Dating Guide: Raleigh NC
This could be us but I’m not furry.
I’m going to be honest, despite touring in Raleigh a few times I haven’t explored it too much. I have my usual routine when I go there which is mostly comprised of a visit to the grocery store, one specific coffee joint, the gym, and dinner out. Most of these places are aspirational or on my list of places to check out, but there is one that I’ve been to.
Do
Ok, some of you know that Lemurs are my favorite critters and that one of my preferred nonprofits for donations is The Duke Lemur center. I’ve yet to visit and it kills me. Yes, I know it’s technically Durham but it’s certainly closer than New England. Currently they are not offering tours to the public but private Lemur Walks can be scheduled with 48 hours noticed. I wanna see them!!!
Eat
I went to this restaurant in 2020 at the tail end of my cross country road trip. It was my first night in Raleigh and it wasn’t too far from the hotel. Holy cow though, was it good. I spend many evenings fantasizing about the pork chop I had there and I need to have it again!
This place looks fantastic. Just browsing the menu I feel like I’d have a really tough decision choosing an entree. Most importantly they offer a few non alcoholic cocktails that sound absolutely delicious and the orange blossom panna cotta sounds like something I could obsess over for like, years.
So, my favorite thing is steak. I don’t know if you’ve ever heard that, but it’s true. This place kind of makes me apprehensive because the outside is hokey as hell but it also seems like it could be fun. It has a sort of regional charm that we don’t have where I live (or where I was raised) and it also has a BEAST of a wine cellar with their wine list coming in at a whopping 100 pages. They also have a dress code which leads me to think this would be just the right kind of ridiculous.
This place has a very streamlined menu but everything sounds fantastic, when I saw “Manchego-Herb Biscuits” I started salivating like Pavlov’s pup. I was initially drawn to this place through their description of their Broccoli Soup, I’m a sucker for a good broccoli soup as I have yet to perfect my own recipe but as I read on I found other treasures like a Hamachi Collar and the Braised Short Rib with black garlic sauce. I personally love to cook with black garlic so it’s always fun to see what other people do with it.
Lastly comes the dessert joint. I found this place on instagram and their creations are not only picturesque but fun and novel. I’m a sucker for novelty (hopefully you’re a sucker for big boobs and ice cream) but I think an ice cream date would be really cute.