Top
Search

Follow Us


Blake McGee and Tricia Redleski, who are planning a November wedding at The Carolina Inn.

Brides, grooms, relatives and friends flocked to The Carolina Inn for its annual bridal fair. View the photos ...

RECENT BLOG POSTS
Our Sister Magazine

EMAIL ADDRESS: 

Delivered by FeedBurner

Entries in Franklin Street (6)

Thursday
Jan282010

Franklin Street Gourmet Chocolate Shop to Open Saturday

DateThursday, January 28, 2010 at 11:45AM | by AuthorLisa Rossi | Comment2 Comments

There is a new business opening up on the western portion of Franklin Street that I think you should know about.

It’s called The Chocolate Door, and is owned by the aptly named Meghan Rosensweet. Meghan Rosesweet at The Chocolate Door.

Rosensweet, 30, who was trained at Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Atlanta, will have her grand opening Saturday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. It will include free chocolate tastings and other deals, as well as a fundraiser for Haiti relief.

The 800-square foot store is located at 516 W. Franklin St. (Right across the street from the Chapel Hill News building and in the old Dai Chinese Restaurant location.) It will offer 25 flavors daily, plus cookies, coffee and chocolate drinks. She also caters.

It’s the only gourmet chocolate store on Franklin Street, but adds to the other sweet shops in that area, including Sugarland and Bliss. What makes it special is Meghan’s unique approach to flavors. One of her offerings is a strip of maple bacon dipped in chocolate and covered with toffee.

“Sometimes people look at me strangely,” she says. “I say, ‘Just taste it.' ... I have fun creating the flavors. Especially in the summertime, I’ll go to the farmers' market and wander around. If something strikes me, like a jelly or syrup, I'm like, 'OK, I’ll make a ganache out of that.'" 

Here’s the other interesting tidbit – Meghan makes her chocolates onsite. You can actually catch a glimpse of her making the stuff while perusing the store.

Megan and her husband (who will also spend time working at The Chocolate Door), reside in Pittsboro. 

tagged ,
| Print ArticlePrint Article |
Monday
Aug032009

Franklin Street Performer Program to Start This Weekend

DateMonday, August 3, 2009 at 1:48PM | by AuthorLisa Rossi | Comment2 Comments

I love street performers, which is why I’m so glad downtown advocates have put together a program that encourages musicians to play on Franklin Street. This is a good thing. It means I’ll be walking to a soundtrack of great local music, and not the pesky Chicago showtunes which are always, always going through my head. Street performers create ambience, making your memories and feelings of a place or a moment stronger, don’t you think? Photo courtesy of www.franklinstreetcomesalive.com

The Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership, along with the Chapel Hill Mayor’s office, is spearheading the program to encourage street performers. Here’s how it works: musicians apply to www.franklinstreetcomesalive.com, and if selected, get paid $50 plus tips for each evening of performance.

Bobby Funk, with the partnership, said the program is designed in part to change the perception that people think they are not allowed to make music on Franklin Street. That is not the case. There is no special permission needed to play, he said.

“We’re giving them an avenue,” Funk said, adding that as time goes on, downtown advocates hope musicians will play on their own without a special program.

In the meantime, downtown-goers can count on three musicians a night on Friday and Saturday nights for six weekends starting with this one. Approximately 40 to 50 musicians have applied for 36 paid spots, but more are encouraged to apply, Funk said.

tagged , in ,
| Print ArticlePrint Article |
Friday
Apr172009

Franklin Street Building Owner Joe Riddle Speaks

DateFriday, April 17, 2009 at 2:45PM | by AuthorLisa Rossi | CommentPost a Comment

Check out Chapel Hill Magazine’s upcoming May issue for a provocative interview with Chapel Hill landowner Joe Riddle. Riddle, owner of Riddle Commercial Properties in Fayetteville, doesn’t often talk to members of the print media, but he did with me – for nearly two hours. It was a sometimes spirited exchange. At one point, he cancelled the interview in his office, concerned his comments would hurt efforts to protest tax rates on his properties in Chapel Hill. Then he finished the interview

Some excerpts from the Q & A:

NO RESTAURANTS: Many downtown advocates wonder why the former First Union Bank space at Columbia and Franklin Streets has been empty for more than five years. Riddle said a lease he has with First Union does not allow for a restaurant there because he doesn’t want someone competing with Top of the Hill. He also said the former bank was not vented properly for a restaurant. Riddle said Wachovia, which merged with First Union, has the right to sublease that space, provided it’s not a restaurant.

 ON THE ECONOMY: Riddle said his problem with filling the vacant space below Top of the Hill is lack of interest among good retailers. “This is the worst since the Great Depression, especially for real estate,” he said. “It’s definitely a trying time with the banking collapse and lack of funding from lenders.”

THE BOTTOM LINE: Riddle deflected responsibility for his vacant properties on Franklin Street. “It’s not the building owners’ fault,” he said, citing parking, panhandlers, the economy, competitive retail centers and the retail mix for problems with our commercial center.

tagged , , , , , in
| Print ArticlePrint Article |
Tuesday
Apr142009

A New Director for Downtown Group

DateTuesday, April 14, 2009 at 4:14PM | by AuthorLisa Rossi | CommentPost a Comment

Jim NortonAbout a month ago, Jim Norton, the soon-to-be executive director of the Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership, visited Franklin Street to get a look at the area he would soon champion.

His first impression? “Ninety percent of downtowns would kill to have the amount of retail and restaurant activity and entertainment that you have downtown,” said Norton, who will soon leave his post as president of Downtown Tulsa Unlimited, the organization that advocates for downtown Tulsa, Okla.

That may be true, but Franklin Street has its share of problems, which surely its many stakeholders will talk to Norton about when he gets here in June. Concern has swirled around panhandlers by business storefronts, the bleed of retail spending away from Franklin Street to other retail centers such as The Streets at Southpoint in Durham, and the few, but hard to miss empty storefronts that don’t seem to ever get filled.

 Chapel Hill’s Downtown Partnership announced the hiring of Norton last week. In a brief interview today, Norton was reticent to say where he would first target his efforts, but he did talk about the tools he used in Tulsa to solve problems that have also plagued downtown Chapel Hill – such as vacant properties owned by landlords who won’t sell or lease.

About a year ago, Norton said Tulsa passed a nuisance ordinance that would force owners of dilapidated buildings to fix up their properties and bring them up to code.

Though Norton said he was unsure whether that would be a solution in Chapel Hill, he said, “We’ll look at all the tools that are available to us.”

To see the full text on Norton’s hiring, go here.

tagged , , in
| Print ArticlePrint Article |
Tuesday
Apr072009

Storybook Ending

DateTuesday, April 7, 2009 at 4:11PM | by AuthorAndrea Griffith | Comment2 Comments

 Fresh off the flight from Detroit, Coach Williams brought back the trophy fans — and his team — had been waiting for.

Watching a caravan of buses drive on I-40 has never been so enthralling.

Before the 2009 national champions arrived at the celebration in their honor Tuesday afternoon, they landed at RDU. As they gathered at Dean E. Smith Center, thousands of fans — who skipped work and class and boarded buses of their own to be there — kept their eyes glued to the big screen, cheering as, one by one, their favorite players and coaches walked off the plane and onto shuttle buses.

Then came the very last leg of the journey back to home court. Traffic on I-40 was halted; many drivers parked their cars on the side of the road to wave.

Once the parade arrived on Franklin Street, the crowd of spectators grew larger as dozens of folks stopped on the sidewalk to show their appreciation.

Finally, the team arrived. Inside the Smith Center, Coach Roy Williams said, "Winning the second national championship for our alma mater is even sweeter [than the first]."

"This is a storybook ending, and I couldn't ask for more," said senior Bobby Frasor. 

As flashbulbs went off at a constant rate from the sea of Carolina blue, many of the players brought cameras of their own to stage to document this moment in time — proving that while lines of sight may differ between those being cheered and those doing the cheering, the experience for all involved is universal.

 The day's headline summed up the emotion at Smith Center.

 Thousands of devoted fans gave their team the proper 'welcome home' party,

tagged , , , , , in
| Print ArticlePrint Article |
Tuesday
Apr072009

Confessions of Tar Heel Neophyte

DateTuesday, April 7, 2009 at 12:26PM | by AuthorLisa Rossi | CommentPost a Comment

There’s nothing like seeing a roiling crowd of 20-somethings climbing light poles, dancing on rooftops and dropping their pants to remind a person they are approaching official adulthood. I’m in my late 20s, but I still feel the pull of adventure, so I went out to view the revelry last night on Franklin Street. Tens of thousands of people flooded downtown in celebration of the Tar Heels' national championship over Michigan State. But I was reminded at each juncture that I was only a sneeze in time away from being where they were — chugging beer, smiling sloppily for candid pictures — and, well — I won’t go on. But as they chugged, I sipped. As they made out with each other, I grabbed the hand of my friend — an MBA student —  for fear I’d get lost in the bedlam. As they jumped over fire, I said a silent thank you for the police clustered on street corners and in the streets.

I saw one young woman literally collide with a tall guy in the middle of the crowd at the corner of Franklin and Columbia Streets. Instead of saying, “Excuse me,” they started to make out. At this point, I really started to wonder — was I ever an undergraduate? This all looked so foreign to me — and believe me — I was no angel during my undergraduate days at the University of Iowa, a Big 10 school where football victories would incite similar random acts of passion. It’s been less than a decade since I was there. Have I drifted so far? Shamefully, I have.

I walked on and saw a young woman collapsed with intoxication lifted into the air by her outstretched arms and noodle legs by a team of friends. I snuck a glimpse of her face when she stumbled to her feet: She had an amused smile. That surprised me. I expected something blank, an expression wiped clean from all the shots I assumed she had done. I guess school spirit gives people super powers. I saw a young man climb to a low rooftop by the Carolina Coffee Shop. He turned around and dropped his pants and wiggled back and forth in efforts to get more cheers from the crowd.

At this point, I tried to switch from judging all the people who were having the kind of fun that I recently left behind to appreciating it. I just felt more motherly and detached from it than before. As I passed another street corner on the way out of Franklin Street, I spotted another couple with lips locked and heads lolling from side to side. At least it was a happy mob, I said to my friend. People were French kissing; they weren’t fighting. They were jumping over fire instead of pushing people in it. And a mean little part of me laughed, knowing that soon enough they’d be cooking nutritious meals for their spouses and staying sober on weeknights for their 9 to 5 jobs and — if they are lucky — getting a chance to watch their younger counterparts with a sober mixture of horror and humor before going home slightly enlightened and wholly unharmed.

tagged , in
| Print ArticlePrint Article |