Your Carolina Inn

Summer brings an abundance of fresh local fruits and vegetables including a childhood favorite - watermelon. Chef Jimmy Reale, from the Carolina Inn's Crossroads Restaurant, shares his recipe for Watermelon and Feta Salad, a delicious light summer dish that brings watermelon back for adults.

Looking for a great way to beat the heat this July? Check out our new menu specials at Carolina Crossroads Restaurant & Bar. Each day brings a different summertime special:

Mondays- Chef's Summer Tasting Menu: Buy One, Get One Free.
Choose a Three, Four or Five Course Menu

Sip & Slide Tuesdays- Three House Made Sliders & a Draft Beer for $10

No Whining Wednesdays- Half Priced Wines by the Glass

The Carolina Crossroads Restaurant has been chosen as a fine dining finalist in the 2010 Best Dish in NC Contest. The contest, held annually by the NC Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, aims to determine who serves the best food in the state using ingredients that are grown or produced in North Carolina. Click here to read more about the contest and other participating restaurants.

As a guest of the Carolina Crossroads Restaurant and Bar, you have experienced our graceful dining atmosphere, enjoyed our impeccable service and savored our unparalleled menu. As a way of saying thanks for being our valued customer, we have created a new loyalty program that rewards you just for dining with us.

On Sunday, April 18^th Briar Chapel will host a Celebrity Chef Charity Event featuring several Triangle Chefs demonstrating their favorite recipes using locally and healthfully grown foods in each of their model homes.

Executive Chef Jimmy Reale will participate as a Celebrity Chef for this event. Check out this interview where he talks about his job as a chef, using fresh local ingredients, and his participation in Briar Chapel's Earth Day event.

On December 5, 2009, my family came to the Carolina Inn for a birthday luncheon for my mother Helen who was 78 years young that day. Ten of her children and grandchildren gathered from Oregon, New York and Florida to celebrate with her. It was cold and rainy outside, but inside the Inn was warm and all aglow, beautifully decorated for Christmas. We all loved the whimsical "Twelve Days of Christmas" display complete with two live turtle doves. We enjoyed a delicous lunch served in the Carolina Crossroads Restaurant. Thanks for helping to make my mom's birthday such a fun and memorable one!

As part of The Carolina Inn's commitment to the environment, our kitchen & banquet staff started a composting program this November. During the first 20 days of the program, 7,080 pounds of organic waste was composted.  That is equivalent to the weight of a large SUV! 

 

We traveled to North Carolina for a wedding in Durham and stayed one night at Chapel Hill's Carolina Inn. We had a wonderful time! The staff was very friendly and the Inn was charming with a historic feel. We arrived on Friday afternoon just in time for Fridays On the Front Porch. We loved sitting outside listening to the live bluegrass band while our 2-year-old son ran around and danced to the music. We then enjoyed a delicious dinner at the Crossroads Bar. Even though the bar was crowded with a special event, the staff was friendly and the service was very prompt. The next day was a football game day, and the Inn had a tailgate party with more live music and an appearance from the UNC Cheerleaders to get everyone into the Tar Heels spirit. We're not UNC alumni, but our stay at The Carolina Inn made us wish we were!

-Isaac Gerstenzang, Corporate Director of eCommerce, Destination Hotels & Resorts

Roxann Larotonda from Raleigh was the lucky winner of a Gift Certificate for Dinner for Two at the Carolina Crossroads Restaurant after submitting her secret for the Signature Secret page featured in NC Signature Magazine by Our State Magazine.  She shares her experience of what it's like to be a winner. 

Last summer, our daughter was married in Chapel Hill. The rehearsal dinner and "wedding eve celebration" which followed were held in the beautiful Hill Ballroom. We could not have asked for a more magnificent evening.

The Carolina Inn has been a Chapel Hill landmark for more than eight decades. Slightly newer to the scene is Jimmy Reale, who has been offering unique blends of progressive American cuisine for a little more than two years as its executive chef. Reale (pronounced Ree-al-ee) is a bit of a unique blend himself, with a combination of Lebanese and Italian heritage that made for good cuisine. "My mother was always making huge meals for our family, whether it was falafel and tabouli or spaghetti and meatballs, and we tasted a lot of different foods in our house," Reale says. "I think it really infl uenced how I like to experiment with flavors now."

Read more about Jimmy Reale in Chapel Hill Magazine's article by Zeke Smith in the July/August Issue.

Crossroads Bar does! I am very excited to announce the debut of Sushi Wednesdays starting this August 19th from 5 to 9 PM. Celebrate the middle of the work week in our cozy bar and try out my new sushi creations with a southern flair. Let me know what you think of The Carolina Inn Roll with Southern Shrimp, Fried Green Tomatoes and Spicy Buttermilk Dipping Sauce and the Down South Wontons with Shredded Pork. I promise you won't be disappointed.

Click here to view our sushi menu. 

See you on Wednesday,
Chef Jimmy 

We stayed for two nights while attending new student orientation at UNC - the room was perfect, staff friendly and helpful. The breakfast was wonderful - fresh fruit, yummy oatmeal, as well as eggs, breakfasts meats, etc. This has quickly become my favorite hotel. June 2009 TripAdvisor Review

Seasonal fresh berries from the garden provide the perfect flavors for a summer dessert. I'd like to share one of my favorite summer recipes, a refreshingly cool and sweet dessert, which was recently featured in Summer 2009 Issue of the Triangle Gardener.

Coeur a la Crème with Chambord "Spiked" Berries

12 oz. cream cheese
¾ c. confectioner's sugar
4 oz. cottage cheese
Zest of 1 lemon
2/3 c. whipping cream - whip until stiff peaks

Cream cream cheese and sugar in mixer until smooth. Add cottage cheese and lemon zest. Fold in whipped cream until all ingredients are incorporated.

Line molds* with cheesecloth. Spoon mixture into molds and fold top of cheesecloth over mold. Let sit overnight. This will let any excess moisture drain out. Take out of mold and remove cheesecloth. Serve with berries.
Makes 4-6 servings. * Coeur a la crème molds can be found at reputable kitchen stores.

Chambord "Spiked" Berries

½ pt. strawberries
½ pt. blueberries
½ pt. blackberries
½ c. sugar
2Tbls. Chambord liqueur

Toss together all ingredients. Let sit 30 minutes. Serve over Coeur a la crème.

I've always felt strongly about the use of local organic and sustainable products and we're lucky to be surrounded by a wide variety of dedicated local farmers. I fully support buying local not just because it's the right thing to do but because it tastes better.

If anyone wants to experience the strong connection between Orange County's local cooks and farmers first hand, I strongly recommend attending Farm to Fork 2009 Picnic, coming up this June 14.

It will be Carolina Crossroads Restaurant's second time participating in this annual celebration. Some of the regions' best cooks, including our very own Chef de Cuisine, Jeremy Blankenship, and Sous Chef, Beth Littlejohn, and Piedmont farmers will be paired together to prepare a picnic-style feast sourced almost entirely from the partner's farm.

This all in support of growing new farms and farmers in North Carolina. We hope to see you there!

For more information on Farm to Fork Picnic visit http://www.farmtoforknc.com/

On July 25, 2008 ,I celebrated my 50th Birthday at the Carolina Inn with my family and a friend who moved to the area. I had not seen this friend for a few years. It was great getting back together with her and her daughters. What better place to spend it having dinner at your wonderful restaurant. It was also during my daughter's orientation weekend at UNC. We plan on visitng Carolina frequently and hope we will be able to secure reservations for our daughter's graduation from UNC in 2012.

My wife and I brought our 4 young children for a mid-week getaway to Chapel Hill earlier this month. The staff, especially in the restaurant, could not have been more friendly or inviting. The breakfast buffet was fantastic and our dinner equally so. Thank you for making our visit a memorable one. TD

80 degree weather is finally here and so is Fridays on the Front Porch!  The first event of the season is always the most fun - spring and warmer weather have arrived and everyone is eager to enjoy the outdoors and relax after a long work-week.  The crowd-pleasing and my favorite, Big Fat Gap will kick off our FOFP 2009 Season, With the end of school year come all the concerts, bbq's and moat parties at our neighboring fraternity houses, turning Columbia Street into a battle of the bands.  The energy is great and it is something I think all Chapel Hillers and visitors need to experience.  Hope to see you all there!

Sunday April 5,2009 at 11am brunch will long be remembered as the best food and service I've ever shared in my 64 years. My compliments to all who helped make that sunday a most memoriable one. Thank you!

While in Chapel Hill on business, I was lucky enough to stay at the Inn and even luckier in that my college best friend had moved to the area. While we did not attend UNC, it was so much fun to have her (and her 4 year old son) come stay at the Inn with me one night and "re-live" our college days (a bit more grown-up) first with the festivities on the Inn's Front Porch and then along Franklin Street. Great memories I can't wait to return.

The Carolina Crossroads Restaurant recently hosted a March Madness Beer Dinner, the first in an ongoing seasonal series, in collaboration with Carolina Brewery. Everyone had a great time and raved about the food and beer pairings. Kathy and Fletcher Newbern, prolific freelancers, joined us for the event and would like to share their memorable experience.

Read what Fletcher and Kathy have to say by clicking Read More.

Dear Mark, We wish to express to to you our genuine heartfelt thanks for your most gracious hospitality extended to us in the celebration of our 60th Wedding Anniversary on September 8th, 2008. The elegant and beautifully appointed King Suite, the great refreshment tray you sent by room service, the delicious dinner prepared by the Executive Chef and the book - The History of The Carolina Inn has made our celebration such a memorable occasion. Thank you for all the details you took care of. What a joy to meet you! You made so much of your time available to us, never hurried, you made us feel like royalty! All the staff made us feel so welcomed and so special. The return to The Carolina Inn for our 60th Anniversary was indeed a highlight of our 60 years together. We shall not soon forget the part you had in making it an Anniversary to remember and we are eternally grateful to you. Our Sincere Appreciation, John and Clara Privott Rocky Mount, NC

I recall vividly that coming to Chapel Hill for a football game was not complete for this young boy without having breakfast or lunch at the Carolina Inn cafeteria. It amazed me how much food there was, and how grown-up it made me feel to walk down the line with my tray full of food and drink.