Quick Brightleaf Area Updates

Quick updates: 

• I haven't had a chance to go in yet, but Alivia's at the intersection of Gregson and Main opened several days ago.  If any of you make it in, leave a comment and let us know what you think. 
• Piazza Italia across the street at Brightleaf must be close to opening or open, as they had signs up a few days ago advertising for help; the signs have since come down.  I called a couple times to ask if they were open, but got busy signals.  They do have a listing on OpenTable.  (The web sites for both Alivia's and Piazza Italia aren't much help right now; maybe they will be later.)
• West of Brightleaf, at the intersection of Morgan, Watts, and Main, the projected Gatsby's still doesn't look anywhere near opening. How long has the construction been going on over there? 
• When I finish eating at all the new places near downtown, I'm going to weigh 400 pounds.  :)

Comments

[Celeste Copeland]

Have you heard anything about the Five Points Irish Pub? They have a phone number listed but never seem to answer it. Last I heard they were going to open in January.

Also, I finally had a meal at Piedmont last night, and it was quite delicious. I had the celeriac / lentil dish. Yum.

[Joe]

Haven't heard anything about the place going into the location previously occupied by Joe & Jo's, but the last time I went by, the city still had the sidewalk particularly torn up in front. It was like an obstacle course.

I don't know why I haven't published a Piedmont review. It's not like I haven't been in the place. Maybe it was that 6-week-trip to Tanzania. Yeah, that's it. :)

[John]

Is it just me or does anyone else get a dirty feeling about Piazza Italia? It looks so contrived and look-down-your-nosey to me that I can't bring myself to go in there. What the hell do a bunch of Brazilians know about Italian food anyway? I could be wrong.

If anyone has gone in the place please post so I can see if I am right.

[Kevin Davis]

I actually went to both Alivia's and PI in the last 24 hours. I'll post a full review of Alivia's on my blog (www.bullcityrising.com) soon, but suffice it to say it was a good experience. Nice mix of breakfast, brunch, lunch, pub fare and dinner menus, with a respectable beer and wine selection at the bar. Great 'hang out' place too -- I brought my laptop to answer emails after brunch and was pleased to see most booths had four power outlets apiece. It was actually pretty packed this morning, despite the quiet opening.

Piazza Italia wasn't bad. The pasta itself was actually EXCELLENT -- you can tell it's fresh (made on-site) and it was a highlight. The chicken/meat quality was "good," but no better than Cinelli's, and the prices were a tad high. The gelato is very good and I'm looking forward to the Italian market area opening fully this coming week.

[Joe]

John: It's certainly possible that PI could choke and die no matter where the owners are from. I have seen situations like that before, like when the founder of NeoChina opened NeoRenaissance at New Hope Commons and the restaurant died a quick and deserved death. However, I think the thing to do here is just to wait and see how it works out.

Kevin: Thanks for the updates about Alivia's and PI. I'll check it out when I can.

[xta]

i'm confused... where is pizza italia?
(their website isn't working)

[David]

xta: It is right across the street from Alivia's, in the same building as Satisfactions (it is the Eastern most occupant). I haven't been to either of the new places yet, but hope to try at least one out over the weekend.

[Rob Clough]

So I've eaten at Alivia's twice. I love the overall concept of it, that it's 4 different kinds of restaurants. Breakfast from 6:30 to 11 (very welcome for the Brightleaf area, which doesn't have a breakfast place), with fairly cheap & quick fare. Lunch is about 5-8 bucks an entree, with lots of interesting sandwiches. Their late night menu also looks intriguing.

The general theme of the place emphasizes some Southern influences, but also a lot of Southwestern/Native American influences as well.

I went there for dinner on V-day with my wife. The place was jam-packed busy and has looked that way when I've gone by it. First, the physical layout. The building was a bike shop, but it was a garage prior to that, and they make use of that well. The restaurant takes as its inspiration a european or NYC type-corner restaurant. Next to the main door are two huge garage-door windows that can be rolled up during nice weather--exactly like I've seen in NY eateries like Mark't. The restaurant makes use of old furniture and panelling from places like Liggett's cafeteria; I liked the reused furniture and the austerity of the surroundings. There's a bit of color clash here and there, but that's OK. Joe, you'll be pleased to know that there are no TV sets. Overall, I really enjoy being in this space; I like the way that the restaurant's personality is based on the original space.

On to the food. We ordered 2 appetizers: a lobster medallian "BLT" on brioche (with pancetta, hollandaise, oven-dried tomato and arugula) and the crispy leek spoon bread with mushrooms & chorizo with an awesome red wine veal sauce that had some molasses thrown in there. The former appetizer was great in conception and overall taste, but the lobster was way overcooked and too chewy, and the toast was overdone. Feels like someone left it in the oven a couple minutes too long, but I'd be happy to have it again if it was done right.

The latter appetizer was mind-blowing. The chorizo was incredible, the bread great...perfect match of the slightly spicy chorizo with the sweetish but muscular sauce.

I should note that the chef is late of Lantern and Elaine's, both of Chapel Hill. Lantern is one of the best restaurants in the area IMO. He's from New Zealand, so seeing a Kiwi trying to do southern-influenced dishes is like listening to the Stones covering blues songs: it's not at all like the original, but it's something new and fascinating nonetheless.

For entrees, my wife had the spicy scallops, grits cake, country ham (in tiny, diced portions) and tomato cancasse'. The scallops were really spicy, adding some life to food that normally has nice texture but no taste. The grits cake was very good--not quite in Magnolia Grill territory, but good. The ham was delicious and added another nice counterpoint to the scallops. This was a clever dish and surprisingly light.

I had the New Zealand venison, wrapped in bacon, with sweet potato wedges, asparagus over a bed of red cabbage. Again, the chef balanced some tricky flavors with some unexpected flourishes. The venison was incredibly tender but slightly gamey; however, when eaten with the (Irish) bacon, the saltiness of the bacon not only cancelled out the gamey taste, it enhanced the other flavors in the venison. The cabbage was a stroke of genius--it soaked up the juices nicely, and I don't even like cabbage. This was a special, but I hope it'll be a regular at some point.

Oh yes, I should say that we were drinking an Argentinian Malbec Rose'. It went nicely with the chorizo and the dessert, but was a bit wimpy for the venison. It went really well with my wife's meal.

Dessert was quite good; my wife had the blood orange panna cotta which had a nice consistency. I had the white chocolate torte with a dark chocolate crust. The crust was excellent and I enjoyed this even though I'm not a huge fan of white chocolate.

All of that cost about a hundred bucks, which wasn't bad at all. I'll talk about brunch later.

[Aunt Jenny]

Yo, Joe... Way back when I told you about rice bran oil; here's a mail-order source at a good price:
http://chefshop.com/Itemdesc.asp?ic=6244&eq=&Tp=

[Joe]

Rob: Thanks for the extensive comment. As Tom Petty once said, "You're gonna put me out of a job." :) Aunt Jenny: Thanks. I still haven't used any of the grapeseed oil I bought w/Maura a couple months ago. My kitchen is packed to the gills right now, so it may be a while before I can fit anything else in. :)

[Michael Bacon]

Just went to Alivia's this weekend. I can't say I was blown away -- the food was good, but not spectacular. My appetizer was billed as spoonbread with chorizo, but chorizo with a little spoonbread would have been more accurate. The chorizo had a nice glaze on it, but other than that, nothing was remarkable. Next I had the local pork chops with collards and a sweet potato something-or-other. The chops were solid -- good rub, well grilled. Can't complain there. The collards were a bit odd -- they appeared to be whole leaves, sauted until they were beyond wilted, to downright shriveled. This gave them a kind of toughness, a bit like collard jerky, which was actually kind of pleasant. It meant they didn't have any of the floppiness that boiled collards do. The sweet potato thing -- some kind of casserole with the taters and maybe cheese layered and baked -- was forgettable (clearly). I'm a sucker for sweet potatos, but this didn't have any of that wonderful foretaste.

The only other dish I remember trying was Dad's scallops, which were enormous and rather tasteless. The sauce was good, but it simply wasn't a match for these freakin' 1/3 lbs scallops.

Happily the check didn't come to me, so I don't know how the price compared. Harry's working the bar there, which is always a good sign. I like the atmosphere a lot, too. All that said, I can't see myself going there a whole lot. With Piedmont, Pop's, and Rue Cler all so close by, Alivia's falls down on my list somewhere around Anotherthyme. Perfectly fine food, but constantly beat out by other choices.

[Kevin Davis]

Michael: Interesting thing is, I 100% agree with you... about Alivia's for dinner. I visited for dinner (after my initial review) and, compared with Rue Cler and the neighbors... I wouldn't make a special trip back for the dinner entrees or the prices. (Maybe they've gotta pay back a year's worth of construction quick?) But for breakfast and brunch, I can't think of a place I'd rather go.

I think the whole espresso bar meets casual corner eatery meets wow high-end dinner place is what makes Alivia's so interesting. Not wow'ed by the dinners, but definitely a fan of the other dayparts.

[Sucar]

Have you guys tried Piedmont yet? I went there this weekend and was so impressed. I like it better than Rue Cler (but only just). We sat at the bar with our 3 year old and every single thing that we ate was as exactly what I imagined it would be-and that almost never happens in restaurants.

[Sucar]

sorry to be the random girl-i just re-read these comments and saw some mention of Piedmont. So, get to that review Joe! (then i won't feel so bad about not completing mine)

[Rob Clough]

I've eaten at Piedmont once, and I really wanted to like it, but I was underwhelmed by the dinner. I actually thought it was way pricier than Alivia's and my entree (braised pork) was astonishingly bland. I do want to try their lunch at some point, though. The dessert was OK but not memorable. Sounds like my experience there matched other folks' experience at Alivia's, but I was stunned at how good my meal was there. The follow-up with a great brunch further reinforced that feeling. Regarding the prices, I'm honestly not sure what all the bitching's about. There's not a single entree over 20 bucks (I think with the exception of the special). Perhaps the appetizers are a bit too expensive, but in general I thought I got a good value for my meal.

What I really liked at Piedmont was the cheese plate appetizer. The cheese, plus a little jam to go with it along with bread, was wonderful.

Pop's will always be a favorite. I ate there recently and they had this bass/risotto dish that was literally one of the best things I've ever eaten. The only downside is that they've raised their prices significantly in the past year or so.

[Joe]

I've been to Piedmont a few times. I generally like it, but there have been a couple of sub-par things, and a couple things that were really good. So I haven't really developed a strong opinion one way or the other. If I do, I'll be writing something up. WRT ALivia's, I've only eaten there once, and I was sick at the time, so I couldn't taste anything. :( I understand Doug, the sous chef from Vin Rouge, is now sous chef at Alivia's (after a brief stop at the Federal). I think Doug is a good cook, so I'm glad to see him working there.