The restaurant is Executive Chef Jim Anile’s baby and it is a broad departure from his last gig at Il Palio at the Siena Hotel in Chapel Hill.  The menu is diverse, creative and well priced.  The atmosphere is hip but still welcoming. The appetizers and small plates are generally well under $15 and the big plates are all $20 or less.  (He does have a few more pricey dishes filed under menu heading Second Mortgage but they are well in the minority.)  Finding values on the wine list was a little more challenging but still doable.

Here are some highlights from the menu that I can personally vouch for: The haystack shrimp are delicately flavored with a lemon aioli and surrounded with angel hair wisps of crisp filo dough. I absolutely went crazy for the beer braised mussels. Steeped in a tomato based broth, they completmented the mussels without overpowering them at all.  We had to order more bread to sop up the liquid.

The menu also features a 3 or 5 chef’s selection menu with optional wine pairings which sounds like an excellent idea for a special treat.

The decor is stiking, upscale and club-worthy.  In an interesting twist, half the floor space on the main level is dedicated to the large oblong bar.  Both times we went this area was more than 60 percent full of people eating off the bar menu, the regular menu or just enjoying cocktails.

A friend who went with me on my first visit has already been back three more times. This is definitely a must try for your next date night. 107 W. Main Street in Downtown Duham.  Reservations available through Open Table.

So imagine my excitement to discover that a second location is about to open in downtown Durham.  Bull City Rising got the scoop for us on the opening.  Check it out here.

First - PF Chang’s is running a special called Chang’s For Two.  It’s a prix-fixe menu that includes two soups, a shared appetizer, two entrees and two of their mini-desserts.  It’s just $39.95.  Drinks, tax and tip aren’t included, but this is a great deal.

Deal two is dinner at The Melting Pot. I’m not much of a coupon clipper, but I got one of those ad things in the mailbox and was flipping through and found a coupon for $29 per person at the Durham location (across from the Streets at Southpoint).  It offers four courses, which I’m assuming are the salad, cheese foundue, meat foundue and dessert foundue for dessert.  It doesn’t expire until 6/1 so I’m sure they’re still running it, so you might want to take a closer look at those things before tossing them.  In the same ad, they’re promoting another busienss they own, Green Kids which offers drop in child care.  It’s located right next door to the restaurant and might be worth looking into if you’re looking for a little alone time and can’t find a sitter.

Deal three: Enjoy Pittsboro’s “First Sunday Celebration” at the General Store Cafe in Pittsboro.   GSC is going to have a jazz band from 4:30 to 7pm during the event and they’re offering a $10 meal that includes a salad, your choice of quiche, lasagne or foccacia pizza and dessert.    I guess we just missed the first Sunday in March (can somebody please tell me what happened to February), but make a plan for the first Sunday in April.  Of course you don’t have to wait until first Sunday — I like eating there so much, I keep making up excuses to go there for lunch.  If you haven’t eaten there yet, it’s totally worth a try.  The food is fresh, the menu is diverse and the ambiance is charming.

This is a great place for a date night but maybe even better suited to a double date.  Most of the non-traditional seating areas are set up for four or even six to eight.

Interesting restaurant concept described by the name.  In essence, there are only six items on the menu, each paired with a wine.  You order everything at the bar.  They bring it out to you when it’s ready.  (which works pretty well except that by the time the food came out we were already done with the wine it was supposed to be paired with) The servings are a little bigger than tapa sized — I’d say half portions.  If you ordered any 3, I’d think that would be more than enough for 2 people for dinner. They also have additional wines by the glass and bottle if you don’t want to do the pairings and beer too.

We enjoyed some flatbread to start that was dressed up with fontina cheese, bacon and brussel sprout leaves.  But of course, bacon makes just about everything better.  Later, we ordered the seared ahi, which was paired with a verde or green wine.  It was slightly effervescent and a nice match.  We also had the swordfish but ignored the pairing as a favorite rose of mine — the Leverano from Italy was on the menu.  I love it in the summer and a glass in winter was a wonderful reminder of warmer days to come.

In summary, I’d recommend a visit to Six Plates for a relaxed romantic evening or dinner out with another couple or two.  It also makes a perfect pre-show pairing with Duke Performances as it’s only about 5 minutes from the restaurant to the parking deck at the Bryan Center — on a beautiful spring evening I’d be tempted to walk!

If you love meat — no I mean if you really love meat — you have to try Chamas at Brightleaf in Durham.  It’s a Churrascaria or Brazillian steak house.

The main thing on the menu — well pretty much the only thing on the menu–is roasted meat.  Talk about low-carb restaruant options. Stand outs include the garlic steak, the flank steak and the lamb. But we also sampled incredibly moist chicken that practically fell off the bone, bacon wrapped filet mignon, pork loin and italian sasuage.   All were beautifully seared with well-balanced seasonings.

I recommend starting with their signature drink — a Caipirinha.  It’s Brazil’s national cocktail made with cachaca, sugar and lime.  Think of it as a rum-based drink.  Kind of a tart mojito.  Actaully, I think I liked it better than a mojito.

You are then invited to get a plate of starters from their extensive gourmet buffet.  This included items like brie cheese topped with apricot preserves and sliced almonds, roasted sun dried tomatoes, mussels in garlic sauce, calamari salad and more.  Way more.  In fact, you can just order the buffet as your meal and pass on the meat.  But don’t pass on the meat.

Once you’re done, they start coming around with the full pieces of meat — like the entire tenderloin — on huge skewers.  If you want some, they slice off a piece (just like at a carving station) and you take it with tongs and put it on your plate.  They serve a couple of sides but those are pretty much just for decoration.

Insider Tips: On Thursday nights they have live music at Chamas and on Fridays during the summer Brightleaf hosts concerts.  Also, this place is great for groups!