3 new places to eat and drink this week
+ Music festival future at Dix Park, a new park to explore and Easter brunch reservations
Hi y’all, and happy spring break to parents on traditional calendars. I largely blocked off my work calendar to be hometown explorers with my kids, and it’s been a blast.
My first grader and I visited the new Beech Bluff County Park that opened in March in southeast Wake at 3321 Highway 42 in Willow Spring.
It’s a drive — about 30 minutes from east Cary — but worth it. And we just scratched the surface of the 300-acre park!
My kid enjoyed the children’s exploratory bed at the demonstration garden and the playground.
I’d like to go back for the trail system, which includes three natural surface and three hard surface trails, and the raised canopy walk at the park center.
Looking for more kid-friendly staycation ideas? I shared them last week in +the kids.
On to this week’s edition, which includes the usual monthly planner’s planner — including quick guide with links to make an Easter brunch resy! — below the paywall.
3 new openings this week + foodie news
🥃 The Crunkleton opens in Downtown Raleigh’s Smoky Hollow on Tuesday, and reservations are open now.
I’ve visited the OG location in Chapel Hill for a cocktail, but Raleigh’s location, like in Charlotte, is more than a solid bourbon bar. It’s a full service restaurant with a live fire focus to its open-hearth kitchen.
Expect “raw and charred oysters, hearth-fired wings, giant tomahawk steaks for the table, a really good burger, fire-roasted vegetables” and more, according to today’s announcement.
The Crunkleton will be open 5 p.m.-10 p.m. Sundays-Thursdays and 5-11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, with brunch in the future.
Known for its rare spirits, expect the opening options to expand with time.
🍽️ Peregrine, the anticipated restaurant from Chef Saif Rahman and Patrick Shanahan (Watts & Ward) is opening Wednesday and reservations are open now on Resy. The menu spans from the chef’s native Bangladesh to America and his travels beyond.
The dining space at The Exchange, from the early social snaps and a quick glimpse when stopping nearby, looks beautiful.
🌮 La Taqueria at Boxyard RTP opened Tuesday from Chef Katsuji Tanabe and Anthony Rapillo (V Pizza). The Mexico City-style taco shop is their second collaboration, the first is Flour & Barrel in Downtown Raleigh.
⭐ The national, local food scene: No local James Beard semifinalists advanced to the next round. Michelin Guide is expanding to the South, including North Carolina.
Future of Dix Park music festivals
The final Dreamville Festival — as we know it now — is this weekend in Dorothea Dix Park.
But the City of Raleigh, Live Nation and Dreamville Records held a press conference Thursday to announce that it’s not the end:
A new festival will continue in Dix Park for at least four more years, the News & Observer, Axios and WRAL report.
What we know:
The agreement is between the City of Raleigh (which owns and operates Dix Park) and Live Nation (which produces the Dreamville Festival).
The Dreamville label will continue to be involved, but expect some changes.
The genre mix of hip hop and R&B is likely to continue, according to the city manager.
What we don’t know: J. Cole’s future involvement or the details of the agreement.
💭 What do you hope this next festival includes? Reply and share!
THE NEWS DIGEST
More quick updates
🔮 ICYMI: Mayor Janet Cowell’s priorities for the next two years: Responding to the city’s growth with housing supply, increasing pay for police officers and firefighters so they’ll stay in their jobs, navigating transit plans, and increasing quality of life efforts, like new parks. [Axios Raleigh]
📰 Wake County schools student journalists will lose access to the platform they use to publish their news on June 30. School officials cited security concerns, but haven’t responded to emails to problem solve. Students plan to attend the Tuesday school board meeting to try to appeal the decision. [N&O]
🚰 PFAS in water is a problem. A solution for quickly removing and destroying PFAS (aka “forever chemicals”) in drinking water is being piloted at Jordan Lake by Invicta Water and the Town of Cary. [INDY Week]
POLL
Is Cary becoming a foodie city?
Maybe, and not just because I took out of town friends to Hank’s, Saap and the new daytime Faulisi the last couple weeks.
My subjective foodie friends aside — our suburb is held in equal footing with larger cities on Eater’s recent 15 Most Anticipated Restaurants Across the Carolinas list, mentioning Lloyd’s and Lawrence Barbecue’s relocation to Cary (neither has an opening date).
Its peer cities on the list: Raleigh, Durham, Charleston, Charlotte, Asheville and Carrboro.
💎 Cary also has one of the Triangle’s top fine dining destinations, Herons at the Umstead, which Drew Jackson at The N&O describes as “the level of restaurant often competitive for Michelin stars” with the Michelin Guide expansion news.
What do you think? Vote in the poll and/or reply with your thoughts!
I’ll share the results in an upcoming newsletter about Downtown Cary growth.
THE PLANNER’S PLANNER
To do list for April + May
How to make the most of your time in Raleigh + Cary in a curated list from hot reservations (like Easter brunch!) to spring and summer outdoor festivals to know.
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