A Raleigh winner: great food, great prices

Long-time readers may recall my many posts lauding the food at The Mint, which when it allows Chef Eric Foster to prepare (and charge for) a top-drawer tasting menu is to my taste easily the best restaurant in the area. Back before hard economic times hit The Mint, Eric was part of a team whose lead was Jeremy Clayman, another wonderful chef. We've been waiting to discover where Jeremy would surface so we could rush there and try his cooking. Last week, we found out: the Busy Bee Cafe.

Having read a glowing newspaper article on it and having learned the place does not take reservations, we showed up about 6:45 this past Saturday night hoping we were early enough. We were--though just barely. We seated ourselves, and moments later, the place was 100% full. We were happy to have our table but still a little apprehensive, because one glance at the food menu made it clear that we were a long way from The Mint.

We need not have worried. We sampled four of the five sides (we skipped the salad), the cheese appetizer, a couple individual salads, two entrees, and the featured dessert (strawberry shortcake made with a lavender biscuit and ice cream on top). Every single dish I tried was wonderful. The macaroni and cheese was the best I've ever tasted, light and yet intense, as if the kitchen had somehow infused the pasta with the cheese. The fried green tomatoes showed me once again how a dish I normally find pedestrian can turn into a shining star in the hands of a great chef.

The meal was also a bargain: With a soda (and many free refills), a beer, some coffee, and all that food, the tab (before tip) for four of us was eighty-four bucks. Had we eaten at all sensibly, we could have easily shaved ten or twenty dollars off that total. You could make a meal of the mac and cheese and the tomatoes and escape for less than ten bucks--and be stuffed.

The Busy Bee is loud and rocking and will often make you wait for a seat, but I heartily recommend it. If I had an idle night on my hands (yeah, right), I'd head there in a heartbeat.

Check it out.