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DRAM & DRAUGHT’S NEW WINTER COCKTAIL MENU IS HERE. Melissa Howsam for TriangleToday

Post-holiday winter blues? Nothing a lil dram can’t sate. We’re looking at you, Dram & Draught. The popular DTR neighborhood bar unveiled its latest Winter Cocktail menu casting lots o’ local love . So treat yo’self.

CHEERS! JME Photography Photo by Juli Leonard

INTRODUCING

Our pick? The Mischief Managed ($10) – and not just for the name, but who doesn’t want this sweet taste of winter on a farm?

Warming up the coldest of days is the perf blend of Laird’s Straight Applejack 85 apple brandy (made in neighboring VA!), maple syrup, fresh lemon juice, sage tincture, Pierre Larousse sparkling wine and sage leaf.

Want something a little oak-ier?

How ’bout the Marsellus Wallace ($10), with McClelland’s Lowland single-malt scotch, Oak City amaretto (hey, Oak City!) and — wait for it — local Escazu cocoa nib infused bar cream. Nom nom.

Or the Chock Full o’ Nuts ($10, and, yes, I just wanted to type the name) … but, really — Ezra Brooks bourbon (think: sweet hints of honey and vanilla accented with citrus notes), Bonal, honey and local Larry’s cold brew coffee with Regan’s orange bitters No. 6 and lemons zest. Just yes.

Find more photos and suggested cocktails triangletoday.com

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food truckin’ 454 Grill

Greg Cox for Triangle Today

day trippin’

Head to Asheville for the day (or weekend) with these must-do’s Melissa Howsam for Triangle Today Head west, young man — so the saying goes. And when you get to the “Land of the Sky,” here’s a handful of things you can do. Have fun on your day trip to Asheville.

454 Grill food truck sells specialty grilled cheese sandwiches, including the Breakfast Melt that’s a best-seller.

Ask A.J. Kamal how 454 Grill got its name, and he’ll tell you about the Chevy 454-cubicinch “Big Block” engine that came with the Snap-on Tools truck he and his partner, Eli Jones, refurbished before putting it on the road earlier this year as a food truck.

Kamal will go on to tell you that the engine is legendary among car enthusiasts and that it broke down the day before they were slated to get their permit. Then he’ll proudly add that they rebuilt the engine themselves, with help from some mechanically minded friends and family.

Turns out Kamal and Jones know their way around a flat top grill, too. They met while students at N.C. State and worked together at a couple of Hillsborough Street restaurants for several years before teaming up to put their food truck on the road.

And if making the truck’s specialty grilled sandwiches isn’t quite as challenging as rebuilding an engine, the partners are every bit as proud of them. The Breakfast Melt is a best-seller with a cult-like following of people who call ahead to see if it’s on the menu – which is only when the owners can get the locally made organic pork sausage that is the star ingredient.

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Biltmore Channel your inner aristocrat and get bougie at Biltmore. Take it back to the gilded age with a day at American’s largest privately owned home (aka house, winery and 8,000-acre estate with nine gardens, shops, dining ops and many tours and activities). Drool over the architecture and history; tour the gorgeous historic gardens; enjoy wine tastings; access Antler Hill Village for shopping, dining and outdoor options; and more.

Grove Park Inn As one of the country’s most historic hotels, the renowned property is worth a pit stop — from the nubby rock facade to the giant lobby fireplaces to the F. Scott Fitzgerald lore to the golf, spa, restos, views (obv) and more.

Asheville Urban Trail Take a walk into history via the Asheville Urban Trail, a literal walking tour of the city’s rich history.

The two-hour amble explores 30 sculptural trail stations, each repping a historical moment or achievement in the city’s fabled history (think Vanderbilt, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Thomas Wolfe, to name a select few). Plaque No. 1 is stationed in Asheville’s Pack Square. Get steppin’! Oh, and be sure to veer off-course for grub, brews, shops (think indie, handcrafted, vintage and chic wares to bookstores and wearable art) and buskers galore!

Pisgah National Forest This pit stop (or long stop) located off the gorg must-drive 469-mile Blue Ridge Parkway (meandering from Virginia through Western NC) at milepost 408.6, roughly 40 miles from downtown, the 500,000-acre wonderland — one of the country’s first national forests — is a breathtaking earthly wonder with hundreds of miles of trails, waterfalls, swimming holes and forest for you to get lost in (not literally, please).

Appalachian Trail Whether for romance or rugged nature, the AT offers 2,000-plus miles of sun-soaked footpaths along the ridgecrests and valleys of the famed Appalachian Mountains. Any number of day-hike opps will have you wanting to plan a return visit.

Beer As if you need an(other) excuse to belly up, Asheville — with more breweries per capita than any other U.S. locale — is known for its bevvy of must-visit breweries and taverns. We’re looking at you Wicked Weed, Thirsty Monk and, well, any off the awesome “USA Today” 10 list (see the list at triangletoday.com). Oh, and in the spirit (get it?) of, well, spirits, you should totes fetch some Champagne with Fido while book shopping at Battery Park.

Eat I know. Twist your arm. Triangle-ites are familiar with Tupelo Honey these days, but fans may want to stop in the original for a bite (or some honey, obv). Other fare faves run the gamut from low-key taco stops to top-notch meals by James Beard toques (Rhubarb and The Rhu’s John Fleer and Buxton Hall Barbecue‘s Elliott Moss) to seemingly hole-in-the-wall spots like The Admiral (rated No. 1 by our friends at “USA Today“). Def a lesson in not judging a book by its cover.

Find more photos and hotspots at triangletoday.com.

good eats

ONE DAYONE DA UNIVER UNIVERSITY ONE DAY UNIVERSITY ONE DAY UNIVERSITY Year’ s Resolutions. ..

CRAWFORD AND SON NAMED N&O’S BEST RESTAURANT 2018

THE PROS Owner/chef Scott Crawford is indisputably one of the area’s most talented chefs. A five-time semifinalist for the James Beard Foundation’s award for Best Chef: Southeast, Crawford has left a trail of Mobil Five Star awards at luxury resorts across the Southeast – including the Umstead Hotel and Spa in Cary, where he also earned my Restaurant of the Year selection in 2010 for his work at Herons.

At Crawford and Son, the chef shed the posh settings and fancy presentations he was known for and had the courage to simplify.

The result is honest, affordable food, presented in a seasonally evolving menu that showcases flavors and textures cleanly.

The wait staff is well-trained, as anyone who has dined at a Crawford-run restaurant would expect. But they’re not fine-dining formal, instead setting a casual mood that makes the 60-seat dining room feel like a cozy neighborhood restaurant.

Those warm smiles on the faces of the staff are no doubt at least in part because of how they’re treated by the owner. Crawford has been known to provide optional pre-shift massages and chiropractic treatments for the entire staff.

What’s more, he clearly values the importance of their contribution to the restaurant’s success. Invariably,

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Greg Cox for TriangleToday

PRESENTS

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when I’ve complimented him, Crawford’s response has been something along the lines of, “It’s not just me, it’s my team.” And he sounds like he means it.

Crawford’s generosity of spirit extends beyond his own restaurant’s walls. After sharing his story of drug and alcohol addiction last year (he has been sober for 13 years now), he started a local chapter of Ben’s Friends, an organization dedicated to helping people in the restaurant industry (where the rate of addiction is notoriously high) recover and stay healthy.

THE CONS As I mentioned, I gave the Restaurant of the Year award already to a restaurant where Crawford was chef – Herons. In an area blessed with so many talented chefs, recognizing the same person twice goes against my natural inclination to spread the honors around. But it is not without precedent. Chef Andrea Reusing, a James Beard Award winner, got the nod for Lantern in 2009 and again last year for The Durham.

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