Boxcarr Farms on First Fridays

Friday evening a few of us went to 3Cups in Chapel Hill for Boxcarr Farms on First Fridays. This used to be an every Friday occurrence. Personally I think the shift to once a month will get a better turnout and make it more of an event. The deal is five small plates for $25 or individual plates for $6 each. They suggest about four wines as well (which are extra).

I wasn't going to go at all, it was raining and cold, had been all day and I was kinda beat from my first full week of work.
But faced with a choice of doing taxes or being with friends while enjoying some good local food - I managed to find the strength to drag myself out for dessert and ended up having the soup and dessert.


Here was the menu:

• black bean soup with cilantro pesto, creme fraiche
• roasted winter vegetable salad: beets, brussels sprouts, baby carrots, tarragon dressing (the last of the veggies from boxcarr garden until spring)
• gnudi (ricotta dumplings) with guanciale (hog jowl bacon), thyme, lemon zest, brown butter
• smoked pork shanks with gremolata, mushrooms, herbed barley risotto
• lemon semolina cake with macerated cherries, lavender cream

The black bean soup was just the thing to take the chill off - spicy and full of flavor. The lemon semolina cake was nicely presented and very light. I didn't get any lavender flavor from the whipped cream - but that didn't stop me from eating every bit of it!
The gnudi (a type of gnocchi made from ricotta cheese and a little bit of flour.) looked fabulous and everyone who had them said they were really great. The pork shanks looked wonderful too, and again, was pronounced delicious by everyone who had them.

3Cups is a small place. That makes seating um...creative, especially if you have a group of more than four. The eight of us shared the only large table with several other people and perhaps made some new friends that we can look forward to seeing at the next First Friday.


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ChemoToxic, the photography exhibit I went to a few weeks ago, was reviewed by the Indy (Independent - the free "what's happening around town" paper).

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There is an event Wednesday night at the Carolina Theater called Ignite Durham. Sounds fun and interesting, but it's on a "school" night, so I probably won't go.
From what I can glean, it's people speaking for a short period of time - 5 minutes - on something they are passionate about.