Rearn Thai on West Market in Greensboro

Really like the affordable appetizers at Rearn Thai, expecially these shrimp-rolls--crunched them down tails and all, only choked once.

Their menu is more moderately priced than other Thai and Thai-influenced restaurants in Greensboro. Drunken noodles were good, as were fresh spring rolls, tom yum soup and more. Chicken satay a disappointment because dry and not seared.

Rearn Thai restaurant
5120 W. Market St.
Greensboro, N.C. 27409-2614
336.292.5901 ‎

Still sleeping on a crappy old mattress? Could be the right time to buy a new bed

And if you're wondering what the latest news in mattresses is, here's a mattress trend report from the Las Vegas furniture market -- World Market Center:

Tamales tonight

Best Mexican food in Greensboro, homemade, last night, dining with some great local chefs--both professional and hobbyists, all of whom contributed to the meal...

Vietnamese Garden on Battleground in Greensboro

A commenter on this blog suggested Vietnamese Garden, so we tried it.

I liked it--great flavors and they use of lots of slivered, fresh vegetables like peppers and scallion. Enjoyed the spring rolls ($4.95), the "crispy calamari with creamy wasabi sauce" ($8.95--perhaps a little pricey for the portion size, but very fresh), the "papaya salad with shrimp and pork" ($8.95), 

and "vermicelli with beef lemon grass" ($9.50). All the seafood and meat in each dish tasted fresh--no rewarmed beef flavor or mushy shrimp--phew!

This over-dressed salad came to the table by accident--but, still, it was tasty.

The enormous menu, which includes sushi, is a little off-putting. Is Vietnamese Garden trying to cover the entire Pacific Rim? I think yes. But the dishes we ordered were all well done--whatever their specific country of origin.

The noise level is high when the restaurant is full.

And there's an enormous exhaust system perched on the restaurant roof. When it's running, you feel the vibration and hear the hum throughout the restaurant. Worst is by the front windows facing Battleground--so we changed tables. Thankfully, the system didn't run continuously.

Vietnamese Garden - 2505 Battleground Ave.; Greensboro

Maxie B's on Battleground in Greensboro

I think the cakes at Maxie B's have actually gotten better, plus there's more variety and the slices are bigger.

Recently I've had yellow cake with chocolate buttercream icing and devil's food with chocolate icing. Both were perfect--moist, buttery. They have cute little cupcakes, too.

Feng shui-wise, on a busy Friday night, the backup of humans from front door to counter in the center of the seating area, plus the overly bright lighting, make me want to run out of the place. At the very least, they should dim those lights a bit.

Maxie B's - 2403 Battleground Ave.; Greensboro

Regency Centers throwing money around to pit neighbor against neighbor in Greensboro?

Someone registered this domain recently and put up this website. But they hid their identity behind Go Daddy's "Domains by Proxy LLC" company. Please come forward. Are you really a Greensboro dweller or are you a Regency Centers developer?

And how did the site go up so fast with its custom form fields and professionally written content? [Although the homepage does scrape an entire News and Record story by Don Patterson, plus art. That's not cool.] 

BTW, if TJ's has decided it wants the Triad, it will come. 

Greensboro, please refuse to be manipulated by a developer and its PR agents. Please stand with the Friendly Coalition in defeating the rezoning to put a shopping center on Hobbs and Friendly. Putting a CVS on that corner will only get us a Walgreens on the next and on and on.

Head-scratching copy from the site:

... will be a great benefit to Greensboro at the Friendly Avenue site both as an economic generator and as a good corporate citizen. The developer has been reaching out to nearby residents to create a neighbor-friendly development and the site is the perfect location for a walkable, gourmet grocery store that will be a good architectural fit in the neighborhood.

An "economic generator--for whom? A "neighbor-friendly development"--for which neighbors?

First flower: Crocuses are blooming in Greensboro

'Like' the Friendly Coalition's Facebook page

The Friendly Coalition, a Greensboro group that is striving to protect residential neighborhoods on West Friendly Avenue from commercial encroachment has created a Facebook page, the "Friendly Coalition Against Commercial Encroachment."

First meeting of 'The Friendly Coalition' today

It was a full house with standing room only--and lots standing.

 

Close to 300 attended the first mass meeting of 'The Friendly Coalition' -- a group that has formed to fight the threatened commercial development at the northwest corner of Friendly and Hobbs by developer Regency Centers, which has headquarters in Jacksonville, Fla.

The builder is expected to petition the Greensboro Zoning Commission for a rezoning from residential to commercial on a slice of land containing 6 homes. The homes will be razed and a shopping center built. Some details can be found at Ed Cone's blog.

Contact the coalition at norezoning@ymail.com if you would like to help. Yard signs will be available soon.

We have resigned ourselves to being in it for the long haul. This is the third rezoning battle in my neighborhood.

We would really like the city of Greensboro to make good on its promise to keep the Shops at Friendly the demarcation point and allow no further commercial rezoning on Friendly Ave and cross streets in this residential area. If it doesn't, this beautiful section of Greensboro will quickly have the look of Lawndale, Battleground and all the rest.

And that would be a tragedy.
~~~

Print media coverage of meeting:
Wireback, Taft. "Neighbors vow to fight Friendly Ave. rezoning," Greensboro News and Record, Jan. 23. 2012.
"Greensboro Neighbors vow to fight rezoning...", Winston-Salem Journal, Jan. 23, 2012.

Trader Joe's at Golden Gate, instead?

Sounds like a good idea from Ed Cone at his Word Up blog. Cone provides a link and phone number for reaching TJ's so you can make the suggestion, direct to the retailer. edcone.typepad.com/wordup/2012/tj-love

Harris Teeter shut its store at Golden Gate last year. More information at "Grocerying" blog.

And check out this Golden Gate Shopping Center Retail Space for Lease web page.

Commercial spot zoning eating up Greensboro?

We love Trader Joe's and would love to have one in Greensboro, but not at the price of destroying the residential quality of West Friendly and setting a precedent for unwise spot rezoning up and down Friendly and surrounding streets.

A letter from an Old Starmount neighbor to the Greensboro Zoning Commission:

Dear Members of the Zoning Commission,
My name is XXXX. I live at XXXXX in Greensboro. I live essentially two long blocks from the congested intersection of West Friendly and Avondale, which will get more congested when Whole Foods opens this spring.

I am completely OPPOSED to the proposed rezoning of the parcels at the western edge of the intersection of Hobbs and West Friendly. My reasons are numerous, but the main one is enough is enough. The sprawl that is occuring outwards from the Friendly Center and the Shops at Friendly needs to be curtailed. Our residential neighborhood, one of the oldest on the western edge of the center city, has been under assault for commercial development since 2007.

There are so many underutilized commercial developments all over the city that it seems absurd to permit more sprawl and commercial development right here. "In fill" is a good goal in areas that are not already overwhelmed with amenities. "In fill" at the corner of West Friendly and Hobbs is a mockery, paricularly since it would encroach into an established residential area.

Please do not permit this rezoning when it is requested. Please evaluate the long term impact on West Friendly Avenue, as well as on Hobbs Road, if these parcels are permitted to be rezoned for commercial use. If one section is allowed to be rezoned, there is no rational reason why others all the way down to Guilford College could be denied a similar rezoning request. The domino effect is obvious; is this the vision you have for West Friendly in the future, one long strip of mini malls and shopping enclaves? It is not my vision.
Thank you for your time.

Read what Vice President Chris Widmayer of shopping center developer Regency Centers--which is seeking the rezoning of the corner of Hobbs and W Friendly--told the News and Record, Jan. 6, 2012, "Trader Joe's details still under wraps."

BTW, Regency Centers has a "Greengenuity" section on its website that states, "Our program is flexible and responsive to retailer and community needs, as well as geographic factors."

But I'm wondering how a plan to bulldoze and blacktop trees and homes and create a commercial incursion into a residential neighborhood is "green", especially when unoccupied retail space exists nearby?

This is just the latest rezoning attempt in a neighborhood under siege: see http://norezoningstarmountforest.blogspot.com/

Trader Joe's, move here instead

You can be part of the solution, not the problem of helter-skelter rezoning in Greensboro. This site is an existing mall in need of an anchor tenant, and it's very close to Friendly Center and the Shops at Friendly. You don't need to bulldoze into residential neighborhoods to have a Trader Joe's location in Greensboro.

Loopnet commercial real estate Web page for 3950 West Market Street, Greensboro, NC 27410

Making pie for Thanksgiving, video & recipes

Flaky pie crust recipe

Adapted from "How to Cook Everything" by Mark Bittman
[Double the recipe for a 2-crust pie]


1-1/4 c flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
7 tblsp cold unsalted butter
8-10 tblsp cold water, more or less

Pulse flour, salt and sugar once or twice in food processor. Add butter and process about 10 seconds. Mixture will look like coarse corn meal.

Place in bowl and sprinkle with 8 tblsp water. Mix lightly with fork. If too dry, add more water.

When moistened enough, lightly press mixture into a ball with hands. Wrap in plastic wrap and flatten lightly into a disk. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or freeze for 10.

Roll out on floured pastry cloth with floured pin, using light strokes that radiate out from center of dough. Moisten cracks and tears with water pressing them back together, then dusting with flour. Trim edges of rolled crust 1-1/2 to 2 inches beyond edge of inverted pie plate.

Roll up crust onto pin and drape over pan. For 1-crust pie like pumpkin, make a high fluted edge, crimping it with floured fingers.

Pumpkin pie recipe 

Follow the recipe on the Libby pumpkin pie pack for two 9-inch pies, with the following additions/exceptions:
Add 1 extra egg yolk [reserved from egg-white wash for bottom crusts] 

Increase or add these spices: 

2-1/2 tsps cinnamon 

1-1/2 tsps ginger 

1/2 rounded tsp cloves 

1/2 tsp allspice 

1/8 tsp nutmeg 

Preheat oven with a large pizza stone on lowest rack. 

Cook pies on pizza stone until almost set. A butter knife inserted in center will come out mostly clean. 

Perfect apple pie recipe 

8 to 10 of your favorite apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced 

Lemon juice - 2 to 3 tblsp

1/2 to 3/4 c sugar, depending on sweetness of apples and personal preference 

2 tblsp instant tapioca [for very juicy apples like Winesap, use slightly more] 

1/2 tsp cinnamon dash nutmeg 

dash salt 

1 tblsp of liqueur - Grand Marnier or Calvados brandy or Amaretto or sherry or ... you decide

2 tblsp butter, in bits

1 two-crust pie recipe

Place a pizza stone on lower rack of oven and preheat to 450 degrees.

Roll out bottom pie crust [do not crimp edge], place in pie pan, brush with beaten egg white and refrigerate lightly covered with wax paper.

As you peel, core and slice the apples, sprinkle them with the lemon juice and toss to prevent browning. Add all ingredients to apples except butter, and mix with rubber spatula. 

Remove bottom crust from refrigerator. Pile apple mixture onto crust and lightly tamp down with spatula. Dot with the butter.

Roll out top crust slightly larger than bottom crust. Trim edges with knife. Roll crust on pin and unfurl onto pie. With floured fingers squeeze crusts' edges together, turn edge under and crimp with fingers, or flatten with fork tines. 

Prick pie all over with fork, brush with milk and lightly sprinkle with sugar. 

Bake at 450 on lower rack for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 400 degrees and continue cooking about 30 minutes. Check for doneness by carefully inserting toothpick through crust into apple filling. You should feel little resistance. 

One helluva crowd in downtown Greensboro tonight

Yes, it was another Christmas celebration downtown for the Jewish festival of lights! And such a huge crowd. We had cheesecake and tamales and reindeer horns on our heads. We saw ice skaters at a little rink

right near the artificial Christmas tree and wild fountain in the park

and there were hoola hoopers and music

and Edward Scissorhands made a live appearance

I don't think I've ever seen this many people

downtown.

Saffron

Had a craving for some samosas, so we went to Saffron for dinner. These were nicely spiced, and crisp. But cold in the center. And garnished with bits of brown lettuce. Details, details. Right? Not really. And when we arrived, they left us sitting unwaited on till I flagged someone in the empty restaurant down.

Black Friday special deal

Santa, don't bring me this toaster oven-coffeemaker-grill for $49!

Must-read: Best airport food and dining

Grab a bite at these airports, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Nov. 13, 2011

Read this review of airport eateries before taking off on your holiday travels. Your next layover may not include sloppy, tasteless pizza or a stale bag of $6 granola--if you're lucky enough to land at one of these airports with decent dining spots.

For instance, Chicago O'Hare has Tortas Frontera, a new fast food restaurant owned by chef Rick Bayless.

This restaurant serves Mexican sandwiches (tortas), as well as salads, soups, guacamole, freshly squeezed juices and freshly shaken margaritas.

Honey--Do you know what's not in your grocery-store honey?

Photo credit: José Reynaldo da Fonseca GFDL

After reading Food Safety News,"Tests show most store honey isn't honey," I'll stick to buying only from local beekeepers at our farmers markets. Did you know North Carolina has more beekeepers than any other state?

Per Food Safety News ...

Most honey sold at retail chains is ultra-filtered--even the stuff that claims to be American-produced [but isn't]--so that it no longer contains any pollen.

Ultra-filtering robs honey of its flavor and any nutritional value. 

Much of it is shipped or illegally transshipped from China to avoid import tariffs. 

The World Health Organization has ruled that without pollen there is no way to determine whether the honey came from legitimate and safe sources.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says it's no longer honey if it contains no pollen.

Per Food Safety News, the Chinese invented ultra-filtering in order to illegally dump honey on the U.S. market.

Professor and entomologist at North Carolina State University and apiculturist [bee expert] John Ambrose has fought for a federal "pure honey" standard for 36 years.

Epic dinner + video at Nazareth Bread Middle Eastern Restaurant

We went back for dinner and it was great having real, freshly made shawarma [does anyone else in Greensboro actually prepare and serve shawarma? I know you can get your fill of frozen factory-made gyros] plus all the excellent salads--especially the tabbouli, my favorite. And they make Israeli-style chopped salad, too

More Middle Eastern, plus a bakery--Nazareth Bread

Always hungry, I stopped at Nazareth Bread on W. Market for the first time, after gorging on tacos 'con todo' at Carniceria el Mercadito on Muirs Chapel. The cavernous ex-fitness club houses a restaurant and bakery and the owner--of Palestinian descent--plied us with baklava samples and Turkish flatbread. The baked goods run the gamut from Middle Eastern to plain old American. All samples were good. Although I wish his mom used a little more butter in the baklava--like my grandma did.

There were some diners eating Middle Eastern sandwiches like chicken kebabs and gyros, I think. The place needs a lighting re-do, though, to create some intimacy. It's starkly illuminated by overhead fluorescents. Call in the feng shui experts.

The Turkish bread was excellent and reminded me of something my mom's cousin used to bake--open-textured, crispy, chewy and just the right amount of fat. Good luck. I hope they stay in busines.

Read News & Record's Carl Wilson review of Nazareth Bread in "Short Orders" on Oct. 19.

Nazareth Bread
4507 W Market
Greensboro N.C.

Lunch in Asheville at Rezaz restaurant

According to the restaurant's website, the owner is a trained chef of Iranian descent and his menu is definitely a fusion of Middle Eastern, Mediterranean and contemporary influences.

I ate lunch there.

Best: The appetizer--"Reza Mezze - Dips of Humus, Muhamara, Baba Ganouj with Warm Pita $10." The flavors of each were excellent. And the pita was indeed warm and fresh.

2nd best: Dessert--an apple frangipane tart chosen from their gorgeous dessert case. Not sure if they do baking on the premises.

The entree was least favorite, although the ingredients all looked fabulous [some greens not mentioned in menu served on top seemed really over-salted and ruined the dish]--Moroccan Tagine - Chicken Breast, Cashews, Apricot, Olives, Carrots, Lemon over Couscous $10."

Website: Rezaz restaurant and wine bar
28 Hendersonville Rd.
Asheville, NC 28803

Come on, Mario's New Garden! ~ The agony of an order for pick-up

The scene Friday at 6:30PM--12 confused-looking customers clustered at counter. 2 overhead signs indicating 2 lines--"call-ins" and "order here". 1 person manning 2 registers. 6 ready orders, sitting atop the pizza ovens--mine included, which I'd ordered 30 minutes earlier.

"Call in? call in?" I asked other customers as I tried to make my way to the "call-ins" register, getting confused looks and one customer who happily tells me there's only one line--at the front of which is a little girl slowly trying to place a food order.

Hushed whisperings, stares, as I pull out my wallet looking across the counter at my cold pie sitting there. I refuse to go to the end of the line. I just stare at the order taker. She did take my money next and give me my pie--but I felt quite uncomfortable about it. I don't know how many people with cold call-in orders I cut in front of. But everyone is just too polite and embarrassed to speak up.

I'm not going back to that Mario's location till it gets its ordering and pick-up act together. Gimme a break.

Eating Middle Eastern in Raleigh, N.C. ~ Neomonde

We ate lunch at Neomonde right near downtown Raleigh and the NC Museum of Art off Hillsborough St. It was cheap and fantastic Lebanese food.

A plate of 4 salads--baba ghanoush, tabbouli, bean salad and grape leaves, you get a choice of many dishes, was $7.95. And it was all freshly made and delicious. So was the felafel sandwich.

And I had a piece of baklava for dessert that could've been made by my grandmother. A lightness, butteriness, with touch of rose water and lemon in the syrup that I haven't tasted in 20 years.

Neomonde is located in an industrial area. It's also a big commercial baker supplying the region with fresh pita and other Middle Eastern baked goods. It's worth driving 75 miles for lunch because you won't find food this good in Greensboro.

The place is very busy so everything moves. No worries about getting stale baked goods, pastries or salads that are past their prime--another problem when eating in this town.

There were pomegranate trees growing out front in a raised-bed herb garden. The trees were filled with pomegranates!

Saigon is tops for Vietnamese

Yes, I think I'll have to agree with all those "best of" lists that Saigon on High Point Road in Greensboro is the best Vietnamese restaurant around.

The flavors in everything we ordered were delicate. The fried and fresh spring rolls were the best I've had in awhile. The coconut-y chicken curry with the large slabs of orange yam, on the Chef's Specials menu page was tasty. Probably should've ordered it with rice instead of the mushy vermicelli it comes with.

Favorite dish: papaya salad with shrimp and pork. It has crunchy, shredded unripe papaya and was just a really great blend of flavors and textures.

DJ Tiesto coming to the Triad

Tiesto will be in Winston in September. I won't be going, but I actually do like trance.

Perhaps you'd like to see the video clips of Tiesto in Las Vegas, shot by my son, strung together by me: