My post-half marathon tummy troubles were luckily short lived. On the car ride from the coast to Chapel Hill, my appetite came back in full force.
And it was a good thing, because I wanted to do some good eating in Chapel Hill that evening. I had a work-related meeting to attend all day at UNC-Chapel Hill on Monday so Brittney, Brad, and I made the three hour trip on Sunday afternoon. We made a quick pit stop by the mall to pick up some work clothes for Brad, dropped him off at the airport in Raleigh, then headed to Chapel Hill (one of my favorite places ever!) to drop Rascal and our bags off at the condo where we would be staying that night. Brad and I both went to UNC-Chapel Hill (although we never knew each other as students). Brad’s parents own a condo where he lived and luckily they were nice enough to allow Brittney and I to stay there on Sunday night.
Chapel Hill has some really great restaurants, although being a cheap college student, I didn’t get to try out many of them. I was ready to take full advantage of their restaurant scene as an adult, living off of more than a part time job.
Earlier Brad suggested that I might like a new place he “googled” called Butternut Squash, so Brittney and I decided to give it a try.
Don’t be fooled by Brittney’s grim expression, the menu looked delicious.
But much to our dismay, Butternut Squash does not have a liquor license and does not serve wine. Half marathon PRs require celebratory wine so I asked the owner who was also our server if there was a wine store nearby. She said there was one around the corner, so I offered to go get us a bottle.
The wine store turned out to be a convenience store…
…but I figured we couldn’t go wrong with a Robert Mondavi Pinot Noir.
I really wanted the cheese plate since I’ve been abstaining from dairy lately and am going through withdraws, but they were mostly out of cheese. We opted for the hummus and pita chips instead. The hummus was lovely and smooth with a generous sprinkle of smoke paprika on top. I’ve never really gotten what the big deal is about smoked paprika versus regular paprika, but I get it now. Delicious.
Brittney ordered the butternut squash risotto. The serving size was generous. I was a little surprised by the red onions. I love to make risotto, especially sweet potato risotto. But I have never used red onions in my recipes, only white or yellow.
It was delicious and very buttery, just like a good risotto should be.
I ordered the hemp burger with avocado and goat cheese with a ginormous side of sweet potato fries. I split my burger with Britt, in exchange for her generosity with her risotto. I took a good stab at my sweet potato fries but only made a dent. The burger reminded me of some other vegan faux meats I have tried, but the avocado and goat cheese took it a step above the rest.
The most interesting part of our meal was when some kids repeatedly knocked on the window beside our booth and then proceeded to run away. The little boogers thought I couldn’t see them, but the shade was just transparent enough for me to see what was going on. The owner went outside and told them if they didn’t stop, she was going to make them pay for our dinner. We had a good laugh over that. 🙂
Butternut Squash was delicious and very accommodating. I actually liked the fact that they didn’t serve wine because I think the up-charge on a bottle of wine in most restaurants is excessive. The owner, who we learned is from London, was extremely nice to us. She was very helpful in providing suggestions about their best menu items and was also very knowledgeable about the food.
Butternut Squash was sooo good. Even though I’m not really a vegetarian, I wish Charlotte had such a great vegetarian/vegan restaurant. As the restaurant scene continues to expand, I’m crossing my fingers for a Butternut Squash ripoff.
