Charlotte Magazine March 2021

DESTINATION: WHAT’S NEW IN THE CITY The projects COVID couldn’t derail

PLUS:

Spring Fashion

MARCH 2021

charlottemagazine.com

Three stylists get all dressed up p. 60

Is Live Music Dead?

Local musicians discover ways to give it new life p. 20

AWAKE EYE LIFT

6817 Fairview Rd. Charlotte, NC 28210 (704) 275-3172 CarolinaFacialPlastics.com

CONTENTS CHARLOTTE / MARCH 2021 / VOL. 26, NUMBER 3

Features 40 DESTINATION: CHARLOTTE

Artists, entrepreneurs, hoteliers, and the officials who run the city’s main economic engine, the airport, got big things done even in the pandemic’s shadow—and continued to build our city’s reputation as a place people want to visit

BY ANDY SMITH

Plus 60 SPRING FASHION

On the heels of 2020, three of the city’s top stylists weigh in on pandemic fashion, timeless style, and what’s next for the clothing industry

ON THE COVER: Kids play at the new Eastway Regional Recreation Center.

“Nested Hive” by RE:site Studio is one of the newest public artworks around the city.

Photograph by Chris Edwards.

ON THIS PAGE: Wardrobe stylist Sarah Walker in RACHEL COMEY LIGHT BLUE FOND BLOUSE, $475; EMME PARSONS SNAKE PRINT TOBIAS SANDAL, $455, Hampden Clothing, hampdenclothing.com; MOTHER THE TOMCAT ROLLER FINALE JEANS, $238, Poole Shop, 704-553-8868.

Photograph by Chris Edwards.

MARCH 2021 // CHARLOTTE

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Find yourself here.

July 23 - 25 Announcing our first wellness experience, Montage Well Living. Renowned speakers, practitioners and healers will lead this immersive weekend. The wonders of Montage Palmetto Bluff welcome you.

D E E PA K C H O P R A

montagewell-living.com

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03 21 CONTENTS IN EVERY ISSUE 6 From the Editor 9

Connect

88

You Are Here

LOGAN CYRUS; PATTY MASTEN; PETER TAYLOR; RUSTY WILLIAMS

THE GUIDE 80 Restaurants The city’s savviest restaurant listings

33

24 THE BUZZ 11 Life Lessons Bunny Gregory celebrates the west side’s young Black artists 14

Development Over the last 40 years, Charlotte’s economy has taken flight along with its airport

THE GOOD LIFE 17 Nature How the pandemic sparked a renewed interest in birding 20

Arts The case for Charlotte music in the wake of COVID

24

Style Akash Prasad’s crown-inspired jewelry line

26

Room We Love A functional, genderneutral workstation

28

Building History The story behind a double storefront on Central Avenue

29

Real Estate Stately homes in South Charlotte

30

Seen The city’s best party pics

32

Playlist The best things to do and see this month

FOOD + DRINK 33 Now Open Steak 48 is worth the buzz—and the splurge 36

Served History Kounter honors the Friendship Nine

37

Bite-Sized News Foodie tidbits on a small plate

38

On the Line The Goodyear House’s pastry chef Becca Rankin

MARCH 2021 // CHARLOTTE

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F RO M T H E E D I TO R

A PANDEMIC YEAR

10 things I’ve learned about Charlotte since last March

Volume 26, Number 3

MARCH 2021

morrismedianetwork.com

www.charlottemagazine.com

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CHARLOTTEMAGAZINE.COM // MARCH 2021

EXECUTIVE EDITOR Andy Smith SENIOR EDITOR Greg Lacour LIFESTYLE EDITOR Taylor Bowler ART DIRECTOR Jane Fields CONTRIBUTING Allison Braden EDITOR COPYEDITOR/ Allison Braden FACT-CHECKER CONTRIBUTING Tim Buchman PHOTOGRAPHERS Daniel Coston Logan Cyrus Chris Edwards Peter Taylor Rusty Williams CONTRIBUTING ILLUSTRATORS Shaw Nielsen CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Michelle Boudin Cristina Bolling Tom Hanchett Rick Thurmond

Charlotte magazine 214 W. Tremont Ave., Suite 303 Charlotte, NC 28203

CONTRIBUTORS

Email editor@charlottemagazine.com for writer’s guidelines. Unsolicited photographs, illustrations, or articles are submitted at the risk of the photographer/artist/author. Charlotte magazine assumes no liability for the return of unsolicited materials and may use them at its discretion.

LOGAN CYRUS; COURTESY

THE THEME FOR OUR MARCH ISSUE might as well be “persistence.” We’re focusing on ideas that somehow came to fruition in hospitality, arts and entertainment, and transportation during this catastrophic year. The hotels, restaurants, public artworks, airport upgrades, and activities reinforce Charlotte’s growing cachet as a tourist destination. And these persistent Charlotteans inspire us to keep pushing our own big ideas within these pages.

If you’re tired of reading the term “COVID-19,” let me assure you: We’re tired of writing it. It’s been a year since the first major shutdown, and like many of you, I’ve spent the past 365 days Andy Smith sheltering in place, a.k.a., “hunkering down,” with andrew.smith@charlottemagazine.com my family. It hasn’t been fun, but it’s given me ample time to reflect. So I thought I’d share some realizations—not about my own household dynamics or the woes of remote learning, but about the city we inhabit: 1. From cocktail kits to makeshift drive-thrus, Charlotteans in the food and beverage sector began to show their creativity within the first month, and they haven’t stopped.

2. There are also plenty of oafs. South End is where folks point first for reckless millennial behavior, but look at the viral videos: Businesses in all directions have ignored COVID protocols and put the public in danger. The problem is never just “over there, in that neighborhood.”

3. Queso does not refrigerate well. Not even Sabor’s.

4. Taiwo Jaiyeoba, the city’s planning director and one of our recent Charlotteans of the Year: “We should be setting examples, not waiting for people to set them for us.” He was talking about urban development, but the adage applies to pretty much everything.

5. The lesson was also underscored by one of the oddest, most scandalous years ever for the normally drama-free Charlotte City Council. (Fingers crossed for fewer ethics investigations this year.) It’s a reminder to not take any election lightly.

6. You never really had to touch every item as you browsed markets, book and record stores, and bottle shops. I’d urge permanent restraint: Even vaccinated people carry untold numbers of germs.

7. Before this season, the Hornets’ attendance ranked among the NBA’s worst.

Then they found their most exciting player in decades in LaMelo Ball, yet COVID restrictions kept fans from witnessing his assists, his shot fakes, and his Jan. 9 tripledouble against Atlanta, which made the 19-year-old the youngest player in NBA history to achieve one of those. When we can return to stadiums and arenas, let’s show up and no longer take these communal experiences for granted. The victories will be sweeter.

8. When music venues reopen, local acts will pack most of the stages. (More on that from Rick Thurmond, our former editor and publisher, on page 20.) Here’s hoping the live music drought sharpens our appreciation of the city’s talent. Put your phones down.

9. Remote learning is frustrating for everyone, but it’s also worsened our inequities. Those conversations—and, more important, tangible steps toward solving them—can’t stop when the hallways fill up again.

10. The businesses fortunate enough to open or just survive still need our help.

Continue to patronize and tip big without the expectation of an extra side of queso.

It wouldn’t refrigerate well, anyway.

Volume 26, Number 3

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Connect

ONLINE EXTRAS, EVENTS, AND CONVERSATIONS

REACT

Responses to the January issue of Charlotte magazine

That sure is a pretty sammich, thank you!!!

Instagram comment by @gmanx17 Gonna eat this cover Instagram comment by @michaelngraff

sharing these stories. There are far too many children in CLT suffering under remote learning and @CMSboard needs to increase their urgency around getting kids back in the classroom.

Tweet from @roseherring

To: “Disconnection,” p. 17 Excellent reporting @jared_misner! Please keep

I know an impoverished family who only received one hot spot from their school. It

only supports one child at a time so the other child gets counted as absent. This is not ok. CMS needs to do better.

Facebook comment by Katie Miller To: “What Uptown’s Treloar House Teaches Us,” p. 26 I’ve always wondered about this building. Thank you for publishing work of

this nature and making it available for public access.

Facebook comment by Sophia-Wynne Greulich So interesting. Hope they find a way to preserve and use it as part of a larger development on that huge empty lot.

Facebook comment by Patrick Rainwater

“Dinner Reservations,” Kathleen Purvis’ piece on restaurateur Jim Noble’s conservative politics and their significance in an evolving city (p. 13), inspired a flood of widely divergent reactions. A sampling: Hard to believe his review probably just hating on owner.

Like this lady is. It would be nice just to hear about the food and not get a liberal lecture.

Tweet from @skhentigan (In response) It’s not a review at all. Thought that was obvious and I also thought it was fair.

I’ll re-read it but did not see where she offered an opinion on Nobles views. More that she pointed out the changing demo of this city and how others react to his views.

Tweet from @RocknCarolina When Nobles restaurant hosted a rally for trump, I mentioned my disgust to my daughter who told me that years ago she & my son in law volunteered for something at one of his restaurants & were asked to sign a disclaimer stating marriage is only between a male & female.

Tweet from @kempklc

Our household does not do business with homophobes— especially homophobes who cloak their bigotry in their cherry-picked version of Christianity. Mr. Noble needs to be reacquainted with the basic tenets of the faith he claims.

Facebook comment by Barbara Parke Never will step foot in one of his places. Much better locally owned restaurants (without the hate) could use the free press.

Tweet from @RealHavis This is one of the best articles I’ve read... *checks notes* um... it would seem ever...

Journalism y’all Tweet from @CLTdevelopment So glad to read the first few paragraphs of this article so I will never spend another dollar at one of his restaurants.

Tweet from @mikbre

This has to be one of the worst articles of all time.

Tweet from @ac_chillin1 I love his restaurants, Roosters is one of my favorites and the man does so much good for the community. I don’t care what his religious beliefs are, it’s America he has a right to believe what he wants to.

Facebook comment by David Glass Maybe if he didn’t cheerlead/fundraise for #whitesupremacist, #racist & #homophobic politicians as well as have have a horrible takes on helping others out during the #pandemic people would actually want to eat at his establishments. He made his stance crystal clear.

Tweet from @AliciaLalone

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INSIDE: LIFE LESSONS / DEVELOPMENT

BUZZ

THE

WHAT MATTERS NOW IN THE CITY

LI F E L E SS O N S

BUNNY GREGORY

LOGAN CYRUS

Art changed Bunny Gregory’s life. She hopes it can change her community, too

BY ALLISON BRADEN

MICHELLE “BUNNY” GREGORY, 55, grew up on Charlotte’s west side, and she’s watched the area change, imperceptibly at first. In the mid-2010s, as gentrification gained momentum there, Gregory launched The Underground, a collective to support young Black artists. Since then, The Underground (not related to the Live Nation venue of the same name) has evolved from a venue and gathering space—first at a warehouse in NoDa, then at another on Monroe Road that closed in 2016—to a community that organizes and hosts an assortment of arts-related events, from regular bonfires to art shows around town.

MARCH 2021 // CHARLOTTE

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THE BUZZ Last year, Gregory achieved her longtime goal of acquiring a school bus to deliver art instruction and activities to neighborhoods throughout Charlotte, especially where she grew up. The force behind each of The Underground’s iterations is Gregory herself, who’s driven by the belief that art can create opportunity—and help the west side maintain and celebrate its historically Black character.

Here’s Gregory in her own words, edited for space and clarity.

I STARTED DOING The Underground thing over 10 years ago. It was all about me finding other Black artists here, which, growing up in the ’80s in Charlotte, I didn’t think existed. I didn’t know where to meet them or how to be a part of that movement.

I’M THINKING, Probably not going to be around long. Nobody’s going to come through. When I first opened the doors, that place was crowded ’til the doors closed. I met so many Black artists here in Charlotte: visual artists, chefs, gardeners. We had a bonfire every Tuesday night, rain or shine. The first bonfire, there were about 11 of us. After that, it could be anywhere from 50 to 120 people.

I REALIZED that a lot of the artists wanted to do their art, but they also needed a job.

A lot of them were homeless. So they would come by here, and I’d let them wash up, and they’d be able to change into clean clothes or have something to eat. They’ve done a lot of collaboration with one another and always support each other.

IF THERE WAS ANY CRAZINESS, if anybody brought any bad energy, I never had to say anything. They would make sure that that was over. You’re not welcome here with that.

I HAVE KIDS—I call them kids; they’re not kids—who will call me, sometimes late in the night, just screaming and cursing. I always say, “If something’s bothering you, you just need somebody to vent to, somebody you can call.” They trusted me enough to do that. They would come around and want to learn something about drawing or whatever. It started out as a safe space to just be who

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CHARLOTTEMAGAZINE.COM // MARCH 2021

you are. I try to meet everybody where they are.

I AM A VICTIM OF MOLESTATION and sexual abuse, and art kept me in a place where I could get outside of that. It wasn’t easy. It was an outlet. It was definitely a place where I could go and do something creative with something that I thought was beautiful. Because outside of that, there was a lot that I just didn’t think was beautiful.

EVERY TIME THAT I FELT some kind of way, I would literally lock myself in the room and paint and draw all over my walls. It was my safe zone. I was kind of not a part of this world when I was in that room. The first time I actually painted on the wall, I had been given a set of oil paints. I was too young to know that oil paint was pretty much forever. My mom was really cool about it.

IF I WANTED TO DO CREATIVE STUFF, I would always end up hanging out with a crowd of white kids. So when I started The Underground, it was like, I know that there’s got to be other Black artists here.

And when I opened it, it wasn’t just Black artists. It was such a diverse crowd. But a lot of those people—all of them—had the same motivations I had. It was about having a community of people. When I started, it was right around when we really started to lose communities.

IT WAS VERY GRADUAL, especially on the west side. It definitely wasn’t like there were whole neighborhoods going down at once. It was one or two houses.

It would be like a regular neighborhood house, and then, all of a sudden, there’d be like this huge $600,000 home next to it.

THERE ARE HOUSES with individual families in them, and they don’t know the people next to them or down the street.

It was not like that at all (when she grew up). I could walk around my block, and I knew the parents. I knew if someone saw me doing something crazy or something that would hurt me, they were going to call me out, they were going to call my parents, they were going to make me stop. We don’t have that. We are so disconnected from each other. We’re just neighbors; we’re not a community.

MY MOM USED TO CHARTER BUSES. Her and a few other women would work their asses off to gather money to charter a bus for all the kids in the neighborhood to take a trip. We’d have huge cookouts at the park. It’s not like that at all anymore.

KIDS THAT CAME THROUGH (The Underground) would say, “I wish we had something like this when I was a child.”

I thought, We could do this. I know my parents couldn’t afford classes. You’re not going to get people who work eightplus hours a day. You get home and your kids are gonna go like, “Can you take us over here so we can paint or build a birdhouse?” You’re gonna be like, “Hell, no.”

Even if you want to. Even if you think it’s a great idea.

THESE PARENTS ARE TIRED. They don’t have money. They already got a whole lot of stuff to do for their kids. So I thought, Well, shit, what if we took it to the neighborhood? What if we came to them? What if it was free?

WHATEVER IT IS YOU’RE DOING— gardening, painting, creating jewelry, metalsmithing, or whatever—you’re actually learning creative thinking. And then you can do anything. If you sell vacuum cleaners door-to-door, you damn well better be a creative thinker. It opens their minds up to do whatever it is they decide to do. It’s not about making a whole bunch of little artists who are painting or doing sculpture. Art is a gateway to do creative thinking in general.

THERE WAS A TIME when I thought I hated (my life). I hated being a woman, just because of stuff that I went through.

But the community of people, of artists, that we have now—I feel amazing. I would not want it any other way. I don’t have a lot of money, I don’t have a lot of things, but I’ve never been happier.

YOU JUST GOT TO SHOW UP. We always think we need a pocketful of money to make changes, but we don’t. All we really need is each other. If everybody does the part that they can do, we can make things happen.

ALLISON BRADEN is a contributing editor for this magazine.

THE BUZZ

D E V E LO PM E NT

SMOOTH TAKEOFF

Over the past 40 years, Charlotte’s economy has taken flight along with its airport

Charlotte Douglas International Airport in 1982, the year the current terminal opened.

expansion—CLT has been the city’s economic driveshaft, what enables the rest of the economy to move.

It started humbly, of course, and stayed that way for a while, then exploded under the leadership of Jerry Orr, CLT’s director from 1989 until 2013. (During his tenure, local media wags sometimes referred to the airport as “Orrville.”)

Orr emphasized high traffic, low costs, and minimal oversight—or interference, as the prickly, bureaucracy-averse Orr thought of it—from the city government that owned it. Even after his departure,

the airport has continued to flourish; CLT ranks sixth in the nation and seventh in the world in operations (the number of arrivals and departures) and 11th in the nation in passenger traffic, according to the global airport operators’ trade organization Airports Council International.

Despite its prominence, there are some semi-random facts and peculiarities about Charlotte Douglas that you might not know—about its history, its operations, and its continuing development. Here’s a modest carry-on bag of them. —Greg Lacour

FACTS ON THE FLY

HISTORY

→ Averages about 700 flights per day to more than 175 destinations

→ What was then called Charlotte Municipal Airport began

around the world.

→ Served a record 50.2 million passengers in 2019. “Every day,” says

Chief Operating Officer Jack Christine, “we serve more people than Disney World.”

→ Has an operating budget of $184.1 million for the 2021 fiscal year.

The airport operates as a city “enterprise fund,” sustained entirely through revenue from operations, not tax dollars.

→ Contributed $24.6 billion to North Carolina’s economy in 2019,

according to the state Department of Transportation’s Aviation Division.

→ Is American Airlines’ second-largest hub, trailing only DFW (Dallas-Fort Worth) International Airport.

→ Employs about 650—although about 20,000 work at the airport, for the array of businesses there.

→ Hosts operations unrelated to airport: a 170-acre Norfolk Southern

“intermodal yard” for rail and other traffic that opened in 2014; a unit of the N.C. Air National Guard, based in Charlotte since 1948; and the Carolinas Aviation Museum, filled with artifacts that include the famous Charlotte-bound “Miracle on the Hudson” plane that Capt. Chesley Sullenberger guided into the water in New York in 2009.

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CHARLOTTEMAGAZINE.COM // MARCH 2021

commercial service in 1938. The airport was a Depression-era Works Progress Administration project to replace a small dirt airstrip, used by barnstormers and air mail services, that pilots complained wasn’t big enough.

→ The airport was renamed Morris Field and used to train bomber pilots during World War II.

→ It was renamed again, to Douglas Municipal Airport—in honor of former Mayor Ben Douglas, who led the effort to bring commercial aviation to the city—in the early 1950s. A new terminal opened in 1954.

→ The airport was a hub for Eastern Airlines in the 1960s, then Winston-Salem-based Piedmont until USAir acquired the airline in 1989.

→ The current terminal opened in 1982. The airport’s ongoing $2.5 billion Destination CLT upgrade is the largest and most expensive project in airport history.

Sources: City of Charlotte; Airports Council International; PBS Charlotte “Trail of History” episode, Dec. 18, 2018

CHARLOTTE DOUGLAS INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

IT’S EASY TO OGLE Charlotte’s shimmering skyline, sip high-powered local beers, and marvel—or despair—at the houses and office complexes that seem to shoot from its ground like missiles and forget one of the main reasons any of it exists: Charlotte Douglas International Airport.

Charlotte is a city built on banking, but bankers and other businesspeople understand that commerce grows with transportation.

For nearly four decades—since 1982, when the airport opened the current terminal, now in the midst of a $600 million

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GOOD LIFE

INSIDE: NATURE / ARTS / STYLE / ROOM WE LOVE / HISTORY / REAL ESTATE / SEEN / PLAYLIST

THE

MAKING THE MOST OUT OF LIVING HERE

Listen for the barred owl’s distinctive “Who cooks for you?” call at McAlpine Creek Park.

NAT U R E

Birder’s-Eye View

RON CLARK

When the pandemic struck, thousands discovered the physical, mental, and ecological benefits of birding.

Spring migration is the perfect time to join the flock

BY ALLISON BRADEN

THIS TIME LAST YEAR, people around the world noticed neighbors they never knew they had. As the coronavirus ground our normal lives to a halt, robins busied themselves laying bright blue eggs, and rose-breasted grosbeaks decked themselves in red and black to attract mates. Sales of binoculars and birdfeeders spiked, and new birdwatchers discovered that the birds on the periphery of our lives have a complex community of their own—plus the sense

MARCH 2021 // CHARLOTTE

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THE GOOD LIFE SPOTS TO BIRD MCALPINE CREEK PARK: The wide gravel trails offer vantages on woods and wetlands.

Several rarities, including a roseate spoonbill, stopped by the “beaver pond” behind the main pond last year. But no need to hold out for something exotic. Listen for the hoot of the resident barred owls.

FOUR MILE CREEK GREENWAY: This 2-mile paved greenway in south Charlotte is usually home to a flurry of bird activity. Listen for birdsong in the tangles of brush that line the path. In the spring, Walker says, beginners will take in good sightings on any of Charlotte’s greenways. Take a stroll before work to avoid weekend crowds.

YOUR BACKYARD: Birdwatching can begin with a glance out the window. Birds are everywhere, and even familiar friends like northern cardinals and blue jays can demonstrate surprising behavior. Select a variety of birdseed and the type of feeder for the birds you want to attract, then let the wildlife come to you. Identifying species from your kitchen table can even make you a citizen scientist: Audubon’s Great Backyard Bird Count provides researchers with an important snapshot of bird population patterns.

WITH A GROUP: “If you want to get outside and start learning more about birds and start identifying birds by sight and by sounds,” Pharr says, “it’s good to go out with someone who’s more experienced.” Sign up for one of Mecklenburg Audubon Society’s weekly walks to learn birding skills and etiquette, such as how to visit bird habitats respectfully.

Cedar waxwings are social birds that swallow berries whole.

of emotional and physical well-being that comes from getting outside and focusing outward. “Hope,” as Emily Dickinson wrote, “is the thing with feathers.”

This spring, flowers may bloom brighter, saturated with our relief as the pandemic winds down, but the joy of getting to know our wild neighbors will outlast quarantine. It’s never been easier to learn about local bird life, and birding can prove surprisingly fun and rewarding.

(It has all the thrill and suspense of hunting—with less mess.) And the benefits go both ways. Close attention to birds and their habitats is a step toward healing the damage we’ve done to their populations, even as we heal from the damage we’ve done to ours.

The mid-December sun glints off a frosty field as I pull into the parking lot at McAlpine Creek Park. A small group clusters around a pair of cars adorned with bird bumper stickers. They’re bundled against the cold and masked to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, but when they all lift their binoculars to look at a hawk perched on a distant pole, I know I’m in the right place.

The Mecklenburg Audubon Society offers bird walks in the Charlotte region year-round. Today, Judy Walker, the MAS newsletter moderator and a retired UNC Charlotte education librarian, will lead our group of nine on a stroll in search of species that have migrated here for the winter, like fox sparrows. One member

(Below) A roseate spoonbill; eastern phoebe; indigo bunting; and eastern female towhee. See more birds at charlottemagazine.com.

BIRDS TO SPOT BLUE JAY: You’ve probably seen a blue jay before, but can you identify its call? Listen for a loud jeer or a melodious flute-like song. Like crows and ravens, blue jays are corvids, one of the most intelligent families of birds. They’ll sometimes mimic hawk calls to scare off songbirds and keep birdfeeders to themselves.

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EASTERN PHOEBE: This small bird, brown on top and creamy underneath, is Pharr’s favorite— despite their earsplitting call.

“They’re a species of flycatcher, and I love them so much because they do this little tail flick,” she says. “It is the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.”

CHARLOTTEMAGAZINE.COM // MARCH 2021

ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK: These dazzlers will often come right to your feeder (they like sunflower seeds). Look for their large pale pink beaks and bold red triangles on the males’ chests.

Download Merlin, an app from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, for quick reference and ID help.

INDIGO BUNTING: These brilliant, deep-blue songbirds like to perch on the ends of branches or on telephone wires. Spot them in brushy hedgerows or where forest meets field. Don’t worry about missing them after peak spring migration— you can listen for their cheerful song all summer long.

RICHARD POCKAT; JUDY WALKER; LAUREN PHARR; PATTY MASTEN; JIM GUYTON

MCDOWELL NATURE PRESERVE: This preserve protects habitats for more than 100 species. The Piedmont Prairie Trail winds through a grassy landscape uncommon in urban Charlotte. Visit soon after dawn for a glimpse of spring migrants like rose-breasted grosbeaks and indigo buntings.

of our group is new to the area, and he’s especially eager to spot a winter wren, a tiny bird with a big voice.

Walker has led bird walks for about 20 years, and she’s been birding for 20 years longer than that. She’s seen nearly every feathered species there is around here, but her enthusiasm hasn’t waned. “I get excited about things,” she says, “but it’s getting other people excited.” Her favorite way to capture a beginner’s interest is to spot a new-to-them bird or what she calls a “wow” bird. We set off from the parking lot at a birder’s typically glacial pace, pausing often to listen for chirps and peer at the leafless treetops.

There’s no substitute for a guide’s experience, but these days, it’s easier than ever to learn about birds on your own. Citizenscience apps like Merlin and eBird, which make it simple to keep lists and identify new species, have helped catapult birding into the mainstream and freed aspiring birders from the need to tote cumbersome field guides into the woods. The app BirdNET records and identifies birdsongs, while the U.S. Fish and Wildlife

Service’s Feather Atlas can identify birds by their feathers.

Walker stops at a pile of brush and explains that this is the habitat winter wrens prefer. She pulls out her phone and plays the bird’s call. The group hushes.

We hear an answer deep in the brush but don’t see the bird. As we move on and Walker explains the distinction between the goldfinches and pine siskins gathered on the gravel, it’s easy to believe that the birds in our area are doing fine. Lauren Pharr sets me straight.

Pharr, 24, studied the effects of urbanization on birds for her master’s in fisheries, wildlife, and conservation biology at N.C. State, and she says light and noise pollution and global warming have devastated bird populations. “Light pollution that comes from our headlights, from street posts, illuminated buildings— all that goes into something that we call ‘skyglow,’ and it’s like a blanket over the sky,” she explains, which makes it harder for birds to navigate and affects everything from migration to reproduction.

Uptown’s dazzling light displays are less

beautiful from a bird’s point of view: Last year, Audubon North Carolina successfully lobbied the Duke Energy Center to turn off unnecessary lights during peak migration. The skyscraper’s springtime darkness sends its own message: Our community extends beyond ourselves.

But to understand the birds’ cloudhigh perspective, you have to get to know them first—and that’s the fun part. “It’s a puzzle,” Walker says. “You’d be surprised what you might see.”

We stop at a fallen tree, shivering in the shade, and Walker again tries to lure out a wren. Joggers dodge us as we train our gaze on the branches. Suddenly, there he is: a bird no bigger than a pinecone, his short tail cocked at a jaunty angle. The wren brings the quiet woods to life, and the curved glass in our binoculars reveals an intricate pattern of white and walnut brown in his feathers. We hold still. The wren flits briefly to another branch, and then he’s gone.

ALLISON BRADEN is a contributing editor to this magazine.

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Find out in a special section inside the September issue.

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THE GOOD LIFE

ART S

The Case for Charlotte Music, Post-COVID

Just as Charlotte began to lay a foundation for something it’s notoriously lacked over the years—the ability to sustain a vibrant, distinctive local music scene—the pandemic snatched it away, as it did so much else. Was it a lethal blow? This magazine’s longtime editor, now a driver of a local music initiative, grabs the mic to argue: Hell, no

BY RICK THURMOND | PHOTOGRAPHS BY DANIEL COSTON

THE YEAR 2020 was shaping up to be a good one for the Charlotte music scene.

Going into March, independent venues The Evening Muse and Neighborhood Theatre in NoDa had celebrated a run of sold-out shows. Uptown, the brandnew jazz club Middle C had hit its stride with its own string of sellouts. Charlotte’s largest venues, including four Live Nation-owned stages and the city-owned Bojangles Coliseum, Ovens Auditorium, and Spectrum Center were booking more shows than ever.

Any night of the week, you could experience high-quality, local, live music. Heck, pick a night, and you could hear live jazz, which, until the Bechtler started a monthly series 11 years ago, was kept on life support by the legendary Bill Hanna, who died in January.

Once a month, at cozy Snug Harbor in Plaza Midwood, Elevator Jay, the bard of Beatties Ford, presided over Player Made,

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CHARLOTTEMAGAZINE.COM // MARCH 2021

an Ode to Southern Rap. At Comet Grill in Dilworth, some of the city’s best bar bands lit up the place three or four nights a week. On Sunday afternoons, local and touring bands contorted themselves into a corner at iconic dive bar Thirsty Beaver and played for hours.

Recording studios were booked with sessions. Local artists in all genres worked on new material. Backup players joined big names on cross-country tours.

Charlotte’s own Jonathan Kirk, better known as DaBaby, was on his way to a second straight Billboard No. 1 record.

For me, more than two years of work was starting to pay off. In late 2017, through my role at Charlotte Center City Partners, I helped launch an initiative called Music Everywhere CLT. Our longterm goal, building on a latent strength of Charlotte, is for music to become an essential element of this city. Through research, focus groups, a survey of 2,000

people, and work with a consultant, we produced something called The Charlotte Music Ecosystem Study and Action Plan.

Nerdy, I know. Town halls and meetups followed. We have strategies to boost audience awareness, grow artist resources, develop the industry, ensure equitable outcomes, and organize the music community. All of that is the foundation. Atop it, a killer music scene can flourish.

At 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 12, I was scheduled to meet with a few folks in the music community at The Evening Muse. We were planning the first-ever Charlotte Music Week, a followup to Confluence, a music conference and festival that debuted at the U.S. National Whitewater Center in 2019.

We were shooting for the week before the Republican National Convention in August. The concept: a conference during the day, with guest speakers from Charlotte and all over the country.

At night, artist showcases in venues all over town. It would be a regional draw, an attempt to establish Charlotte as a Southeastern hub for music.

I never made it to the Muse that afternoon. My week turned into a dizzying series of meetings with titles like “Public Health Strategy.” On Friday the 13th, I tucked my computer monitor under my arm and walked out of my office, not knowing when I would be allowed to return.

FROM 1994 TO 2016, while I worked at this magazine, I wrote or edited tens of thousands of words about the Charlotte music scene. I did it because music matters to me. I can neither play a lick nor sing a note, but some of the most memorable nights of my life have been spent inside local music venues.

I also did it because I think music matters to a city. People want to live in cities with lively cultural scenes. Companies want to be in those cities, so they can hire workers. Music is a growing industry.

Every record made or concert produced helps create dozens of jobs. Increasing numbers of visitors want to come to cities with great music scenes, and they spend money when they are in those cities.

At a deeper level, music matters to a community. Music unites and inspires.

Lord knows we could use some unity and inspiration.

At its core—and this is why I do the work I do—music is how a place expresses itself. Rock, jazz, blues, country, folk—all are American creations (in fact, all are African American creations), and each has its own vernacular particular to the area from which it emanates. Try to imagine New Orleans without jazz; New York without Bob Dylan, Lou Reed, and Patti Smith; California without The Beach Boys. Memphis isn’t Memphis without Stax Records and a horn section.

Without hip-hop, Atlanta has no soul.

Bluegrass is the soundtrack to Western North Carolina.

Charlotte has long sought not only to define itself but to announce itself, and, well, I think that’ll be really hard to do without music.

So when COVID ripped out the city’s vocal cords, you’d have been forgiven for thinking: Game over. Except I’m hopeful. In fact, I’m more than hopeful; I’m optimistic—and you should be, too. The music community took some punches,

(Opposite) The band Akita plays at the Confluence festival and music conference at the U.S. National Whitewater Center in 2019. (Above) Jonathan Wilson of Muscadine shares the Tremont Music Hall stage with Hope Nicholls in 1996. Tremont, which closed in 2015, is one of several Charlotte live music venues the city’s growth has swallowed.

sure, and they hurt like hell. But they weren’t knockout blows. Artists figured out ways to play. Charlotte showed up with financial and emotional support.

Venues banded together.

It will continue to be hard. But Charlotte’s music community was busy building something last March, and we are far from finished.

THROUGHOUT THE 1990s AND 2000s, venues came and went. Bands surfaced, threatened to break through, then faded.

The ’90s were promising. Charlotte’s first alternative-rock radio station, WEND 106.5 The End, promoted local shows and played local bands. A no-nonsense woman named Penny Craver leased an old cinder block building in then-gritty South End and opened Tremont Music Hall. Everyone played there: teenage hardcore bands and early-career Ben Folds and Ryan Adams. Major labels snatched up promising area bands like Muscadine, Jolene, Lustre, and Sugarsmack.

It didn’t last. Radio went corporate.

The labels discarded the Charlotte bands, attracted to newer, shinier objects in some other city. The Charlotte music scene seemed doomed to forever stay a stepchild to the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill powerhouse and up-and-coming Asheville, occasionally lunging toward a tipping point, then turning back or being turned away before anyone else noticed.

Sure, there were moments. The Avett Brothers, from just up Interstate 85,

headline festivals and sell out large venues all over America. Anthony Hamilton and Fantasia Barrino have 29 Grammy nominations between them, and each has won one. But no one followed in the Avetts’ wake. On a 2016 tour, Hamilton and Fantasia sold out Madison Square Garden; the tour’s finale at Bojangles Coliseum was two-thirds full—which seemed to validate the widespread perception that Charlotte’s music scene underwhelms and underachieves.

Five years ago, the situation seemed dire. In 2015, Tremont Music Hall closed and was soon reduced to rubble, torched by the white-hot real estate market of South End. Not long after, a guy named Nick Karres retired, selling his little bar to ever-expanding Central Piedmont Community College. The Double Door Inn was one of my favorite places on Earth, and I’m far from alone in this sentiment. It was a room that made bad bands sound good, good bands sound great, and great bands transcend space, time, and their own ideas of what was possible.

To this day, what gets me is this: The Double Door slunk away with little outrage from the community, purchased and torn down with your money and mine, tax dollars erecting a four-story CPCC building in place of 40 years of culture. I don’t recall a single finger-wagging op-ed, no political grandstanding. Just a too-late petition, a bittersweet memorabilia sale (I still regret not acting fast enough to claim a row of the church-pew seats that my wife would MARCH 2021 // CHARLOTTE

21

THE GOOD LIFE

have greeted with her lovely, tight smile), and one secret, last-ditch, failed attempt to secure the building, move it up the street, and reopen it as a nonprofit.

That last bit is a story for another day. My point is that it seemed like the Charlotte music scene, such as it was, had reached its nadir.

Yet while myopic, sentimental sops like me bemoaned the loss of surface accoutrements like old rock clubs, Charlotte kept attracting talent. Singers, rappers, songwriters, players, and producers moved to Charlotte for the same reasons everyone else does: relative affordability, good weather, nice people, accessibility to other places, plentiful jobs. Over the past seven or eight years, the newcomers have turned up the heat underneath the simmering scene.

Leo Solis came here 10 years ago to work as a tour manager. “When I realized how cheap it is to make a record here and how cheap it is to live, it was kind of a no-brainer. I was like, ‘I can work with new artists and work with this crazy, untapped potential in this town known as a banking city? I want to stay here.’”

Now, Leo and his wife have an indie-pop band (SOLIS). He started indie label Four Finger Records with Jeremy Smith. He produces. He’s a sound engineer.

Tim Scott Jr. graduated from Northwest School of the Arts in 2006, then attended N.C. Central. Ever since, he’s made music his livelihood. He’s a drummer, a music director, artist manager, and talent buyer, and he hosted the monthly South End Jazz Jam for two years until the shut-

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CHARLOTTEMAGAZINE.COM // MARCH 2021

COVID forced local musicians to find new ways to reach audiences. Since March 2020, Josh Daniel has livestreamed hundreds of gigs—most, like this tribute to The Band in November (left), from his home in Plaza Shamrock. (Below) Sam Tayloe (left) and Houston Norris of Time Sawyer during a livestreamed show at The Evening Muse in December.

down. “Since 2017,” he told me, “I’ve seen a coming together of the music community that I’ve never seen in this city before.”

If music is how a city expresses itself, then Charlotte was starting to find its voice.

THAT’S WHAT MADE MARCH so difficult.

On Thursday, March 12, after a show

by Eddie Z and the Vault Dwellers, Joe Kuhlmann, co-owner of The Evening Muse, took the staff out for a drink. “I remember telling them, ‘This is going to be strange, but we’ll survive this. We will navigate this and figure it out.’ I remember thinking it was going to be a few months. ‘Like, OK, Memorial Day, we’ll probably reopen.’”

Now, he’s hoping for Memorial Day 2021. Overnight, the Muse went from hosting 45 or 50 shows a month to zero. It was the same all over town. Every venue shut down. Recording studios closed.

Events, canceled. Tours, suspended.

“What we do is create music and we release it and we promote and we play it live,” Solis says. “And all of those things went away in a matter of days.” All of his income evaporated overnight. His wife was pregnant with their first child (they welcomed a baby boy in November), and she worked at a grocery store. They decided she would stay home. Leo found work in the service industry.

A couple of weeks into the pandemic, I helped host a few Zoom roundtables and town halls for the music community.

I had this idea to start a microgrant program so musicians could buy livestream

or in-home recording equipment. “That’s great,” one artist said. “But I need that money to pay the rent.”

Fair point.

We partnered with Tosco Music and FAIR PLAY Music Equity Initiative to start the Charlotte Music Community Relief Fund. Over 10 rounds of grants, we read so many heartbreaking applications. One singer-songwriter with a decent following went from regular gigs to homeless in a matter of months. (He’s back on his feet again.) I can tell you story after story after story.

What worries me most are the stories I don’t know. By fall, we had exhausted the fund, $80,000 worth of $500 grants. Not long after that, the federal unemployment bonus ended, then state unemployment maxed out. So many folks were on the precipice, and $500 goes only so far.

I know the money made a difference because I read the thank-you emails. But for how long?

Continued on page 78

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THE GOOD LIFE

ST YL E

Head First

Guyana native Akash Prasad conceived a crown-inspired jewelry line in his adopted hometown

BY MICHELLE BOUDIN | PHOTOGRAPHS BY RUSTY WILLIAMS

JEWELRY DESIGNER AKASH PRASAD, who launched the popular Crown City line in September of last year, was terrified on his first day of school in Queens, New York, two decades ago. At 15, his family had just moved from Guyana, a South American country of just 800,000 people.

“The Russians were with the Russians, the Indians were with the Indians, and the Black kids were with the Blacks,” he recalls. “I didn’t have a community. There was no one else there from Guyana.”

In 2018, the 33-year-old started over again when he and his wife left New York and moved to Charlotte with their first child. Prasad stayed on as vice president

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CHARLOTTEMAGAZINE.COM // MARCH 2021

of New Jersey-based Ace Watches and served as a design consultant to a handful of national retailers that include Dr. Jay’s, PCX Clothing, and Fashion Nova.

But they wanted to raise their son in a more family-friendly city, where Prasad could eventually build a creative business. “I noticed that many other awesome brands already had the apparel end covered,” he says, “but there was a void in the jewelry market, and I saw it as a way to creatively contribute to the fashion fabric of Charlotte.”

Crown City remained a dream until early 2020, following the death of Kobe Bryant. Prasad says it was Bryant’s

“Mamba Mentality” that inspired him to begin planning his online venture.

“He achieved so much and put his all into every project,” he says. “He was also drafted by Charlotte back in ’96, so I had all the motivation I needed.”

Prasad had already worked in the jewelry business for more than a decade. His college best friend’s father owned a watch store in Manhattan. In 2014, Prasad and his friend helped launch that store’s jewelry line, focusing on what Prasad calls “trendy urban pieces popular among the rap and hip-hop crowd.” For his own line, he wanted to work with gold- or rhodium-plated stainless steel.

(From left) Gold Mint pendant and chain ($40), Gold Brevard pendant and chain (silver also available, right, $40), Gold Trade pendant and chain ($45).

(Opposite) Akash Prasad wears a gold Caldwell pendant and chain ($40) with a black Crown City sweatshirt ($42).

Crown City grew from a collection of Charlotte-inspired pendants. Prasad found the inspiration for his crown logo, which has become a Charlotte statement piece, one day as he strolled Bryant Park and noticed the clean, straight lines of the Duke Energy building.

He’s also woven a part of Charlotte’s history into the collection: The breaks— or missing pieces—on his crown were intentional. “They are meant to represent the missing pieces of this city,” he says, “like the Brooklyn neighborhood and other areas that were torn down.”

Crown City is available at CLT Find, a popular online retailer with a stall at 7th Street Public Market, and the Charlotte Visitor Info Center shop. Prasad hopes to be in several stores in Plaza Midwood, South End, and Camp North End soon.

He also sells his pieces, which cost around $45 each, at crowncitync.com and his Instagram page, @crowncitync.

“Living in Charlotte has already changed my perspective of life and of people,” Prasad says. “I have a new appreciation for unrushed living, putting family first, and getting to know your neighbors. The best way to show love or support for something in this day and age is by wearing it. Some do it with clothing, some do it with jewelry.”

MICHELLE BOUDIN is a reporter for NBC Charlotte and a frequent contributor to this magazine.

MARCH 2021 // CHARLOTTE

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THE GOOD LIFE

Make It Work

Designer Brooke Adler installs a functional, gender-neutral workstation in her clients’ Montibello home

SET THE MOOD The couple wanted an office that was “moody with accents of wood.” They chose a blue-and-gray, gender-neutral color scheme and had Jason Angledorf of Jason’s Custom Woodworks install built-in office shelves and make a custom wood desk. Adler added gold library lighting from Visual Comfort to the top of the shelves, which she painted in Blue Note by Benjamin Moore. “The classic blue feels updated with the shiplap,” she says.

“Without the wood accent, it wouldn’t be such a statement.”

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CHARLOTTEMAGAZINE.COM // MARCH 2021

DESIGNER BROOKE ADLER, owner of Brooke Adler Interiors, renovated a number of rooms in her clients’ home before she refreshed their office.

The homeowners, both of whom work full-time, have three school-aged children and wanted a workspace separate from home-school chaos.

“Our worlds have been turned upside-down,” Adler says, “so we’re making spaces smarter because they’re being used by multiple family members.” —Taylor Bowler

OUT OF SIGHT The homeowner wanted uncluttered surfaces and a desk free of drawers, so the lower cabinets provide plenty of storage. In place of bulky books, binders, and folders, Adler dotted the shelves with delicate accents like tribalinspired boxes, bowls, and trays—and a oneof-a-kind agate piece. The abstract painting by Charlotte-based artist Julie Barnett came from Art House Charlotte.

BUILD A CASE Adler got the two lounge chairs from Gabby and the swivel chair from Hooker. She found the patterned rug at Loloi and chose gold Myoh pulls for the cabinet doors to match the kitchen hardware. “Since this office was for both of them, we didn’t want it to feel too masculine or feminine,” she says. “We’re having to find multiple purposes for a room right now; the theme is making it function for everyone.”

ERIN COMERFORD MILLER; STYLED BY KENDRA SURFACE

RO O M W E LOV E

THE GOOD LIFE

B U I L D I N G H I STO RY

Plaza Midwood’s Fertile Storefront Not one but two Fortune 500 companies took root at nondescript 1508-1510 Central Ave.

IT MIGHT BE THE LUCKIEST BUILDING on the luckiest block in Charlotte: Two national Fortune 500 retailers got their start at this one spot in the heart of Plaza Midwood.

The double storefront at 1508-1510 Central Avenue doesn’t look like much.

That’s part of its charm. It sits right up at the sidewalk, surrounded by a block of similarly affordable and unremarkable buildings. It’s a basic, one-story box, brick in front, with four concrete globes mounted along its cornice. You could fit a small store in each half or throw it together for a midsized shop.

That’s one thing that’s always made Plaza Midwood so lively—not any one anchor store but a jumble of entrepreneurial energies.

A young man named W.T. Harris (yep, as in W.T. Harris Boulevard) saw the possibilities back in 1936, when he

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CHARLOTTEMAGAZINE.COM // MARCH 2021

launched Harris Food Store just down the block at 1504 Central, today Mama’s Caribbean Grill & Bar. He outgrew the space in two busy years. That’s when Harris decided to rent the double up the block. An investor had built it in the late 1920s but struggled to keep it leased during the Depression years. That meant cheap rent, and Harris put his extra dollars into grocery innovation.

He installed Charlotte’s first refrigerated section for produce: less spoilage and thus lower prices. And Harris Food Store was “semi-self-service,” The Charlotte Observer reported, with “the new type push carts with baskets” customers could use instead of waiting for a storekeeper to fetch items.

Ten successful years later, Harris found land a block away to construct a much larger building and soon merged with a competitor to create the Harris

Teeter chain. By the 2000s, Harris Teeter, whose stores spread throughout the South and as far northeast as Delaware, would earn a place on the Fortune 500 list of America’s biggest corporations— where it remained until grocery giant Kroger bought it for $2.4 billion in 2014.

After Harris’ departure, other entrepreneurs tried their luck at 1508-1510 Central—May’s Hardware, Plaza Children’s Shop, Belle Donna Dress Shop—before energetic Leon Levine came along in 1959.

The Levine family ran a small-town department store in Rockingham, and Leon Levine’s older brother Alvin had ventured to Charlotte to test the big-city waters. Alvin Levine opened a discount shoe outlet, Pic ’n Pay, at 1533 Central Avenue in 1957. (It’s The Workman’s Friend pub today.) Alvin built it into a major national chain as another

COURTESY

BY TOM HANCHETT

R E AL E STAT E

Hot Listings Stately homes in South Charlotte. —Taylor Bowler

CHARLOTTE OBSERVER ARCHIVES, CHARLOTTE MECKLENBURG LIBRARY

(From left) Brothers Sherman, Alvin, and Leon Levine in 1960, soon after they opened the Sherman’s Ltd. clothing store, Pic ’n Pay Shoes, and Family Dollar in the 1500 block of Central Avenue. (Right) A Family Dollar ad from The Charlotte Observer, Nov. 19, 1959.

Levine brother, Sherman, eyed 1517 Central (now Midwood Guitar Studio) for a clothing shop he would name Sherman’s Ltd. Leon, barely 22, grasped the potential of cheap rent amid Central Avenue’s passing throng. He leased 1510 and, on Thursday, Nov. 19, 1959, swung wide the doors of the first-ever Family Dollar.

“Nothing in our store over $2 (values up to $5),” trumpeted his first ad.

Success came quickly. Only three months later, in February 1960, Leon took out ads that read: “Help Us Clear Out—We’re Moving.” The new location was on the same golden block, right across the street at 1519 Central, a space the Social Status shoe store occupies now.

By the 2010s, Family Dollar was on the Fortune 500 list with stores in nearly every state, and Leon Levine was Charlotte’s most prominent philanthropist: Levine Children’s Hospital, the Levine Campus of Central Piedmont Community College, the Levine Museum of the New South, and more.

Today, Plaza Midwood’s storefronts continue to serve as incubators for humble startups, like Fuel Pizza, Midwood Smokehouse, and Common Market, that eventually branch out to other parts of the city. The double storefront at 1508-1510 is still there, most recently home to a pair of antique shops, Century Vintage and 1510 Antiques.

In 2019, the Charlotte real estate investment company Asana Partners bought the building, painted it gray, replaced the front windows, and began to seek tenants. In January, the company found one for half the space: Emmy Squared, a New York-based pizza restaurant. Next door, perhaps another small entrepreneur en route to something bigger?

BUILDING HISTORY is a monthly series that highlights Charlotte’s historic buildings. Tom Hanchett, a local historian in Charlotte since 1981, is the author of Sorting Out the New South City: Race, Class, and Urban Development in Charlotte, 1875-1975 and former staff historian at the Levine Museum of the New South.

Follow him on Twitter at @historysouth.

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MARCH 2021 // CHARLOTTE

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Holiday Sips & S’mores

Fireside at the Collaborative Dec. 19, 2020

PART Y P I C S

Seen

1. Stephen Wilson, Aundrea Wilson, and children 2. Carolyn Hotham, Mary Margaret Beaver 3. John Sherman, Hobby Sherman 4. Leah Ward, Sydney Butler

Upcoming Calendar of Events Submit your event online at charlottemagazine.com/ calendar, and look forward to seeing more from these: MARCH 3/27 Guys and Dolls All-Stars Charlotte benefiting the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, cff.org/charlotte APRIL 4/22 Charlotte Sustainability Awards, sustaincharlotte.org/awards 4/23 Dancing With The Stars of Charlotte benefiting The Pink House, carolinabreastfriends.org MAY 5/22 Charlotte Memory Gala benefiting Alzheimer’s Association, sharecharlotte.org

Runningworks Gala Good Friends Day

virtual, with live viewings various locations Dec. 10, 2020

1. Windy O’Connor, Meredith Dolhare 2. Blake O’Connor, Windy O’Connor, Luis Machicao, Whitley Hamlin, Jeff Wallin, and Jay Seago

DANIEL COSTON

1. Quinn Davidson, Mary Tinkey, Dawn Milgrom 2. Sally Van Allen 3. Ashley Hewitt, Susan Firance

Project 658 Dec. 11, 2020

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CHARLOTTEMAGAZINE.COM // MARCH 2021

5

A Night At Studio 54

presented by The Mannequin Group Dec. 5, 2020 1. Benton Jones, Terrie Rollings 2. Irma Frockt, Maureen Biggs, Colleen Richmond 3. Berhan Nebioglu, Whitley Hamlin 4. Jennifer Brown, Parley Brown 5. Jason Beebe, Amanda Beebe

Roman Holiday

presented by Charlotte Seen Dec. 19, 2020

DANIEL COSTON

1. Delania Hunter, Elyssa Green 2. Tanya Parks, Jamie Moten 3. Carol Smith, Christiana Compton 4. Thomas Day, Clare Pieratt, Aaron Pieratt

MARCH 2021 // CHARLOTTE

31

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Bone-In Ribeye topped with black truffle sautéed Maine lobster and a side of Chef Heather King’s Au Gratin Potatoes.

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MORE SIZZLE IN SOUTHPARK TKTKTKTKTKt

Steak 48 is worth the buzz—and the splurge

BY TAYLOR BOWLER PHOTOGRAPHS BY PETER TAYLOR

STEAK 48 had a buzzy December opening at Apex SouthPark, and this upscale steakhouse with locations in Phoenix, Philadelphia, Chicago, and Houston is worth the hype. It joins Oak Steakhouse, Del Frisco’s, The Palm, and Ruth’s Chris in Charlotte’s high-end shopping and dining hub—and still stands out. If steak is your favorite, or even if it’s not, you’ll be able to justify a $350 dinner for two.

MARCH 2021 // CHARLOTTE

33

FOOD+DRINK

(Clockwise from top) Executive Chef Heather King; a view of the open kitchen from one of multiple dining areas; a seafood tower with Alaskan king crab legs, fresh oysters, lobster, and shrimp.

STEAK 48 4425 Sharon Rd. 980-580-4848 steak48.com Hours: 5 p.m.-10 p.m. Monday-Thursday 4 p.m.-10 p.m. Friday-Sunday

34

Owners Jeffrey and Michael Mastro and their father, Dennis, reimagined the oldschool, brooding steakhouse aesthetic. Instead of mahogany panels and dim lighting with clinking martini glasses, Steak 48 has multiple dining areas and six private dining suites with a view of an open kitchen surrounded by floorto-ceiling glass walls. The 11,500-square-foot space also has an in-house butcher shop, raw bar, and 6,000-bottle wine vault.

The USDA prime steaks are the main attraction, but executive chef Heather King’s menu is extensive: Order a drink and settle in, because you’ll be here for a few hours. Start with an order of Crispy Shrimp Deviled Eggs ($16), a King Crab and Avocado Stack ($18), or pretend

CHARLOTTEMAGAZINE.COM // MARCH 2021

it’s someone’s birthday and get the Seafood Tower (market price). It’s nearly impossible not to devour the entire skillet of warm garlic rolls that magically appears on your table, but pace yourself, because this meal is the size of a Thanksgiving feast.

Like everything else on the menu, the salad portions are generous, so ask your server to split the Roasted Beet ($10) or Superfood ($12) if you want to share. If you came for the steak, have your choice of NY Strip ($42 for 12 oz., $54 for 16 oz.), Bone-In Filet Mignon ($58 for 12 oz., $73 for 18 oz.), or a range of other prime steaks cut in-house. Top it with sautéed blue cheese ($6), truffle butter ($8), or black truffle sautéed Maine lobster ($44). For seafood lovers, there’s

(Above) Bone-In Filet with Alaskan King Crab & Rock Shrimp Mac & Cheese and Chef Heather King’s Au Gratin Potatoes. (Right, top to bottom) King Crab and Avocado Stack, Roasted Beet Salad, and the Ultimate Warm Vanilla Caramel Cake.

Chilean Sea Bass ($48), Ahi Filet ($48), and an array of fresh fish you can top with tomato herb gremolata ($5) or chardonnay butter with shallots and fresh mint ($4), or have it Oscar-style with a crab cake on top ($18).

The sides, served family-style, are worth the extra time you’ll spend on the Peloton tomorrow. The Alaskan King Crab & Rock Shrimp Mac & Cheese ($28) is an overachiever as mac and cheese goes, with its rich, savory blend of Romano and Tillamook cheddar cheese.

Chef Heather King’s Au Gratin Potatoes ($18) are layer upon decadent layer of gouda, mozzarella, and caramelized onion. Don’t be shy about asking your server to box up what you can’t finish.

You might be tempted to pass on dessert, but you didn’t come this far to come only this far. The Ultimate Warm Vanilla Caramel Cake ($16) is a skillet of bliss with a scoop of vanilla gelato in the center and glazed pecans on top.

The Cookies & Cream Popcorn Sundae ($12) is equally sinful with rich vanilla gelato, hot fudge, and crunchy, caramelized bits of popcorn on top.

Prepare to spend the next day in a food coma with an occasional flashback of your meal. If you ever venture out to another steakhouse, there’s a good chance this is the one you’ll measure it against.

Don’t leave without trying: The Alaskan King Crab & Rock Shrimp Mac & Cheese ($28) is absurdly good.

TAYLOR BOWLER is lifestyle editor of this magazine.

MARCH 2021 // CHARLOTTE

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FOOD+DRINK Seats at the restaurant are tagged to show where 10 students sat on Jan. 31, 1961 (below). A historical placard designates the site (right).

S E RV E D H I STO RY

KOUNTER HONORS THE FRIENDSHIP NINE

Chef Rob Masone brings something new to Rock Hill’s culinary scene—without losing sight of the past

BY ALLISON BRADEN | PHOTOGRAPHS BY PETER TAYLOR

THE INTERIOR OF 135 E. MAIN ST. in Rock Hill is nearly gutted, but relics of its long history as a diner remain: A painting on the wall advertises phosphates and sloppy joes. Tucked behind the long bar is a cardboard box labeled “Historic lunch counter.” Then, underlined twice, “NOT TRASH.” On Jan. 31, 1961, several young Black men—many of them students at Friendship Junior College—sat down at McCrory’s Lunch Counter, the counter I’m standing next to, and placed their orders. Ten were charged with trespassing and breach of peace; one opted to pay a fine. The remainder, the Friendship Nine, chose to serve 30 days at the York County Prison Farm. Their choice was part of an emerging “jail, no bail” strategy that allowed civil rights groups to invest limited resources elsewhere. For many today, a month of hard labor—plus solitary confinement and food rationing—at a South Carolina prison challenges the imagination.

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“We want to enhance this building and keep the history and really expand people’s minds on what happened here,” says Rob Masone, a Rock Hill native and owner of catering company Kre8.

He’s at the helm of a project to reinvent the historic restaurant and bring an “elevated yet approachable” dining experience to Rock Hill’s culinary scene, which he describes in one word: “Ready.” Masone’s menu riffs on diner standards: The “lamb-orghini” lunch sandwich features orange-scented ricotta and forest mushroom cream, while dinner entrees include shrimp and grits, bacon-wrapped meatloaf, and spaghettio’s with lamb meatballs. Developers J.D. Yearwood and Justin Mueller leased the restaurant and a 6,000-square-foot event space, and Masone will operate both. The event space will be called The Gathering Space and the restaurant, which Masone opened in December, is called Kounter.

When I talk to Masone and Yearwood, both white, it’s clear they’re committed

to honoring the Friendship Nine. They will restore the counter’s original barstools and pink laminate surface. Masone intends to educate his staff so they can then educate customers. Historic placards will hang in the building’s foyer, open to the public, and if all goes according to plan, a mural will adorn the exterior of the event space.

Masone, 40, has had to learn a lot about the Friendship Nine. Growing up in Rock Hill, he says, he never learned more than the contours of their story. Reverend C.T. Kirk, who organized the town’s recent Black Lives Matter protest, had a similar experience. “I had been raised in Rock Hill for almost 30 years before I even knew who the Friendship Nine was,” he says. Kirk believes Masone’s goals to preserve and educate are important first steps in recognizing these local heroes.

David Williamson, one of the Friendship Nine, visited Masone and gave his blessing, rubbing his fingers across the pink counter.

BITE-SIZED NEWS

Foodie Tidbits on a Small Plate ACE NO. 3, the Belmont burger joint from the team behind Sea Level and The Waterman, will expand with two new Charlotte locations this year—one in Myers Park, the other at Concord Mills.

Expect the same simple menu of burgers and shakes in a counterservice setting.

VAULTED OAK BREWING is now open in a former bank on Monroe Road. The brewery, which repurposed the drive-up teller area into a walk-up window, serves a mix of lagers, IPAs, and sours, plus a selection of ciders and wine.

LULU’S, the popular Marylandstyle chicken and seafood eatery that opened on Tuckaseegee Road in 2019, opens its second location this month on Central Avenue in Plaza Midwood. Look for indoor and outdoor seating and an expanded brunch and dinner menu.

It can be hard to imagine a world in which students are sentenced to hard labor for ordering a hamburger. But for many, their struggle is painfully present, as activists demand recognition of Black people as people and bail policy once again makes headlines. The bare space creaks with history and possibility. What does it mean to truly honor the Friendship Nine? How could Masone, Yearwood, and Mueller make the historic building not just a memorial but a venue for the ongoing civil rights struggle? These questions used to be beyond a chef’s ken, but Masone occupies a space where the lunch order is less important than what happens next.

(Top) Bacon-wrapped meatloaf; the “lamborghini” sandwich with fries (above); Chef Rob Masone of the Kounter (left); and spaghetti-o’s with lamb meatballs (below).

Atlanta-based restaurant BOCADO BAR + DINER will open a second location in the former Big Ben’s Pub space in Atherton Mil this summer.

Come for brunch, lunch, happy hour, dinner, or late night and order bar snacks, Southern-inspired entrees, or BOCADO’s signature double burger stack.

THE EAGLE FOOD & BEER HALL, a Cincinnati-based restaurant known for fried chicken, has opened its first Charlotte location at Atherton Mill. Brian Riggenbach, who also owns Bakersfield in Dilworth, is behind the venture. —Taylor Bowler

ALLISON BRADEN is a writer and Spanish translator. She is a contributing editor to this magazine.

MARCH 2021 // CHARLOTTE

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FOOD+DRINK Age: 30 You might know her from: She’s a former line cook and pastry chef at Kindred and Hello, Sailor.

Relationship status: Single Hometown: PinevilleMatthews area Currently lives: Plaza Shamrock Favorite sports team: The Tar Heels Currently watching: The Queen’s Gambit on Netflix

O N T H E LI N E W I T H

The Goodyear House’s pastry chef never feels guilty eating dessert

THE TOUGH STUFF

What’s your favorite thing to bake? Pie. I love all pies, but strawberry rhubarb’s my favorite.

BY TAYLOR BOWLER

Chocolate or vanilla?

Vanilla. I’m not a huge chocolate fan

What’s your favorite adult beverage? A really great glass of dry rosé in the summer.

Where does your love of baking come from? My mom was always big on family dinner. I’m the youngest of four, so in high school, it was just me and my parents. My mom said, “I’m done cooking,” so I took over cooking dinner until I left for college. I still love to cook, but I love the precision and artistry of baking.

What do you love about dessert? I think dessert is often overlooked, or people see it as a guilty pleasure or something you don’t deserve to have every day. But dessert can bring so much joy.

I want people to lose the guilt surrounding dessert. If it gives you pleasure, why feel guilty?

Coffee or tea?

Coffee Beer or wine?

Wine Cake or pie?

Pie Doughnut or muffin?

Doughnut Bagel or biscuit?

Biscuit

Dessert for breakfast: hard no or hell, yes? Hell, yes!

Crunchy topping or sweet drizzle?

Crunchy topping

What’s one ingredient you always have on hand? Maldon sea salt.

Ice cream or hot chocolate?

Ice cream

What do you think is an underappreciated flavor? Miso.

What’s the most creative dessert you’ve made? A blood orange olive oil cake I’m putting on the menu at The Goodyear House.

Is there one recipe you’d still like to master? I’d like to get better with laminated doughs and perfect a great croissant recipe.

What shoes do you wear in the kitchen? Klogs.

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Sugar Rush or The Great British Baking Show? The Great British Baking Show Street eats or sit-down?

Street eats Facebook or Instagram?

Instagram

What’s the most surprising thing about you? I adore rodents. Squirrels, raccoons, mice … I had a family of rats growing up. It’s my dream to rescue a raccoon someday.

What’s your favorite restaurant in Charlotte, other than your own? Futo Buta.

What do you like to do outside the kitchen?

I adore spending time with my dog. I take her on a 4- or 5-mile walk every day. I walk almost everywhere I can. I love reading, watching movies, and spending time in the kitchen even when I’m not at work.

Any rules to live by in the kitchen? Always use more salt than you think you need. Properly seasoned food is important, and my approach to dessert is the same as my approach to cooking.

I season as I go. So many times with dessert, all I taste is sugar. I season my desserts well and utilize spices and herbs in a way that elevates the flavor and makes it taste unique, so it’s not like you’re chomping down on a sugar cube.

PETER TAYLOR

BECCA RANKIN

DESTINATION:

CHARLOTTE COVID crippled Charlotte’s economy as it

did every other American city’s. But artists, entrepreneurs, hoteliers, and the officials who run the city’s main economic engine, the airport, got big things done even in the pandemic’s shadow—and continued to build our city’s reputation as a place people want to visit

TIM BUCHMAN

BY ANDY SMITH

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A crown monument erected at Charlotte Douglas International Airport’s entrance creates “a welcoming front door” to CLT and the city.

Destination: Charlotte

MARCH 2021 // CHARLOTTE

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A FLYING (RE)START Things changed in 2020 at the world’s seventh-busiest airport, but CLT fared far better than others in the year of COVID. Airport leaders explain how they’ve kept the planes aloft when so much else was forced to remain on the ground

IN A NORMAL YEAR, more than 50 million travel through Charlotte Douglas International Airport. You’re likely one of the tens of millions in 2020 who didn’t, so things might look a little different at CLT the next time you do fly. Historically low ridership didn’t halt several projects at the airport that are part of a many-pronged master plan that concludes in 2035.

In 2015, the city-owned airport began a $2.5 billion expansion and upgrade. Among the projects in this phase are a Concourse A expansion that was completed in 2018, a Concourse E expansion to be finished this summer, a new runway whose construction just started, and the marquee item: the massive Terminal Lobby expansion, which is four years away from completion. (More on that last one below.) The plan is called “Destination CLT,” and it’s the most expensive and thorough in the airport’s 39-year history.

Business Insider said in January that the industry has been “decimated” due to COVID-19, so it’s surprising that so much of the master plan remains intact. While timeline adjustments were made across the board, CLT leadership says our airport fared far better than

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others, and the reason is American Airlines. “We’re their second-largest hub,” says Jack Christine, chief operating officer and a 24-year veteran of the city’s aviation department, which owns and operates Charlotte Douglas International Airport. “They’ve made it very clear that they believe they’re going to come back out of this pandemic, and the way they’re going to do that is leveraging the hubs in Dallas and Charlotte. We responded by not slowing things down.”

Overall ridership in 2020 was 60% of a typical year’s rate, markedly higher than the national average.

That’s “driven in large part by connecting passengers,” Christine says. CLT’s position as a major connector for American Airlines riders was pivotal. Trips that begin in Charlotte are still dramatically down.

So what’s new at the seventh-busiest airport in the world? Below, Christine and Ted Kaplan, interim chief business and innovation officer, walk Charlotte magazine through those upgrades, from parking and new food options to the reason Queen Charlotte currently lives in a box.

CHARLOTTE DOUGLAS INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

BY ANDY SMITH

WHEN THE SHUTDOWN arrived in March, CLT was nearing an announcement on major changes to airport arrival. It just so happens that many of the upgrades to CLT parking are in line with the so-called “new normal”: a new revenue control system, intended to take the stress out of getting to your flight, is touch-free and requires no face-to-face contact with staff.

You can now select “Book Parking” on the cltairport. com homepage to work out the logistics before arrival.

Available lots to book are curbside valet, the hourly deck, Long Term Lot 1, and two daily decks. Not all of the lots are in this new system yet, but the new process immediately garnered praise from customers.

Now, travelers can see real-time security checkpoint wait times online, too, via the app or website.

The virus forced all high-traffic venues to adjust, but the parking changes are part of a major, permanent shift at the airport. “This is clearly going to be part of our reality for the future: Any sort of contactless experience we can bring to the passengers, whether it be purchasing anything at the airport, goods, or food and drinks, or how they booked their parking in the parking experience,” Kaplan says.

Now that it’s easier to enter the airport, let’s see what’s changed across its many corridors.

AIRPORT ARRIVAL AND CHECK-IN (Below) A look at some of the new online booking options for parking at CLT.

Destination: Charlotte

MARCH 2021 // CHARLOTTE

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(Right) A mural designed by Matt Hooker and Matt Moore appears at NoDa Brewing Company’s airport location; Rhino Market (far right) and Broken Spoke (below) are two local businesses that have expanded to CLT since 2019.

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COURTESY (2); CHARLOTTE DOUGLAS INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

FOOD AND DRINK

RENOVATIONS WRAPPED on concourses A and C last year, along with some fresh options for food and beverages. The Broken Spoke, a cocktail bar and sister concept to Great Wagon Road Distilling, opened in mid-February 2020 after a year of preparation. Less than a month later, it closed due to COVID. It only recently reopened and joins a growing number of local businesses that have satellites at CLT. Rhino Market & Deli opened its Concourse A location, the restaurantgrocer’s fifth, a couple of months before The Broken Spoke. The local brewery scene’s grown its airport footprint over the past couple of years: In December, NoDa Brewing Co. reopened its Concourse A taproom after the shutdown, with 11 beer selections, to-go cans, grab ‘n’ go meals, and an arresting mural from artists Matt Hooker and Matt Moore.

Olde Mecklenburg Brewery has Captain Jack’s Tavern in Concourse E; Asheville’s Wicked Weed expanded there, too, just a couple of months before the 2020 shutdown.

At each of those Charlotte-born taproom, bar, and restaurant concepts, you’ll see a sticker that marks them as a “CLT Local: This Business Is a Carolina Original.” Kaplan says the move is part of a national trend.

“We’ve seen a shift in airport environments from having restaurants that are national brands to airports really focusing on local chefs and local restaurant concepts,” he says. “It’s similar to (the trend of) restaurants using local ingredients and goods.

We know our passengers traveling through our airport are interested in what’s local, and these badges are part of our effort to better identify and better promote them.”

That mentality is beginning to show up in the airport’s most exclusive areas, too: Joe Kindred, a James Beard Award nominee who owns Lake Norman-area restaurants Kindred and Hello, Sailor, crafted the menu for the recently opened Centurion Lounge for American Express cardholders. It’s the first of what Kaplan says will be more boutique lounges at the airport.

Destination: Charlotte

MARCH 2021 // CHARLOTTE

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photographic exhibit inside the building. The work takes viewers into actual homes in the Charlotte area and runs across a wall in Concourse A. Amy Bagwell, Herb Jackson, and Nico Amortegui are just a few more examples of Charlottebred talent making its way into these spaces.

International artists are helping shape the corridors, too: Frankfurt, Germany-born, Los Angeles-based kinetic artist Christian Moeller created the massive “Loops”: The work, inspired by aircraft holding patterns, is part of the 51,000-square-foot East Terminal expansion. The piece officially debuted in November 2019.

Each of these new exhibits and sculptures give passersby something to occupy themselves between flights while they learn about the city. Over the past year, CLT visitors were more apt to float around.

In general, many have “spread out

CHARLOTTE DOUGLAS INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

PUBLIC ART

BECAUSE OF THE AIRPORT’S CIVIC TIES to the Arts & Science Council, more “CLT Locals” than ever are appearing in its fine art displays. And the public art inside and outside of the airport is more than just decoration.

Over the past two years, CLT has set out to reconsider its place as Charlotte’s “front door.” The architectural crown monument that now marks the entrance on Wilkinson Boulevard at Josh Birmingham Parkway is part of that effort. A concrete structure is topped with glass fiber panels and illuminated metal fins; nearby, three “CLT” signs are backlit to extend the sleek yet welcoming motif. There’s a pragmatic aspect to it, too, as drivers have long complained about a lack of distinct markings to enter the airport.

Ben Premeaux’s “Connections CLT” is a new experimental

CHARLOTTE DOUGLAS INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

(Opposite) A “CLT” sign greets drivers on Wilkinson Boulevard; new art added inside the airport includes the massive “Loops” kinetic sculpture (right) by Christian Moeller and Ben Premeaux’s “Connections CLT” (below).

a little bit more, and people don’t spend as much in the hold rooms,” Christine says, “and it’s changing the dynamic about where people go in the building between flights or when they’re waiting. They might be in the food court more, or in the wider circulation areas. We watch that, you know; we want to learn more about that as we go because

that’ll help decide how we move forward.”

One exterior piece of art you might notice is missing now is the famous Raymond Kaskey sculpture of Queen Charlotte. The 15-foot work was removed last year for extensive cleaning before she moved inside, as part of the biggest CLT project to date.

Destination: Charlotte

MARCH 2021 // CHARLOTTE

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CHARLOTTE DOUGLAS INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

THE TERMINAL LOBBY is what the airport calls a “signature project” and remains open throughout all six phases of construction. The $600 million effort adds 175,000 square feet to the lobby while renovating another 191,000 square feet. When it’s completed in four years, you’ll notice more security lanes for smoother entrance, more space for baggage claim and ticketing, and less congestion that would otherwise make travel something to dread. The project was designed by Gresham Smith, a firm behind major projects like the Nashville Yards.

The new lobby consolidates the existing security checkpoints of A, B, C, D, and E into three bigger, more efficient checkpoints. A massive 146,000-square-foot glass canopy is planned over the pedestrian skybridges and roads between the terminal and the complex for parking and rental cars. The skybridges mean no more Frogger as pedestrians won’t have to cross through traffic to exit the facility.

The project was designed in 2017 and 2018; construction began in 2019. I ask Christine if airport officials had discussed a pause in work because of COVID. “When you talk

THE TERMINAL LOBBY Renderings show major changes coming inside and outside of the Terminal Lobby (left and below).

about stopping something like that,” he responds, “it’s kind of like trying to stop an aircraft carrier.

“We actually looked for opportunities to accelerate the project,” Christine says. “And we did accelerate a little bit on one of the milestones, which was reconstructing the checkpoint to put in automated screening lanes. We (originally) had some milestones in there that assumed we had to stop construction for a while, because we anticipated big summer crowds.

Well, we didn’t see that. So we allowed the contractor to just keep on working.”

While work on the Terminal Lobby continues, more projects begin and end this year: a Concourse E expansion with 25,000 square feet of additional room wraps this summer, while construction begins on a fourth parallel runway, which will be the longest at the airport at 10,000 feet.

In recent press releases, Christine is quoted as saying, “We’re building an airport fit for the queen.” Kaskey’s Queen Charlotte will be installed midway through construction but remains encased until her lobby debut in 2025. Her space inside the new lobby even has a name: “Queen’s Court.”

THE FUTURE

AS FOR WHAT’S not changing at the airport, Christine points to a broader mentality: The airport must reflect the city it’s growing alongside.

When planning began for the Terminal Lobby expansion, Christine’s staff conducted a visioning exercise. “We looked at the different things that we felt made Charlotte unique, from a regional perspective and perspective coming into the airport,” he says. “Southern hospitality was one of those things that rose to the top.

We’re always looking for ways to translate that into the things we do here, from an operational perspective, from a customer service level, and so on.”

The rocking chairs are the most obvious and famous example of CLT’s tether to Southern hospitality. They originally were placed as props for a 1997 exhibit called Porch Sitting: A Charlotte Regional Family Album. People began to use them, and when the exhibit was packed away, public outcry brought them back. They’ve since become a trend that CLT’s press department says has been duplicated around the world.

With all of these changes, I have to ask: Those aren’t going anywhere, right?

“Oh, no, but they might get moved around a bit while we work on all of these other projects,” Christine says with a laugh. “But they’re sticking around.”

Destination: Charlotte

MARCH 2021 // CHARLOTTE

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The lobby at Grand Bohemian Hotel in uptown.

ROOM KEY In a challenging year for hospitality, three major hotels managed to open in the Charlotte area—and another is on the way.

Here’s what you need to know about each

BY ANDY SMITH

Grand Bohemian Hotel Charlotte 201 W. Trade St. Opened August 2020 ROOMS: 222 SUITES: 32

COURTESY

AMENITIES INCLUDE Argentine restaurant Mico, private park, grab-and-go café The Bohemian Garden, Starbucks, rooftop lounge Búho Bar, Poseidon Spa, petfriendly rooms, full breakfast for an extra cost, room service, and car rental.

FUN FACT: Mico’s chef de cuisine, Whitney Thomas, garnishes dishes with edible flowers for an added touch of elegance and vibrancy. (Mico made our 50 Best Restaurants list in January.)

Destination: Charlotte

MARCH 2021 // CHARLOTTE

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GREG CEO PHOTOGRAPHY STUDIO; COURTESY

Recent additions to the hospitality scene include the Fine & Fettle restaurant at Canopy Charlotte SouthPark (above) and the Aloft Hotel in Mooresville (below).

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Canopy Charlotte SouthPark 4905 Barclay Downs Dr. Opened June 2020

The old Quality Inn hotel is given new life with a project from Roof Above.

ROOMS: 150 SUITES: 4 AMENITIES INCLUDE Chef Daniel Wheeler-led restaurant Fine & Fettle, free local shuttle, a bar, free parking, a fitness center, pet-friendly rooms, room service, and meeting rooms.

FUN FACT: Guests can use the hotel’s free Canopy Bikes to explore the area and shop. You may have seen the orange bicycles buzzing around already.

Aloft Mooresville 109 Alcove Rd., Mooresville Opened December 2020 ROOMS: 128 SUITES: 0 AMENITIES INCLUDE: Indoor pool, grab-andgo eatery Re:fuel, WXYZ bar, fitness and health center, free internet, pet-friendly rooms, barber, and continental breakfast for extra charge.

FUN FACT: Marriott’s Aloft, a tech-forward brand with mobile key access with phones, also has locations at the EpiCentre and Charlotte Douglas International Airport and in Ballantyne. High-tech features include rainforest showers, 55-inch TVs, and sound via Marshall Speakers.

OPENING IN MAY 2021:

JW Marriott Charlotte 600 S. College St. ROOMS: 347 SUITES: 34 AMENITIES: Dean’s Italian Steakhouse, Caroline’s Oyster Bar, Aura rooftop bar, rooftop pool, Spa by JW, 24-hour fitness center, babysitting, car rental, limousine service, and more.

In December, the Charlotte nonprofit Roof Above purchased an 88-unit hotel at Clanton Road and Interstate 77 that served as an emergency shelter for families this winter. The agency plans to begin a $12 million renovation this summer to convert the old Quality Inn into permanent housing for more than 80 homeless families, with a kitchen in each unit.

Roof Above—the new name for the merged Urban Ministry Center and Men’s Shelter of Charlotte—already provides more than 400 units of supportive housing in Charlotte, two year-round shelters, and a drug treatment program. Donations for the hotel project have come from the Springsteen Foundation, Duke Energy Foundation, McKibbon Family Foundation, and a city CARES Act grant. Learn more at roofabove.org.

COURTESY

FUN FACT: The hotel has 22,000 square feet of event and meeting space, including a more than 5,100-square-foot grand ballroom and 2,700-square-foot junior ballroom.

New Purpose for an Old Hotel

Destination: Charlotte

MARCH 2021 // CHARLOTTE

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FRESH PICKS Plan a Charlotte dining day with stops at these recently opened restaurants from our 2021 list of the city’s best (and enjoy a few treats in between)

BY ANDY SMITH

A FEW OPENINGS shone from the gloom of a devastating 2020 for Charlotte’s restaurant scene. Here’s how to sample the best of the bunch in a single decadent day:

BREAKFAST

LUNCH

Head down to South Charlotte and stop by Red Sake (8410 Rea Rd., Ste. 100) for lunch, a spot for true aficionados that’s built a steady following since it opened last year. Signature roll highlights: Luke Lobster (lobster meat and spicy tuna topped with avocado, eel sauce, lemon juice, sweet potato fries, and tobiko) and Mango Pop Pop Pop (smoked salmon, escolar, and avocado topped with mango salsa, oba leaf, and tobiko).

DINNER

The team behind Bardo opened VANA, a rustic dining experience, in August at 1440 S. Tryon St., Ste. 100. Chef Michael Noll serves a blend of tapas and larger, shareable plates in this open kitchen concept, and mixologist Amanda Britton carries the wood-fired theme into her cocktails, like the Hummingbird Sour: Muddy River spiced rum, Elijah Craig bourbon, lemon, banana, pineapple, pecans, and an egg white. Tonight, enjoy the quail, with Tandoori marinade, buttermilk, and chili oil.

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THE EXTRAS COFFEE

In December, Davidson-based Summit Coffee opened its first Charlotte location in NoDa (416 E. 36th St.). Get the Frozen Oat Milk Mocha if it’s available, but any latte at this regional favorite is the tasty perk you’re looking for.

DESSERT

BW Sweets Bakery expanded its east Charlotte storefront last fall and opened an express South End satellite at Centro Railyard (1425 Winnifred St.) right after that. If it’s your first visit, go decadent: the Brownie Cheesecake combines two of the bakery’s best desserts.

BEER

After a stint as a pop-up, Petty Thieves Company (413 Dalton Ave., Ste. B) opened its new space in a former North End warehouse in September. As with veteran NoDa Brewing, Petty Thieves’ owners started with homebrewing. Its West Coast IPA, Perpetual Enigma, hints at a broader motif of mystery. (We hear the brewery has a secret room.)

PETER TAYLOR (2)

It’s a marathon, not a sprint, so let’s begin by carbing up at Easy Like Sunday (1600 E. Woodlawn Rd., Ste. 100). This relative newcomer to the Park Road area specializes in breakfast and brunch. If the fried chicken and cornmeal pancakes are a bit too heavy, go for another specialty: shrimp and grits, with Cajun shrimp, Portuguese sausage, onions, shallots, and chives, served over cheddar grits.

(Opposite) Chef Mike Noll plates scallops at VANA in South End. (This page) Pair the quail served with a Tandoori marinade, buttermilk, and chile oil with a Redeye to Tulum cocktail.

Destination: Charlotte

MARCH 2021 // CHARLOTTE

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COURTESY (3)

Eastway Regional Recreation Center is the largest venue of its kind in the Charlotte area (top and right); District 57 has a dystopian theme (below) inside a 20,000-squarefoot building off Freedom Drive.

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NOW IN PLAY These new entertainment and recreational venues flex minds and muscles

BY ANDY SMITH

DISTRICT 57

1526 Alleghany St., Ste. B district57.com

WHAT’S IT LIKE to open a dystopia-themed business during a pandemic?

Mylene Labrie laughs at the question. “Of course it was scary,” she tells me over the phone in December. “We asked ourselves those questions: Is this going to be too dark? Will people still see this as a break from reality?”

Labrie and husband Jelani Patterson opened their latest entertainment venue in November. District 57, housed in a 20,000-square-foot building off Freedom Drive, blends escape room puzzles, bar games, and an immersive, theatrical environment akin to a Disney park. Visitors won’t find any trace of the Winn-Dixie grocery store that once inhabited the space. Labrie’s “very small but very creative team” created a futurescape that takes customers to the year 2095.

This business isn’t new to them: The pair opened Exit Strategy, the first escape room in Charlotte, in 2014.

The concept, in which teams search for clues and work through puzzles in themed spaces, is no longer exotic to the city: As of 2021, there are 25 in the Charlotte area.

Labrie and Patterson have “too many ideas” beyond escape rooms, she says, and they needed space for these projects. Over the past couple of years, they’ve invested $600,000 into the massive Ashley Park space, sold Exit Strategy, and, last fall, launched District 57.

As of December, they’d found an audience willing to exit this reality for their fictional one, even if the latter comes with a failed power grid and minimal resources.

“Everyone’s told us that they don’t actually see this experience as really dark and gloomy,” Labrie says. “People just enjoy coming in and taking control of the stories

EASTWAY REGIONAL RECREATION CENTER

423 Eastway Dr. mecknc.gov/ParkandRec/EastwayRec THE COUNTY’S NEWEST recreational center opened in January in east Charlotte. Here’s a look at the enormous project, by the numbers:

themselves. They forget where they are and say, ‘I cannot believe I am in Charlotte. … This feels like something in Orlando.’” (That’s high praise in this field.)

The space’s aesthetic is inspired by an immersive venue Labrie and Patterson visited near Tokyo. Labrie and Patterson’s team, which includes a former Carowinds fabricator behind the seasonal, spooky Scarowinds experience, has a particular talent for, Labrie says, making “any sheet of plywood look like old, weathered metal.” That skill, plus an eye for found objects and a staff of costumed citizens of District 57, fuels the visual magic of the space.

District 57 has accommodated our present-day dystopia, too, with a robust air-circulation system, strict cleaning regimen, and 26-foot ceilings. The Grid itself is 7,000 square feet, ample room for guests to explore. Between explorations, they can amuse themselves at the game bar—with pool, arcade machines, and foosball—and order fast-casual food and beer from a 12-tap self-serve system.

The first attraction to open at the site was The Grid.

The idea was to take the many puzzles found in an escape room and “deconstruct” them: The challenge course features 30 rooms, each with a single task that teams must tackle within just a few minutes. Escape rooms typically take an hour or so to solve; The Grid ramps up the intensity and is designed so that up to 20 teams can play at once.

There’s still plenty of room in their 20,000-square-foot playground, so Labrie and Patterson are working on new attractions for District 57 that toy with established concepts. Instead of evolving the escape room, Bordertown will offer a twist on laser tag. You start with no ammo and use puzzle-solving skills to find caches and arm yourself.

“For us, we want District 57 to be a living organism,” Labrie says. “There’s always going to be something more to be added, from graffiti to new games. This thing is alive; it’s not just stuck in time.”

100,000 square feet: The rec center is more than three times bigger than Mecklenburg County’s next largest, Revolution Regional Sports and Learning Academy in west Charlotte.

Eastway has indoor pools, basketball courts, exercise equipment, and activity rooms.

90 acres: The outdoor area has disc golf, multiple and versatile sports fields, walking trails, public art, and more. $22-$65: The range of monthly fees for county residents, from single youths to families. $40 million: Project cost.

Destination: Charlotte

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FORM AND SUBSTANCE Three-dimensional public art is forging a new landscape

BY ANDY SMITH

“Pillars of Dreams”

by Marc Fornes at the Valerie C. Woodard Center on Freedom Drive.

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Murals dominate discussions of public art in Charlotte because of festivals like Talking Walls and, let’s be honest, Instagram portraits. But community art takes many forms, and sculpture—with welcoming elements like built-in visitor seating—leads a pack of recent additions to outdoor spaces. Here are four of them.

“Pillars of Dreams” (2019) by Marc Fornes Outside Valerie C. Woodard Center on Freedom Drive, local kids lost in their imaginations play in this cloud-like pavilion. Marc Fornes of the New York-based studio THEVERYMANY writes that it’s an installation “meant to be moved through rather than appraised as an object.” The porous aluminum work, 26 feet tall and 23 feet wide, takes on different qualities throughout the day: During the day, shadows underneath the structure transform as the sun sets, and at night, nearby ground-level lights illuminate it from below. The piece was commissioned by Mecklenburg County, the city Public Art Commission, and the Arts & Science Council. The studio also created the massive blue-and-green “Wanderwall” at the Stonewall Station parking garage uptown.

3205 Freedom Dr.

“Nested Hive” by RE:site Studio at the new Eastway Regional Recreation Center.

“Nested Hive” (2020) by RE:site Studio Along with workout and wellness offerings, the Eastway Regional Recreation Center also added new public art to Charlotte. RE:site Studio in Houston created the “play sculpture” as a celebration of bees and other pollinating insects; visitors sit in multiple “hives” within the whimsical structure. Native wildflowers inspired the vivid colors, although one Instagram comment from the studio asks: “Ever wonder what it’d be like to be inside of a jawbreaker?”

423 Eastway Dr.

LYDIA BITTNER-BAIRD (SANTE); COURTESY (3)

“Open Book, Open Mind” (2020) by Jim Gallucci The Charlotte Mecklenburg Library erected a new sculpture during recent renovations at the South County Regional branch. Gallucci’s tunnel of book covers includes several classics, including Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 and Alice Walker’s The Color Purple. The library expects to open the renovated library during the first half of the year, but you can see the sculpture now. Residents of the neighborhood submitted and voted on names for the sculpture, while library staff then selected book titles etched into the canopy of book covers. 5801 Rea Rd. “Santé” (2020) by Matthew Steele Steele, a Goodyear Arts member and one-time resident, worked for nearly a year on his 20-footwide sculpture at Charlotte Skin & Laser. The massive, illusionary face, made from more than 150 sheets of aluminum composite, began with an idea from business owner Dr. Elizabeth Rostan, and Steele used more than 10,000 nuts, bolts, and brackets. Hodges Taylor, the consultancy and gallery that represents the artist, calls the work “both a detailed and fractional survey of the human form.” 130 Providence Rd.

“Open Book, Open Mind” by Jim Gallucci at the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library on Rea Road.

“Sante” by Matthew Steele outside of Charlotte Skin & Laser on Providence Road.

Destination: Charlotte

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GET DRESSED! On the heels of 2020, three of the city’s top stylists weigh in on pandemic fashion, timeless style, and what’s next for the clothing industry Photographs by CHRIS EDWARDS

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PERSONAL STYLIST

WARDROBE STYLIST

WARDROBE STYLIST

kristinheinrich.com

stacee-michelle.com

sarahwalkerstyling.com

Age: 47

Age: 34

Age: 34

Originally from: Richmond, VA

Originally from: Seattle, WA

Originally from: Decatur, AL

Years living in Charlotte: 24

Years living in Charlotte: 14

Years living in Charlotte: 7

Years in fashion industry: 14

Years in fashion industry: 12

Years in fashion industry: 15

Celebrity fashion icon: Gwyneth Paltrow

Celebrity fashion icon: Michelle Obama

Celebrity fashion icon: Gwyneth Paltrow

Your individual style: Casual, relaxed, understated

Your individual style: Classic with an edge

Your individual style: Timeless, sophisticated, approachable, functional, sensible

KRISTIN HEINRICH

STACEE MICHELLE

SARAH WALKER

FASHION’S CALLING

FASHION’S CALLING

FASHION’S CALLING

What’s the first fashion trend you had to have? Guess jeans.

Fashion stylist, wardrobe stylist, or personal stylist: What’s the difference?

Fashion stylist and wardrobe stylist are often used interchangeably. The former includes editorial, commercial, and celebrity clients, while the latter would refer to television and e-commerce styling.

A personal stylist is for anyone in need of personal shopping and wardrobe edits.

What’s your signature color or accessory?

All shades of white. Rain or shine, summer or winter. It just makes me feel bright and fresh.

If you had $5,000 to spend on one item, what would it be? A Dior saddle bag in matte black with an embroidered shoulder strap.

Biggest misconception about being a stylist? People assume a stylist dresses people for red carpet events and TV appearances. A personal stylist can be hired by anyone who wants assistance in elevating their wardrobe. It’s similar to hiring an interior designer!

Besides personal shopping and special events styling, you also provide closet edits. What’s the most unique item you’ve seen from a closet edit? It seems every client has something tucked back in the farthest corner of their closet with sentimental value that they will never part with—a prom dress, wedding gown, a grandmother’s mink coat … I love to hear about these family heirlooms and memories.

What’s your signature color or accessory?

Prints.

How many pairs of shoes do you own?

Not sure; maybe 50 pairs? I probably only wear 10%.

You’re a local Fashion Insider for Goodwill. What’s the best item you’ve ever found from one of the local stores?

Recently at the GW Boutique I snagged a pair of Stuart Weitzman over-the-knee boots. They retail for several hundreds of dollars, and I scored them for less than $10!

You’re moving and can only bring two items from your wardrobe. What would you take? My black leather jacket and black leather boots.

What’s your signature color or accessory?

I rarely remove my silver necklace, which has been dipped in Tiffany blue enamel.

What’s the first fashion trend you had to have? I wanted a pair of flare jeans so bad that I cut the side of my straight leg jeans so that they flared over my shoes.

If you had $5,000 to spend on one item, what would it be? A weekend getaway ... somewhere with a beautiful view and awesome accommodations.

How many pairs of shoes do you own?

What is the percentage that you wear? Oh gosh, I don’t know. 50ish pairs and I’d say I wear 90% of them!

You’re moving and can only bring two items from your wardrobe. What would you take? My white Gitman Brothers oxford shirt from TABOR—a closet hero!— and my boyfriend jeans.

Besides personal shopping and closet edits, you also assist with destination packing. What’s your dream vacation outfit? If I am planning, it will be somewhere warm. All that’s coming in my suitcase: caftans, bathing suits, sandals, and sunglasses.

What’s the first fashion trend you had to have? Tube tops and low-rise jeans.

Biggest misconception about being a stylist? Styling is not about chasing what’s trending or morphing my clients into being fashionistas. My approach starts with creating closets that honor and empower my client. It’s about making getting dressed every day uncomplicated.

If you had $5,000 to spend on one item, what would it be? A piece of jewelry or handbag.

All Q&A’s continued on pg. 68 MARCH 2021 // CHARLOTTE

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P E R S O NAL ST YLI ST

KRISTIN HEINRICH

ZIMMERMANN POPPY RELAXED TIEDYE PINK SHIRT, $595; BOTTEGA VENETA CHOCOLATE SPREAD LEATHER QUILTED MULES, $880, Forward, FWRD.com; MOTHER SUPERIOR RIPPED BOYFRIEND JEANS, $350; VALENTINO ROCKSTUD ROUND SHOULDER BAG, $1350, Neiman Marcus, 704-442-7900; THE JEN COLLECTION JEWELRY, (price upon request from stylist)

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MONSE PLAID WRAP TOP, $1590, Coplon’s, 704-643-1113; THE ROW BLACK PANTS, $995; SAINT LAURENT SMALL SAC DE JOUR LEATHER SATCHEL, $2890, Neiman Marcus; NICHOLAS KIRKWOOD METALLIC SILVER CURVED HEEL PUMP $750, Betty Lin San Francisco, shopbettylin.com; THE JEN COLLECTION JEWELRY, (price upon request from stylist)

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HAIR: ROYALTY BEAUTY BAR; MAKEUP: KRYSTA MEDLEY

BLOMMA MICHELLE RUFFLE SLEEVE TOP, $120; BLOMMA JADE WIDE LEG PANTS, $150, Agua Bendita, aguabendita.com; BOTTEGA VENETA RUBBER LIDO FLAT SANDALS, $760, Neiman Marcus; CHAIN LINK BRACELET, $32, KK Bloom, shopkkbloom.com; NECKLACE, Tiffany & Co., tiffany.com

WAR D RO B E ST YLI ST

STACEE MICHELLE

UNISEX LOUNGEWEAR SET, $130, Ecru, ecrufashion.com; WHITE MULTI POCKET BELT BAG, $40, Uniquely She, shopuniquelyshe.com; SANTONI CLEAN ICON TONAL LOW-TOP SNEAKERS, $550, Taylor Richards & Conger, 704-366-9092; NECKLACE, Tiffany & Co., tiffany.com

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WAR D RO B E ST YLI ST

SARAH WALKER

DOROTHEE SCHUMACHER SHINE BLOUSE, $450, Hampden Clothing, hampdenclothing.com; PARTOW HIGH-WAISTED FLARE-LEG PANTS, $1595, Capitol, 704-366-0388; ALEXANDRE BIRMAN CLARITA SANDAL, (stylist’s own); PAPERCLIP NECKLACE; DROP PENDANT NECKLACE with diamond, (prices upon request), Tiny Gods, tinygods.com; EYE PENDANT NECKLACE, (price upon request), Carol Kauffmann, carolkauffmann.com

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MARTIN GRANT BELTED STRIPED COTTON MIDI SHIRT DRESS, $925, Capitol, 704-366-0388; JOSEPH PLEATED RIB SWINTON SKIRT, $475, Showroom, shopshowroom.com; ALEXANDRE BIRMAN VICKY SANDAL, $625, Hampden Clothing, hampdenclothing.com; RINGS AND BRACELETS, Love Thy Rival, lovethyrival.com; Harwell Godfrey, harwellgodfrey.com; (prices upon request)

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STYLE Continued from pg. 61 P E R S O NAL ST YLI ST

KRISTIN HEINRICH (Continued)

seem less inclined to spend as much money on clothing as they did before. There has been a lot more focus on buying essential items needed to survive during the pandemic.

So many businesses have been negatively affected, including mine, because fashion has become an afterthought.

Trends for 2021: What’s in, what’s out?

Sustainable fashion is in, environmental waste is out. The idea of “less is more” has become important to all responsible brands who are paying attention to both environmental and socio-economic aspects.

What’s one trend you’ll incorporate into your wardrobe in 2021? A new bag with a cool guitar strap is on my wish list.

Read more about this look online: Charlottemagazine.com

What’s one trend you hope to never see again? Velour tracksuits and low-rise jeans!

You’re moving and can only bring two items from your wardrobe. What would you take?

My Nick Fouquet hat and my Jen Collection jewelry.

WHERE TO SHOP IN CHARLOTTE IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR… Affordable fashion for 15- to 30-yearolds: Boem, Five One Five Luxury brands: Capitol, Neiman Marcus Vacation/resort wear: Poole Shop, Five One Five Athleisure: Fit Atelier, Well Kept In Davidson Purses and handbags: Neiman Marcus, Capitol Denim: Five One Five, Coplon’s, Sloan Swimwear: E. Martini Consignment: JT Posh

Who is a fashion influencer you’ll watch in 2021? Olivia Palermo.

Custom jewelry: The Jen Collection that I am a brand ambassador for

Timeless style: Name five basics to build your capsule wardrobe. A great all-season workhorse blazer; distressed, relaxed jeans; a cashmere sweater for layering; a puff-sleeved blouse, print or plain; and shoes (can’t choose just one!): great pumps, versatile booties, cool sneakers, a great slide and go mule.

Conservative/chic/polished casual and business casual: Taylor, Richards, & Conger Women

THE TOUGH STUFF Scarves or bandanas? Scarves

FASHION FORWARD

Wide-leg or skinny jeans? Neither—relaxed or straight

What did the industry learn—or unlearn— about fashion during the pandemic? People

Heels or flats? Heels if I have to. Otherwise definitely boots or sneakers!

Athleisure: Hard no or hell, yes? Yes! Earth tones or neon? Earth tones Vogue or Harper’s Bazaar? I rarely sit down long enough to look, but I like both!

Tie-dye or camo? Tie-dye Bomber jacket or trenchcoat? Trenchcoat Coco Chanel or Betsey Johnson? Chanel Trendy or timeless? Timeless is always on trend

WAR D RO B E ST YLI ST

STACEE MICHELLE (Continued)

Biggest misconception about being a stylist?

We only service celebrities and the wealthy.

Investing in a stylist, even for a short period of time, is a great benefit if you need help identifying your personal style or simply want a second opinion.

and nylon. Apparel in these materials may be a little more expensive but will last longer.

Support local creators and designers so there is less waste in shipping and transportation, which is costly to the environment.

Buy thrifted or secondhand to keep clothing out of landfills.

FASHION FORWARD

Trends for 2021: What’s in, what’s out?

What’s In: Show a little skin with a bralette top and blazer or wear sequin pants just because it’s Tuesday. Yellow is the color of the year and also the color of a caution sign—it’s not for everyone. I suggest trying colors like burnt coral, raspberry sorbet, and French blue to refresh your spring wardrobe. What’s Out: Nothing is off of the table, I say wear what makes you feel good.

What did consumers learn—or unlearn— about fashion during the pandemic? People realized they have too many unnecessary things.

Most of us could probably count the outfit variations we wore in 2020 on one hand.

Read more about this look online: Charlottemagazine.com

How many pairs of shoes do you own?

I have roughly 20 pairs of shoes, of which I wear about five.

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Sustainable fashion: What is it and where do we find it? Sustainable fashion is about so much more than fabrics. There are some emerging brands that are offering recycled apparel, which is really cool. When you view clothing as disposable (fast fashion), it means you will probably do just that after a couple of wears.

Rather than trashing your old clothes, consider donating them to a nonprofit organization.

Look for natural fabrics like cotton, wool, linen, and silk versus materials like polyester, acrylic,

What’s one trend you’ll incorporate into your wardrobe in 2021? The corset trend is a winner for me. It’s a fun way to add Bridgerton vibes to a casual outfit. No matter your size, a corset will give you a flattering waistline.

Who is a fashion influencer you’ll watch in 2021? Elaine Welteroth, editor-in-chief at Teen

Vogue, author, and now one of the newest hosts on The Talk.

Project Runway or Next In Fashion?

Project Runway

Bomber jacket or trenchcoat? Trenchcoat (Leather jacket is my fav)

Who is a fashion influencer you’ll watch in 2021? Jade Sky Boutique (@shopjadesky).

Vogue or Harper’s Bazaar? Harper ’s Bazaar

Coco Chanel or Betsey Johnson? Chanel

Tie-dye or camo? Camo

Trendy or timeless? Timeless

Timeless style: Name five basics to build your capsule wardrobe. This works for males or females and creates five outfits (six if you wear your leather all the way zipped like a shirt): medium to dark wash denim jeans; black leather jacket; denim button-up; white T-shirt; and white tennis shoes.

THE TOUGH STUFF Scarves or bandanas? Bandanas Wide-leg or skinny jeans? Skinny jeans Heels or flats? Flats Earth tones or neon? Earth tones Athleisure: Hard no or hell, yes? Hell, yes!

WHERE TO SHOP IN CHARLOTTE IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR… Affordable fashion for 15- to 30-yearolds: Vestique, Captivate

Consignment: Nouveaux Ladies’ Luxury Consignment

Luxury brands: Coplon’s

Fashion forward: Jade Sky Boutique

Athleisure: RaiSpire Lifestyle

Casual T-shirt: Boem

Purses and handbags: Neiman Marcus

Everyday accessories: KK Bloom

Denim: Uniquities

Custom apparel designer: Tara Davis

Bridal: Hayden Olivia Bridal

Casual dresses: Monkee’s of Charlotte

Swimwear: Everything But Water

Face masks: 704 Shop

Custom jewelry and decor: Rustic Aura

WARDROBE STYLIST

SARAH WALKER (Continued)

Who is a fashion influencer you’ll watch in 2021? Karen Blanchard.

Trends for 2021: What’s in, what’s out?

Getting dressed is in. Getting dressed in sweats is out!

What’s your favorite fashion designer or brand to follow on social media? So many!

If I have to choose one—Jacquemus.

What’s one trend you’ll incorporate into your wardrobe in 2021? The high waist flare trouser—whether it’s in denim or another fabric. It’s very ’70s, a decade that I often draw fashion inspiration from.

Read more about this look online: Charlottemagazine.com

What’s one trend you hope to never see again? Tube tops and low-rise jeans.

FASHION FORWARD What did the industry learn—or unlearn— about fashion during the pandemic?

I think the fashion industry learned and is still learning the same things we all are learning right now as a society—nothing is certain and doing things ‘status quo’ isn’t going to work anymore. COVID has impacted every aspect of the clothing world, from the production cycle to what consumers are buying. The industry and its consumers are learning to be more thoughtful, which is actually a very positive thing.

Sustainable fashion: What is it and where do we find it? Sustainable fashion is clothing designed and produced in a way that doesn’t harm our big beautiful planet. I believe sustainable fashion also means being a more conscious consumer and debunking the ‘fast fashion’ ways of mindless consumption.

SHOWROOM, headquartered in the Queen City, only works with brands that practice mindful manufacturing. Their selection of sustainable clothing is stellar.

Timeless style: Name five basics to build your capsule wardrobe. A good pair of denim, a quality white tee, a simple structured blazer, a pair of sneakers, and a strappy pair of heels.

THE TOUGH STUFF Scarves or bandanas? Scarves Wide-leg or skinny jeans? Wide-leg Heels or flats? Heels

WHERE TO SHOP IN CHARLOTTE IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR… Affordable fashion for 15- to 30-yearolds: Monkee’s of Charlotte Luxury brands: Capitol Vacation/resort wear: Poole Shop Athleisure: Athleisure is officially sold out in Charlotte ... just kidding, but seriously, it’s time to get dressed again, folks!

Purses and handbags: Capitol Denim: Poole Shop Swimwear: E. Martini Bridal: Ladies of Lineage Consignment: JT Posh Custom jewelry: Mary Margaret Beaver at Tiny Gods Menswear: TABOR Face masks: For an “out and about” mask, I go to Five One Five. For a workout option, I love the face covering from Lumiton. The light therapy it delivers to the skin is a bonus.

Project Runway or Next In Fashion?

Next In Fashion Vogue or Harper’s Bazaar? Vogue Tie-dye or camo? I’m a Bama girl and the heart wants what it wants: camo Bomber jacket or trenchcoat? Trenchcoat

Athleisure: Hard no or hell, yes? Hard no!

Coco Chanel or Betsey Johnson? Coco Chanel

Earth tones or neon? Earth tones

Trendy or timeless? Timeless

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REFRESH YOUR SKIN FOR 2021 Now is the perfect time to try skin resurfacing at Carolina Facial Plastics. The goal of skin resurfacing is to replace damaged skin with fresh, new skin by revealing undamaged skin underneath, providing natural looking results.

With Rejuvapen, we can rejuvenate and tighten your skin, reduce fine lines and wrinkles, improve skin texture and tone, and minimize pore size and the appearance of scarring caused by acne, injury, or surgery.

Your recovery will be just 12-24 hours, and results can last 6-12 months.

One of the top aesthetic destinations of the south, Carolina Facial Plastics is led by double board-certified facial plastic surgeon Dr. Jonathan Kulbersh. With his team of cosmetic experts, a fully accredited surgery center, and a private recovery retreat all located in the heart of SouthPark, Carolina Facial Plastics is known for unparalleled and natural looking results exclusively for the face.

ProfoundRF combines radiofrequency with microneedling to achieve more dramatic results that may last 3-5 years. In addition to what Rejuvapen can treat, ProfoundRF can also increase your skin’s volume, making it firmer, thicker, and more supple.

Lasers for Skin Resurfacing With the latest advances in technology our brand-new CO Cool Peel Laser has shorter downtime than most other lasers, about 2-4 days due to the higher energy level that allows for faster treatment. It can be customized to safely treat any stage of aging and results can be long-lasting once your full treatment plan has been completed.

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Aside from our revolutionary Cool Peel Laser we offer, Cutera Titan uses light energy to stimulate tissue contraction that can tighten skin in the lower face, jawline, under the chin, and abdomen, with results lasting 1-2 years. Limelight IPL Photofacial uses wavelengths to permanently remove brown spots and the appearance of blood vessels, and can be used all over the face and body

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CAMP Spotlight Plan now!

Explore the area’s summer camps on the following pages

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

Woodberry Forest School Summer Camps Woodberry Forest summer camps are designed to help boys have fun, grow as young men, and get to know Woodberry’s incredible campus, students, and faculty. Whether a boy comes for the camaraderie and competition of the Woodberry Forest Sports Camp, to grow as a leader and adventurer at Woodberry Compass, or to ild his s ills at o r sport-specific mini-camps, he’ll spend time with talented and caring Woodberry faculty, alumni, and students who serve as the camps’ directors and counselors.

CAMPS - DATES - AGES • FATHER-SON WEEKEND June 11–13, 2021 • Boys ages 5–10 • WOODBERRY COMPASS June 19–26, 2021 • Rising 7th–9th grade boys • WOODBERRY FOREST SPORTS CAMP June 20–July 9, 2021 • Boys ages 11–14 • NEW! SWIM CAMP July 9–12, 2021 • Boys ages 9–13 • FOOTBALL CAMP July 13–16, 2021 • Boys ages 12–16 • BASKETBALL CAMP July 17–20, 2021 • Boys ages 9–16 Visit woodberry.org/camps to view our commitment to camper safety during COVID and learn more about each camp.

Charlotte Country Day School Summer Programs Woodberry Forest.indd 1

With more than 150 creative classes and challenging sports camps, Country Day’s Summer Programs give children ages 3–18 a chance to explore their passions and interests. In addition, we offer students in grades 2–8 academic enrichment experiences in support of specific s ill develop ent and st dent c riosity.

We offer: • Camps from May 31–July 30, 2021 ranging from one to o r wee s.

• Half-day and full-day, morning, and afternoon camp options.

• Wide variety of traditional and specialized camps, such as art, drama, coo ing video ga e develop ent ro otics science and ore.

• any ca ps ta ght y avorite o ntry ay teachers • Bus transportation service from Christ Church and Cannon Campus to Bissell Campus.

• Before- and after-camp care.

COVID-19 Update Ensuring the health and safety of our campers and staff is our top priority. Summer Programs will adhere to the school’s COVID-19 health and safety precautions, guidelines, and policies, including social distancing capacity li its wearing o as s and cleaning protocols. isit o r -1 we site charlotteco ntryday.org -1 or the ost pto-date information and review our COVID-19 Safety Procedures.

Ages 3–18 | $115 - $495 CLT_Country_Day.indd 1

898 Woodberry Forest Rd, Woodberry Forest, VA 22989 540-672-6044 woodberry.org/camps

1/21/21 4:39 PM

5936 Green Rae Road Charlotte, NC 28226 704-943-4648 charlottecountryday.org/summer 1/5/21 4:45 PM

CAMP SPOTLIGHT

Plan your summer camps with Charlotte Parent The right summer camp has the potential to support a child’s social and emotional development and provide opportunities for growth. Selecting the right camp from the sea of possibilities can be an overwhelming task: How big? Overnight or day camp?

Full day or half day?

Charlotteparent.com is a one-stop resource for your summer camp research. The site includes an extensive directory of day camps throughout the city as well as area overnight camps. Our team of editors and summer camp experts contribute helpful insights and tips to help find the right camp for your child. Our camp content is updated throughout camp season to keep you up-to-date on the latest programs and opportunities.

PLAN NOW FOR

SUMMER CAMP! VISIT OUR CAMP DIRECTORY charlotteparent.com/camps

THE GOOD LIFE

CHARLOTTE MUSIC, POST-COVID Continued from page 22

IF YOU’RE A MUSICIAN in Charlotte, you’re probably not doing it to get rich.

Our research told us that most working members of the Charlotte music community make less than $10,000 a year from music, with little to no safety net.

Being a musician is the hard path. You do it because you have no choice. It’s who you are.

Imagine being one thing one day, then watching as—slowly at first, then suddenly—you are not that thing anymore, you cannot be that thing anymore, due to forces you can’t control or even see.

Imagine being a fish watching, helpless, as water drains from the ocean.

Do you know Cyanca’s music? I hope so. Cyanca is as talented as any Charlotte artist I’ve ever heard. She blends gospel, soul, R&B, and hip-hop into a sound all her own, and she can command a stage.

She had just signed with a label; her career was ascendant.

Then … “The beginning of the pandemic was extremely overwhelming. It was a lot for me mentally. I didn’t have access to a studio. All of my shows were canceled,” including a show in London, Cyanca tells me just after Christmas. “It forced me to sit down and focus on the things that matter the most. Family, friends, values.

Making sure we’re mentally stable.”

For a lot of people in the music community, that last part remains a challenge.

Charlotte is full of talented musicians who

78

CHARLOTTEMAGAZINE.COM // MARCH 2021

(Clockwise from top left) Jason Jet founded GrindHaus Studios, a space for all kinds of audio projects: “I’d always envisioned what you could call a YMCA for music.” Sam Tayloe has livestreamed to win new fans and make money during COVID, as has Cyanca, whose Nov. 20 show was livestreamed from Neighborhood Theatre in NoDa.

gig five to seven times a week, sometimes playing three shows on a Saturday. Some of them have other jobs; many do not.

It’s hard work, but the hustlers can make $4,000 to $6,000 a month. That income disappeared, and what left with it was the psychological juice that a musician gets from connecting with an audience. A wise theatre director once told me that live theatre without an audience is just rehearsal.

Without an audience, it’s not really art.

By summer, the music community started to adapt. Live streams became ubiquitous, and artists and venues got better at them. A few, like Josh Daniel and Sam Tayloe, used livestreams to gain new audiences, grow income, and

even raise money for charities. Breweries began booking bands to play outdoors.

Restaurants made room for soloists on their patios. Blumenthal Performing Arts started hosting free, limited-capacity concerts behind Spirit Square. Camp North End began hiring two bands every Friday night. My shop put music on the street uptown.

Cyanca regrouped: “I bought a microphone, speakers, keyboard. I made my own creative space in my home.” She expects to release a new EP this spring.

“I’ve been doing virtual shows recently.

It’s been kind of cool, but it’s also been different not being to connect with my fans. And see them.”

SO WHERE DO WE GO from here?

I, for one, am fired up.

As difficult as the pandemic has been, good things have happened.

One, with the leadership of council members Larken Egleston and Tariq Bokhari (music is bipartisan!), the City of Charlotte used federal CARES Act dollars to create an independent music venue fund. It helped ensure that our still-shuttered independent music venues made it to 2021. It was also a symbol, and I hope, a harbinger. As far as I can tell—and I track these things—Charlotte’s was the second municipal government in the country (after King County, Washington, which includes Seattle) to create a dedicated relief fund for music venues. With that unanimous vote, Charlotte put music first, and the City Council said, We see you, live music, and you matter.

Two, you helped 160 members of the Charlotte music community when they needed it most. The relief fund raised more than $80,000, much of it through a public fundraising page, and made 160 grants.

That effort sent a signal to our music community: We see you, and you matter.

Three, following the relief fund, Music Everywhere CLT launched a program called Communities in Concert. Led by Charlotte musicians El Lambert, Tim Scott Jr., Eddie Harris, and Stefan Kallander, the program provided 139 paid gigs in three months. Artists got paid, audiences got free outdoor concerts, and live music popped up in places where it had never been.

Four, DaBaby happened. He unapologetically reps Charlotte, producing songs here, shooting music videos here, and wearing Hornets teal. Hip-hop is the most popular genre in America, and the most popular hip-hop artist lives here.

Five, Jason Jet opened GrindHaus Studios. The Northwest grad is a songwriter, singer, and producer with talent to spare. The pandemic shut all that down.

He took stock. “I’d always envisioned what you could call a YMCA for music. …

Live streaming, podcasts, project studios, the big studio, classes, and workshops,” he says. For Charlotte’s music ecosystem to become the best version of itself, artists need to lead the way. Jason Jet stepped up.

Six, everyone experimented! There are so many ways to make music, sell music, and connect with audiences, but very few local venues and artists had explored what’s possible. By necessity, that changed.

AS WINTER LIFTS and restrictions ease, you’ll see outdoor live music return.

Communities in Concert will return and expand. You’ll see live music at Camp North End, the Whitewater Center, on uptown street corners, outside local venues, at shopping centers, beer gardens, restaurant patios, block parties, and neighborhood pools. You’ll see socially distanced pod concerts, rooftop concerts, and hopefully concerts in parks. You’ll see and hear music everywhere.

Most of that music will be played by Charlotte artists. Take a moment and listen. Think of the artist as a small business. Support live music the same way you keep supporting the local coffee shop because you want it to stick around. Slide a tip in the bucket or hit them up on PayPal. Follow them on social media or your choice of streaming platform. Smile, nod, applaud. Let them know that you see them, you hear them, and they matter.

The experimentation will lead to new business models. Local venues are creating digital components that will generate revenue long after the pandemic. In December, Middle C Jazz launched a monthly membership program for its streams, sort of a live jazz Netflix. Neighborhood Theatre offers a Patreon membership and started Queen City Streams with a diverse lineup of local artists on a high-quality digital platform.

The real work will be done offstage.

“Because we started the work of uniting ourselves as a music community almost four years ago,” Scott says, “we have the luxury of saying, ‘OK, cool, we’ve all come together, we all realize how much we need each other to survive.’ We started to realize that before COVID. Now it’s just a matter of finding ways to continue to support each other.”

Scott, Cyanca, and others have been holding virtual meetups. “I think the community is super strong,” Cyanca says. “It’s a lot of love. We buy each other’s product, keep the money circulating within the community.” She tells me about the producer who helped with DaBaby’s latest project and also engineered one of hers.

“I think it really starts with the artists here,” Solis says. “The concept of collaboration and community has to be at the forefront. We have incredible and successful artists here in Charlotte that need to elevate other artists. We have some incredible unknown bands that

need support. If we can cross-promote and cross-support each other, that will speak to itself.” Musicians and record labels he talks to in other cities are taking note: “They are starting to realize there is something happening in Charlotte that’s not happening in their city.”

Kuhlmann has seen venue owners come together, too. The Charlotte Independent Venue Alliance formed organically in late spring. “There’s a new camaraderie and need for all of us to do well,” he says. “I think all of us really understand that it’s more about working together and creating opportunities not just singularly but as an ecosystem.”

The pace of change in the music industry was already fast. COVID sped it up.

Artists make almost no money from Spotify and other streaming services, and the most reliable way to sell records and CDs was, until last March, at shows.

Recorded music is now just a means to an end: ticket and T-shirt sales, commercial placements, and the hundreds of other ways to earn money from music that have little to do with what you listen to on your iPhone.

There are so many ways to be a part of the music business today. Charlotte can be a city that offers a supportive, equitable ecosystem for all of them. Let other cities be those places where artists exchange their souls for a chance to, one day, write or record a hit. We welcome the artists who are determined to own their own careers, no matter the genre.

We will develop accessible workshops and equity-based training programs to help them navigate the business. We will cultivate audience support. We will help venues connect with diverse local artists.

This city has the ingredients, the main one being talent. We are learning to value it, nurture it, and support it. On the back end of this pandemic, that talent will take center stage.

Let this year catapult Charlotte toward claiming its place in the national music ecosystem. Let this be the Year of Charlotte Music.

RICK THURMOND was this magazine’s editor from 1994 to 2013 and its publisher from 2013 to 2016. He is now Charlotte Center City Partners’ senior vice president for community and economic development and coordinates Music Everywhere CLT, a civic initiative to support local music.

MARCH 2021 // CHARLOTTE

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THE GUIDE

Restaurants YOUR GUIDE TO CHARLOTTE’S DINING SCENE KID CASHEW

Dilworth ❤ 300 EAST

$-$$

NEW AMERICAN The interior of this old houseturned-restaurant is welcoming, as is the menu of familiar and surprising sandwiches, salads, and entrées.

Save room for dessert by pastry chef Laney JahkelParrish. 300 East Blvd. (704-332-6507) BR (Sun), L, D, BAR ✸☎

❤ BONTERRA

$$$$

NEW SOUTHERN Its setting may be a historic Southern church, but Bonterra serves up modern Southern flavors with top-notch service. Wine lovers will be impressed by the more than 200 wines by the glass. 1829 Cleveland Ave. (704-333-9463) D, BAR ✸☎

CAPISHE

$-$$

ITALIAN The pasta dishes and pizza prepared by Chef David Cavalier, previously of Kindred, are impressive for a fast-casual restaurant. Arrive early for lunch to beat the long lines. 500 E. Morehead St., Ste. 100.

(980-819-9494) L, D, BAR

❤ COPPER

$$$

INDIAN Ease into Indian cuisine with standard dishes like chicken tikka masala, or be more adventurous with the spicy seafood medley “anjeeri.” 311 East Blvd.

(704-333-0063) L, D, V, BAR ✸☎

DOLCE OSTERIA

$$-$$$

$$-$$$

$$-$$$

PIZZA Two words: pistachio pizza. Seriously, try it.

Then grab a spot on the patio beneath the bistro lights and enjoy a bottle of wine with friends. There’s a second location in Providence Commons, too. 2230 Park Rd., (704-900-0929) L, D, BAR ✸

80

$

ZEN FUSION

$$

FUSION Here, fusion means a sampling of dishes from the Far East and Spain. 1716 Kenilworth Ave. (704-358-9688) L (weekdays), D, BAR ✸☎

Elizabeth/Cherry CAJUN QUEEN

$$$

$$

AMERICAN This small Dilworth restaurant has soups, salads, and delicious, oversized sandwiches made with fresh, thick bread filled with innovative combinations.

2410 Park Rd. (704-372-2009) L, D, BAR ✸

INIZIO PIZZA NAPOLETANA

THE MAYOBIRD

AMERICAN The daytime partner to The Summit Room focuses on specialty coffees, quiches, and pastries, and, of course, chicken salad sandwiches. 1531 East Blvd. (980-237-2543) B, L, B/W ✸

NEW AMERICAN Owner and executive chef Trey Wilson uses top-notch, seasonal ingredients to create fresh takes on American cuisine in a hip, rustic atmosphere. 1601 Elizabeth Ave. (704-333-3396) D, BAR

ITALIAN The open layout lends an air of conviviality to this slick eatery, which has house-made pastas, thin-crust pizzas, note-perfect risotto, and daring meat entrées. 2418 Park Rd. (704-333-3062) L, D, BAR ✸☎

FRAN’S FILLING STATION

$$

$$

VEGETARIAN Fern moved from Plaza Midwood to Dilworth in mid-2016. It still has ferns on the wall, and the menu is still full of flavorful vegetarian cuisine. 1419 East Blvd., Ste. A. (704-377-1825) L, BR, D, V, BAR ✸

FIAMMA RESTAURANT

LEBOWSKI’S NEIGHBORHOOD GRILL

AMERICAN Dishes at this neighborhood favorite include burgers, brats, and the popular “Beef on Weck.”

1524 East Blvd. (704-370-1177) L, D, BAR ✸

CAJUN Nightly live jazz complements New Orleans creole favorites like shrimp étouffée and crawfish Diane in this century-old house. 1800 E. 7th St. (704-3779017) BR, D, BAR ✸☎

ITALIAN This classic, cozy, family-run neighborhood trattoria serves a mix of fresh, regional Italian cuisine and a tidy, all-Italian wine list. 1710 Kenilworth Ave. (704-332-7525) L (weekdays), D, B/W ✸☎

FERN, FLAVORS FROM THE GARDEN

$$

MEDITERRANEAN This bright and rustic restaurant from the owner of Georges Brasserie serves meat family-style from a wood-fired grill and a selection of small plates. 1608 East Blvd. (704-208-4148) L, D, BAR ✸

CHARLOTTEMAGAZINE.COM // MARCH 2021

❤ CUSTOMSHOP

$$-$$$

✸☎

EARL’S GROCERY

$

AMERICAN This upscale marketplace, with sandwiches, salads, and daily specials, is a welcome afternoon spot for a grab-and-go meal or a bite and people-watching. 1609 Elizabeth Ave. (704-333-2757) B, BR, L, D, V ✸

❤ THE FIG TREE RESTAURANT

$$$$

NEW AMERICAN The No. 2 restaurant on our 2018

$ $$ $$$ $$$$

❤

Most entrées under $10 Most entrées $10-$17 Most entrées $18-$25 Most entrées $26 & up Best Restaurants

B BR L D V

Best Restaurants list, the Fig Tree specializes in fresh and flavorful cuisine with an emphasis on wine pairing in a 1913 bungalow. 1601 E. 7th St. (704-332-3322) D, BAR ✸☎

❤ PIZZERIA OMAGGIO

$$

PIZZA Among a sea of by-the-slice joints, owner Daniel Siragusa sticks by his Italian roots with personal pizzas. Some think they can’t possibly eat the whole pie, but they do. And then they order dessert. 1055 Metropolitan Ave., Ste. 130. (704-370-0777) L, D, BAR ✸☎

❤ THE STANLEY

$$$

SUNFLOUR BAKING CO.

$-$$

NEW SOUTHERN Chef Paul Verica’s menu reflects a respect of seasonal produce, with playful dishes such as “Asparagus—as many ways as we could think of,” and a more robust cocktail program. 1961 E. 7th St. (980-299-2741) D, BR (Sun), BAR ✸☎

BAKERY With locations in Dilworth, Harrisburg, and Ballantyne, Sunflour serves croissants, cinnamon buns, sandwiches, and soups. Regulars spend mornings here with a cup of coffee, letting them fade into afternoons.

2001 E. 7th St. (704-900-5268) B, L, D, V ✸

Huntersville/Lake Norman ALIÑO PIZZERIA

$$

❤ DRESSLER’S

$$$

PIZZA Enjoy your Neapolitan-style, wood-fired pizza at a community table with paper towels on hand to catch the drips from crust dipped in herbs and olive oil. A second location is at Concord Mills. 500 S. Main St., Ste. 401, Mooresville. (704-663-0010) L, D, B/W ✸

NEW AMERICAN Part steak house, part upscale American cuisine, dishes are delivered with consistency and a smile, both here and at the Metropolitan Avenue location. 8630-1A Lindholm Dr. (704-987-1779) D, BAR

✸☎

FLATIRON KITCHEN + TAPHOUSE

$$$

STEAK HOUSE High-quality steaks are a given here, but the seafood and vegetables are treated with the same respect. 215 S. Main St., Davidson. (704-2373246) BR, L, D, BAR ✸☎

Breakfast Weekend brunch Lunch Dinner Vegetarian friendly

B/W Beer and wine only BAR Full-service bar ✸ Patio seating available Reservations suggested

☎

REVIEW POLICIES—The restaurants on these pages are recommendations of the editors of Charlotte magazine. They are not related to advertising in any way. Restaurant visits are anonymous, and all expenses are paid by the magazine. Reviews are written by members of the editorial staff. We regularly update these listings. New additions are denoted by “new listing” and revised reviews are indicated by “update.”

NEW LISTING

HAVANA 33

$$

want to settle into a table. 613 Providence Rd. (704333-7884) L, (weekdays), D, BAR ✸

$$-$$$

AMERICAN A Myers Park mainstay since the 1980s, Fenwick’s is a go-to for a comforting meal made with fresh ingredients, delivered with warm service. 511 Providence Rd. (704-333-2750) BR, L, D, BAR ✸

CUBAN Enjoy lake views and authentic Cuban dishes like picadillo and mojo chicken with Yuca fries and sweet plantains. 637 Williamson Rd., Ste. 100 (704799-0875) BR, L, D, BAR ✸

❤ HELLO, SAILOR

NEW SOUTHERN Davidson’s sweethearts, Joe and Katy Kindred, opened this lakefront spot. Expect Carolina classics like fried catfish and seafood platters, as well as tiki drinks. 20210 Henderson Rd., Cornelius.

(704-997-5365) BR, L, D, BAR ✸

❤ KINDRED

$$-$$$

NEW AMERICAN Chef Joe Kindred, a James Beard Award semifinalist, serves homemade pasta dishes and creative small plates in historic downtown Davidson. 131 N. Main St., Davidson. (980-231-5000) BR, L, D, BAR ✸☎

SABI ASIAN BISTRO

$$

ASIAN Find Asian-inspired dishes, from sushi to stir fry to sweet-and-sour chicken, in a sleek interior.

130 Harbor Place Dr., Davidson. (704-895-5707) L, D, BAR ✸

$$

MIDDLE EASTERN With a second location in Stonecrest, this Mediterranean and Lebanese spot serves dishes like hummus shawarma and lamb kabobs.

2233 Matthews Township Pkwy., Ste. E. (704-8450707) L, D ✸

LOYALIST MARKET

$-$$

AMERICAN This charming eatery is a sandwich shop by day and a cheese shop by night. Choose from over 60 artisan cheeses and cured meats from the U.S. and abroad, along with gourmet food products, wine, and local beer. 435 N. Trade St., Ste. 102. (704-814-9866) L, D, BAR ✸

NEW ZEALAND CAFÉ

$-$$

FUSION A wooden latticework ceiling and indoor trellis add charm to this neighborhood favorite, where sushi is fresh and affordable. 1717 Sardis Rd. N., Ste. 6A. (704-708-9888) L, D, B/W ✸

SANTÉ

$$$ - $$$$

FRENCH The food is far from colloquial here, and the exposed brickwork and antiqued tin roof lend credence to the French name. 165 N. Trade St., Matthews.

(704-845-1899) D, BAR

❤ YUME BISTRO

$$

JAPANESE The flavorful ramen and other Japanese classics here defy the restaurant’s plain interior. They also opened a new location in Wilmore last year. 1369 Chestnut Ln., Matthews. (704-821-0676) L, D

Myers Park/Cotswold DEEJAI THAI

$$

LEROY FOX

$$

SOUTHERN A casual eatery known for its fried chicken, Leroy Fox serves Southern classics and upscale pub grub, with an additional location in South End. 705 S. Sharon Amity Rd. (704-366-3232) BR, L, D, BAR ✸

MAMA RICOTTA’S

$$

THAI This family-owned eatery offers takeout, but with its modern dining room and bright patio, you’ll

$$

ITALIAN Frank Scibelli’s (Midwood Smokehouse, Yafo, Paco’s) first restaurant does simple Italian dishes with stylish twists in a spot fit for couples, families, and everyone else. 601 S. Kings Dr. (704-343-0148) L, D, BAR ✸☎

PROVIDENCE ROAD SUNDRIES

$-$$

AMERICAN Classic bar food and friendly service have made this a neighborhood hangout for generations.

1522 Providence Rd. (704-366-4467) L, D, BAR

❤ STAGIONI

Matthews/Mint Hill KABAB-JE ROTISSERIE & GRILLE

FENWICK’S

$$$

ITALIAN Meaning “seasons,” this concept from Bruce Moffett serves Italian standards. A must-visit for Chef Eric Ferguson’s delicious, handmade pastas, woodfired pizzas, and slow-roasted meats. 715 Providence Rd. (704-372-8110) D, BAR ☎

VOLO RISTORANTE

$$$

ITALIAN Volo translates to “flight,” which is the Italian answer to a tasting menu. Let the chef choose a meat, vegetable, or seafood flight for you, or order off the dinner menu and enjoy a plate of gnocchi, risotto, or tortellini paired with a glass of chianti. 1039 Providence Rd. (704-919-1020) D, BAR ☎

$

FRENCH Enjoy a flaky croissant on the outdoor patio or order from the café menu of soups and sandwiches any time of day—or night. Amélie’s now has two additional locations in uptown and Park Road Shopping Center. 2424 N. Davidson St. (704-3761781) B, L, D

BAO + BROTH

THE DUMPLING LADY

$-$$

EL THRIFTY

$-$$

ASIAN One of Charlotte’s most popular food trucks has a brick-and-mortar space in Optimist Hall. Order Zhang Qian’s authentic Sichuan dumplings, noodles, and dim sum, and brace for spice. 1115 N. Brevard St. (980-595-6174) L, D, V

MEXICAN The Mexican cantina and gaming venue in Optimist Hall serves creative tacos and cocktails with a side of duckpin bowling. 1115 N. Brevard St. (980-9497837) L, D, BAR ✸

THE GOODYEAR HOUSE

$$-$$$

❤ HABERDISH

$$-$$$

NEW AMERICAN Grab a table in the botanist room or the open patio on a warm night, and enjoy elevated comfort food like smoked cashew mac and cheese and guinea hen stew. 3032 N. Davidson St. (704-9100132) L, D, BAR ✸

AMERICAN Southern appetizers, fried chicken, and apothecary cocktails from Colleen Hughes draw a hip crowd to this mill town southern kitchen. 3106 N. Davidson St. (704-817-1084) BR, L, D, BAR ✸

HARRIET’S HAMBURGERS

$

AMERICAN The burger joint with a pick-up window at Optimist Hall has a simple menu of hamburgers, cheeseburgers, and fries, but they get everything right.

1115 N. Brevard St., Ste. 6 L, D

$-$$

AMERICAN This is bar food to the extreme. Beer is incorporated into several dishes at this brewpub. The beer cheese is made with Heist’s own beer and served alongside pretzels made with leftover mash. 2909 N. Davidson St., Ste. 200. (704-375-8260) BR, L, D, BAR ✸

JACKBEAGLE’S

$

$-$$

$

SOUTHERN A James Beard-nominated chef and Soul Food Sessions co-founder Greg Collier serves the dishes he grew up on, like hot fried quail and dirty grits, in a space modeled after a Memphis-style juke joint. 301 Camp Rd., Ste. 101 (980-309-0690) D, BAR ✸ ☎

PIZZA A full Benny P’s pie is 28 inches, almost double the standard—but if you divide it into eight slices, one is the ideal-sized meal for one person. 2909 N. Davidson St., Ste. 100. (980-949-8398) L, D, B/W

CABO FISH TACO

$-$$

AMERICAN A mainstay for the locals, this place serves unconventional bar bites like mac-and-blue-cheese with bacon. 3213 N. Davidson St. (704-334-5140) BR, L, D, BAR ✸

ASIAN Follow the smell of ramen and steamed pork belly buns to this food stall, the fifth restaurant from chef Bruce Moffett, and have a seat among the other diners in Optimist Hall. 1115 N. Brevard St. (704-6252269) L, D

BENNY PENNELLO’S

CRÊPE CELLAR KITCHEN & PUB

FRENCH The crêpes—both sweet and savory—are delicious, but the restaurant’s fare goes beyond its French roots with flavorful salads, entrées, and craft cocktails. 3116 N. Davidson St. (704-910-6543) BR, L, D, BAR

HEIST BREWERY

NoDa/North Charlotte AMÉLIE’S FRENCH BAKERY

surf-themed atmosphere. 3201 N. Davidson St. (704332-8868) L, D, BAR ✸

$-$$

SEAFOOD This NoDa “Baja seagrill” serves up the title dish as well as quesadillas, burritos, and salads in a fun,

LEAH & LOUISE

PAPI QUESO

$$

$-$$

AMERICAN Expect all the staples from the popular food truck, along with new grilled cheeses, mac and cheese, and melts from the brick-and-mortar location in Optimist Hall. 1115 N. Brevard St. (704-5791779) L, D, V MARCH 2021 // CHARLOTTE

81

THE GUIDE ROOM AND BOARD

$-$$

AMERICAN Inside a two-story Victorian home and former boarding house, have your choice of sandwiches, burgers, and wings, or come for Sunday brunch and get a “hangover pizza.” 3228 N. Davidson St. (980-4303136) BR (Sun) L, D, BAR

ROY’S KITCHEN & PATIO

$$

CARIBBEAN Come for a fruity cocktail, but don’t expect a trip to Margaritaville—this is a relaxed neighborhood hangout with cornhole, ping-pong, and rotisserie chicken you can smell cooking down the street. 3112 N. Davidson St. (704-910-2031) BR (Sun), D, BAR, ✸

$

AMERICAN The new counter-service burger joint from the team behind Sea Level and the Waterman offers a straightforward menu of burgers, fries, and shakes.

1001 Belmont Ave. (704-910-2200) L, D, ✸

CILANTRO NOODLE

$-$$

VIETNAMESE Structured like Chipotle, build-yourown meals include a base starch (banh mi, vermicelli noodles, white rice, fried rice), one protein, and five toppings. 2001 Commonwealth Ave. (704-345-9490) L, D, V, B/W ✸

COALTRANE’S

$-$$

AMERICAN Rotisserie chicken with South Americaninspired sides makes for a healthy and fast lunch or dinner. 1518 Central Ave. (980-265-1290) BR, L, D, BAR ✸

COMMON MARKET

$-$$

$-$$

$

VIETNAMESE Regulars love this no-fuss spot for its authentic cuisine, with loads of flavor and fresh ingredients. 3019 Shamrock Dr. (704-531-9525) BR, L, D, V, B/W

LUPIE’S CAFE

$

AMERICAN The building, interior, and menu have barely changed since owner Lupie Duran opened in

82

$$

SAL’S PIZZA FACTORY

$$

PIZZA The New York slices at this east Charlotte joint have thick cheese and generous toppings—the classic style of pizza that fuels nostalgia and harkens back to a time when you didn’t know what calories or gluten were. 3723 Monroe Rd. (980-219-7108) L, D, BAR

❤ SOUL GASTROLOUNGE

$$

AMERICAN The Denver-based breakfast spot has a huge menu, but you’re free to mix and match. Choose any two benedicts with the Benny Duo, or get the Pancake Flight with three different flavors. There’s also a morning cocktail menu with mimosas, mojitos, and a dirty drunken chai. 1331-A Central Ave. (704-2435070) B, BR, L, BAR ✸

FUSION Even the pickiest eater can find something to order here, with menu options ranging from burgers and pizzas to cabbage rolls and stuffed peppers. 1427 E. 10th St. (704-347-2626) L, D, V, BAR ✸

LANG VAN

❤ NC RED

SEAFOOD/SOUTHERN The fourth restaurant from Bruce Moffett serves a mix of Rhode Island shore food, like oysters and stuffed clams, and southern comforts, like fried chicken and mac and cheese. 1205 Thomas Ave. (704-321-4716) D, BAR ✸

$-$$

SOUTHERN A neighborhood joint with an eclectic clientele, good, down-home Southern food, and a funky wait staff. 1220 Thomas Ave. (704-344-0343) B, L, D, BAR ✸

❤ INTERMEZZO PIZZERIA & CAFÉ

$$

AMERICAN A playful list of burgers, craft beers, and friendly servers make this spot an easy choice for a casual dinner out. The patio is packed on nice nights.

1300 Central Ave. (980-585-4148) L, D, BAR ✸

NEW AMERICAN Expect to wait a while at this no-reservations spot, known for small plates like pork belly tacos with compressed watermelon, and a rotating list of craft cocktails. 1500-B Central Ave. (704-348-1848) D, BAR ✸

AMERICAN This 1950s-style diner features retro teal booths, a jukebox, and classic dishes like burgers, fried pork chops, and fried chicken. 1901 Commonwealth Ave. (704-375-8959) L, D, BAR ✸

DISH

$$

$

DELI A neighborhood hangout with locations in South End and Oakwold, this market and deli serves quick and delicious sandwiches, local craft beers, snacks, sweets, and more. 2007 Commonwealth Ave. (704-334-6209) B, L, D, B/W ✸

DIAMOND RESTAURANT

❤ MIDWOOD SMOKEHOUSE

BARBECUE With North Carolina pulled pork, beef brisket, smoked chicken, and dry or sauced ribs, there’s a ’cue for everyone—and traditional sides to pair. The restaurant has a number of Charlotte locations including Ballantyne and Park Road Shopping Center, but the Plaza Midwood spot is its flagship post. 1401 Central Ave. (704-295-4227) L, D, BAR ✸

MOO & BREW

Plaza Midwood/East Charlotte ACE NO. 3

1987. It’s an ideal spot for cold days, specializing in handmade burgers, four kinds of chili, meatloaf, and “chicken n dumplins.” 2718 Monroe Rd., (704-3741232) L, D, B/W

CHARLOTTEMAGAZINE.COM // MARCH 2021

SNOOZE: AN A.M. EATERY

THREE AMIGOS

$$

$$

MEXICAN Three Amigos remains a constant on Central Avenue, specializing in enchiladas and other Mexican staples like tinga de pollo and carne asada tacos.

It’s always fresh, too—they’ll never save rice, beans, or meat for use the next day. 2917A Central Ave., 704536-1851. L, D, BAR ✸

THE WORKMAN’S FRIEND

$$-$$$

IRISH Enjoy Irish classics like fish and chips and shepherd’s pie in this rustic dining room, or grab a pint at the custom-built walnut bar. 1531 Central Ave. (980224-8234) BR, L (Fri-Sun), D, BAR ✸

YAMA IZAKAYA

$$

JAPANESE Enjoy true, labor-intensive ramen, complete with add-ons like corn and pork belly, as well as traditional Japanese small plates and a sushi menu.

1324 Central Ave. (704-910-6387) D, V, BAR ✸

ZADA JANE’S CORNER CAFE

$-$$

SOUTHERN This funky neighborhood restaurant with shuffleboard courts, a large patio, and colorful walls serves breakfast and brunch all day. 1601 Central Ave. (704-332-3663) B, BR, L, BAR ✸

South End BARCELONA WINE BAR

$$$

NEW AMERICAN Nosh on Spanish and Mediterranean-inspired tapas or a charcuterie board with meats from different regions in Europe. Choose from more than 400 wines, and don’t miss the olive oil cake. 101 W. Worthington Ave., Ste. 110. (704-741-0300) D, BAR

✸☎

❤ BARDO

$$$

❤ BEEF ’N BOTTLE

$$$

NEW AMERICAN This foodie destination serves seasonal small plates and creative cocktails. The dining room looks into a big, open kitchen where diners can watch the chefs at work. 1508 S. Mint St., Ste. B. (980585-2433) D, BAR ☎

STEAK HOUSE An old favorite, this steak house is just what you’d expect, serving up thick and juicy cuts in a dark interior. 4538 South Blvd. (704-523-9977) D, BAR

BREWERS AT 4001 YANCEY

$$

AMERICAN In addition to craft beers, this LoSo brewery has Southern-inspired bar food like fries topped with jalapeño gravy and bacon crumbles. 4001-A Yancey Rd. (704-452-4001) BR (Sun), L, D, BAR ✸☎

THE DUNAVANT

$$$

STEAK HOUSE The signature steak and bottomless fries dinner, which includes bread, a choice of soup or salad, and the option of three sauces, tastes more expensive than its $25 fixed price. 2322 Dunavant St., Ste. 200. (980-335-0125) BR, D, BAR ✸ NEW LISTING

THE EAGLE FOOD & BEER HALL

$$

AMERICAN Feast on fried chicken with a side of house made hot honey, plus comfort food sides like mac & cheese, collards, and hushpuppies. 2120 South Blvd., Ste. 1 (704-780-1570) D, BAR, ✸

EIGHT + SAND KITCHEN

$

AMERICAN Come here for breakfast, brunch, lunch, an afternoon snack, or an evening out. The made-fromscratch bakery has sandwiches, salads, and artisan breads, and the café serves drinks all day. 135 New Bern St. B, BR, L, B/W

❤ FUTO BUTA

$$

JAPANESE This ramen house promises authenticity, irreverence, and delightful, salty bowls of the hot noodle soup. 222 E. Bland St. (704-376-8400) L, D, B/W ✸

ILIOS CRAFTED GREEK

$-$$

MEDITERRANEAN Get authentic Greek fare from the team behind Ilios Noche in a fast casual setting. Build a dish with your choice of roasted chicken, lamb, or pork, and chose from a rotation of sides like chickpea salad, Aegean slaw, and zucchini fritters. 1514 S. Church St. (980-237-1949) L, D, ✸

INDACO

$$-$$$

ITALIAN Atherton Mill’s rustic Italian restaurant serves wood-fired pizzas and hand-crafted pastas, proving certain dishes are classics for a reason. 2046 South Blvd. (704-741-9004) L, D, BAR

LET’S MEAT KBBQ

$$$$

SEOUL FOOD MEAT CO.

$$

FUSION This hip spot fuses traditional American barbecue with Korean flavors all the way to the sides, which include ramen mac-and-cheese. 1400 S. Church St., Ste. A. (980-299-5143) L (weekends), D, BAR ✸

SOUTHBOUND

$-$$

KOREAN BBQ Marinated meats at this all-you-caneat hangout come with Korean sides like steamed egg soufflé. 1400 S. Church St., Ste. B. (980-299-4389) L, D, (Mon-Fri) BAR

BAJA The breezy vibes and bright flavors at this taco joint call for a Pacifico or a margarita. 2433 South Blvd.

(704-912-1889) BR, L, D, BAR ✸

VEGETARIAN This vegan gem is known for its raw version of lasagna, made with zucchini noodles, sundried tomato sauce, mushrooms, and a cashew-basil cheese. Its juice bar is also a popular draw. 2000 South Blvd., Ste. 300. (704-333-0008) B, L, D, B/W, V ✸

TEX-MEX Atlanta chef Ford Fry brings the newest location of his Tex-Mex concept, with tacos, fajitas, and enchiladas, to the Design Center. 101 W. Worthington Ave., Ste. 100 (980-321-9914) BR, L, D, BAR ✸

MAC’S SPEED SHOP

SEAFOOD This oyster bar has all the staples: lobster rolls, clam chowder, and oysters four ways. At sunset, head to the rooftop terrace for a cocktail and views of uptown. 2729 South Blvd., Ste. D. (704-275-5558) L, D, BAR ✸

LUNA’S LIVING KITCHEN

$$

$-$$

BARBECUE Solid barbecue and cold beer (150 choices) in a motorcycle-themed space draw fun-loving crowds, with additional locations in Matthews and Lake Norman. 2511 South Blvd. (704-522-6227) L, D, BAR ✸

MIDNIGHT DINER

$

AMERICAN This 24-hour classic diner has everything you’d expect, including all-day breakfast, onion rings, milkshakes, burgers, and hand-cut fries, along with Southern fare. 115 E. Carson Blvd. (980-207-3641) B, L, D, B/W ✸

MOCCO BISTRO

$

GREEK Despite the sounds of South Boulevard, the Greek pastries and coffees here can transport you to the Aegean Sea in just one taste. 4004 South Blvd., Ste. E. (980-207-0508) B, L, D, B/W ✸

NIKKO

$$-$$$

JAPANESE Artistic sushi, a moody interior, and thumping sound system bring in dinner and late-night crowds, but quick service makes it a great lunch spot.

325 Arlington Ave., Ste. 108. (704-370-0100) L (weekdays), D, BAR ✸☎

NORTH ITALIA

$$-$$$

ITALIAN Head to the ground floor of the RailYard for a dressed-up entree like squid ink mafaldine, or get the basic spaghetti and meatballs, which is good every time. 1414 S. Tryon St., Ste. 140 (980-279-8900) BR, L, D, BAR ✸

O-KU

$$-$$$

SUSHI This second location of the Charleston-based Indigo Road restaurant group’s Japanese spot has great service, a beautiful interior, and dishes full of flavor.

2000 South Blvd., Ste. 510. (704-594-1922) D, BAR ☎

PRICE’S CHICKEN COOP

$

SOUTHERN Expect to eat your meal standing up—or sitting in your car—but rest assured it’s the best damn fried chicken in the country. 1614 Camden Rd. (704333-9866) L, D (until 6 p.m.), Cash only. No seating.

RAI LAY THAI CUISINE

$$

THAI Upscale Thai food in a sleek interior with attentive service makes this a fitting spot for South End. 1520 South Blvd., Ste. 130. (980-207-0991) L (MonSat), D, BAR ☎

SUPERICA

THE WATERMAN FISH BAR

NEW LISTING

VANA

$$-$$$

$$-$$$

$$$

NEW AMERICAN Chef Michael Noll serves a blend of tapas and shareable plates in this open kitchen spot with a wood-fired theme. Don’t miss the quail with Tandoori marinade, buttermilk, and chili oil. 1440 S. Tryon St., Ste. 100. (980-819-5913) BR, D, BAR, ☎

South Charlotte (Arboretum, Ballantyne, Pineville, Fort Mill) BIG VIEW DINER

$$

AMERICAN This spot serves up hearty portions of diner staples, such as meatloaf and fresh-roasted turkey clubs, all made in-house. 16637 Lancaster Hwy. (704544-0313) B, L, D, BAR ✸

CIVETTA ITALIAN KITCHEN + BAR

$$-$$$

ITALIAN This eatery in StoneCrest at Piper Glen has Italian-American dishes like snapper picatta, penne alla Civetta, and scallops risotto. Save room for a lasagna-sized slice of tiramisu for dessert. 7828-E Rea Rd. (980-335-2758) BR (Sun), L, D, V, BAR ✸

THE BLUE TAJ

$$-$$$

INDIAN The sister restaurant of Copper has contemporary decor and a sharply dressed wait staff delivering Indian dishes to each table. 14815 Ballantyne Village Way., Ste. 170. (704-369-5777) L, D, V, BAR ✸

THE FLIPSIDE CAFÉ

$$-$$

NEW SOUTHERN Chefs Jon and Amy Fortes’ first restaurant makes you feel right at home, but the food lets you know it ain’t your mama in the kitchen.

3150 Hwy. 21 N., Fort Mill. (803-802-1711) B, BR, L, D, B/W, ☎

FLIPSIDE RESTAURANT

$$-$$$

NEW SOUTHERN This sister restaurant of Flipside Café has a more formal and spacious dining room, which fits with its elevated menu. 129 Caldwell St., Rock Hill. (803-324-3547) BR, L, D, V, BAR ☎

GALLERY RESTAURANT

$$$-$$$$

NEW AMERICAN Inside the Ballantyne hotel, you’ll find Southern-inspired, white-tablecloth dining with dishes sourced from local farmers. 10000 Ballantyne Commons Pkwy. (704-248-4100) B, BR, L, D, BAR

OGGI RISTORANTE ITALIANO

$$$

ITALIAN Find comfort food like spaghetti and house meatballs and lasagna, or savor some squid ink linguini and a glass of pinot grigio on the patio. 16646 Hawfield Way Dr., Ste. 101 (704-716-9400) L, D, BAR ✸

THE PORTER’S HOUSE

$$$-$$$$

STEAK HOUSE The newest member of the Rare Roots Hospitality Group (Dressler’s, Dogwood) is known for thick-cut steaks, modern sides, and craft cocktails.

7417 Waverly Walk Ave. (704-930-7878) D, BAR ✸☎

RED ROCKS CAFÉ

$$-$$$

RED SAKE

$$-$$$

SPICE ASIAN KITCHEN

$$-$$$

AMERICAN Consistently good pasta,rock seafood, and steak make this restaurant a mainstay in the Strawberry Hill shopping center. Additional locations are in Indian Land and Birkdale Village. 4223 Providence Rd., Ste. 8 (704-364-0402) BR (Sun), L, D, V, BAR ✸

JAPANESE This is sushi for true sushi aficionados. The Luke Lobster roll is a delectable mouthful of lobster meat, spicy tuna, avocado, and eel sauce topped with sweet potato strings. 8410 Rea Rd., Ste. 100 (980-4981578) L, D, BAR ✸

ASIAN The dumplings and Pad Thai are consistently good, but the bibimbap, bossam, and curry dishes are great for adventurous palates. During patio season, enjoy a cocktail or dessert at the rooftop terrace bar. 251 Textile Way, Fort Mill. (803-548-6868) L, D, V, BAR ✸

WALDHORN

$$

GERMAN Family-friendly Waldhorn offers authentic German dishes in a Bavarian-style setting. 12101 Lancaster Hwy., Pineville. (704-540-7047) BR (Sun), L, D, BAR ✸

SouthPark/Park Road ❤ BAR MARCEL

$$-$$$

BAKU

$$-$$$

FUSION The menu features shareable plates of beef carpaccio or truffle and herb frittes—but order a flatbread pizza for yourself. 3920 Sharon Rd., Ste. 160.

(980-237-1919) L, D, BAR ✸☎

JAPANESE Black and red decor, delicious sushi, techno beats, and a large pair of geisha eyes staring out at the crowd make for a dramatic setting in this sharedplates restaurant. 4515 Sharon Rd. (704-817-7173) D, BAR ☎

❤ BARRINGTON’S

$$$-$$$$

NEW AMERICAN Bruce Moffett’s first restaurant is one of the best in town, with a classic menu and stellar service. 7822 Fairview Rd. (704-364-5755) D (MonSat), BAR ☎ MARCH 2021 // CHARLOTTE

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THE GUIDE CAFÉ MONTE

$$-$$$

FRENCH Monte Smith has done a bang-up job recreating a classic French restaurant, and diners react enthusiastically at brunch, lunch, and dinner. 6700 Fairview Rd. (704-552-1116) B, L, D, BAR ✸☎

CANTINA 1511

$$

MEXICAN This easy, casual spot draws crowds for its fresh takes on Mexican cuisine and fine margarita list.

4271 Park Rd. (704-331-9222) L, D, V, BAR ✸☎

❤ DOGWOOD SOUTHERN TABLE + BAR

$$$

NEW SOUTHERN Ingredients are fresh and cocktails are innovative at this spot, a sister to Dressler’s. 4905 Ashley Park Ln., Ste. D. (704-910-4919) BR (Sun), L, D, BAR ☎

❤ DOT DOT DOT

$$$

NEW AMERICAN Stefan Huebner’s creative cocktails may be the main attraction at this members-only speakeasy, but chef Corey Dawson’s sweet seared scallops with roasted mushroom risotto will convince you to stay for dinner. 4237 Park Rd., Ste. B. (704-817-3710) D, BAR

EASY LIKE SUNDAY

$$

AMERICAN The fried chicken and cornmeal pancakes are worth standing in line for, but if you’d rather skip the weekend rush, go in the evening and have a boozy brunch after dark. 1600 E. Woodlawn Rd., Ste. 100.

(980-335-2428) B, BR, L, D, BAR ✸

❤ FLOUR SHOP

$$$

ITALIAN Watch your pasta get prepared in the open kitchen. Chef Trey Wilson’s shared plates are great for larger groups, but if you don’t want to share, get the lamb Bolognese. 530 Brandywine Rd. (980-299-3754) D, BAR ☎

FINE & FETTLE

$$-$$$

AMERICAN Chef Daniel Wheeler makes culinary art at this homey restaurant inside the Canopy by Hilton. Feast on pork cheeks with edamame, a fried hen sandwich, or splurge on a fried PB&J with black pepper sorbet. 4905 Barclay Downs Dr. (704-552-1715) B, BR, L, D, BAR ✸

❤ GOOD FOOD ON MONTFORD $$-$$$

NEW AMERICAN Bruce Moffett’s small-plates bistro unites a variety of influences and flavors onto one menu, and each dish is worth ordering. 1701 Montford Dr. (704-525-0881) D, BAR ☎

HARPER’S RESTAURANT

$$

AMERICAN Jazzed-up American cuisine makes Harper’s a place to take out-of-town guests with varying palates. 6518 Fairview Rd. (704-366-6688) BR (Sun), L, D, BAR ✸

HIBISCUS

$-$$

ASIAN Roger and Robert Kongham, the sons of Thai Taste’s owners, serve creamy curries, Thai classics, and sushi in a more formal dining room. 1600 E. Woodlawn Rd., Ste. 150. (980-256-4380) L, D, BAR

LEGION BREWING

$$-$$$

AMERICAN Unlike its flagship location in Plaza Midwood, the SouthPark brewery serves more than

84

CHARLOTTEMAGAZINE.COM // MARCH 2021

typical bar snacks. Chef Gene Briggs cooks pork belly gyros, duck fat chicken wings, and a full Sunday brunch. 5610 Carnegie Blvd. (980-256-4167) BR, L, D, BAR ✸

LITTLE MAMA’S ITALIAN KITCHEN

$$-$$$

ITALIAN Think of this eatery as the prequel to Mama Ricotta’s, with family recipes and scratch-made pastas and mozzarella. Settle into one of the dining rooms with a plate of pappardelle or cozy up at the “Mozz Bar” and watch the chefs at work. 4521 Sharon Rd. (980-209-0323) D, BAR

OAK STEAKHOUSE

$$$$

STEAK HOUSE Chef Tyler Honeycutt aces steakhouse classics like ribeye or filet, and be sure to save room for some lemon olive oil cake for dessert. 4477 Sharon Rd., Ste 125. (704-954-8900) D, BAR ☎

PACO’S TACOS & TEQUILA

$$

MEXICAN Although you’ll find plenty of options on the menu, there are 10 varieties of tacos and more than 60 kinds of tequila. 6401 Morrison Blvd., Ste. 8A. (704-716-8226) L, D, V, BAR ✸

❤ PEPPERVINE

$$$$

FUSION Chef Bill Greene serves a rotation of artistic small plates with unexpected pairings, like lamb belly with kimchi porridge and smoked butternut squash with miso. 4620 Piedmont Row Dr., Ste. 170B. (980283-2333) D, V, BAR ✸☎

REID’S FINE FOODS

$$-$$$

NEW AMERICAN Stellar service and a reliable menu have earned this market and restaurant a loyal following. 4331 Barclay Downs Dr. (704-377-7686) BR, L, D, BAR ✸

RH ROOFTOP RESTAURANT

$$$-$$$$

AMERICAN The dining room has retractable glass walls, Japanese boxwood hedging, and a fountain. The menu is standard (but upscale) American fare like lobster rolls, truffled grilled cheese, and ribeye steak. 6903 Phillips Place Ct. (704-790-4970) BR, L, D, V ☎

ROASTING COMPANY

$

AMERICAN Since adding a full bar, Roasting Company fits in more comfortably with the Montford Drive scene but still sets the standard for rotisserie chicken.

1521 Montford Dr. (704-521-8188) L, D, BAR ✸

ROCKSALT

$$$-$$$$

SEAFOOD Head to RockSalt for the spacious patio and fresh seafood—from the raw bar, with several varieties of oysters on the half shell, or the daily catch. 512 Brandywine Rd. (704-503-9945) BR, L (weekends), D, BAR ✸☎

❤ ROOSTER’S WOOD-FIRED

KITCHEN

$$-$$$

NEW SOUTHERN Chef Jim Noble’s menu offers gussied-up, Southern-tinged American and European peasant fare, like hand-tossed pizzas and roasted chicken. A second location is in uptown. 6601 Morrison Blvd. (704-366-8688) L, D, V, BAR ☎

SIR EDMOND HALLEY’S

$$

AMERICAN This pub, named for the astronomer and mathematician, serves its entire menu until closing at

2 a.m. 4151 Park Rd., Ste. A. (704-525-7775) L (weekdays), D, BAR ✸

SOUTHERN PECAN

$$-$$$

SOUTHERN The team behind Café Monte serves Gulf Coast-inspired cuisine like pecan fried catfish, Louisianna barbecue shrimp, and oyster po’ boys. 6705-C Phillips Place Ct., Ste. C (704-749-2949) L, D, BAR ✸

STEAK 48

$$$$

TAQUERIA MAL PAN

$$-$$

STEAK HOUSE Steak is the main attraction, but don’t miss the crispy shrimp deviled eggs, corn crème brulée, and seafood tower. 4425 Sharon Rd. (980-5804848) D, BAR ☎

MEXICAN Pace yourself with the chips and guacamole because the California burrito is the best burrito you’ll have in Charlotte—spoiler alert: it has French fries inside. 4625 Piedmont Row Dr., Ste. 115-D (980298-6138) BR, L, D, BAR ✸

TOSCANA

$$$

ITALIAN An authentic northern Italian menu is paired with an extensive wine list, while courtyard dining adds to the experience on a nice night. 6401 Morrison Blvd., Ste. 6B. (704-367-1808) L (weekdays), D, BAR ✸☎

YAFO KITCHEN

$$

YAMA ASIAN FUSION

$$

MEDITERRANEAN With additional locations in Dilworth and Plaza Midwood, this fast-casual concept serves Middle-Eastern and Mediterranean-inspired fare in a wrap, salad, or grain bowl. 720 Governor Morrison St., Ste. 120. (704-365-7130) L, D, B/W ✸

FUSION This upscale Japanese restaurant has sushi, hibachi, and Asian-inspired entrées. A second location opened in Waverly last year. 720 Governor Morrison St., Ste. 130. (70s4-295-0905) L (Mon-Sat), D,BAR ✸☎

University Area AMALFI PASTA ’N PIZZA

$$

ITALIAN The only other places where Italian food is this real, this good, and this cheap are called trattorias, and you have to take a plane to get to them. 8542 University City Blvd. (704-547-8651) L, D, B/W ✸

FIREWATER

$$-$$$

AMERICAN The food here is primarily American bistro-style, but the owner’s family tuna business makes apps like the tuna tartare standouts. 8708 J. W. Clay Blvd. (704-549-0050) L (weekends), D, BAR ✸

ZAPATA’S CANTINA

$$

MEXICAN Expect typical Mexican fare in a high-energy dining room, with an additional location in Ballantyne.

8927 J.M. Keynes Dr., in University Place shopping center. (704-503-1979) L, D, BAR

Uptown 204 NORTH

$$$

NEW SOUTHERN This uptown spot with modern Southern food is best for cocktails and conversation

at the bar. 204 N. Tryon St. (704-333-3747) BR, L, D, BAR ☎

❤ 5CHURCH

$-$$$

NEW AMERICAN Top Chef alum Jamie Lynch’s innovative, seasonal menu includes morel mushroom flatbread and mint crusted lamb loin. 127 N. Tryon St., Ste. 8. (704-919-1322) BR, L, D, BAR ☎

❤ ALEXANDER MICHAEL’S

$$ -$$$

AMERICAN The blackened catfish is cooked just right, the Cajun pasta is piping hot, and chatter fills the noreservations dining room. 401 W. 9th St. (704-3326789) L, D, BAR

❤ ANGELINE’S

$$$

ITALIAN The Italian-inspired entreés at this uptown spot are all excellent, and the whipped ricotta with sourdough, lavender honey, and pistachio is the most imaginative appetizer on the menu. 303 S. Church St. (704-445-2540) B, BR, L, D, V, BAR ✸☎

❤ ARIA TUSCAN GRILL

$$$

ITALIAN This restaurant serves up an extensive Italian menu in an elegant, modern space. 100 N. Tryon St. (704-376-8880) L (weekdays), D, BAR ☎

❤ THE ASBURY

$$$

NEW SOUTHERN Chef Mike Long’s inventive menu mixes countryside favorites like biscuits and deviled eggs with bold flavors and contemporary techniques.

235 N. Tryon St. (704-342-1193) B, BR, L, D, BAR ☎

BASIL THAI

$$-$$$

THAI Thai lovers can sate their cravings with tasty pad Thai, while the more daring can try dishes like crispy red curry duck, a rich, deep-fried half duck in a spicy red curry sauce. 210 N. Church St. (704-332-7212) L (weekdays), D, V, BAR ☎

THE CELLAR AT DUCKWORTH’S

$$-$$$

NEW AMERICAN The focus is on small plates, craft beer served in its proper glassware at proper temperature, and craft cocktails. 330 N. Tryon St. (980-349-4078) D, BAR ☎

CLOUD BAR BY DAVID BURKE

$$

AMERICAN Grab a seat on the rooftop patio, sip on a Queen City cocktail, and order the maple glazed bacon clothesline. The presentation is exactly as it sounds.

555 S. McDowell St. (980-237-5356) D, BAR ✸

COCO + THE DIRECTOR

$

AMERICAN Marriott introduced this coffee and sandwich shop for locals and hotel guests alike to have a comfortable, casual dining option. 100 W. Trade St. (704-353-6003) B, L, D, B/W

COWBELL BURGER & BAR

$$

and shared plates. 118 W. 5th St. (704-333-7989) BR, L, D, BAR

ESSEX BAR & BISTRO

$$-$$$

GLOBAL Middle Eastern and Mediterranean influences run through this menu. Order a few tapas and a bottle of wine, head out to the patio, and watch the activity at Trade and Tryon. 101 S. Tryon St., Ste. 14.

(980-406-3857) L, D, BAR ✸☎

FAHRENHEIT

$$$-$$$$

NEW AMERICAN Located on the 21st floor of Skye Condos, chef Rocco Whalen’s restaurant is the place in Charlotte to eat a meal and see the city twinkle. 222 S. Caldwell St. (980-237-6718) BR, D, BAR ✸☎

❤ FORCHETTA

$$-$$$

ITALIAN Chef Luca Annunziata serves lasagna just like his mom made it and carbonara as it’s served in Rome.

230 North College St. (704-602-2750) B, L, D, BAR ☎

❤ FIN & FINO

$$$

SEAFOOD Come for the raw bar, but stay for bartender Brittany Kellum’s drinks. Then splurge on a slice of cheesecake. 135 Levine Avenue of the Arts, Ste. 100.

(704-800-5680) L, D, BAR ✸☎

❤ HAYMAKER

$$$ - $$$$

NEW SOUTHERN Enjoy locally and seasonally inspired dishes from North Carolina chef William Dissen in this bright, stylish space next to Romare Bearden Park. 225 S. Poplar St. (704-626-6116) BR, D, BAR ✸☎

THE KING’S KITCHEN

$$-$$$

SOUTHERN Chef Jim Noble’s restaurant, which serves traditional Southern fare, donates profits to faith-based feeding centers and employs troubled youth and people who have just come out of rehab or prison. 129 W. Trade St. (704-375-1990) L (weekdays) D, B/W, ✸☎

LUCE

$$$

ITALIAN Luce is a beautiful, intimate, luxurious restaurant with simple but innovative northern Italian cuisine. 214 N. Tryon St., Ste. J, in Hearst Plaza. (704-3449222) L (weekdays), D, BAR ✸☎

MALABAR SPANISH CUISINE

$$

SPANISH This sister restaurant to Luce serves authentic regional cuisine from Spain for lunch and dinner. 214 N. Tryon St. (704-344-8878) L (weekdays), D, BAR ✸☎

❤ McNINCH HOUSE

$$$$

NEW SOUTHERN Guests order from a daily prix fixe menu (ranging from five to nine courses), choose their wine and entrées, and the staff takes care of the rest.

511 N. Church St. (704-332-6159) D, BAR ☎

MERT’S HEART AND SOUL

MOA KOREAN BBQ

$$-$$$

❤ SEA LEVEL NC

$$-$$$

KOREAN BBQ You can order Korean tacos and kimchi bulgogi nachos a la carte, but the tabletop barbecue is the main attraction. Watch your server cook beef brisket and pork belly as you sip a craft cocktail. 128 S. Tryon St. (704-503-9412) L, D, V, BAR ✸

SEAFOOD Concrete beams and rustic brick give an industrial feel to this seafood restaurant, which serves up dishes that are accessible, inventive, and sustainably sourced. 129 E. 5th St. (704-412-2616) L, D, BAR ✸☎

SOHO BISTRO

$$

ASIAN Lightning-fast, friendly service complements hot, savory Chinese favorites such as Sha Cha Shrimp and Mongolian Chicken. 214 N. Tryon St., Ste. 110. (704333-5189) L, D, B/W

❤ STOKE

$$$

NEW AMERICAN Hotel dining gets an upgrade with this wood-fired-grill, family-style concept in Marriott City Center. 100 W. Trade St. (704-353-6005) B, BR, L, D, BAR

SUKOSHI

$$

SUSHI Think high-quality sushi in a fast-casual setting.

Chef Michael Chanthavong brings favorites from his menu at O-Ku, like tuna wrap-it-up and salmon citrus rolls. 101 S. Tryon St., Ste. 120. (980-495-3800) L, D, V

THE YOLK

$-$$

AMERICAN Greg and Subrina Collier’s breakfastfocused concept in 7th Street Public Market is open for breakfast and lunch, but shrimp and grits topped with Gouda cheese, jerk seasoning, and scallion pesto is delicious any time of day. 224 E. 7th St. (704-2304346) B, L

West/Northwest Charlotte COMMUNITY TABLE BISTRO

$

$$$-$$$$

GREEK This upscale Mediterranean restaurant offers healthy and delicious dishes like gyro pitas, lamb burgers, and hearty salads. 609 N. Main St., Belmont. (704825-7005) BR, L, D, V, BAR ✸☎

DANDELION MARKET

ARGENTINEAN The South American-inspired menu is full of complex flavors and unexpected mash-ups like harissa creamed spinach and brown butter bread crumbs. Chef de Cuisine Whitney Thomas arranges

NEW AMERICAN On weekends, this Irish pub turns into one of uptown’s hottest nightlife spots. But during the day, come for a cozy meal with flickering candles

$$$

$-$$

SOUTHERN James Bazzelle’s pride and joy serves down-home Southern cooking, with a dash of Lowcountry, in a downtown-feeling place. 214 N. College St. (704-342-4222) BR, L, D,B/W ✸

MICO

MIMOSA GRILL

NEW SOUTHERN This popular after-work spot has a seasonal menu, friendly service, tasty seafood dishes, and creative mixtures to top grits. 327 S. Tryon St. (704343-0700) BR, L (weekdays), D, BAR ✸☎

SOUTHERN At the Goodwill Opportunity Campus, a small, cafeteria-style restaurant sears, bakes, and fries comfort food on a daily rotation for an affordable price. 5301 Wilkinson Blvd. (980-636-1000) B, L (weekdays), V ✸

AMERICAN This sister restaurant to Leroy Fox has a trendy, pop-culture vibe—and a roster of fancy burgers (including a foie gras-topped offering for $20). 201 N. Tryon St., Ste. 1010. (980-224-8674) L, D, BAR

$$-$$$

each dish with edible flowers and vibrant vegetables that frame the plate. 201 W. Trade St. (980-999-5550) L, D, BAR

ESTIA’S KOUZINA

$$-$$$

❤ HEIRLOOM RESTAURANT

$$-$$$

NEW AMERICAN Ingredients are sourced almost exclusively from North Carolina, and the tasting menu MARCH 2021 // CHARLOTTE

85

❤ NOBLE SMOKE

$-$$

BARBECUE Feast on Carolina-style pork and Texas-style brisket, and grab a drink at the “Legends Counter” with custom plaques for Southern barbecue icons. 2216 Freedom Dr. (704-703-5252) L, D, BAR ✸☎

BOSSY BEULAH’S

PINKY’S WESTSIDE GRILL

Best Sips

Here’s a directory of local breweries, where you can enjoy award-winning beers—and the latest libations

NODA/OPTIMIST PARK/ NORTH CHARLOTTE BIRDSONG BREWING COMPANY

1016 N. Davidson St. 704-332-1810 birdsongbrewing.com

DIVINE BARREL

3701 N. Davidson St., Ste. 203 980-237-1803 divinebarrel.com

FONTA FLORA OPTIMIST HALL

1115 N. Brevard St., Ste. D 980-207-2470 fontaflora.com

FREE RANGE BREWING

2320 N. Davidson St. 980-201-9096 freerangebrewing.com

HEIST BREWERY

2909 N. Davidson St., Ste. 200 704-375-8260 heistbrewery.com Other location in Druid Hills

NODA BREWING COMPANY

2921 N. Tryon St. 704-900-6851 nodabrewing.com Other locations in Optimist Park and Charlotte-Douglas International Airport

PROTAGONIST CLUBHOUSE

3123 N. Davidson St., Ste. 104 980-938-0671 protagonistbeer.com

86

$

AMERICAN Housed in an old auto shop, this funky spot serves great burgers, hot dogs, sandwiches,

Breweries

Charlotte

$

AMERICAN Think of Bossy Beulah’s as the kid sister—or sidekick—to Noble Smoke. Order your fried chicken sammie bunless or add American cheese, and pair it with a sweet tea or Cheerwine.

2200 Freedom Dr. (980-737-1400) L, D, ✸

SALUD CERVECERIA

933 Louise Ave., Ste. 105 980-498-6145 catawbabrewing.com

DEVIL’S LOGIC BREWING

1426 E. 4th St. 704-666-1001 devilslogic.com

LEGION BREWING

1906 Commonwealth Ave. 844-467-5683 legionbrewing.com Other location in SouthPark

PILOT BREWING COMPANY

1331 Central Ave., Ste. 104 704-802-9260 pilotbrewing.us

RESIDENT CULTURE BREWING COMPANY

2101 Central Ave. 704-333-1862 residentculturebrewing.com

SOUTH END/SOUTH CHARLOTTE/MORA BREWERS AT 4001 YANCEY

4001-A Yancey Rd. 704-452-4001 visit.brewersat4001yancey. com

CHARLOTTEMAGAZINE.COM // MARCH 2021

TOUCAN LOUIE’S

$

CARIBBEAN With state-sourced meats smoked in-house and strictly N.C. cheese, this new cafe’s commitment to local ingredients is notable, but it’s their food’s Caribbean flair that elevates their grab-and-go sandwiches. 2753 Rozzelles Ferry Rd. (980-209-9791) B, L, D, B/W ✸

Our favorite brews this month, chosen by Charlotte magazine staff Imperial Hop Drop, $14.99 (4-pack), NODA BREWING COMPANY NODA’S HOP DROP ‘N ROLL IPA may be the most revered Charlotte beer. The Imperial version, released in December, takes the classic recipe and boosts the ABV from 7.2% to 9.2% and doubles the dry hops. Expect the familiar taste of Hop Drop but accept the risk of drinking more than one. As head brewer Chad Henderson says, “It’s Hop Drop ‘N Roll but with more ‘punch you in the face-ness’ to it.” —Andy Smith

3306-C N. Davidson St. 980-495-6612 saludcerveceria.com

ELIZABETH/PLAZA MIDWOOD CATAWBA BREWING COMPANY CHARLOTTE

and salads, as well as tasty sides like waffle fries.

1600 W. Morehead St. (704-332-0402) L, D, BAR ✸

EDGE CITY BREWING

6209 Old Post Rd., Ste. 109 980-949-6199 instagram.com/ edgecitybrewery

LENNY BOY BREWING CO.

SYCAMORE BREWING

528 S. Turner Ave. 980-859-2586 blueblazebrewing.com

TRIPLE C BREWING COMPANY + THE BARREL ROOM

PRIMAL BREWERY

3000 S. Tryon St. 980-585-1728 discoverlennyboy.com

2900 Griffith St. 704-372-3212 triplecbrewing.com

LOWER LEFT BREWING CO.

THE UNKNOWN BREWING CO.

4528 Nations Crossing Rd. 704-469-9861 llbrewco.com

1327 S. Mint St. 980-237-2628 unknownbrewing.com

OLDE MECKLENBURG BREWERY

WOODEN ROBOT BREWERY

4150 Yancey Rd. 704-525-5655 oldemeckbrew.com

THE SUFFOLK PUNCH

2911 Griffith St., Ste. A 704-319-8650 thesuffolkpunch.com

SUGAR CREEK BREWING COMPANY

215 Southside Dr. 704-521-3333 sugarcreekbrewing.com

SUNSTEAD BREWING

1200 S Graham St. 980-949-6200 sunsteadbrewing.com

BLUE BLAZE BREWING

2161 Hawkins St. 704-910-3821 sycamorebrew.com

1440 S. Tryon St., Ste. 110 980-819-7875 woodenrobotbrewery.com Other location in NoDa

UNIVERSITY ARMORED COW BREWING

8821 JW Clay Blvd., Ste. 1 704-277-6641 instagram.com/ armoredcowbrewing

WEST CHARLOTTE TOWN BREWING CO.

800 Grandin Rd. 980-237-8628 townbrewing.com

Belmont 16432 Old Statesville Rd. 704-947-2920 primalbrewery.com Other location in Huntersville

Concord CABARRUS BREWING COMPANY

329 McGill Ave. NW 704-490-4487 cabarrusbrewing.com

COMMONER’S BREWING COMPANY

1048 Copperfield Blvd. NE, Ste. 101 704-886-6002 commonersbrewingcompany. com

HIGH BRANCH BREWING CO.

325 McGill Ave. NW, Ste. 148 704-706-3807 highbranchbrewing.com

RED HILL BREWING COMPANY

21 Union St. S, Ste. 3511 704-784-2337 Redhillbrewing.com

COURTESY

includes fried chicken and pork and beans. 8470 Bellhaven Rd. (704-595-7710) D, V, BAR ☎

Charlotte magazine (ISSN 1083-1444) is published monthly by Morris Communications at 214 W. Tremont Ave., Suite 303, Charlotte NC 28203-5161. Entire contents Copyright © 2021 by Morris Communications. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reprinted or otherwise reproduced without written permission from the publisher. Periodicals postage paid in Charlotte, NC and additional offices. To subscribe, renew, or change address, go to www.charlottemagazine.com or write to: Charlotte magazine, 214 W. Tremont Ave., Suite 302, Charlotte NC 28203-5161. Subscription rate $19.95 for one year (twelve issues). For renewal or change of address, include the address label from your most recent issue. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Charlotte, P.O. Box 433237, Palm Coast, FL 32143-9616. Unsolicited photographs, illustrations, or articles are submitted at the risk of the photographer/artist/author. Charlotte magazine assumes no liability for the return of unsolicited materials and may use them at its discretion.

THE GUIDE

TWENTY-SIX ACRES BREWING COMPANY

7285 W. Winds Blvd. NW 980-277-2337 26Acres.com

SOUTHERN STRAIN BREWING CO.

65 Brumley Ave. NE, Ste. 3001 704-218-9106 Southernstrainbrewing.com

Cornelius ASS CLOWN BREWING COMPANY

10620 Bailey Rd. E 704-997-8490 Assclownbrewing.com

D9 BREWING COMPANY

11138 Treynorth Dr. 704-247-7200 D9brewing.com

ELEVEN LAKES BREWING COMPANY

10228 Bailey Rd., Ste. 201 704-998-9017 Elevenlakesbrewing.com

LOST WORLDS BREWING

19700-D, One Norman Dr. 980-689-2467 lostworldsbeer.com

Denver ROYAL BLISS BREWING

7532 Royal Bliss Ct. 704-951-8388 Royalblissbrewing.com

Fort Mill, S.C. AMOR ARTIS BREWING

PERCENT TAP HOUSE

4250 Main St., Ste. 109 980-258-8651 percenttaphouse.com

Indian Land, S.C. LORE BREWING CO.

1218 Rosemont Dr., Ste. 100 lorebrewing.com

13717 E. Independence Blvd.

704-628-5211 sweetunionbrewing.com

Harrisburg PHARR MILL BREWING

105 Oakley Dr. 704-456-7657 pharrmillbrewing.com

115 E. North Main St. 704-843-7326 dreamchasersbrewery.com

130 W. White St. 803-324-4610 dustoffbrewing.com

CROSSWORD OF THE MONTH

By Andy Smith

ANSWERS can be found online at charlottemagazine.com/ crossword.

211 West Ave. 704-933-9203 oldarmor.com

Matthews SEABOARD BREWING, TAPROOM, & WINE BAR

213 N. Trade St. 704-246-6575 seaboardbrewing.com

Monroe SOUTHERN RANGE BREWING CO.

151 S. Stewart St. 704-706-2978 getsrb.com

Mooresville GHOSTFACE BREWING BREWERY & PIZZERIA

KING CANARY BREWING CO.

CAVENDISH BREWERY

274 Columbia Ave. slowplaybrewing.com

DUST OFF BREWING

THE DREAMCHASER’S BREWERY

Kannapolis

LAKE WYLIE BREWING CO.

207 N. Chester St. 704-830-0435 cavendishbrewing.com

SLOW PLAY BREWING

121 Caldwell St., Ste. 101 803-366-7266 rockhillbrewingcompany.com

Waxhaw

OLD ARMOR BEER CO.

427 E. Statesville Ave. 704-799-7433 ghostfacebrewing.com

Gastonia

LEGAL REMEDY BREWING

129 Oakland Ave. 803-324-2337 legalremedybrewing.com

ROCK HILL BREWING COMPANY

Indian Trail SWEET UNION BREWING COMPANY

204 Main St., Ste. 101 803-547-6464 amorartisbrewing.com

1741 Gold Hill Rd., Ste. 100 803-802-0001 lakewyliebrewingcofortmill.com

Rock Hill, S.C.

562 Williamson Rd. 704-967-8472 kingcanarybrewing.com

JOLLY ROGER BREWERY

236 Raceway Dr., Ste. 12 704-769-0305 jollyrogerbrewery.com

Pineville MIDDLE JAMES BREWING

400 N. Polk St., Unit B 704-889-6522 middlejamesbrewing.com

MARCH 2021 // CHARLOTTE

87

YOU ARE HERE Each month, we’ll throw a dart at a map and write about where it lands.

LOCATION: 11100 Monroe Rd., Matthews

11100 Monroe rd., matthews

Bem-vindo!

PLANTED IN A STRIP MALL on Monroe Road in Matthews is a patch of businesses that, together, are as Brazilian as Charlotte gets.

The sweet and savory smells of Brazilian specialties like pão de queijo (cheese bread) and coxinha (fried chicken croquettes) waft from the open door of Tropical Bakery & Café. Next door, shoppers pop into the Supermercado Brazileiro for Guaraná fruit soda, big bags of Brazilian rice, pressure cookers, herbal teas, and shampoo and lotion that offer the comforts of home. A Brazilian Assemblies of God church, Asemblea de Deus, sits on the corner. Beside it, Buy Brazil Jeans & Fashion sells dozens of

88

CHARLOTTEMAGAZINE.COM // MARCH 2021

styles of leather shoes, jewelry, and formfitting jeans and shorts, tops, bikinis, and dresses in eye-popping colors.

Brazilian-born Alaide Ramos and her husband, Randy Sturm, moved the clothing shop from Stallings to the Monroe Road shopping center about five years ago to be near other Brazilian-owned businesses and their customers—although they sell briskly to people from elsewhere who have found them online.

More than 7,300 Brazilians live in Mecklenburg County, according to 2018 Census data, and this stretch of Monroe Road is their gateway to products from home. Another market, A Taste of Brazil, is right across Monroe from the strip

mall, which is just a few miles west of a Brazilian bakery and restaurant.

As I visit on a weekday afternoon in December, Ramos steams a customer’s floor-length floral dress. COVID-19 forced the store to close for several weeks in the spring, and people are spending less than they used to—many come in seeking one item for $20 to $40 instead of multiple pieces or outfits.

But she and Sturm hope business will rebound when the virus eventually fades away and people travel and party—live—like they used to. “The Brazilian population is growing,” Sturm says, “just like the rest of Charlotte.” — Cristina Bolling

SHAW NIELSEN; CRISTINA BOLLING

The stretch of Monroe Road where you can find little pieces of Brazil

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