We have a new cheese shop in Durham and lo, it is a glorious occurrence!  The Reliable Cheese Company was opened to fill a void in Durham’s foodie niche: the local cheese shop, where one can pick up great cheeses, meats, and other specialty goods and receive advice and guidance from a knowledgable cheesemonger.  That cheesemonger is Patrick Coleff, who has been in the cheese industry for five years, learning the trade at the great Murray’s in Manhattan and working at a few other specialty shops in Brooklyn before relocating to Durham.  While the Triangle foodie can get great cheeses at Whole Foods or A Southern Season, Patrick really wanted to open a small, cheese-specific, neighborhood spot–and in my opinion he has definitely succeeded!

Reliable Cheese Company is located right off Rigsbee next to Rue Cler.  The significant other and I arrived on early Friday evening toward the end of the store’s second day of business.  Patrick was busy with a handful of customers, so I browsed the store.  The space is mostly bare bones right now: a check out counter, refrigerated cases for cheeses and meats, and a slicer.  Empty shelves and a sign hold the promise of wine from Wine Authorities.  Other shelves hold jars of quince paste, cornichons, and marinated olives.  There’s a space in the back that I am assuming will be used for future Cheese 101 classes (which I hope to attend) but I might be wrong.  Huge open walls are begging for cheese-centric murals or posters;  I know it isn’t my store, but I’m hoping some talented Durham artist lends his or her talents to creating a gorgeous mural for the space!

Patrick finished up with his customers and we had his attention to ourselves.  We tried a number of cheeses: soft, hard, blue, goat cheese, a blue goat cheese (very mild, perfect for the blue novice!), and they were all fantastic.  Patrick sources his cheeses from small producers, both American and abroad, who place an emphasis on traditional methods of production.  He was more than happy to provide us with samples.  Each cheese contains a placard with a creative description from Patrick.  My favorite description was for the Fosterkase, a soft cheese which Patrick described as eating bacon while strolling through the forest in autumn.

After trying 8 or 9 cheeses we settled on two hard cheeses: the Fiore Sardo, a smoked cheese from Sardinia with a light, buttery taste not typically associated with smoked cheeses and the Roncal, which is Manchego’s “predecessor cheese” and had a spicy saltiness that I loved.  Patrick got us packaged up and ready to go just as the next wave of customers arrived.  Perfect timing!

We stuck to the cheese refrigerator this time around but I am excited to go back and get some of the specialty meats: guanciale and bresaola and oh my goodness, it all looked fabulous.  According to the Reliable Cheese Facebook page they are now doing sandwiches with their meats and cheeses.  They also offer pre-made cheese plates if you are in a hurry.  I highly recommend stopping by here for your cheese needs: Patrick was amazingly helpful, friendly, and knowledgeable.  I am excited to visit again and to pick up some more delicious cheese!

Reliable Cheese Company

405 East Chapel Hill St.

Durham, NC 27701

919-680-3939

http://www.reliablecheese.com

http://www.twitter.com/reliablecheese

https://www.facebook.com/reliablecheese

Tuesday-Saturday 10:00am-8:00pm

Sunday 10:00am-3:00pm

Closed Mondays

There are two exciting events coming to downtown Durham this weekend to support our local businesses and the Triangle’s local nonprofit organizations. First up is Bright Lights, Bull City on Saturday, 10/23, an event sponsored by Durham Magazine to celebrate our vibrant downtown, Brightleaf, and West Village businesses. There will be live music at Alivia’s and free food and drink at several businesses including Fifi’s, Posh the Salon, and Magpie’s from 2 to 6 pm. Much like an art walk, this event is designed for you to make your way through downtown’s shops, taking advantage of free munchies and the specials each participating business offers along the way. Such specials include 20% off coupons and free appetizers with the purchase of two entrees at the likes of Alivia’s, Pop’s, and 604 W. Morgan. Make sure you print out the coupons ahead of time from Durham Mag’s blog post on the event.

The following afternoon, 10/24, swing by the Durham Arts Council for Yelp Helps! from 3 to 5 pm. Yelp is matching up a few of your favorite things (free food from the Picnic Basket, beer, music, magic, and art-perusing) with several Triangle-area nonprofits to help you learn about the local volunteer opportunities that best suit your interests. Due to that free beer deal, it’s 21 and older only, and you need to have a Yelp account to RSVP and attend, but joining up is easy here. There’s a long list of participating nonprofits including the Doughman, Scrap Exchange, Seesaw Studios, Southeast German Shepherd Rescue, and Genesis Home. Swing by and find out just how giving you feel after a few beers in your belly!

Have fun, Durham!

HV Bottle Shop doesn’t look like much and the name doesn’t really make sense (as in Hope Valley), but further investigation reveals a much needed spot for more casual wine drinking and two very helpful owners.  Thomas and Drew have been around the block for a while (having worked at Nana’s and Foursquare(?) or the like) before opening their welcoming bottleshop in Woodcroft Plaza.

All of the Carpe Durham squad has been there by now and the results are officially tallied: it’s a great place.  They have a handy-dandy wine dispenser for tastes and up to full glasses.  There are frequent tastings as well.  Every Saturday from 4:30 to 7pm they pour free tastings, usually three whites and three reds and a smattering of crackers and cheeses.  I’ve found some fantastic stuff during these tastings and they usually mark down the featured wines significantly.  And tastings aren’t just for Saturdays.  It has seemed like every week now there has been an odd-ball tasting on a weeknight (a Monday, Tuesday, and the more common Friday).  Tonight was a so-called 90+ tasting, meaning all the wines scored ninety or above in the wino magazines.  Delicious.

The wines are nearly all neatly lined up against the wall in a readily recognized fashion.  There is also the beer corner, full of great stuff, lots of it in big bottles.  And there are nice couches to hang out on and try some juice from the dispenser.  But even more than that, the place excites me because of their promotion of alternative packaging.  They are constantly looking for more tetra packs (the carton looking thing) and boxed up wine.  No not that box wine.  Please.  There is nothing bad that can come from storing wine in a box or carton.  Maybe aging is up in the air, but who’s really sitting on bottles and bottles instead of drinking and drinking.  Which is what you can do when you get three liters of wine for a whole lot less.

They also have a few of these liter bottles.  They have a bottle cap.  I bought one, it was tasty.  Crisp and apple like as I remember it.  If it is ready to drink, why risk the cork?  The organic treatment of the grapes keeps the cost up more than I’d like.  But at about $10.50 or so for the liter it was still worth the try.

Keep an eye out for their Irregular Bin of random single beers and their Fire Sale wines.  I got a box of Pinot Evil for real cheap a little while back.  I might remember the cost if I didn’t enjoy my three liters so much.

Tomorrow’s tasting is all North West wines.  I’m excited about the pinot gris and noirs from Oregon.  There’ll also be a cab blend that should be serious business.

Wine Authorities (2501 University Dr) is having their 1st birthday party today, 5 – 7pm.  There will be:

• Free Wine
• Fancy Cheese (La Casa Dei Formaggi)
• Fancy Cupcakes (Artisan)
• Counter Culture Coffee (decaf, but still)
• A BURGER TRUCK.

That last one is not listed on the W.A. site but was in the email that they sent out to their list (a fun list to be on if you have any interest in wine and/or free afternoon drinking).  The burger truck is called Only Burger, and will be debuting tomorrow at the party.  Do other people besides me have an irrational love for food coming from trucks?  What is up with that?

They will also give an additional 5% off cases, on top of their normal case discount.  Oh, and there will be a clown.

I have no idea how I could have missed the opening of a wine and beer store, but somehow I didn’t know about BrandyWine Cellars (6905 Fayetteville Rd) until last month. BrandyWine is a nicely decorated, medium sized wine shop with a very friendly staff. Their website mentions beer from many different countries, but I only saw a couple of cases, so do not go if that is what you are looking for. Wine, on the other hand, they have plenty of!

They have free wine tasting every Saturday from 4-7pm. Overall, I like this place. Since I live closer to Wine Authorities I probably would not go out of my way to get there, but it is a good choice if you happen to be near Southpoint. Their selection of wine was impressive, and I was very excited to see they had one of my favorites (The Holy Trinity GSM — very good stuff).

They have wine covering all of the walls, split up by region. They have a large serving area/bar in the middle of the store, and a bunch of nice wood tables/chairs to sit down at while drinking your wine.

Shade Tree has been a favorite study spot of mine for a long time. Most people who go there seem to go for the purpose of studying, so they are quiet. The lighting is good during the day thanks to two walls of windows. And, most importantly, they serve a very good cup of coffee.

My friend and I went there the other day for a reading sprint. Caffeine is helpful for that. She was also hungry (and it is hard to read on an empty stomach), so she decided to try an artichoke heart-spinach crepe from their new crepe menu. These crepes are made just like they do it in France, with buckwheat, and they have lots of fillings–both sweet and savory.

My friend liked that the fillings were fresh and simply prepared. I got all excited when I saw that the crepes were made of buckwheat, so I asked the owner about them. He said that they also contained wheat, but only a little wheat. This is enough to give me hives, so I said no thanks. However, he also said that if there were sufficient demand, he could try making them with NO WHEAT AT ALL. So, if you want to help me out (or you are allergic to wheat or intolerant to gluten), you should go in and ask Greg about this all subtle-like. Or tell him that I said to ask. I do not care.

I just had a cappuccino and a macaroon. Sometimes they will draw a little fern or heart on the top of espresso-based drinks, but they didn’t this time. Disappointing, but at least it spared me the displeasure of ruining the drawing when I stirred my sugar in. Either way, it tasted good.

They also have wine and beer. I have never partaken, but I sometimes worry that they’ll stop serving if no one orders it, so you all should go and drink there. The bar area is kind of cute. And a coffee/wine/beer bar is so continental.

A few other notes: the crepe addition is not the only change that we have observed. They used to make a big deal about some aspect of their milk, like that it was local or organic or something. Also, their website seems to be outdated, claiming to serve Guglhupf pastries and silent on the matter of the crepes.

Toast just got awesomer in my book–I was getting impatient for them to start serving wine, and the owner says she’s working on that but probably getting close (apparently the ABC is annoying). But in the meantime you can bring in wine! Yay!

Also, downtown Durham has wireless, so you can get that at Toast. Yeah, I’m totally there right now.

I think this is important enough to be the first post.

There are at least three places in Durham to get free alcohol and, at two of them, learn something about it at the same time.

Every Friday from 5 – 8 pm Parker and Otis, near Brightleaf, has a beer tasting. The in-store beer guy, or sometimes a rep from the featured brewery, is around to tell you about the beer, if you care.

Every Saturday, there is a wine tasting at 12 – 3 pm at Parker and Otis. At the same time (unfortunately) there is also a tasting at Wine Authorities, at the intersection of University and 15-501. Wine Authorities also has a machine that allows you to serve yourself wine on tap any time by swiping a wine debit card. It seems dangerous,* and is called an Enomatic.

Less interesting but also free (with a purchase) are the unlimited mimosas at Dale’s (the Indian place on Ninth Street) that come with the Sunday brunch buffet.

So, you’re pretty much set for the weekend, if you’re ok with starting early.

*UPDATE: When I say dangerous, I mean in a very good way.