best restaurant in durham. it's true: toast is the best restaurant in durham. i'm a pretty committed eater, and i've eaten at most of the durham & chapel hill high spots (haven't been to four square, but that's about the only major gap), and yet i find myself returning to toast night after night.
you might say 'well, sure, toast is a lot cheaper than those other restaurants," and yes, that's true, but i can honestly say that their nightly dinner specials are, on most nights, among the best food being served in durham.
if you know me, you might say 'well, you live just a block away," but i also live within easy walking distance of all the restaurants in brightleaf square, as well as two of my other favorite durham restaurants, rue cler and piedmont.
and yet toast is still my go-to restaurant. kelli & billy cotter have both worked in local restaurants for ages, but this is their first time as owner/operators, and they're so clearly thrilled to be doing what they love that it just feels good to eat there.
the lunch menu is great -- soups, salads, sandwiches & crostini -- but the secret weapon is billy's dinner specials. they rotate daily, based on the season and on billy's whim. i try to take photos & post them on flickr when i remember to: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rossgrady/sets/72157607251296349/
some examples:
local asparagus, farm egg, shiitake, capers
white anchovies & roasted sweet red peppers
nc mackerel, green & yellow beans, local cherry tomatoes, parsley, sliced new potatoes.
mushroom, celery, parsley, parmesan salad
spicy calamari, chickpeas & greens
mackerel with lentils and sweet red pepper
pork ragu with semolina "gnocchi"
all of the above were in the $8-10 pricerange.
i feel weird posting this review, because i know that to be taken seriously, i ought to think of something negative to say, but i honestly can't think of anything. are there things i *wish* toast had? sure: i wish they were open for breakfast/brunch on the weekend. i wish they had a real bar so i could have draft beer with my meal (although they have a great selection of microbrews in bottles). i sometimes wish they were open until 8:30 or 9:00 instead of just 8:00 p.m. but none of that really matters at all; it's darn-near perfect as-is.
i suppose i'd also like to mention that while i'm friendly with kelli & billy now -- it'd be hard not to be, even if i ate there far less than i do -- but i'd never met them before they opened the restaurant (and i never see them outside the restaurant, probably because they're there *all the time*).
i just want to see them succeed so i can keep eating there.