This Feeds Me Hungry Musings of a Gastronomic Gypsy – NC-based freelance writer Victoria Bouloubasis

You don’t have to go to Queens any more to find amazing ceviche. We’ve got some in Raleigh, por fin. Here’s my First Bite on new restaurant MachuPicchu Peruvian Cuisine. For North Carolina, a Peruvian restaurant with such an intricate menu–executed with quality–is huge: “In September, The Wall Street Journal declared Peruvian cuisine “food’s next [...]

A lot of people in the Triangle area have asked me about volunteering at local community gardens this summer. There is a plethora of options,with a local guide to gardens here. I also wrote a piece in this year’s Indy Green Living Guide titled Gardens of goodness: Community gardens help feed low-income people, build neighborhoods. [...]

Geek out with farmer friends on Wednesday to witness the Joel Salatin speak (and chow down on the Vimala Rajendran’s food).

This week’s Now Serving column details events and agricultural workshops that give you a chance to participate in (literal) ground breaking as our local food movement evolves. Ever wanted to learn how to start a community garden, keep bees and chickens, plant potatoes or picnic with a baby goat? Read the column and dig in.

A couple of published news pieces today. Have you checked out the Sunday brunch at Motorco Music Hall? Free live music, bacon Bloody Marys and KoKyu BBQ sliders. I’ve dubbed it Sunday Slurp and Slide. Check out my Indy Big Bite post about it here. In this week’s Now Serving, The Mecca adds late-night hours, [...]

My first solo DISH cover package is on stands this week. Check out where to get the best in mobile gourmet around the Triangle. We’ve got it all: Indian chaat, Korean tacos, French crepes, Mom’s homemade meatloaf, Cuban sandwiches, BBQ, fresh-squeezed juice, burgers, cupcakes and more. Plus, a gringo’s guide to tacos. Your food is [...]

I posted about Liberación Juice’s donation to the NC DREAM Team on the Indy’s food blog, Big Bite: Liberación Juice honors hunger strikers’ D.R.E.A.M. by Victoria Bouloubasis Wednesday marked the ninth day of a hunger strike for three young women fighting for their dream: a right to higher education and a path to citizenship. … [...]

When it comes to food, my friends share my obsession. My fondest recent food memories include moments with my friends in Carrboro, or La Banda, as we’ve dubbed ourselves, gathered around an oven adding spices and herbs (and our “two cents”) onto a leg of lamb,  standing at a kitchen table spreading cookies with dulce [...]

Café Helios unveils a beautiful new menu by Victoria Bouloubasis On Raleigh’s Glenwood South, where pricey cocktails and loud music reign, Café Helios (413 Glenwood Ave., 838-5177, cafehelios.com) has quietly unveiled a beautiful new menu. Chef Rob Bland, formerly of Coquette, the North Hills French brasserie, brings handmade charcuterie, seared prawns and braised pork to [...]

Original glazed lovers rejoice by Victoria Bouloubasis Last week, through a steady drizzle and just before dawn, a glaring neon sign beckoned original glazed lovers back to “Hot Krispy Kreme Now” for the first time in 45 days. After closing for remodeling, downtown Raleigh’s original Krispy Kreme (549 N. Person St., 833-3682, krispykreme.com) reopened at [...]

Appetites for cool treats are strong Locopops to Locopints by Victoria Bouloubasis Sticky summer air has seeped into our lives. Our gardens are flourishing and our appetites for cool treats are strong. Locopops (128 E. Franklin St. and 231 S. Elliott Road, Chapel Hill; 2600 Hillsborough Road, Durham; 1908 Hillsborough St., Raleigh; www.ilovelocopops.com) makes the [...]

The air is thick with thoughts of biscuits these days, and not just because The New York Times discovered Neal’s Deli this month. In a new Durham food blog, You Don’t Know Biscuits (youdontknowbiscuits.blogspot.com), Chris Rhyne Reid explores her great-grandmother’s recipes like a tragic heroine, battling the Southern cook’s classic challenge: making a perfect biscuit. [...]