Features
2026 Diamond Award Winners
5 West readers voted for their favorite businesses, services, and venues. Now, we are excited to present this year’s Gold, Silver, and Bronze winners!Select a category, browse the list to see if your favorites are there, and be sure tomake a note of any new businesses you’d like to check out. Congratulations to all of
National Alliance on Mental Illness partners with Wake County schools
Story by Sarah Merritt Ryan | The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Wake County has teamed up with the Wake County Public School System to begin piloting “Ending the Silence for Families” at 10 local schools. This crucial initiative provides parents and youth with the tools to recognize mental health warning signs and understand the next steps to take.
Holly Springs’ Pimiento Tea Room celebrates 5 years
Story by Kyle Marie McMahon | Five years ago, the Pimiento Tea Room in Holly Springs was a humble, grassroots beginning that perfectly foreshadowed what it would become: a place deeply rooted in hospitality, history, and community. Now, as they celebrate their fifth anniversary, the Griffiths have cemented their establishment not just as a restaurant, but as a way to say “thank you” to the town that saved them.
Inside the Triangle’s Boutique Fitness Communities
Story by Samantha Carson | The calendar flips to a new year, and with it comes the annual, silent promise: This time, I will exercise more. For many, that resolution leads straight to the intimidating, impersonal expanse of a big-box gym—a brightly lit battlefield of lonely treadmills and unused equipment. But the enthusiasm often dies. Not from a lack of personal motivation, but from a profound and crushing absence of connection and accountability.
Departments
Eating Seasonally: How to Maximize Flavor
By Grace Barker | If you want to experience the freshest, most flavorful ingredients in your meals, eating what’s in season is the way to do it.
Meet the Chef – James Eason
By Dathan Kazsuk | For our Meet the Chef series, we step behind the line with James Eason, executive chef at Irregardless—a Raleigh institution now 50 years young.
Kickstart the New Year: 3 Ways to Build Healthy Habits That Last
By Grace Barker | Despite this reinvigoration in making positive change, statistics show that an astonishing 88% of them fail to last more than 2 weeks into the new year.
Unique dates beyond the box of chocolates
By Kate Loeffel | Valentine’s Day sparks a familiar call to action for couples—declare your love with chocolates, flowers, and balloons filling every grocery store aisle.
Meet the Chef – Christopher Prieto
By Dathan Kazsuk | In our new series, we sit down with a standout Triangle chef for a quick-fire Q&A designed to give readers a taste of who they are—straight from the kitchen.
A New Year’s Guide to the Organized Home
By Kyle Marie McMahon | There is a specific, bittersweet quiet that settles over the house once the holidays are officially over. This January, let’s focus on a tangible reset.
