It took a misinformed New York Times article to bring The Biscuit back to life, but before, here’s some explaining.

After a deep breath, here it goes:

Yes, The Biscuit has been gone for sometime. You might have even considered this site stale, and you’d be right if you did. Short story is that school gets in the way, but the same hardwork got The Biscuit a job in Manhattan this summer, so celebrate. There will be almost too many eating opportunties and experiences to share.

It’s going to be difficult to keep this site super updated with a real job and being away from Chapel Hill. So we’re going to stray away a little from the norm and talk about New York dining when we can. But every post will hopefully be a comparison between eating in the North and South.

For example, barbecue (BBQ, they call it here) is super popular up in NYC, but they don’t exactly know what they’re doing even when they call it NC style. One guide book says that a place here has shrimp and grits as good as, quote, Crooks Corner in Chapel Hill, where the dish was originally developed. Get the idea? Finding the parallels will be fun.

For now, let’s start with sharing a quick article from the NY Times courtesy of Biscuit friend, the Muffin, that suggests what to do if you have 36 hours in the Triangle.

Overall, it seems like a decent itinerary when there’s too little time to see it all. Surprisingly, they didn’t mention Lantern, which every foreigner seems to be in the habbit of bring up now.

While it might be in Durham, it’s close enough and good enough to praise the paper for mentioning Taqueria La Vaquita, though they missed the wonderful quail in mole sauce - one of the most delicious things in the whole area.

The Biscuit has to disagree with the Chapel Hill choice of Mama Dip’s though, where we’ve yet to eat anything above average. Longtime residents will always tell you how it good it used to be. Can’t people move on? Seems a little bit like the reporters got all their info from word-of-mouth, not food-in-mouth.

Check the article out, and see what you think. Until next time, keep eating. The Biscuit has photos and videos and notes on dozens of eating experiences in Chapel Hill that will be here one day in the future.

February, right around now, happens to be The Biscuit’s birthday (the blog and the blogger, coincidentally). To celebrate, we thought we’d eat a whole load of cupcakes from the two boutique bakeries in town, Sugarland and Bliss, then figure out which we liked better.

Turns out, this was a true rumble, and picking a winner wasn’t easy.

From the start, with both costing more than $2 a pop, these desserts are a luxury we wouldn’t eat unless it was a special occassion. This time, however, was no normal day.

The Biscuit and friends came up with some judging criteria before sampling each treat: frosting, cake, appearance, flavor and creativity. We took each bite with these aspects in mind (which took a little fun out of the eating. By the fifth cupcake, however, eating wasn’t fun anymore.)

Let’s start with Sugarland, which has been around for about a year now. They brought the upscale cupcake concept to Chapel Hill after it had already been popular in bigger cities. The Biscuit originally thought paying the $3.25 for a cupcake was rediculous (it is), but everyonce in a while they’re a nice reward.

At first, Suglarland’s cupcake creations were normal, chocolate, vanilla, but they’ve really expanded into some pretty interesting concoctions. We decided to try triple chocolate, chocolate cake with banana cream filling, cream cheese-iced banana cake filled with nutella and strawberry shortcake. Not your average flavors.

Their competion came from the newcomer in Chapel Hill. Opening in the place of 3Cups, Bliss seemed like a gamble because, really, Chapel Hill ain’t big enough for two boutique bakeries. That’s where we in step in.

While Sugarland does a little bit of everything - cookies, coffee, gelato, cocktails, Bliss really focuses on the cupcake. They have a pretty cool system, too. They sell six regular flavors for $2.50, which are always on the menu, and then three daily specials, which rotate every week (Dulce de leche, orange-spice and oreo when we went, Thursday).

We thought we’d keep it consistent when choosing flavors from Bliss, so we got one with chocolate cake and an orange-spice to go against Sugarland’s strawberry shortcake and then a golden cake with chocolate ganache, which an employee said was their specialty.

Let’s talk about individual cupcakes first.

At Sugarland, the chocolate cake with banana cream really didn’t work. The filling was subtle and cold, you didn’t really know what you were eating. The cake can only be described as tasting dark. On the other hand, the banana nutella cupcake was probably the best of the night. The originality was superb and the combination of flavors just right. The cream cheese icing offered a nice break from the other cupcakes’ frosting, which you’ll see hurt Sugarland.

It was obvious why everyone’s favorite at Bliss was the yellow cake with chocolate ganache icing. The topping was just right, like the inside of a really good truffle, and it mixed well with the cake. The other two were both about as good as each other, solidly delicious treats.

Overall, there were some real differences between both bakeries.

Sugarland was willing to step out of the box and try all kinds of flavors. We had trouble choosing between all of them. (The chocolate malt still sounds good.) And they used the right ingredients for everything. The strawberry shortcake icing, which had real chunks of fruit, was probably the best flavor we had all night. You could taste the real vanilla and intense chocolate in most of the cupcakes.

Every one was pretty moist, though they were all so cold they had a texture that seemed like they were from the grocery store’s industrial refrigerator. Considering that, Sugarland baked up what seemed like the traditional cupcake, what we think of when we celebrate an elementary school birthday.

But then there was the frosting. This whole super-cold thing really screwed it up for Sugarland. By keeping their cupcakes nearly frozen, they got hard, especially the topping. Except for the cream cheese icing, every other cupcake’s frosting was so bad it was hard to enjoy it. The topping was solid, super sweet and gritty with sugar, absolutely exactly like eating a chunk of frozen toothpaste, really. Although the flavor was usually nice, the ratio between cake and topping was devestating because biting through the rock-hard icing compressed the cake into nothing. The Biscuit would have just separated the two and eaten each part individually. Perhaps if they sat out for a while, the icing might melt a little and become edible.

In the other corner, Bliss did everything pretty much right. The cake was super dense and moist, the frosting just enough to let you know it was there. The flavor was subtle but left a pleasant aftertaste. All in all, the bakery put out fundamentally sound creations that were easy to enjoy.

So who’s better?

If you’re going to go big and buy these lavish cupcakes, you probably want something exotic. Otherwise, you could go to the supermarket. In that case, try Sugarland. They have some really cool flavors that taste so good.

If, however, you want a straight-up well done cupcake, go to Bliss. They’ve pefected each piece of the cake to make it all work together.

Although it might seem like the easy way out, the choice is really up to the taster.

In truth, Bliss is cheaper, closer to where The Biscuit lives, and a little more fun to eat (no worry about icing), so that’s where we’ll be.

The Biscuit will be on on WCHL1360AM’s Side Dish radio show at 11 a.m. on Sunday, with a repeat the following Saturday at 11 a.m. Tune in to hear a little bit about eating in the area and about this blog. There’ll also be talk of a rotten dining experience in D.C. Fun.

Tomorrow we will settle the battle between the boutique cupcake creators in Chapel Hill, Bliss and Sugarland. Sweet.

If you want to please your valentine and support workers’ rights, stop by UNC’s Pit Thursday, Friday or Saturday from 11 to 2 p.m. and buy some chocolate.

The candy is fair trade, which means all sorts of good things. Proceeds go to Transfair USA. It tastes good, too.

Oh, and check out this guy, who is going on a rediculous diet to get six-pack abs. The Biscuit can tell you his method is kind of overkill.

Stomach still hurting, The Biscuit managed to write a story about the Krispy Kreme Challenge experience for the Daily Tar Heel.

Although it’s hard to erase the guilt of consuming 2,400 calories in less than 10 minutes, the event was so worth it.

In the end, The Biscuit came in 14th out of 5,000+ people. That’s a lot better than expected. Here’s how The Biscuit did:

- Total time to complete challenge: 33:05 (1st place was 29:57)

- First 2 miles: 12:44

- Total doughnut eating time: 6:05 (Fastest was 1:44, geez)

- Second 2 miles: 14:23

Next year, we’ll work on the doughnut eating time. While it was faster than most, the split needs to drop to have a chance at winning.

The best news of the whole event was that reportedly the fastest N.C. State rower finished in 37 minutes or more, which is at least 35 places behind The Biscuit. Next time, the State crew might practice a little harder before trash talking.

Here are some photos from the event, courtesy of Biscuit-friend Steven Chu.

If you want to see some eating action, check out these sites’ cool coverage:

WRAL
News & Observer
N.C. State Technician

The Biscuit, if you didn’t know, rows for the UNC-Chapel Hill men’s crew team. He was especially surprised to find a funny little article in rival N.C. State’s campus paper challenging him and any other team members this Saturday.

Looks like this is getting serious.

No matter who wins, though, we know which school has the better dining hall. (More on this in the next few weeks.)

If you want to consume 2400 calories, perhaps puke, and help the N.C. Children’s Hospital in one bite (OK, maybe a lot of bites), come out for the Krispy Kreme Challenge in Raleigh Saturday morning.

Apparently registration just filled (more than are 5,000 people doing it), but it should be a fun, maybe acrid and smelly, spectacle if you want something to watch in place of Saturday morning cartoons.

The Biscuit will be running in it. He’s even practiced eating the dozen donuts. They don’t go down hard, especially if they’re warm. The guilt of gluttony weighs the most in your stomach.

If you can’t make it out, check back early next week for a story and maybe some pictures or video.

If you’re there, come say hello. We’ll be wearing Carolina Blue unisuits.

In today’s column, I looked for the best meal I could eat in one sitting and enjoy every bite because it tasted good, didn’t cost too much and - most importantly - was extremely nutritious.

I found it with the Mediterranean Deli’s 4-item sampler.

Here are some nutritional facts and additional information to go along with the story. The nutrition information was derived using the USDA Nutrient Data Laboratory. (The numbers are all rough estimates because I couldn’t weigh everything, so take it with a grain of salt, which will be fine because you’re only at 3 percent of your sodium intake if you eat the meal)

Interesting facts:

- I did pretty well with carbs and protein; they worked out to be the right portions I mentioned in the article, and they were about a third of my recommended daily value, so I could still eat breakfast and dinner

- I’ll have to figure out what’s wrong with my fat intake. According to recommended portions, I should eat more fat so that it makes up about a third of my perfect meal, yet I’m already at half of my total daily intake

- John Anderson said there’s a good chance supplement pills don’t really do anything, so it’s good I’m getting plenty of vitamins and minerals from the food

- The only problem was the huge portions; I had to take some home, which never happens. A big problem is eating too much. Eat slowly so you realize you’re full

- Walnuts are a good source of Omega-3 fatty acids, which might reduce the risk of heart disease

- Spinach: low in saturated fat, no cholesterol, very high in calcium, very high in dietary fiber, very high in iron, very high in manganese, very high in magnesium, high in niacin, very high in phosphorus, very high in potassium, very high in riboflavin, very high in thiamin, very high in vitamin A, very high in vitamin B6, very high in vitamin C, high in zinc

Well, it’s been a while hasn’t it? But The Biscuit has good news: a column in The Daily Tar Heel!

This semester, The Biscuit will be writing about food in Chapel Hill for UNC’s campus paper. The blog and articles will be integrated, so the site will supplement the columns with multimedia. That means there should be a steady supply of updates.

Expect the first real thing to run Wednesday. Before then, there might be a quick post. If not, see you then.

School is out for about a month, and The Biscuit is up in Boston. Although there will be lots of food, good food, in the frigid North, The Biscuit will probably relax until January.

Don’t fret, though, because there are already some stories in the works: Hanging out at Walt’s Grill; Which college has the best dining hall in the Triangle; the Krispy Kreme Challenge; The Biscuit’s hot sauce challenge. And some secret stuff along the way.

Enjoy the holidays and please let The Biscuit know if you have any ideas, suggestions or things you’d like to see on the site.

Until then happy eating. Go have fun with your food. In moderation.