- Food & Drink
L’Ostrica Is a Masterpiece in Three Acts
At some point amidst my multiple visits to L’Ostrica — which opened just south of the iconic Park Road Shopping Center in November 2023 and is already among the very best restaurants in Charlotte — I was struck by a sense of the theatrical, as though it were the inspiration…
Read More » - Food & Drink
Pizza Baby Flops in Attempt at NY-Style Pizza in Charlotte
For most of Dry January 2024, I kept my mouth shut. Please do not mistake this for my jumping onto that ghastly trend of (gasp!) not drinking adult beverages for an entire month after Santa Claus comes to town and then complaining about it the entire time on social media. …
Read More » - Food & Drink
How a Pastry Chef Beat the Odds to Make Miracles at South End’s Vicente Bistro
Sam Chappelle and his husband Yerman Carrasquero own Vicente Bistro in South End, where they make — right here in Charlotte, North Carolina, more than 4,000 miles from Paris — the best croissants in the world. And that’s probably the least kind thing you could say about them. In my…
Read More » - Food & Drink
At Restaurant Constance, Sam Diminich Cooks Like His Life Depends on It
Before I walk into Restaurant Constance, I lurk off to the side, across the street, and take in the view. Opened in January of this year, Restaurant Constance is tucked like a book too big for its shelf into a development colored in shades of strip mall — but…
Read More » - Food & Drink
Tracing Charlotte’s Obsession With the Espresso Martini
Along one of the more hopping stretches of The Plaza, where aggressive traffic patterns and aggressively priced real estate zig-zag through rows of tattoo parlors, sacrosanct bodegas and smoke shops — all still safe (#blessed) from (oh em gee) The Latest Instagrammable Things just to the north or south —…
Read More » - Food & Drink
Under New Ownership, Customshop Becomes a True Food Destination
Ten short hours after I landed at CLT, I found myself at Customshop in Charlotte’s Elizabeth neighborhood with a photographer, a pharmacist and a tattooed accountant. This isn’t the set up to a joke exactly, but there is a punchline, which I’ll share later on. And I hadn’t just flown…
Read More » - Food & Drink
Stagioni is Charlotte’s Biggest (and Best) Surprise
I am leaving Charlotte. My friends – reluctantly – will say that they saw this coming. Perhaps you, too, will say the same. And perhaps even a small subset of you will experience a type of joy that will make you quiver in your Uggs, for as I have come…
Read More » - Food & Drink
Resident Culture South End Has Transcended the Brewery Culture
A line began to form right as I sat down to begin writing at Resident Culture South End on a recent Saturday morning. That’s not news in itself, but this was unlike any line that had formed in South End in recent memory. First and foremost, there were no dogs.…
Read More » - Food & Drink
Peruvian Restaurant Yunta Shows Two Vibes in South End
It was at brunch that I finally changed my mind about Yunta, or at least came to some sort of understanding with myself about the type of restaurant it has the potential to be. That this, the new Peruvian-Japanese restaurant in South End from the owners of Viva Chicken, should…
Read More » - Food & Drink
Ever Andalo and the Curse of North Davidson Street
“I haven’t tasted an actual tomato,” said the 10-year-old girl at my group’s table at Ever Andalo one night when I asked her for her tasting notes. I so rarely eat with people that I valued the chance to hear a new, precocious perspective. We were in NoDa at the…
Read More » - Food & Drink
Chef Alex Verica Builds His Own Name with New South End Spot PARA
Chef Alex Verica’s new restaurant PARA, which emerged fully formed and ravishing from the ashes of the former Zeppelin space along Tremont Avenue in South End, is that singular thing we foodies in Charlotte have been so patiently waiting for: something, to put it quite simply, to shout about. Not…
Read More » - Food & Drink
Ho Ho Cherry House, Lam’s Kitchen and the Myth of Authentic Chinese Food
If there is one guaranteed way to shake up standard dinner repartee with otherwise politically and culturally savvy friends, then it’s to ask whether the Chinese food you all are eating is authentic. Half of the table will turn to you, eyes akimbo in disgust, aghast that you would even…
Read More » - Food & Drink
How the Good Wurst Company Lifted Me Out of a Pandemic Funk
To an outside observer, my recent love affair with The Good Wurst Company in Plaza Midwood began simply enough: I put down my phone and took a moment to appreciate the funk. Except that, at the time, putting down my phone was no easy feat, and honestly, I just couldn’t…
Read More » - Food & Drink
Calle Sol Does Justice to its Historic Plaza Midwood Location
That building in Plaza Midwood on the corner of Thomas and Commonwealth avenues — where Calle Sol, the buzzing new Latin café and cevicheria, is currently living its best life — has a past. Of course, not being from here, I didn’t know this when I first went. My frame…
Read More » - Food & Drink
Sri Balaji, South Indian Soul Food, and a Peek Inside the Unhinged Mind
“It is impossible to overestimate the healing powers of a damn good dosa.” This line is an example of how I begin to outline a review. I attempt to condense my first impression of a restaurant into a few simple words that will guide me through to the end. Subsequent…
Read More » - Food & Drink
Dishing It Out: Charlie Sullivan Visits Latda Asian Market
“I was throwing what appeared to be turds into a trash can,” he said. “Oh, and there was an elephant. And a bad monkey.” Charlie Sullivan was not recounting a dream he had the night before. We were at Latda Asian Food Market on Brookshire Boulevard in northwest Charlotte, hidden…
Read More »
