Eating Our Way Through Durham

To start, a sad story:  My friend Jamie couldn't come this weekend.  I know.  It sucks.  Hurricane Sandy is my arch enemy.  Jamie lives in New Jersey and was worried that the hurricane headed straight for NYC would prevent her from getting home.  I was pretty bummed out on Friday when she had to cancel.  I was even more bummed out that I had planned a weekend 'o fun fall extravaganza activities that would now not come to fruition. I had already purchased two tickets to a downtown Durham walking food tour from Taste Carolina - something I've always wanted to do in Durham.  The tickets were nonrefundable, so I Brent and I decided to go on the tour as a little Saturday afternoon date.  It was really fun!

Across a three hour period, we walked about three miles with a tour guide and eight other participants.  We visited six Durham restaurants.  At each stop, we got a little presentation from the chef or owner about their food, ingredients, and philosophy.  Then, we got a tasting!  Along the way, our tour guide told us about the architecture in downtown and the history of the tobacco business in Durham.  It was pretty interesting!  Many of the food stops included fabulous drinks, which the pregnant lady didn't get to partake in.  Oh well.

Here's a pictorial record of our food trek through Durham.  I LOVE DURHAM SO MUCH I CAN HARDLY STAND IT!!  How can there be so many amazing restaurants here?  So many things to eat; so little time, but I will give it a valiant effort while I'm here!  I'd highly recommend the tour for locals & visitors alike.  I believe the rotation of restaurants changes weekly!

Clockwise from top left:  Pasture raised beef burgers at Bull City Burger, mushroom crostini at Toast, mini lemon meringue pie and truffle brownie at Daisy Cakes, smoked chicken & spinach crostini at Daisy Cakes, Decor at Daisy Cakes, and our tour guide outside Toast.

Clockwise from top left:  Sign outside Piedmont where we had sweet potato bisque, white bean crostini and butternut squash risotto at L'Uva Enoteca, large pregnant lady by the Durham bull, the bar with 60 local beers on tap at Tyler's Taproom, fried pickles at Tyler's Taproom, and Brent at L'Uva with homemade sangria!