Cypress on the Hill

Tomato Season is in full swing!!

greg — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 20:02:50 +0000

Come enjoy the amazing flavors of summer at Cypress tonight! Heirloom tomatoes are the star of this months menu; showing up in all guises. Try our Brae Burn & Peregrine Farms Heirloom Gazpacho, or our incredibly Fresh Local Tomato Plate with Goat Cheese & Chorizo Croquettes, or maybe a NC Black Grouper dish with a classic Panzanella Salad of Heirloom Tomatoes, Lemon Cucumbers, & Fresh Herbs. We’re certainly excited about this time of year, and we hope you are too.

Cypress Is Now Open for Late Night!

greg — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 19:12:50 +0000

Please join us on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights, starting this Thursday, June 23rd, and all summer long, for a casual late night bar scene. Our fantastic bar staff we be here until 2am, serving up our great wine list, craft beers, and signature cocktails. Chef de Cuisine Phil McLaughlin has put together a simple, yet extremely tasty menu of late night snacks, and we will be keeping the kitchen open until 1:30am on those nights. You can view our late night menu under the Events heading above. So if you’re looking for a casual, yet refined place to get away from the cheap beer and shot crowd on Franklin Street, stop in and see us for a drink, some grub, or both.

Our Cypress Tree

harry — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 18:58:17 +0000

The bald cypress, Taxodium distichum, is one of the most majestic trees in North America. It is endemic to low lying, swampy and coastal areas of the southeastern US and Mexico and is a frequent host to Spanish moss. There is an interesting stand of cypress on Old Erwin Road, just off of 751 in Durham. While this tree prefers to have its ‘feet wet’, it will function well in any landscape and in urban street plantings just as long as it receives extra water in droughts.

Our tree is in a planter outside the side entrance of the restaurant and is a dwarf variety known as ‘Peve Minaret’. It is just now leafing out at the end of March and will be growing actively during the next few months. Why cypress? It’s just that it’s our favorite tree.

Fresh Herbs from our Garden

harry — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 03:28:37 +0000

During the construction process for upfitting the building as a restaurant, all of the foundation beds were rehabilitated and planted with a large variety of perennial and annual herbs. Currently we have fresh rosemary, sage, parsley, mint, oregano, bay leaves and chives. As the weather warms, we will be planting dill, fennel, lemon grass and four varieties of basil. In addition, one of Alex’s colleagues gave us a plant of red shiso (Perilla frutescens) now showering the garden with hundreds of its offspring that might find their way into our microgreen collection!. Another bonus is having lemon verbena and ‘Kentucky Colonel’ mint (Mentha spicata) that will end up in a few of our specialty cocktails and desserts.

Keep an eye on our gallery of pictures for some photos of the herbs as they begin to flourish this spring.

Reviews by Greg Cox in News and Observer, November 2009

harry — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 01:58:39 +0000

This article entitled “Cypress on the Hill: A fine culinary experience” by Greg Cox appeared in the Raleigh News and Observer on November 27, 2009. The bass dish that he describes is on of the signature dishes of our restaurant and has been on the menu since we opened in February of 2009. The featured fish changes with the season and availability (bass, snapper or flounder).

The plated dish is pictured on the dinner menu page of the website.

Recently, January 21, 2011, in the updated best of the triangle list, Greg Cox awarded 6 “Gold Medals” and 24 “Silver Medals”. We were pleased to be recognized as one of the Silver Medal choices!