The Carolina Crossroads

Description:

• This charming, sophisticated restaurant has unofficially evolved into the local university's parlor and living room: a place where trustees and benefactors can be wined and dined, where collegiate sports heroes are celebrated, where the intricacies of academic politics are sometimes hammered into policy, and where the world at large can get a fast, favorable, and extremely hospitable overview of North Carolina's most distinguished academic institution. It's set inside a trio of dining rooms in the also-recommended Carolina Inn, amid Chippendale furniture and colonial tones of yellow and blue. It's supervised by executive chef Brian Stapleton (formerly associated with the Ritz-Carlton Hotel chain), whose craftsmanship is artfully tied to the seasons and infused with the best tenets of modern Southern cuisine. Especially tasty starters include prosciutto-wrapped arctic char on fall ratatouille or Southern barbecued quail. Main courses include oven-roasted snapper with shrimp jambalaya, grilled wild Irish salmon, roasted free-range chicken, or braised lamb shank.

• © Frommer's 2013

Awards:

Frommer's

•  Highly Recommended 2010