Lunch: Diners, Cafes, Bistros, and Bars

Since retiring in May of 2015 one of my more indulgent pastimes has been to treat myself to lunch at several of my favorite spots in Carrboro, Chapel Hill and Durham at least once a week.  Retirement meant I could randomly choose any place on any day.  The exception were the frequent weekly lunches I had with my friend Scott Hamilton.

While Scott was still working we’d make routine stops at a relatively wide range of local favorites and some of the newer places to open in the last few years.  One of the first places we visited on these weekly lunches had been recommended by another friend, Jon Truesdale, just before he moved to New Zealand, True Flavors in Durham.  For several months after that first visit, Scott and I sandwiched trips to old standbys [The Q Shack, The Pit in Durham, Town Hall Grill, and Mayflower Seafood ] in between stops at True Flavors with its bountiful lunch/brunch menu.

What I am calling a Culinary Odyssey began in earnest in May of 2017 when I suggested to Scott that we take a trip to the North Carolina Museum of Art, a place I had never actually visited.  I did have an ulterior motive for this choice — I had been intrigued about making a trip to J Betski’s, a place friends had mentioned very positively and wanted to take that first step towards checking out the the buzz about the food scene in Raleigh.  In the nearly two years since the lunch at J Betski’s we’ve made trips to Raleigh, Morrisville,  Cary, Pittsboro, and Mebane to do lunch rarely, to date, going to any place more than once.

For the record I should mention that I was astonished by the museum and its exhibits and grounds.

This is my introductory or trial first post.  The real Odyssey begins with the next post.

Sunday, May 12, 2019