by Leo Suarez

The Wine Feed, Your Community Wine Shop

The Wine Feed tasting class.

Recently I was invited to The Wine Feed, a wine retailer located in Glenwood South, for a tasting class on Rosé wines. In addition to the history of the style, the group of about 16 participants were given samples of Rosé from select old and new world locations. The class pretty much debunked a popular perception that Rosé wines are all sugary and sweet.

The Wine Feed is not a typical wine shop but more a community wine club. They hold classes, events, and run a monthly delivery service. As their site states:

Here you won’t have to worry about asking questions; we do all the time. The wine notes are not pretentious and are designed to help you determine your own taste. Lastly, the piggy bank will emerge unscathed as our wines are accessible to everyone.

Join them on First Fridays as these guys know how to host a good time.

August First Friday Wine Tasting @ The Wine Feed

Fri., Aug. 3 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
18 Glenwood Avenue Suite B
Raleigh, NC 27603
(919) 374-0036

Featuring eight unique pours of wine for only $3 per person or $5 per pair. CJ’s Smoked Turkey Legs food truck will also be in the parking lot offering food for sale.

by Leo Suarez

Pic of the Week

Bolt Bistro and Bar coming soon

Bolt Bistro and Bar will open soon in the space formerly occupied by The Mint on Fayetteville Street. By open soon, I mean “Late Summer” according to the new sign posted in the space windows. According to the restaurant’s website:

The concept of Bolt is to bring a sleek, clean, approachable, affordable, dining experience to Downtown Raleigh.

Bolt has teamed up with International Culinary Superstar Penny Davidi! Penny and our chefs are working on a local infused menu from North Carolina.

The sign also has a little rendering of the outdoor seating space. Could Bolt finally create a lively outdoor seating scene that The Mint could not?

Bolt Bistro and Bar coming soon

by Leo Suarez

Answers, Maps Aplenty at the Union Station Information Workshop on August 6.

A TIGER grant of $21 million bucks was awarded to our city for ongoing work towards Union Station. On August 6, the city, NCDOT, and Triangle Transit are having an information session with more information and everyone is invited to the Convention Center to get all their questions answered. The information session is from 5pm-7pm and no formal presentation is planned so show up when you can.

Construction of the new train station is tentatively scheduled to begin in the fall of 2013. The size and location of the current train station cannot accommodate the current passenger demand much less the anticipated growth in passengers that increased train service will bring.

Currently there are four daily round-trip passenger trains that serve the Raleigh Amtrak Station. To meet service demands, two additional daily Raleigh-to-Charlotte round-trip trains are planned for the near future.

Raleigh Union Station Citizens Information Workshop
Ballroom B at the Raleigh Convention Center
August 6 from 5pm-7pm

by Leo Suarez

BEST Plans To Launch Biggest Project Yet For Warehouse District

BEST Dillon mural

The BEST team has been busy this year and excitement is brewing for one of their largest upcoming projects yet. I’ve highlighted them before and the all-volunteer group is planning a new mural for one of the Dillon supply buildings in the warehouse district.

The new mural will take up an entire block on the Triangle Transit owned building on West Street. Donna Belt, the founder of BEST, writes:

We will begin by inviting children to add their handprints and body tracings to a design that will morph into a crowd boarding a train in front of a Raleigh skyscape. Phase II of the mural expands into a sunburst as the Wright brothers’ plane and other flying machines soar over the North Carolina countryside. The theme, whether specifically reflecting Triangle Transit’s role in regional transportation or applying to the limitless potential that we all share, is a spectacular celebration of the ways in which we move forward together.

– YOUR FACE HERE… in the largest community art installation in downtown Raleigh

There are two ways to get involved.

  1. The BEST Dillon launch party is on July 27. The free event will be held at Spy Raleigh. Attend for drinks and networking or take part for the raffle prizes and art auction.
  2. Become a sponsor or donate to BEST anytime.

The last BEST fundraiser was held at The Hive and the group packed the house so I expect a similar gathering at Spy Raleigh.

This is a great project for downtown and building that community strengthens it in a lot of ways.

See you there.