Find a restaurant. Get the food scoop. Meet a local foodie. Grab a recipe.
What do you get when a retired professional skateboarder with an affinity for tacos decides to bring his love for simple, fresh ingredients and a laid back, cool environment to the area? You get Nollie’s, one heck of a cool place in Carolina Beach serving up tacos that are well worth the drive.
Home cooks, pro cooks, super star chefs all know the key to flavor is fresh herbs.
This summer, why don’t you grow your own kitchen garden herbs? Whether you have plenty of sunny space in your yard, or a shady corner on a brick patio, there are plenty of herbs that will produce a bountiful crop to augment your culinary efforts.
If you are looking for a restaurant gem in Wilmington, make sure your next lunch or dinner stop is Candle Nut Restaurant. Owners Jeff and Novi Rickert have created an Indonesian restaurant that offers meals with Malaysia, Singapore and Dutch influences.
Follow the recipe for Sarah’s favorite Shrimp and Grits, and substitute smoked crawfish sausage for the Andouille sausage in the original recipe. Try making our shrimp and grits with a twist; you only have to switch out one ingredient in this simple but super flavorful dish.
Five Minutes with John Andrews, South Beach Grill: “If there is a barometer of success on the beach, it is how you keep customers during the off-season. We are so well supported locally.“
Five Minutes with Emily Luther and Stacey McPherson, Crust: “It’s really important to me that every grilled cheese is a great experience. I’m always trying to perfect the sandwich.“ Emily: Before Crust, I had a restaurant in Southport – it was a deli and coffee shop – and Stacey had an ice-cream popup in Southport.
Five Minutes with Lydia Clopton, Love, Lydia Bakery & Cafe: “There’s just something, a hole, that bakeries can fill, that nothing else can.“
Five Minutes with Doug and Susan Zucker, Bridgewater Wines: “Our slogan is ‘Explore the World, One Wine at a Time,’ and we really want people to come in here and discover something new, have a great experience, and learn about different wines.“
Five Minutes with Angie Blackburn, Wilmington Beef Jerky: “With six kids, we were a grab-and-go family when it came to food. Great beef jerky was always in our cupboards, and it’s the first thing our kids wanted in their sports bags.“
Five Minutes with Chef Ryan Khan, Hungry Sparrow Restaurant: “The most important thing is that I want to have fun: creating sandwiches, mixing flavors, experimenting with sweet and spicy flavors.“ .
Jade and Mike Baker, Your Pie: “During the hurricane, I got to cook for my kids at home. A lot. That was one of my silver linings. I love to cook.“
Bill and Annie Ward, Rolled and Baked: “Our biscuits have a unique personality that matches the whole aesthetic of our space. We wanted every single thing about our restaurant to be different from what you would expect.“
Sunny Singh, Nahwab Fine Indian Cuisine: “I’m a great cook. Bring me a stubborn man, I bet you his hands will be up in surrender. That’s why I do it, and why I’ve been successful.“
If you are looking for a restaurant gem in Wilmington, make sure your next lunch or dinner stop is Candle Nut Restaurant. Owners Jeff and Novi Rickert have created an Indonesian restaurant that offers meals with Malaysia, Singapore and Dutch influences.
Wilmington seems to be in a bit of an identity crisis. I mean, is the Port City a beach town? A college town? An active lifestyle town? A food town?
Up until last week, those enjoying downtown Wilmington’s nightlife and the ensuing “munchies” thereafter had only a few late night staples to choose from. Pizza, tacos or a trip to a revered waffle joint were pretty much all there was to choose from hours after most restaurants closed down for the night.
I have found the answer to all those questions that life throws at you. The big questions:
Chef and Bluestar Kitchen Bar owner Stephen Harrington once again out-does himself with culinary creativity, using the simplest of local ingredients, and taking each dish to a satisfying conclusion of hip fusion.
Pizza is awesome. You know it, I know it, the world knows it. No big secret there.
If you are a Port City local, you have certainly been asked to recommend a food item that is quintessentially “Southern,” with a heavy emphasis on North Carolina. So what do Wilmington foodies put on their list of favorite North Carolina foods?
Having kitchen skills is not a prerequisite for being a foodie. You can dive into a bowl of pasta or negotiate your way through haute cuisine whether you can cook, or not.
Forgo that plastic straw. Skip that plastic cover on your coffee. Mindful consumption of single-use consumer plastics results in a significant positive impact on the environment, and even one person’s effort makes a difference. A walk along one of Wilmington’s beautiful beaches makes the issue glaringly apparent. Straws suck.
The search for the best shrimp and grits in Wilmington NC starts with an appreciation of the history of the dish. Think morning, hours before the sun rises. Crews of local shrimpers, headed out for a hard day at sea.
