YOUR BACK YARD RALEIGH BLACK BOOK

Benchwarmers is a collaboration between Josh Bellamy and Sam Kirkpatrick of ​Boulted Bread​ and Andrew Cash of ​Jubala Coffee​.
Their story began almost four years ago when head baker Josh Bellamy began to dream of applying the guiding principles behind his dark, rustic loaves to an uncharted medium. Benchwarmers uses a wood-fired oven, heirloom grains, extended fermentation, and fresh-milled, pre-fermented flour to make every bagel the very best version of itself: light and open but with serious depth of flavor.

Bittersweet is a terribly wonderful cocktail, dessert and coffee lounge with an all-natural, local, seasonal menu. We are a place where you can get bourbon with your pie, champagne with your cake and Irish whiskey in your coffee. Our menu changes each season, with drink and dessert pairing specials offered regularly.

Bittersweet offers a seasonal and classic cocktail menu, with an emphasis on gin cocktails. We have over 55 different gins—many unique and rare in this state. We even have special “Gin Club” events. Our beer selection contains unique smaller breweries from North Carolina and all over. Our wine choices reflect our love of bubbles—champagne, cava, prosecco—our motto is “champagne saved is champagne wasted.”

We have a full coffee and espresso menu with beans from our pals over in Durham, Counter Culture Coffee.

Desserts are baked in-house daily from chef-owner Kim Hammer’s recipes—many going back years from Kim’s early days with her original company, bittycakes. Most weekends you will find Kim behind the bar plating tasty treats, next to our skilled and witty bartenders.

We love chatting with our customers, so join us for cocktails, dessert and late night banter—that’s right, we said banter and we meant it. We are responsible for some rather magnificent banter.

We are Raleigh’s earliest opening bar and latest open coffee shop

Weekday mornings we open at 7am–we have coffee service, fresh baked morning pastries…and yes, cocktails if day-drinking is your thing. We’re closed Monday nights, but we’re open all day and night the rest of the week for bar service and small treats. Plated desserts start at 2pm. Saturdays and Sundays we open at 2pm, so you can hit us up right after you leave brunch….and yes, you CAN get cocktails or coffee anytime we are open!

 We have Sunday-Funday activities almost every week—Champagne classes, movie screenings, special charity events, etc. Check our “Events” page for specifics.

Please note that after 8pm nightly we are restricted to ages 21+ and we do not take reservations.

Bittersweet has limited availability for special events/bookings, like engagement parties, baby showers, etc. Our capacity for private events is 50-60 adults. Please email us for more information.

John, a West Virginia native, completed his formal training in classical French cuisine as first in his class at L'Academie de Cuisine in Bethesda, Maryland. Before settling in North Carolina he worked with several well known chefs in the Washington DC area. Most notable were Jean Louis Palladin of the Watergate, and Jeffrey Bueben chef/owner of Vidalia and Bis. John’s relocation to Raleigh coincided with Rick Robinson's decision to open Mondo Bistro in Chapel Hill where John served as sous chef from the restaurant's inception until early 1995 when he left to open Bloomsbury Bistro.

Both John and the Bistro have become recognized locally and nationally for his innovative menus and the Bistro’s sophisticated, yet comfortable dining atmosphere. Publications such as USA Today, Bon Appétit and Southern Living have cast a flattering spotlight on Chef Toler's cooking style.

"Flora and fauna, the human form, and most of all, my clients inspire me. They can choose from images and color schemes from the website or give me a list of items they'd like included in their mural, telling me colors to include or exclude. Creating from a list of images I would never put together, in colors I wouldn't naturally go to allows my creativity to open wide. I can be inclusive to not only the images desired but to the feelings they inspire.

I am influenced by the Art Nouveau movement. I love the idea of uniting organic and geometric forms into designs that flow and follow the spirit of Art Nouveau to bring beauty to every day. My tiles can be found in homes as wall murals, kitchen and bath backsplashes, countertops, sinks, tub and fireplace surrounds. Each hand-made, hand-glazed Bosetti Art Tile project is unique.

Using the ancient technique of cuerda seca – a cloisonné-inspired method that mimics the look of mosaic – each tile’s intensely rich ceramic glaze looks so soft it begs to be touched.

Since graduating from Pratt Institute in 1982 with a BFA in sculpture, I have spent my life devoted to clay. Over the years there has been a progression from sculpting to pottery to art tile and back again. Throughout it all,  I have consistently worked to distill the sensual and spiritual aspects of life into accessible design, image, and easy-to-care-for, durable artwork."

Budacai - a home for peace and harmony.
Come enjoy yourself to our flavorful foods and a lovely assortment of our brewed teas with/without alcohol!