Food bomb away!

Tonight, I took a friend and client, who had said he was quite hungry, to downtown Durham to grab an informal meal at Geer Street Garden. I've had many fun dinners there, and on nights as mild as tonight, it's a pleasure to eat outside on their patio.

Because my companion was so hungry, we ordered an appetizer:  "the Pile." This beast contains fried chicken, french fries, jalapenos (we asked the kitchen to omit those, because my friend doesn't prefer spicy food), bacon, melted cheddar cheese, and gravy. You also get your choice of sauces; we opted for cheese and a few others.

When it arrived, I remembered why I haven't ordered it since the first time I went to Geer St.

Click the image to see a larger version.

Wow, is that an enormous, greasy, and absolutely delicious belly bomb!

Two of us managed to eat less than a third of it, and I expect we'll both pay soon for our sins.

You can actually eat quite healthy food at Geer St., but I have to say that if you want a plate or two of incredibly hearty, stick-to-your-ribs chow, you should absolutely check it out.

If only they had a nap room on the premises.

Geer Street Garden

The other night, a group of us tried out this new Durham restaurant. We'd eaten Chef Andy Magowan's fine food at his previous restaurant, Piedmont, which he no longer owns, and so we trusted the meal would be good.

It was.

The food is simple and leans heavily on locally sourced ingredients, a combination that goes well with the building, a former gas station. Most of the seating is outside, but fortunately for us, the evening we were there was perfect for dining outdoors.

You won't find much fancy here, but everything we tasted was delicious. One particularly tasty mess I have to recommend is "The Pile," an amazing looking mixture of French fries, fried chicken, jalapenos, and melted cheese. Think game-day food done wonderfully and all mixed in one dish.

In keeping with the emphasis on simple food, the costs are more than reasonable. The tab for five of us--and we ate a lot of the menu, as well as multiple desserts--was less than the bill for two at many of the area's nicer restaurants.

Definitely check out this one.