All up in your business

Auntie Anne joins Ben and Jerry’s

Ben and Jerry’s will reopen the doors of its Chapel Hill scoop shop — its first in North Carolina — Jan. 11, adding a new look and Auntie Anne’s Pretzels.

Ben and Jerry’s co-founder Jerry Greenfield will stop by to celebrate the reopening, a free cone and pretzel day.

The store will join UNC Dance Marathon to hold the festivities.

“UNC Dance Marathon has helped coordinate entertainment for the day. We will be selling our merchandise all day, and we will collect donations,” said Gracie Beard, overall coordinator for Dance Marathon. “We hope everyone enjoys free ice cream and pretzels while also donating to a great cause.”

Greenfield will celebrate the reopening of the newly remodeled shop from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., Beard said.

Sweet Frog bring 16 flavors of frozen yogurt

A new frozen yogurt shop will try its luck on Franklin Street — and its owners predict success.

Mercedes and Joe Lurie, owners of the Sweet Frog, and their partners opened the new store on Dec. 15 in Kidzu Children’s Museum’s previous location.

The store will hold a grand opening on Jan. 26, during which customers will be able to win prizes and get free yogurt.

“We thought that a soft-launch opening, in advance of the holidays, would better prepare us for our grand opening,” Joe Lurie said.

Unlike its location at Renaissance Center in Durham, the new store will offer a capacity of about 100 customers and will feature a larger selection of flavors and toppings, he said.

“We really focused our efforts on making this a destination where people can just come hang out and relax,” Joe Lurie said. “We really want this to be considered unique to the Chapel Hill community by adding historical memorabilia, team posters, etc.”

The Luries and their partners entered into a long-term lease for the Franklin Street spot and remodeled the locale by adding booths and eight dispensing machines with 16 flavors.

“We would really love to become a destination and long-term establishment in the Chapel Hill community,” he said.

Cholanad celebrates South Indian flavors

Chef and manager Subash Panneerselvam wants to bring centuries-old traditional South Indian food to Chapel Hill, and his restaurant Cholanad, located at 308 W. Franklin St., is his new stage.

“We wanted to bring South Indian food, which is centuries old, in to a grand stage,” Panneerselvam said of his new restaurant, which opened Nov. 27.

Cholanad is housed in the previous location of Cypress on the Hill.
For his new restaurant, Panneerselvam said he wanted to bring the traditional South Indian flavors and traditions in a more contemporary setting.

“We wanted everybody to taste the South Indian food,” Panneerselvam said. “That’s why we are moderately priced even though we are not looking to be the lowest priced.”

Some of the unique characteristics of Cholanad are free snacks at the bar and food served on banana leaves, two traditional South Indian customs, Panneerselvam said.

“We felt Chapel Hill was the right spot because it has some of the best restaurants in the country on Franklin Street,” he said. “It will give us a good stage for our centuries-old South Indian food.”

Contact the City Editor at city@dailytarheel.com.