Thursday September 14, 5:30 pm - 9:00 pm
Featuring Chapel Hill Creamery

The Chapel Hill Creamery started with Portia McKnight and Flo Hawley's desire to make cheese and has developed into 12 cows, two pigs, and a handful of chickens. Their underlying philosophy is to raise "cows that are healthy and happy and improving the quality of the land" with enough pasture land to rotate the herd for maximum grass growth (delivering maximum nutrition), a breed of cow that would give high quality, great tasting milk, and a marketing cycle that would allow for the natural rhythm of the cows and the land.

They use Intensive Grazing, which focuses on grass feeding with a small addition of grain. The cows get most to all of their nutritional needs from grass during the spring and summer and revert to more hay and grain in the winter. Portia and Flo breed all their cows to coincide a spring delivery with fresh grass. This begins the cheese making cycle that will end in December when the grass is long gone and the cow is busy gestating another baby. This cycle is good for the land, the cows, and the people who all get a break in the winter.

The Chapel Hill Creamery makes around 6-7 kinds of cheese. Their line-up includes Carolina Moon and New Moon (Camembert-like), fresh Mozzarella, Farmer's cheese (also a fresh cheese), feta and a raw-milk, aged cheese made in the monastery style. Monastery cheeses were traditionally named after the monastery where they were made, and in keeping with that, they named their monastery cheese Hickory Grove after the Baptist Church at the end of their road.

Plan on eating dinner at Panzanella on Thursday, September 14 and see what creative dishes we've come up with that feature the cheeses of Chapel Hill Creamery.

Italy: Off the Beaten Path
September 11, 2006
7:00- 9:30 pm

Italy is one of the most viticulturally diverse wine-producing countries in the world. It is home to more than 20 different wine growing regions and produces more than 2000 varieties. What does this mean to us? It means that each region and town in Italy has a wine style all its own, with native grape varieties that aren't found anywhere else. Its geography alone is an indication of the diverse style of wines Italy produces, from the Alps to the Adriatic Sea. Italy has wine regions nestled into mountainsides and hidden around every corner.

Ever wonder what wines the locals are drinking when you travel to the small towns of Italy? Well, join us on Monday September 11, 2006, 7:00-9:30 pm, at Panzanella Restaurant and find out! Mike Tiano of the Haw River Wine Man will take us on a tasting tour of some of Italy's most interesting wines from regions like Puglia, Campania, Alto Adige, Veneto and Friuli. Enjoy seven different wines from amazing regions of Italy, paired with six wonderful courses of food produced by Panzanella.

The cost of this event is $40/person; space is limited, so reserve early. Please pay in advance and pick up a ticket for this tasting at either Panzanella or the Customer Service Desk at Weaver Street Market in Carrboro.

Contemporary Expressionist Paintings
August 21 through October 22

Guy Wilkins studied art in Norfolk, Virginia, while working as a journalist in the 1960s, and has painted for some 45 years since. His subjects, expressed in vibrating strokes of color, range from real life to imaginary situations, and are often inhabited by quirky, whimsical figures.

Guy exhibits regularly in North Carolina and Virginia, and also in New York City at the Amsterdam Whitney Gallery in Chelsea.

Public Reception:
Monday, September 25, 5:30-7:30pm

Please join us for a perfect opportunity to wander around and enjoy the work while the restaurant is closed, meet the artist, and get to know other local art lovers.

The reception is free and open to the public. Our bar will be open, and free light hors d'oeurvres will be served.