When I think of Asheville's culture, I think of my grandmother using such eloquent phrases as, "He hasn't got a pot to piss in." It goes without saying that there are better ways to capture the best of my hometown's multiple worlds from its hippies to its country folk, and a new restaurant coming to Charlotte does just that.
According to WCNC, the popular Asheville restaurant Tupelo Honey Cafe plans to open a new store in Charlotte's South End. The restaurant will be moving into the location where Pewter Rose resided for 25 years before it closed in January.
Tupelo is straight out of the Blue Ridge Mountains and comes with a menu so much country twang and Southern hospitality that you might slip in a few "have mercy's" and "bless your hearts" before the meal is ordered. With its New South approach and mountain roots, it appears that Tupelo embraces the quintessential elements that Asheville has to offer: locally grown food, good old-fashioned Southern grease and a menu with more country clichés than even my grandmother could throw out.
And it's not an Asheville-inspired restaurant without the moonshine, and that they have (the legal kind, of course). Tupelo also offers the best from the other side of Asheville - think hippie-inspired: a menu with a range of gluten-free, soy-free and vegan options.
With six locations (Charlotte will make seven), Tupelo's "fluent in flavor" approach has garnered a lot of popularity for itself. So far, there is no date set for the open yet, other than "the near future," proprietor Steve Frabitore told NBC Charlotte a month ago.
If you're feeling particularly Southern today or just want to see what the buzz is all about, check out Tupelo's website. Just try to read it without a Southern drawl.
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