Saturday, December 31, 2005

Matchless Memorabilia ~ 6

These matches are all from restaurants in the Raleigh area which no longer exist. Ragamuffins was located in the former North Hills Mall. It's claim to fame was "beer, cheese and cauliflower soup" and the best bran muffins you have ever eaten. When they announced that they were closing the restaurant, I bought 2 dozen of the muffins, froze them and ate them sparingly over the next year. Too bad I couldn't have done that with the soup. The owner gave the recipe to one of our local radio personalities, and he shared it with his listeners, but I have been convinced that either the recipe was read incorrectly - or I left something out by accident - because I could never get it to taste like it had at Ragamuffins!


Mandarin House was located in Cameron Village, the first "shopping center" in the southeast. They had wonderful Chinese food, but eventually they were overshadowed by larger and newer places.

Vivo was one of a series of five places owned by two guys. I ate there once and was looking forward to going back for another panini and tomato-basil soup, but they closed, and soon after they opened a tapas restaurant in the same location.

The black one on the right is from the Triangle Dinner Theater, located in the Governor's Inn in Research Triangle Park. They also had a restaurant called Galeria, which also featured dancing to a big band orchestra. We went there once with a group of neighbors.

The Soong Room Lounge was located within Jung's Far East, Cantonese Cuisine at Eastgate Shopping Center. Best known for their egg foo yung (at least by me), they were the second Asian place to open in Raleigh, and lasted at leat 20 years before closing.

Crossroads was located in a private home on a hill overlooking Crabtree Valley Mall. It was a great place for a steak, with ambiance and a view of the mall and highways below.

The next row holds 2 different matches from Flamingo's, which was located on Glenwood Avenue near downtown. I had my first and last softshell crabs here (not my cup of tea).
This place was also in a home; an old cottage refitted as a restaurant, with quaint dining in each room.

Hardback Cafe and Bookstore was located in Chapel Hill, near the campus of the University of North Carolina. When my children were students there, we used to take every opportunity to visit and treat ourselves to lunch at Spanky's or the Hardback, which had the best pizza, which they called a boboli. I don't know what the difference between pizza and boboli is - but theirs was exceptionally good.

Man Chun House snuck in there - as it is not in the Raleigh area, but in Atlantic Beach, NC. I don't remember eating there, but in general, Asian restaurants found in small NC beach towns are not the best places to dine.
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I will be working for the next three days and I may not get to post anything new for a while. Here's hoping that all of you will have a happy and safe New Year's Eve and a wonderful year in 2006. As I have told you before, all of you have enriched my life this year and I am profoundly thankful.

21 comments:

scrappintwinmom said...

Happy New Year Kenju! Here via Michele.

Gel said...

Another post rich in history. Now I regret having stopped collecting matchbooks. Dropped in to wish you and yours a very HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Anonymous said...

My mother collects matchbooks. She has them from all over the country. Michele sent me. Happy new Year!!!

Anonymous said...

Cool collection Happy New Year!!! Michele sent me.

Anonymous said...

I remember Crossroads. If I'm not mistaken, it was owned by the same guys that then owned the Bridgetender at Wrightsville Beach.

Happy New Year!

srp said...

Happy New Year, Judy!
Have you ever been to "Mama Dips" Restaurant? I think it may be very near the campus at Chapel Hill. We went there during the whirlwind college hunting trip and the food is delicious.

brendalove@gmail.com said...

We used to loooooove Mandarin House!

OldLady Of The Hills said...

Thank You Judy for your lovely New Years wishes...
And I wish you all the same, my dear....

Don't work too hard...! (lol)

Hopw 2006 will be the BEST year ever, for you and yours!

Carolyn said...

Quite the collection Judy, and so interesting! That Chapel at Duke Uni is spectacular isn't it? My stepson got his degree at Duke so we visited it several times and attended service once. Always breathtaking.

Have a very happy New Year Judy!

Anonymous said...

Happy New Year, my friend. May 2006 be a year to "match" the very best of them. :-)

Duke_of_Earle said...

Happy New Year, Judy! I hope 2006 brings you all the good things you've dreamed of.

John

Beanhead said...

Hope you have a great new year!

Here from Michele's

Jamie Dawn said...

There is a children's clothing store called Ragamuffin in Modesto, CA near where we used to live.

My favorite of this group is Flamingo's. I like the look of it. I like it when restaurants have neon flamingos and palm trees in the windows and on the walls.

Happy New Year, Judy!! I wish the best to you and your husband in 2006.

OldHorsetailSnake said...

Hey, everybody: Judy needs a bigger house to display all this memorabilia. Plus she's probably got some dried flowers hanging around somewhere.

So, I'm in for 5 percent (or less).

Peter said...

Happy New Year Judy, certainly a matchless collection.

utenzi said...

Happy New Year, Judy. I hope 2006 brings you many happy times and wonderful memories to look back on.

Michele sent me by to see you.

Anonymous said...

Happy New Year Judy!! You are a very interesting woman (I mean that in a good way), love reading your website. My husband has a diverse collection of matchbooks and soaps (don't ask, lol). Thank you for allowing me the pleasure of reading and learning so many things for your 'blog'

David Edward said...

here from michele- happy new year to you!

David Edward said...

happy new year - here from michele

Peter said...

Hi Judy, in case you hadn't noticed comments are not enabled on your new post, did you have trouble with this a while back?
It's a good post by the way.

Weary Hag said...

Ohhhh thanks for posting these! As you know, I used to collect matchbooks as well and still have many. I tried to see if we could 'match' any of our matchbooks but so far, no. *wink*

Hey Judy, what's the word on the comment moderation? Have you been harrassed or something? I just thought it odd for you to be using that. Just curious.