Triangle Foodie News: City Market Sushi opening in downtown Raleigh

The new sushi restaurant opens Monday.

Posted 1:59 p.m. Dec 16, 2016 — Updated 2:52 p.m. Dec 16, 2016

RALEIGH, N.C. — The latest on restaurant openings, closings, foodie events and more in the Triangle and beyond.

Featured Restaurant News

Well ’tis the season. And if you thoroughly enjoyed handing off the cooking to someone else for Thanksgiving, then you’ll know that there is nothing better than doing that again on Christmas Day! So, the folks over at the News & Observer have put together a list of restaurants open on Dec. 25.

And while we are on the subject of the holidays, check out WRAL's list of New Year's Eve events, dinners, parties and more. It wil be updated regularly until New Year's Eve.

Wake County Restaurant News

The News & Observer reported this week that City Market Sushi, the newest restaurant in Raleigh’s City Market, is expected to open for lunch on Monday in the former Troy Mezze space. It is located at 315 Blake Street, a couple doors down from Cafe Lucarne.

The third time’s the charm for this downtown Raleigh location. Tonight (Dec.16) and Saturday night mark the soft opening (5-9 p.m.) of Pizza La Stella, the third restaurant concept in the space at 219 Fayetteville Street. Let me just go on the record and say that after getting a tour and sampling one of the pizzas coming out of one of the two 7,000 pound ovens that this place is going to be a huge hit for downtown Raleigh.

Look for them to go full-time next Monday, but tonight and tomorrow night get by while a percentage of sales will go to the Food Bank of Eastern & Central North Carolina.

Staying in downtown Raleigh, James Borden’s Raleigh Public Record noted a building permit has been issued for a new coffee shop going into the ground floor of The Edison at 145 E. Davie Street called Sir Walter Coffee. It bills itself on its Facebook page as a coffee barista bar, tea house and bottle shop. There's no word yet on an open date.

Also in downtown Raleigh, I saw on Facebook that Brewery Bhavana, the brewery/dim sum restaurant/flower shop from the folks at Bida Manda (going into the former Tir Na Nog Irish Pub spot at Moore Square) is now hiring. That means we are getting close!

The new J. Alexander’s restaurant that’s been under construction for the last several months next to Crabtree Valley Mall in Raleigh is now open for business. J. Alexander’s is also finalizing plans to open another one of its brands, the Stoney River Steakhouse and Grill restaurant, at Chapel Hill’s University Place.

Down in Cary, my buddy David McCreary pointed out that there is a new sign up at the former La Pizza Volante spot at 1871 Lake Pine Drive for a Peruvian chicken concept called Marco Pollo. No timeline on an opening.

Also in Cary, the Triangle Business Journal reported this week that a new Mebane-based franchise owner for the growing pizza restaurant chain Your Pie has signed a lease in Cary for what will be the brand’s first location in North Carolina. The new restaurant will open at 685 Cary Town Blvd. in the building formerly occupied by the Tom Yum Tai restaurant near the intersection with Walnut Street. They are targeting a date in March 2017 for the opening.

Durham, Orange and Chatham Restaurant News

WRAL reported that tonight (Dec. 16) is the night for the long-anticipated opening of The Bullpen in downtown Durham. Bull Durham Beer Co. has teamed up with local restaurant Heavenly Buffaloes for a new beer garden. It is located in a 2,000-square-foot space on the ground floor of the American Tobacco Campus’ Diamond View III building and will feature live music with regular programming provided by the Music Maker Relief Foundation.

Also in Durham, Luna Rotisserie & Empanadas continues to spread a little love on the second Tuesday of each month. In light of a recent uptick in actions of hate, they will donate 10 percent of the proceeds each second Tuesday to organizations that provide direct support to disenfranchised and marginalized groups here in Durham. We say kudos!

And finally, a chef announcement. The JB Duke Hotel, the new hotel coming to the campus of Duke University, announced the appointment of its executive chef, Erik Lampe. In addition to serving as chef de cuisine and chef de partie at a AAA Five Diamond and Mobile Four Star-rated restaurant, Lampe’s experience includes serving as executive chef for military and private clubs, upscale hotels, university and conference centers. The JB Duke Hotel will open in early January.

Closings

None to report. Keep eating local, folks!

Events

On Tuesday, January 10th, Raleigh’s newest hot-spot in downtown’s City Market, Royale, will give New York Italian cuisine the “royal” treatment for one-night only when it introduces Big Night – an authentic New York Italian pop-up restaurant serving all the classics.

Executive chef Jeff Seizer, a Brooklyn native who was raised on his grandmother’s traditional Southern Italian cooking, will share his passion for Italian-American home cooking on this night only. Tickets are $95 per pair (tickets sold in pairs) or $35 per person with wine.

Food Bank Corner

Gifts went twice as far this #GivingTuesday thanks to a matching gift from our generous partners Allscripts, Delta Airlines, Harris Teeter and Railinc.

Every dollar donated was matched up to our goal of $40,000! We are pleased to share that we’ve met the #GivingTuesday goal of $40,000! Because of the support of our generous community, we were able to provide 504,865 meals as part of our Holiday Meals Drive! Although the match has been met, you can still make a donation that will count toward our Holiday Meals Drive in which we are committed to providing 2.4 million meals before December 31.

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