The official restaurant review thread

[OZZIE4DUKE]

Started just for Cathy!

[CathyCA]

Jon and I ate at Gravy on South Wilmington Street in Raleigh on Friday night. First of all, I can't even believe that I was on South Wilmington Street in Raleigh after dark. Downtown Raleigh has changed a lot (for the better) since I worked there more than 16 years ago.

To begin with, they brought us garlic bread knots: light flaky biscuits brushed with butter, garlic and some sort of cheese. They were melt-in-your mouth fluffy.

We both ordered an arugula salad with a lemon and olive oil dressing. There were walnuts and some sort of finely grated hard cheese in the salad, too. This salad was very tangy, and one that I might try to duplicate at home.

For the entree, Jon had homemade angel hair pasta with chicken and a white sauce which contained mushrooms and greens. I had eggplant pie: thinly sliced and breaded egg plant stacked with layers of parmesan, and smothered in "gravy," or freshly made tomato sauce--perhaps the best I've ever had.

Normally, I would have ordered a red wine to go with my entree, but Jon had an entree that screamed for white wine, so we ordered a bottle of Pinot Grigio from somewhere in Italy. The wine tasted crisp and tart, a perfect complement to Jon's angel hair chicken dish, and for my taste buds, a wine that I would enjoy on a warm summer (or fall) evening.

Gravy is a place for "locovores." Gravy utilizes locally grown produce and livestock on its menu offerings. (The wine list was all Italian.) The food was freshly prepared. No "grab it from the freezer and pop it in the microwave" kind of entrees emerge from this kitchen.

We called ahead to get a reservation, but they said that they had plenty of room for us. When we arrived, two people asked us if we had a reservation, and Jon told them, "Uh, no, you just told me that I didn't need a reservation." And we didn't. We were seated immediately at a pub table by the window, and we got to do a lot of people watching as folks strolled by on their way to First Night events in downtown Raleigh.

Our server was very knowledgeable about the food and the wine, and she was very friendly.

This is not a white tablecloth restaurant. Some people had their very little kids there. One kid loudly knocked over a chair on the hardwood floor while we were there. I was glad I had a glass of wine. I was also very glad that my kids are older and well-behaved.

I will go to Gravy again for the food.

I give Gravy four forks out of five.

[devildeac]

Jon and I ate at Gravy on South Wilmington Street in Raleigh on Friday night. First of all, I can't even believe that I was on South Wilmington Street in Raleigh after dark. Downtown Raleigh has changed a lot (for the better) since I worked there more than 16 years ago.

To begin with, they brought us garlic bread knots: light flaky biscuits brushed with butter, garlic and some sort of cheese. They were melt-in-your mouth fluffy.

We both ordered an arugula salad with a lemon and olive oil dressing. There were walnuts and some sort of finely grated hard cheese in the salad, too. This salad was very tangy, and one that I might try to duplicate at home.

For the entree, Jon had homemade angel hair pasta with chicken and a white sauce which contained mushrooms and greens. I had eggplant pie: thinly sliced and breaded egg plant stacked with layers of parmesan, and smothered in "gravy," or freshly made tomato sauce--perhaps the best I've ever had.

Normally, I would have ordered a red wine to go with my entree, but Jon had an entree that screamed for white wine, so we ordered a bottle of Pinot Grigio from somewhere in Italy. The wine tasted crisp and tart, a perfect complement to Jon's angel hair chicken dish, and for my taste buds, a wine that I would enjoy on a warm summer (or fall) evening.

Gravy is a place for "locovores." Gravy utilizes locally grown produce and livestock on its menu offerings. (The wine list was all Italian.) The food was freshly prepared. No "grab it from the freezer and pop it in the microwave" kind of entrees emerge from this kitchen.

We called ahead to get a reservation, but they said that they had plenty of room for us. When we arrived, two people asked us if we had a reservation, and Jon told them, "Uh, no, you just told me that I didn't need a reservation." And we didn't. We were seated immediately at a pub table by the window, and we got to do a lot of people watching as folks strolled by on their way to First Night events in downtown Raleigh.

Our server was very knowledgeable about the food and the wine, and she was very friendly.

This is not a white tablecloth restaurant. Some people had their very little kids there. One kid loudly knocked over a chair on the hardwood floor while we were there. I was glad I had a glass of wine. I was also very glad that my kids are older and well-behaved.

I will go to Gravy again for the food.

I give Gravy four forks out of five.

Gravy is owned by Greg Hatem, a Raleigh restaurant entrepreneur. He also owns Sitti, with Lebanese/Mediterranean cuisine, Raleigh Times, an upscale beer joint with food, The Pit (guess what they serve there?), and Morning Times, a coffee shop. Here's the web site: http://www.empireeats.com/who-we-are/ . Sitti is excellent but we've never dined at Gravy. Good friends of our have and return regularly for all the reasons you mentioned above. Haven't been to Raleigh Times in several years so no comment from me there. He is also opening The Pit 2 in downtown Derm to compete with the pitmaster, Ed Mitchell, who co-owned The Pit with him and left about a year ago to open his own joint.

[CathyCA]

I didn't know that Greg owned Gravy. Silly me. I knew that he owned The Pit, and that he was opening a new place in Durham soon. I knew Greg when I was in college and my folks lived in Roanoke Rapids. Greg was a high school friend of a guy I dated there.

Maybe I should review The Pit next.

[OZZIE4DUKE]

Dd, does Ed currently have an open restaurant?

[devildeac]

Dd, does Ed currently have an open restaurant?

From May: http://www.wral.com/bbq-pit-master-mitc ... /12446402/

So, I don't think he's open yet. I was thinking Greg Hatem was going to beat Ed's opening by a month or so but I haven't seen where either has pulled their first pork yet in Derm.

[devildeac]

Dd, does Ed currently have an open restaurant?

Another linky: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/901983

Looks like the answer is still no. I'll let you know when the Raleigh N&O reviews either/both joints.