Alan, I've spent most of my Chinese restaurant eating time avoiding Chinese buffets. They seemed to me to be the antithesis of what was supposed to be good about Chinese food. But something happened on the way out of the buffet: I started eating at them. And I think that's a bad thing, because every non-buffet Chinese restaurant in the area has gone downhill at the same time. I can't say for sure they're related, but I think they are. I load up on my favorites that I can find, take them home, and eat barely warm and dried-out food. It's very frustrating to me to get Chinese food these days, because I don't even have a favorite Chinese restaurant any more. I don't really have a favorite buffet either. Some folks I know like to eat at Ichiban Hibachi Supreme Buffet in Avondale Plaza, but it's a chain of sorts, I think, with near-identical restaurants elsewhere. For non-buffet, I go back and forth between Happy China near Rockwood, and Shanghai on West Hillsborough near the 147/15-501 interchange. Good luck. If you have any suggestions yourself, please let us know. And I don't mean to sound like a snob here. It's just really disappointing lately, especially given how much other dining in the area has taken off and headed skyward. The one bright spot is Charlie Deal's Juju near 9th and Markham/Hillsborough. That's not a buffet, but it's certainly worth a visit or three. :)

chennirei: Thank you! I'd forgotten about Bleu Olive, probably because I'd never made it up there. There have been some decent restaurants in that space, so I hope Bleu Olive can measure up to some of its predecessors. And Melo's I didn't even know about. So 2 new places to try, and both in North Durham — in fact, both in the same mall! Neat.

Ooh, Carpe Durham actually took a picture of the menu, among other things: http://carpedurham.com/2014/06/26/gocciolina-restaurant/

Nichole: Good job. :) Let me know how it turns out. The holes haven't been much of a problem for me, really. I just put a towel down before I work, then pick it up when I'm done.

Fritz! Yep -- 3 pizzerias within the loop when Pizzeria Toro gets back into operation. It is amazing how much pizza Durham can eat. It's amazing how much pizza *I* can eat. ;)

Alan: exactly. I'm not saying it's Orval or anything, but if you're going to have cheap American lager [which, amazingly, I often do want :)], go for it.

Coozledad! I'm glad people still read this stuff occasionally. Believe it or not, I have most of that stuff, except for the lathe. Unfortunately, I just haven't come anywhere near doing any of it (time/laziness: I blame both). I've also thought of pounding wine corks into the holes, but turns out they're a hair big.

Steelman9920: Not yet. I'm happy with it though. Mostly I thought I'd just use cutting boards when I'm doing work. The holes haven't really been a problem, but I'm concerned about food falling through into the drawers. By the way, be careful pushing the drawers in the first time. You have to push them in fairly hard to get the slides to attach. But if you push them in too hard or incorrectly, you'll mess up the rather insubstantial slides, and ball bearings will fall out of them. You can actually get the bearings back in there, but it's a pain.

Fritz! Glad to see you around. I'd ask where you've been, but I don't have any excuse myself. :)

Peace to you too, Mark. Thanks for dropping by & offering your blessing opinion. :)

Apparently the menu PDFs linked to in the N&O story are incorrect in a few places, and were intended as mock-ups. While some stuff on those is correct, some isn't. Caveat diner. )-D

Sucar! I'm so glad to see you. I did kinda go off there. And then it looks like they're going to try to make gluten-free doughnuts anyway, so good for them.

Someone I assume is Tom Ferguson, writing on Rise's Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/risebiscuitsdonuts: "Attention vegans and glutinous free followers. We're still working on this donut and I'm not sure yet if it will be a go for tomorrow, if it's not and you're there without a donut I'll give the first ten people in that situation a Rise T-shirt and a rain check. Don't give up hope yet, we're still working on it." You go, Tom. :)

So there's good news and bad news. Good: the folks at Rise are going to have a gluten-free, vegan doughnut. The bad news: they're going to be in the hinterlands of South Durham, near Southpoint: http://blogs.newsobserver.com/food/rise-biscuits-and-donuts-to-open-near-southpoint-mall-in-durham

Keith: we've had some pretty extensive conversations about cheese and other stuff in the past; I think bees were center stage that night. But thanks for the ideas about, um, milk kräusening. :)

Divad -- not sure. Maybe a different US standard for the chocolate-y outside?

Josh -- Good to see you around. :) If it makes any difference to you, the lard is salted, and costs $6 for what looks like a quart Mason jar full.

D'oh! I'm too gullible. :) Thanks, Eric.

SLN: Thank you. :)

Special correspondent "Agent K" wants it known that it was I, Joe, who scarfed the majority of the 6 pączki. Of course.

Thanks for your indulgence yesterday while I was blacked out. Hope at least some of you got on the anti-SOPA and -PIPA bandwagons along with me.

coozledad: You know, if the Book Ex had kept up with all that stock & actually sold it, maybe they'd still be in business. And maybe they should have displayed the shotgun as local flavor. I can hardly imagine, say, the Regulator or the bookstore I used to work in displaying a shotgun, and I'm certain the big chains wouldn't. :) By the way, thanks for the link to this post.

Eric: Yes, except for maybe this stuff, which is purportedly made of chicken. :)

I guess restaurants can't usually have cats, but did the Book Ex? I can't remember. When I Was in New Orleans, it seemed like every used bookstore I went in (mostly in the Vieux Carré, I guess?) had a cat. I thought it was odd, until I realized it was probably for rodent control.