Bu.ku's new Wake Forest spot is open, but the downtown Raleigh location will move
The second Triangle location of Bu.ku opened its doors over the weekend in Wake Forest, and the original downtown Raleigh location likely will be on the move in 2019.
Bu.ku, which opened on South Wilmington Street in 2010, focuses on Asian fusion, writing a menu of curries, hot pots and sashimi. Owners Sean Degnan, Tony Hopkins and Todd Ohle later opened so.ca in Cameron Village, also specializing in fine dining takes on street food, this time Latin American flavors. So.ca opened a little more than a year ago.
The new Wake Forest Bu.ku is at 1228 Heritage Links Drive, in the Heritage development, next to the Wine 101 wine shop.
Degnan told The News & Observer in January that they want to appeal to Bu.ku’s beyond-the-Beltline fans.
“We did research on the culinary scene (in Wake Forest),” Degnan said in January. “There are lots of people living out there, but not necessarily a ton of infrastructure. It felt like there was a need for a nice restaurant and we found a great space.”
Meanwhile, the original Bu.ku is looking for a new home in downtown Raleigh. The owners posted on the restaurant's Facebook page Sunday that the lease was going to expire at the end of April. But a short-term lease was worked out with Red Hat, who owns the building, to keeping bu.ku in its current location until January, the post said.
After that, it looks like "bu.ku 2.0" will open elsewhere.
The menu at both restaurant has a world view focused on the Eastern hemisphere, with dishes often from Vietnam, Japan, the Philippines and takes on hot pots, pho, ramen and adobo. So.ca, standing for south of the Tropic of Cancer, has more Latin American and Caribbean influences that are likely to show up on the menu of the Wake Forest Bu.ku.
Both have a variety of small plates, or tapas, and larger entrees on their menus and are known for their creative brunches.
This story was originally published April 25, 2018 at 1:49 PM with the headline "Bu.ku's new Wake Forest spot is open, but the downtown Raleigh location will move."