9/24/07 UPDATE: No coffee at 3CUPS tomorrow. Michael has to get to the airport. Apologies for any inconveniences.

9/23/07 UPDATE: The Tuesday coffee with chefs is up in the air. Please check back tomorrow for details about this. If you are a chef planning to attend the 3CUPS coffee with Michael, please send Anton a message ASAP,

9/21/07 UPDATE: We’ve filled the seats for the Piedmont dinner, but all are still welcome to attend the Sunday reading at The Regulator. Details below.

BlogTogether, an association of bloggers and podcasters in the Triangle region of North Carolina, will host the Cleveland-based writer Michael Ruhlman for a special food blogging event in Durham in late September.

Ruhlman is the celebrated author of the books Making of a Chef, The Soul of a Chef and The Reach of a Chef, and he writes a blog (he started by guest blogging at megnut.com). He also collaborated with celebrity chef Thomas Keller on The French Laundry Cookbook.

Ruhlman’s visit to the Triangle taps into a surge of interest in the importance of good, local food. Nationally, author Michael Pollan is leading the charge to Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants, while, locally, N.C. State has organized the Farm-to-Fork celebration featuring Slow Food founder Carlo Petrini. The Carrboro Farmers Market and the Durham Farmers Market continue to attract growing crowds. And hot new restaurants are opening every month across the region. The region’s bloggers are getting in on the action and amplifying the call to support our local farmers, chefs and food entreprenurs.

As an umbrella organization of local bloggers, BlogTogether strives to bring online conversation into virtual dialogue and back again — to get bloggers to meet face to face with other bloggers and other members of our community — such as the farmers, market organizers and chefs. This food blogging event will be an opportunity to interact with a local chef, learn about where the ingredients come from, and pick up some pointers from a pro about how to write about all that.

Schedule of Events

9/23 at 4:30pm: Reading and book signing — The Regulator Bookshop in Durham will host chef-author-blogger Michael Ruhlman for a reading from his celebrated books about the lives of American chefs.

9/24 at 7:30pm: A taste of food blogging at Piedmont Restaurant — BlogTogether will partner with Piedmont Restaurant chefs Drew Brown and Andy Magowan to host a five-course prix-fixe dinner based on local ingredients (featuring head-to-tail pig, perhaps). At dinner, chef-author-blogger Michael Ruhlman will share his insights about how to write about food.

When: Monday, September 24th at 7:30pm

Where: Piedmont Restaurant, 401 Foster St., Durham, NC

What: A ticketed five-course prix fixe dinner featuring local ingredients prepared by chef Brown and his kitchen.

How much: $65 prepaid (this will cover dinner, wine, & tip). Who: Anyone who wants to enjoy a fabulous meal and learn about food blogging, a talented writer and a local chef. All dinner guests will be encouraged to write and talk about the meal and what they learn this night.

SEATS ARE LIMITED Get your seat at the table: If you want to attend this dinner, send a message to .

9/25 at 9am: Coffee with the Chefs — Chapel Hill’s 3CUPS coffee shop will host a morning coffee klatch for Michael Ruhlman to meet local chefs. Others are invited to stop by at 10:15am to chat with Michael, the chefs and 3CUPS proprietor Lex Alexander.