Got resolutions? Sure, you want to shake off the holidays and eat well. Why not eat better, too? Make a few exciting reservations this January to a new restaurant you've never visited or one you may need to re-visit. Now, that's what we call a New Year's Resolution.

The holidays might be over, but the festive feeling doesn't have to end. Enjoy special, multi-course menus during Triangle Restaurant Week. Book now to get a taste from 60 participating restaurants at $20 to $30 dinners beginning Mon., Jan. 26 through Sun., Feb. 1.

New to many the "old" Piedmont in Durham has become one of those restaurants that will delightfully surprise you. Piedmont is a restaurant located in downtown Durham, inspired by seasonal ingredients sourced from local farmers and purveyors.

Back in May 2013, Chef-Partner Ben Adams joined forces with General Manager Crawford Leavoy and together they reinvented the restaurant with changes to menu offerings and updates to the restaurant's interior.

As the name suggests, the restaurant features ingredients sourced from the Piedmont region of North Carolina. Now more than ever the menu focuses on local farm-grown ingredients to be used in classic comfort food dishes that have been reimagined by the inventive spirit of Chef Ben Adams to create a modern farm-to-table dining experience.

Piedmont has been named an Award of Excellence winner for 2014 by Wine Spectator. With its hip urban setting, inventive, down-home, mouth-watering menu and intimate, conversation coaxing atmosphere Piedmont Restaurant was reborn as an establishment that hits everything on a restaurant's must-have list for success. A must try during Triangle Restaurant Week!

Piedmont Restaurant - 401 Foster Street, Durham, NC 27701- Reservations: (919) 683-1213
Hours Dinner: Monday thru Saturday, 5:30pm-10:00pm, Sunday, 5:30pm-9:00pm
Brunch: Sunday, 10:30am-2:00pm. Website.  

Cincinnati-based grilled cheese entrepreneurs Trew Quackenbush and Corey Ward, the pair whose restaurant caught "Shark Tank" cash are finalizing their plans for Tom+Chee in North Carolina.The restaurateurs announced they'd be opening 13 new stores by spring 2015, including a location in Carrboro which should open in March.

The restaurant specializes in tomato soup and grilled cheese - hence the name Tom+Chee.
The company, which got its start as a Cincinnati food tent, calls its concept a "quirky" take on comfort food classics, with offerings such as the "Grilled Cheese Donut" and the vegetarian "Hippy+Chee."

Their "Shark Tank" pitch in 2013 was a hit - attracting bites from both Barbara Corcoran and Mark Cuban. The pair picked Corcoran.

The new Tom+Chee's first in North Carolina, will be located at 370 E. Main St. in Carrboro.  

And its co-founder, Quackenbush, has advice for entrepreneurs making pitches to investors/ sharks: "Be strong and true to who you are and don't let them shake you." Website.

Back To The Future - Six Top Trends in Consumer Electronics

Marty McFly (in Back To The Future II) traveled to Hill Valley - 2015 and got a glimpse of the future.  And, just like the movie predicted, we are now consumed with electronics and shiny gadgets. Last week the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) came to a close and here are Six Top Trends.  Of course, even Dr. Brown didn't get it all right ... in the movie, the Chicago Cubs win the World Series.

1. Cars will Drive You. Cars are getting more connected. Not only will cars have sophisticated dashboards that point us to our destination and sync cleanly with our smartphones, but they're inching closer to taking over the steering wheel. Mercedes wowed show goers with its self-driving F015 luxury concept. Meanwhile, BMW and chip maker Nvidia demonstrated technology where the car would serve as an auto-valet; finding its own parking space and returning to your location when ready.

2. The Return of High-Quality Audio.  It's clear people want better sound quality; not crappy iTunes, MP3, and Pandora. The resurgence of high-end audio is largely thanks to Neil Young's Pono player and Sony's reboot of its iconic Walkman, both of which play better-than-CD-quality sound.  Also, who needs to own their own music now that streaming services, like TIDAL, have raised the bar with CD-quality music and 25 million songs.

3. Drones are Kind of a Big Deal. It's a bird, it's a plane, ... no, its a drone.  At CES, drones were everywhere and available in all sizes ... from industrial behemoths to a wearable drone that can help users take selfies. And if CES attendees weren't flying them, they were constructing them with a 3-D printer. Who said cows don't fly?

 4. Here comes 4K TV. This is not a drill. It seems consumers have been hearing for years about the display resolution that's four times sharper than traditional high definition (HD). Now comes the rush of affordable TV sets and compatible programming (Netflix - House of Cards) to satisfy your desire for only the highest of high-definition. But don't get too comfortable. There's already talk of 8K.

5. Fast, Lightweight & Cheap PCs. Lenovo's LaVie laptop is the lightest yet-just 1.7 pounds. With keyboard, it weighs just a tenth of a pound more than the original Apple iPad which had a smaller screen and lacked a keyboard. Acer introduced a giant 15.6 inch, 4.85 pound Chromebook that will start at just $249.  And, all PC makers are coming out soon with their own versions. 

6. Nearly Every Object is Connected to the Internet.

Last year offered a taste of this with smart appliances like refrigerators with digital grocery lists or ovens that users can adjust with their smartphone. Now, think of any object and there's likely a version that is Wi-Fi enabled or tailored for the "Internet of Things" era.

The Moral of the Story - Don't Ever Lose your Smartphone! Set aside the usual functions ... e-mail, texting and (gasp) calling and chatting with friends. Now, you can start your car, pay for purchases, unlock your home and monitor your health (or that of loved ones). It seems a bit scary to have so much tech tethered to your smartphone. Just make sure that your "Find My Phone" app is up-to-date ... and your service has more than 1 bar!