with chicken, no avocado, no pecans and an extra side of spicy mayo — lamb chops as an appetizer. “He would eat three meals at one sitting,” Hali says of Jeremy. Jeremy defends his need for more than lamb chops. “Those things are small!” Nobody mentions the irony of the order in relation to the last name, so I don’t bring it up. The couple describes their perfect culinary evening in Charlotte: Ruth’s Chris Steak House in Uptown, sipping on wine, eating steaks and sharing sides. The Cellar at Duckworth’s is also a favorite. Before one of the couple’s first dates, Jeremy told Hali to dress up — a request she questioned when they walked into the sports bar and grill on the first floor. “Yo, she was mad,” Jeremy recalls. After popping down the stairs into the Cellar at Duckworth’s, Jeremy and Hali found a spot that would soon be their favorite. “Everyone knows our order there,” says Hali. “Tomahawk ribeye, Brussels sprouts, truffle fries,” Jeremy calls out as if reading the menu.
PHOTO BY ZACK LAMB
Jeremy Lamb and a fellow brunchgoer (who did not want to be identified for whatever reason) share a laugh at the bar.
CANDY, KIN AND MAN-MOSAS
A farewell brunch with Jeremy Lamb
Pg. 22 Oct. 9 - Oct. 22, 2019 - QCNERVE.COM
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BY BEN JARRELL
EREMY LAMB is a professional basketball player from the Atlanta area who played for the Charlotte Hornets for the past four seasons. The team’s salary restrictions prevented them from re-signing Lamb in the offseason, and while the trade of Kemba Walker gained much of the media’s attention, Lamb will be sorely missed at the Spectrum Center this season. He will soon move to Indiana for the season, where he’ll start with his new team, the Indianapolis Pacers. When we approached Lamb about a potential farewell dinner at his favorite eatery in Charlotte, he decided it would be better to hit Eddie’s Place for a brunch, where he’s a big fan of the man-mosas. We spent the day with Lamb in Cotswold to
reflect on his time spent in Charlotte, his childhood and what matters most to him and his family. 10:00 A.M. It’s already getting hot outside as my wife pulls up and into the parking lot of Eddie’s Place in Cotswold. A tall, good-looking young black man walks next to a petite blonde pushing a stroller. I recognize Jeremy Lamb immediately. Our ladies greet each other and embrace in the doorway. Jeremy’s brother, Zach Lamb, stands beside Jeremy, and slightly over me. Taking off my sunglasses, I follow our server to an open booth near the front window. We quickly get past niceties and order drinks. I follow the brothers’ lead by ordering a “man-mosa,” which I’ll get to in a minute. In fact, I’ll get into several.
10:05 A.M. We bond over serial ordering. Zach’s breakfast of grilled shrimp, steak and eggs is a regular order of his at this longtime neighborhood restaurant (anybody remember Danny?). I have a few standards here but end up with the ciabatta French toast, it being too early for she crab soup. 10:07 A.M. Our man-mosas arrive. Bartender Ben: “A man-mosa? It’s Tito’s vodka, cointreau, orange juice on ice, served with a small bottle of sparkling wine.” Jeremy’s girlfriend, Hali, says of Jeremy: “He orders the same thing every time.” I inquire about some of the couple’s favorite spots in Charlotte. They mention Essex Bar & Bistro in Uptown, where they usually order two sushi rolls
10:15 A.M. As we eat our breakfast, the conversation slips to candy. “He’s a candy guy,” said Hali. “Trolli’s. Basically anything gummy and sour.” The German company recently sent Jeremy a box of assorted candies. He didn’t know what to do with all of it and decided to bring the whole stash to Gerald Henderson’s basketball camp. He walked in and poured it all on the table — gummy worms, gummy bears, gummy octopus (yes, that’s a thing), and the kids went crazy, Jeremy says. He describes a similar time in Oklahoma City, where he was traded in 2012 and played the first few years of his NBA career, when he and Zach would buy all the candy at a local convenience store. Once word got out about their regular trips, kids would line up outside, according to Zach. “It got to the point where kids would take pictures with us. They’d be waiting out there with their mom,” says Zach. 10:20 A.M. Zach and Jeremy talk over one another, brought back to childhood with stories of “Miss Shelly,” their next door neighbor growing up who would show up unannounced with groceries for the Lamb family from time to time. On one occasion she brought them by the truckload — literally. “They had a pickup truck, right,” Jeremy recalls,