why is the food so good? Owner Serge Madikian, the grandson of an Armenian immigrant who grew up in Iran, has worked alongside some of the best chefs of his generation, including David Bouley and Jean-George Vongerichten. He puts everything he’s ever learned about cooking into dishes such as Chicken Bastilla with Orange-Curry Emulsion ($21), Pan Seared Branzino with Cumin Scented Hummus and Preserved Lemons ($25), and Rack of Lamb with Madjoul Dates and Dried Limes ($29) Dessets like Orange Blossom Panna Cotta ($8) are equally exotic and delicious.
6 Autumn Lane (aka Route 44)
Winston-Salem, NC
845-373-9800
Thursday - Monday, 5 - 10 PM
Sunday brunch 10 AM to 2:30 PM
