East End Market’s Songbird is a microcosm for the current state of the Raleigh food scene. A fresh, new concept that found itself inside of a previously dormant part of the city that’s undergone major redevelopment. A restaurant surrounded by infrastructure that is woefully inadequate to service the upcoming influx of traffic.
Songbird is the brainchild of Meg Paradise. A few years ago, Paradise made waves within the Oak City hospitality scene with her non-alcoholic cocktail concept, Umbrella Dry Bar. The concept mainly existed in pop-ups and events before briefly finding a home in the former Garland (now Le Dive) space. However, after a few months of operating Paradise decided not to renew its lease once its short term had expired.
Not long after Umbrella Dry Bar closed its location, I was dining at Figulina when Paradise was seated across me and my family at the large community table. We struck up a conversation about the menu and I shared how impressed I was with the bucatini. We got to chat a bit about Umbrella Dry Bar and some of the challenges like its massive space. It feels like Paradise brought some of those learned lessons into opening Songbird.
The dining room’s compact size immediately greets you at the door, feeling almost like there’s no place to hide within its petite confines. But the mood eases as you get acquainted with the space’s surrounding live plants that reaches close to its high ceiling and its sophisticated features like its tiled bar and specialized glasswork.
Although there is a good selection of non-alcoholic cocktails on the menu, I had envisioned there being more, considering Paradise’s other endeavor. The Perfect Illusion was a non-alcoholic spoof on a heady beer, complete with a strong initial bitterness that reminded me of evenings going out to Kava bars with my brother and trying Kratom for the first time. But much like that first Kratom drink, it was a more enjoyable beverage after that initial sip and I learn to tame the bitterness with each sip.
The tomato capriccio was the embodiment of Songbird’s concise food menu’s focus on seasonal local produce. Fresh and juicy heirloom tomatoes, topped with olive oil and flaky salt, accompanied with a simple cheese.
Nothing too ornate or overproduced, just quality ingredients that highlighted the best aspects of the tomato.
The toasted levin followed the same ethos. The Bolted Bread levin provided a base for the picked zucchini and goat cheese to shine.
I’m a sucker for when hip restaurants serve a chocolate chip cookie and milk. It’s a remaindered that no matter how mature your taste may become, there’s always a joy in warm cookie. An additional point of intrigue was the use of Trugalug Chocolate, whose chocolate I hadn’t seen be utilized yet outside of their retail location.
Although I am a person that prefers a thinner and crispier cookie, I was pleased with the chew and developed flavors from Songbird’s offering.
An evening cocktail bar is just one side of Songbird. During the day they offer coffee drinks using beans from Willow House Coffee. Songbird’s shaken espresso, shakerato, is a unique drink not found in other coffeeshops.
Chilled bold