Welcome to Larb’s super swanky urban loft, former tobacco warehouse in the heart of Durham!
It’s so much bigger in person!
And …loftier 
We gathered for Prosecco and conversation before heading out to dinner
Our destination was Bull City Burgers, a super cool all-local Durham restaurant. EVERYTHING about this place was awesome – from the local North Carolina pastured beef served to the made-from-scratch everything to the no HFCS/trans-fat policies to the Ball jar water glasses to the house-brewed pumpkin beer.
Our group shared a couple of the fried-tizers
French fries, pickles (yum!) and onion loaf. You can guess which were my favorite and least favorite!
I ordered a simple burger topped with K+M and gruyere and jalapenos!
Only wish there was a side salad option… !
[Missed you Kanz!]
Back at the loft, we met up with SARAH! She lives in the next building over! She joined us for some birthday cupcakes for dad.
Larbs went all out with 6 flavors: Lemon, Almond, Vanilla, Red Velvet, German Chocolate and Carrot Cake
Happy Birthday to you!
It was a cupcake free-for-all afterwards!! With a family of frosting lovers, it was quite the enthusiastic event.
I tried them all (of course!) and while carrot cake is NOT my favorite kind of cake, it stole the show tonight. But I also really liked the almond! I can’t quite remember where Larbs got the cupcakes, but it may have been Bull City Bakery? They were delicious. Good icing!
My alarm is set for 6 hours from now…closing eyes
{ 62 comments… read them below or add one }
What a beautiful evening you all had
Love the Bull City posts! I’m from Durham and used to live in Hillsborough, but it’s always great to see how much the places are evolving.
Those cupcakes are gorgeous! They look like flowers!
yeah I love the display with the paper wrapping & birthday candles, too cute
Wow Larbs’ loft is AMAZING!!! I’m so jealous!
That burger place looks incredible – love love love fried pickles.
And there are no words for how good the cupcakes look. You gals definitely know how to treat a guy right on his birthday
Glad you’re having such a fun celebration!!
The loft is so cool! I adore exposed brick walls. And cupcakes – YUM!!
That NC restaurant looks amazing!
I love her loft! It’s so cute and those cupcakes….GAH! I want one!
what a delicious day!
i LOVE onion loaf. there’s a restaurant in chicago called hackney’s that is famous for it’s massive, crazy greasy onion loaf. it’s in my top 5 of “worth it” foods.
The almond cupcake sound so unique!
Have you tried onions lately? I try foods I dislike once or twice a year to make sure my tastes haven’t changed. I was pleasantly surprised this year when I learned pumpkin doesn’t make me gag anymore!
If smelling them means trying them, then yes. And I still don’t like them
Those cupcakes are darling.
I would eat every single one of those cupcakes. Haha! Happy Birthday to your dad. Looks like everyone had an awesome time.
Love the loft. Always wanted one of those. I used to ride a bike around my friend’s loft.
Get some sleep and have agreat trip!
When you listed the cupcake flavors, I was thinking “Man, I would have had to sample each!” And, of course, you did, too! Good plan
I love that the restaurant served you water in a mason jar. Mason jars make everything taste better–I’m convinced!
The restaurant looked awesome! Like you said, all the details to the food seemed fantastic. A good cupcake topped with lots of yummy frosting makes for a great end to the evening too, if I do say so myself!
Those cupcakes. Wow!!
And Larb’s pad. Omg. I am in lust with it. I would love love love to live in something like that. There are places like that in downtown San Diego here but I’ve never lived in something quite that amazing look..wow. The wood, the lighting, the rustic nature…I want to move in
Does anyone else is your family share your onion aversion?
Her dad and I love onions and her grandfather Al grew them in his garden!
Viva l’onion! Silly me, I know.
Larbs also hates them
also, my mom needs to share the story about how she breathed onion breath on me at my birth – we think that’s where the aversion comes from
i heart lofts!!!
Sounds like a fantastic day. Extra dry Prosecco is my very favoritest of wines
Great call splitting up all of the cupcakes. I would have wanted to try each and every one too. Have a good night lady!
wow, those cupcakes look gorgeous! And so much more exciting trying all those flavours instead of just one in a cake (though cakes are good too of course). Happy Birthday, Kath’s Dad!
What a super cool apartment your sister has. Looked like a perfect evening, dinner out with sister and both parents and ending with cup cake. Awesome.
Those cupcakes… wow. I wish I wasn’t reading this post with two pieces of toast in front of me. Serious food envy right now! I feel that cupcakes for breakfast would be a solid life choice…
Oh my goodness!! What a delightful surprise. My grandmother worked in that building for 36 years until it closed down!!! Very cool.
so great to see you!!! have a fantastic trip!
I hope to live in a loft like that some day. That would be after the boys are long gone and it would be just Tony and I. I hope your dad had an incredible birthday! Looks like it was a very special occasion!
Those cupcakes look so cute wrapped like that! And I agree, I hate when restaurants don’t have a side salad option. Carbs carbs and more carbs can be a bit much for me!
Larbs loft is beautiful! So stylish! That restaurant looks great! I’m loving those burgers. Oh, and can we talk about those cupcakes?! They look incredible!!!! I love cupcakes. They are my weakness
I love the cupcake presentation…wrapped up in colourful paper…they looked like individual gifts! Personally, carrot cake is one of my favourite cakes topped of course with cream cheese icing that has a hint of lemon to it! Yummy! I too, would have wanted a side salad. The hamburger looks so loney on the plate.
Looks like your dad had a nice birthday with great company and what looked like fabulous cupcakes!
Yay Bull City! We live in Durham and we absolutely love Bull City!! Last year before they opened, they hosted a Golden Bull scavenger hunt, where they hid golden bulls all around the city. If you found one, you would win one free burger a week for a year!
That’s my kind of flight! I’d like to dream about being served a flight on a flight. A girl can dream, right?
Love the cupcakes in the colored paper wraps! Mmm carrot cake!
I love her loft! So much character.
Those cupcakes look awesome. And good to hear the icing was tasty! I’m an icing girl as well, and I’m always so disappointed when it’s plastic-y or the texture is too sugary. Ick.
Happy birthday to Kath’s dad!
What no pumpkin cupcakes? My 6 year old chose pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting with Trader Joe’s pumpkin ice cream for her birthday, after having calamari and grilled shrimp for her birthday dinner. Happy birthday to your dad. Love Larb’s loft. Looks like a fun time with your family, enjoy!
How was the Bull City Burger and Brewery Pumpkin Ale? It wasn’t ready yet the last time I went.
They definitely have the best burgers in Durham.
Delicious!!
Beautiful dessert presentation – you have so many neat restaurants nearby!
Awesome-looking cupcakes! They look so pretty in the colored paper, as opposed to the cupcake holders that most places use.
http://faithfulsolutions.blogspot.com/
Her apartment looks so cool! They renovated an old warehouse on my college campus and I got to live in it the first year it opened my junior year, very cool, funky vibe but open ceilings and walls are not necessarily the best idea when you’re in college with noisey roommates!
What a cool loft! Love the look of the exposed brick, wood floors…and those ceilings! Dinner looks awesome (love those fried pickles!) and those cupcakes look, as you said in your last post, “to-live-for”! Fun post, thanks
What a lovely evening and celebration! The cupcakes look excellent.
Do you think she’d mind if I moved in with her?
The cupcakes came from Carolina Cake Company at 2922 W. Main St., Durham, (919) 937-9715, via a Groupon offer. They were devine.
No way! I live in Durham and when the post title popped up on my Google Reader I was psyched. Glad you liked BCBB– they rock. Were the cupcakes maybe from Daisy Cakes? Either way… om nom nom.
Whoops… just saw Dad’s comment. I’ll have to give them a try!
Oh mmmmmm those cupcakes ALL sound delicious!!
That loft is absolutely gorgeous. I just want to move right in. Does it come with the cupcakes???
Prosecco is my fave! That burger looks so good and what a cute loft! I love how the buck walls! So cute
That is totally suppose to be “I love the brick walls”. What was I doing?
my brother used to live in that building! it’s really neat!
Those cupcakes look delish!
Got home yesterday evening.
Lovely loft – it looks amazing! And those cupcakes look super yummy
I live in Durham and my daughter and I LOVE Bull City Burgers. We were there last Saturday, would have been great to bump into you! I am an avid reader of your blog!
Thanks for all my presents Kath. Happy to have some ID with me now.
You are welcome! They are all the rage in the blog world. Mine says “eat real food!”
I am SWOONING over your sister’s loft. Good heavens, that’s perfection.
Love the loft! What a fun family day.