Wilmington-based Bitty & Beau’s Coffee expanded its brand with a weekly talk show on YouTube, aptly named The Bitty & Beau’s Coffee Show, that launched at the end of March. The show is an exploration of the Bitty & Beau’s brand ethos, “a human rights movement disguised as a coffee shop.” Founders Amy and Ben Wright, accompanied ...

Coffee shop by day, bar by night. Blurring the lines between coffee and cocktails is a growing trend, including at Wilmington establishments.  Baristas are incorporating craft cocktail techniques into show-stopping coffee drinks, and bartenders are mixing espresso and coffee liqueur beyond the traditional cocktail blends. The trend is capturing a wider variety of p ...

Wilmington’s own Dean Neff, head chef and owner of Seabird, reached a new milestone in his career Wednesday after he was named a James Beard Foundation finalist for Outstanding Chef.   Neff was named a semifinalist both in 2019 and earlier this year. This is the first time Neff has made it to the final round of the national award. Other contenders for Outstand ...

After leasing for more than a year, the owners of Bowstring Burgers & Brewyard have purchased the building they've occupied at 1002 Princess St. in Wilmington's Soda Pop District for $2.8 million. BowString Real Estate Holdings Co LLC, which is associated with Bowstring co-owners Matt Golden, Ben Yannessa and Brad Bowles, bought the property this week from A ...

After eight years, Bespoke Coffee & Dry Goods owner Chris Batten is selling the popular downtown Wilmington coffee shop. The sale to bar and restaurant owner Robby Dow was announced in a news release issued Monday afternoon. Dow created the beverage program at Olivero with Sunny Gerhart and Lauren Krall Ivey after a four-year career as the beverage director of a coc ...

As John Willse and Beth Guertin, owners of Wilmington Wine bottle shop and now the recently opened Creative Tastings restaurant on Castle Street know all too well, sometimes your purpose or direction in life chooses you rather than the other way around. After a career in the restaurant business elsewhere, Willse found himself pulled to move back to his hometown of Wilmi ...

Genesis Block and Block Eatz, in partnership with Cape Fear Community College, will host Chef’s Vision this month at the community college’s North Campus.  The event will feature Chef Yanni Lopez, owner of Cultura 311 and Paella Fusion, as the in-house chef at Block Eatz, a local incubator kitchen designed to foster business relationships in the food in ...

A new Southern-style, farm-to-table restaurant and a deli are coming to downtown Burgaw, according to a news release on Monday from Own Your Own, a local restaurant competition. The announcement comes after the contest’s original winner, Colorado-based chef Karoline Schwartz, opted not to move forward with plans for her Burgaw restaurant. The newly announced ventu ...

When the creative minds behind the recently updated Front Street Inn decided to add a coffee bar, they knew it couldn’t be just a coffee bar – it had to have the same international flair as the hotel. That’s how the Concorde Espresso Bar took off. The Alfalla Hospitality Group took over the Front Street Inn in 2021 and renovated the space, transforming ...

With an opening planned later this year, a new joint venture between Wilmington food truck Banh Sai and sandwich shop The Half is sure to be a hotspot for locals and tourists alike.  Banh Sai owner Austin Belt said the decision to partner with The Half was a no-brainer.  “It all started years ago when we were living in Charleston, South Carolina,&rdqu ...