Five Places to Visit in Raleigh, N.C., With a Local Chef and Musician

5 Places Cheetie Kumar, a chef and rock guitarist, is emblematic of the capital city’s evolution. She serves up some of her favorite spots in Raleigh. The recent revival of downtown Raleigh hasn’t garnered as much attention as that of neighboring Durham. But North Carolina’s capital, with its inviting new train station, restored warehouses and celebrated food scene, is no less impressive.

“It’s a place that is so surprisingly and unboisterously diverse,” said Cheetie Kumar, a local chef and rock guitarist who grew up in northern India and the Bronx before moving to Raleigh in the 1990s. As the chef-owner of Garland, an Indo-Pan-Asian restaurant with an adjoining music venue, Kings, and cocktail bar, Neptunes Parlour, Ms. Kumar is emblematic of the city’s evolution. These days, she said, “the cornerstones of our city, as far as the downtown culinary scene, are all owned and operated by either women or immigrants.

” In addition to her own businesses, she easily rattled off a list of notable neighbors, from Bida Manda and Brewery Bhavana (run by Laotian siblings) to Poole’s Diner (one of six Raleigh establishments from the chef Ashley Christensen, a James Beard award winner). And, Ms. Kumar said, “there are new places opening up all the time. ” Here are a few of her current Raleigh favorites, where you might find her when she’s not in the kitchen or playing with her band, Birds of Avalon.

Ms. Kumar still dreams of the rustic levain at this artisanal bakery (for health reasons, she’s now reluctantly gluten-free). “They mill their own flour, everything is natural fermentation,” she said, and you can taste the difference: “Their bread is otherworldly. ” Made from heirloom grains that are stone-milled in house, the chewy baguettes, seeded rye, and spelt sourdough loaves are sold alongside a tempting array of croissants and pastries.

614 West South Street; boultedbread. com Upstairs from a Mexican cantina, this mezcaleria has a rooftop patio and an expansive collection of smoky spirits sourced by the Colombian owner, Angela Salamanca. “Their drinks are really well balanced,” Ms.

“Kumar said.”