Prospero's Kitchen

Our restaurants have you in mind for the Holidays

Here are two more restaurants that have holiday plans for you this season. I'll post the next ones on Tuesday when they open after their two days off.

Il Palio under the direction of Executive Chef Adam Rose in the Siena Hotel in Chapel Hill will have Christmas Day lunch and dinner. Lunch is from 12 noon to 3 pm and is $35 for three courses. Dinner is from 4 to 7 pm and is $55 for three courses.

Their New Year's celebration is a five course dinner with wine pairing for $125 per person. For either event, call 919-929-4000 for reservations.

The Piedmont in Durham with Chefs Drew Brown and Andy Magowan will have a New Year's Eve dinner from 5:30 to 10 pm, offering a special four course menu for $50. Call 919-683-1213 for reservations. The restaurant is closed on December 24, 25, and 26.

Holiday happenings at Triangle restaurants--more

There are big New Year's Eve celebrations in the Angus Barn under the direction of Executive Chef Walter Royal in Raleigh for December 31. One will be held in the famed Wine Cellar with two seatings from 5 to 9 pm. Four wines will be paired with the dinner. Black tie optional. $125 per person. In the Lakeside Pavillion, Iron Horse Vineyards of Green Valley, Sonoma California, will be hosting the New Year's Eve Extravangaza. Dinner Music by jazz musician Peter Jordan and live dance music from Mid-Life Crisis. Black tie optional. $150 per person. Reservations required. Call 919-787-3505 for tickets.

Zely & Ritz and Coon Rock Farm under the direction of Chef Sarig Agasi will have a Spirits Dinner on December 16 at 7 pm. There will be a starter with a Martinez, the forerunner of the martini and popular in the 1880s. Each of the following four courses is accompanied by a cocktail. The dinner with cocktails is $65 per person, without cocktails it is $49. Call 919-828-0018.

Zely & Ritz will have its annual New Year's Eve special three-course dinner served with bubbly. For seating until 8 pm, the cost is $45 per person. After 9 pm the cost is $60 per person. Call 919-828-0018 for reservations. Seating is limited.

The Holidays at area restaurants

Several of the great restaurants in the Triangle area are planning events during this holiday season, and I'll be writing about the events as I find out about them. So you'll get the schedules a little at a time. Today I've got some restaurants you'll be glad to hear have you in mind.

Chef Tim Lyons of Durham's Blu Seafood and Bar is planning events for Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve as well as a Key West Christmas Dinner on December 16. Building on his experiences in Key West with Chef Doug Shook at Louie's Backyard, he'll present a casual four course dinner at 7 pm featuring "food, fun, and fine wine" at a cost of $45. the Christmas Eve Dinner runs from 5:30-8:30 and is $40 for three courses. The New Year's Eve dinner is from 5 to 11 pm and is $60 for four courses. Call 919-286-9777 for reservations.

An restraurant in Cary and Chef Michael Chuong is offering a New Year's Eve four course Tasting Menu at $70 per person plus $25 per person for wine pairing. The regular menu is available also. Call 919-677-9229 for reservations and more information.

More continued tomorrow!

New Year's Eve at the Piedmont

Chefs Drew Brown and Andy Magowan of Durham's Piedmont will be open for New Year's Eve Dinner from 5:30 to 10 pm with a four-course dinner for $50. They are offering a selection for each course. Call 919-683-1213 for a reservation.

BTW, they'll be closed December 24, 25, and 26.

Gingerbread houses and Chocolat

C'est si Bon! Cooking School is offering two delicious classes this holiday season. the chef will take you through each hands-on step in preparing these fabulous goodies.

The first is the Family Gingerbread Workshop, one on  December 12 and one on December 19, from 9 to 11:30 am, and suitable for the whole family. This is an annual event and you sip hot chocolate and spiced cider while you create a decorated, take-home gingerbread house. $75 per person.

The Chocolat class, January 15, 2010, from 7 to 10 pm, is based on the menu in the movie "Chocolat." This is a full dinner menu that you, or you giftees, will truly enjoy. $75 per person.

Cooking with Chef Dorette Snover is fun. I recommend it. Call 919-942-6550 or email dorette@cestsibon.net.

Holiday orders from J.Betski's

Chef Todd Whitney and J.Betski's in Raleigh has holiday orders of inhouse-made sausages and pierogies ready at special prices.

J.Betski's Kielbasa    $10 per pound

Bratwurst                    $12 per pound

Potato and Cheese Pierogies     $9 per dozen

10% discount on sausages if ordering 3 or more pounds.

You can pick up your order from December 12 to December 23. Check online for other holiday specials. Email at info@jbetskis.com.

Zely & Ritz special events

Chef Sarig Agasi and the staff at Raleigh's Zely & Ritz and Coon Rock Farm have scheduled a number of events for December and beyond. There'll be more on these events in the next few days, but you can mark your calendar now. And call 919-828-0018 for reservations:
     December 9^th  Holiday Liquor/Spirits Dinner
     December 16^th Holiday Liquor/Spirits Dinner
     December 18^th Wine Lunch with Amanda
     January 12^th for 5^th Anniversary Wine Dinner
     February 9^th for the Chocolate & Wine Dinner (note this one!)

Christmas Eve dinner!

Chef Tim Lyons at Durham's Blu Seafood and Bar is actually offering a Christmas Eve Dinner, and one on New Year's Eve, too! It's a four-course, set menu and details will be up soon. But you can book now, of course. Call 919-286-9777 for more information or reservations.

Top ten cookbooks by NPR

NPR this morning named the top ten cookbooks for this year. They're an interesting bunch, some of which you may know, and some not. Here's the list:

The Pleasures of Cooking for One, by Judith Jones, hardcover, 288 pages, Knopf, list price: $27.95

Asian Dumplings: Mastering Gyoza, Spring Rolls, Samosas, and More, by Andrea Nguyen, hardcover, 240 pages, Ten Speed Press, list price: $30.00

Clean Food: A Seasonal Guide to Eating Close to the Source with More Than 200 Recipes for a Healthy and Sustainable You, by Terry Walters, hardcover, 304 pages, Sterling Epicure, list price: $30.00

Gourmet Today: More than 1000 All-New Recipes for the Contemporary Kitchen, by Ruth Reichl, hardcover, 1,024 pages, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, list price: $40.00

Stir: Mixing It Up in the Italian Tradition, by Barbara Lynch, hardcover, 352 pages, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, list price: $35.00

Mastering the Art of Chinese Cooking, by Eileen Yin-Fei Lo, hardcover, 384 pages, Chronicle Books, list price: $50.00

Savory Baking, by Mary Cech, paperback, 168 pages, Chronicle Books, list price: $24.95

Peter Reinhart's Artisan Breads Every Day, by Peter Reinhart, hardcover, 224 pages, Ten Speed Press, list price: $30.00

The Craft of Baking, by Karen DeMasco and Mindy Fox, hardcover, 256 pages, Clarkson Potter, list price: $35.00

Rose's Heavenly Cakes, by Rose Levy Beranbaum, hardcover, 512 pages, Wiley, list price: $39.95

Thanksgiving at Angus Barn

Late yesterday afternoon we went to Angus Barn for our Thanksgiving dinner. As we arrived there were people milling on the porch of the eponymous Barn and crowds standing outside the reservations desk. I got up there without much trouble and was told that my 3:15 reservation was now at 4:15. So we had to wait an hour. We could do that and went upstairs via the quaint red elevator to the Wild Turkey Bar where tables had been set up for those who had requested they eat upstairs. I would have liked that but it was too late for me to make a change. All the tables and reservations had been taken.

Michael and I settled ourselves at the bar, me with a glass of house Cab and him with a Duck Rabbit beer. They had given us a thing that would buzz and blink when we were called. I put it on the bar, because I didn't want to miss the call. However, as we got closer to the time of 4:15 and people at the bar were called before we were, I looked puzzled. The blond bartender picked up on my puzzlement and called downstairs. Before I knew it, a gentleman came up to me and apologized for the wait and said our table would be upstairs and that Chef Walter Royal would come out to say hello. (He's in my book.)

I was amazed and told the man not to bother Walter. (There must have been a thousand people served yeaterday.) And when we got to the table, we were offered a glass of wine on the house. Angus Barn has done so well because not only do they have great food, but they treat each person as if they were special. 

And throughout the building, in each of the dining rooms, there was a long buffet table loaded with turkey, ham, and slices of rib roast plus all the side dishes. The desserts were in an adjacent room. Everything was up to the standards of Angus Barn. It was a good Thanksgiving and I'm glad we celebrated it there.