My old high school friend flew in from Ohio to visit this weekend, which gave me the chance to introduce her to the breadth of Durham cuisine. On Friday, we drove directly from the airport to the newly-opened branch of The Pit in Durham. Despite running out of almost all the barbeque we wanted, the restaurant gave us a thoroughly satisfying feast. A poorly-timed fire alarm chased us out of the restaurant before we could pay, so the meal ended up on the house. After dinner, I sampled the drinking chocolate at Cocoa Cinnamon before we crashed back home. Next morning, we overslept our lunch reservations, and explored downtown Durham a bit before dining on reliable chicken and waffles at Dame’s. We bought a slice of pie from Beyu Caffe to go, napped for most of the afternoon, then awoke for fair French bistro at Rue Cler for dinner, followed by ice-cream at Francesca’s. Before her flight out, we drove to Chapel Hill for famous shrimp n’ grits at Crook’s Corner for brunch. Although I didn’t feel like a good host, having spent the entire weekend just eating and sleeping, we agreed afterwards that it gave us the relaxation and recuperation we both so needed.