Food from the Old North State is no longer just about collard greens, fatback, hushpuppies, and so on (though there is still plenty of that going on).
North Carolina is where I was born. I grew up in a tiny, rural town in the northeast, eating food grown, caught, and prepared by my grandma and grandpa – cabbage and collards cooked down with fatback, potatoes and cornmeal dumplings, cornmeal-breaded fried okra cooked in a cast iron skilled, raw oysters, snapping turtle soup (I was not partial to eating those mean, ornery SOBs), crispy lacy cornbread smothered in butter, and all that good stuff. And I still love it. But over the last two decades, the state has, thankfully, moved away from its entrenched notions of “traditional” and become home to talented and passionate chefs, cooks, and artisans representing cuisines and foodways from around the world.
Places to Eat
Note: Good parking is important to me. Here in my middle-aged years, I am all about ease and convenience when it comes to dining out and shopping. I gotta have ample, easy parking that preferably does not include a parking deck or parallel parking (which I cannot do and will not learn to do, ever).
I also include a rating on the presence of over-eager foodies (once known as “hipsters” back in the day). I have a threshold of tolerance on this issue but will push my way through them to get to good eatin’.
NOTE: Go to the navigation menu and under “Food,” scroll over “North Carolina – The Food” for all of the articles. Here is a starter list to get you going in case you don’t feel like making another page click:
North Carolina – An app to find food trucks
Raleigh – Benchwarmers Bagels and Coffee
Raleigh – Tacos Costa Grande (a food truck)
Raleigh/Garner – Captain Stanley’s Seafood
Williamston – Shaw’s BBQ
Wilson – Whole Truth Lunchroom
On the important of free hushpuppies to Southerners
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Speaking of the South 