The Peculiar Rabbit
1212 Pecan Ave., 704-333-9197. Hours: Sunday 10 a.m. to 12 a.m.; Monday 5 p.m. to 12 a.m.; Tuesday to Thursday 11 a.m. to 12 a.m.; Friday 11 a.m. to 2 a.m.; Saturday 10 a.m. to 2 a.m. Late night menu: weekends from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. www.thepeculiarrabbit.com.
Like Zooey Deschanel, Plaza Midwood exudes almost too much quirkiness — and I mean that in the nicest sense. Although not defined by a forced designation like “The Arts District,” Plaza Midwood has evolved into Charlotte’s cultural core and is currently in full Renaissance bloom. Define it any way you want, but Plaza Midwood is original, tolerant and fiercely loyal to its own. This is not true of other Charlotte neighborhoods. Restaurateurs in SouthPark, for example, have to keep a look over their shoulders, knowing they are likely to lose out to a trendy new spot (farewell, Zink American Kitchen). Another positive for Plaza Midwood is the extent of its allegiance: even if a chef moves out of the neighborhood (Marc Jacksina) or restaurant changes venues (The Diamond), chances are the residents will frequent the new spot.
As the Plaza Midwood restaurant scene continues to metamorphose, more Charlotte restaurateurs will attempt to bottle that elusive alchemy. So what would happen if a successful establishment from another neighborhood — maybe even a competitive neighborhood — opened a sibling operation in Plaza Midwood?
This happened last September when Rob Nixon, a co-owner of Elizabeth’s well-known Jackalope Jack’s Restaurant & Bar, opened a 300-seat eatery in Plaza Midwood, The Peculiar Rabbit, with Andy Wilson. From its simplicity of design, you would not guess this site was once home to a church and, more recently, a nightclub. The space has been renovated spectacularly. Sure, the first and second floors have predictable bar-like schematics, but the third-story terrace affords a breathtaking view of downtown Charlotte.
But the heart of The Peculiar Rabbit is the kitchen team. Originally designed to be a “gastropub” — a term that’s become increasingly meaningless in direct proportion to its trendiness — the kitchen has made a few adjustments since opening. The menu has been dialed back from the full-out imaginative farm-to-fork focus. Geoff Bragg, one of Charlotte’s most talented chefs, is at the helm, and the menu offers a mix of traditional bar food and chef-driven dishes. Bragg, a graduate of Johnson & Wales Charleston, has consistently produced well-crafted dishes wherever I have encountered him. You may remember him from his stints at Pewter Rose, Café Milan and The Grove Park Inn, but Bragg first showed his inventive dishes at the now-defunct Peaceful Dragon, a vegetarian/vegan restaurant and CL award winner.
Like any self-respecting pub maven, Bragg offers a signature bar bite, Devils on Horseback: bacon-wrapped figs with goat cheese and beet reduction. But Bragg still makes room to flex his culinary prowess on the entrée list. The rabbit cassoulet is at once rich and comforting with traditional white beans, spiked with Benton’s bacon (for bacon lovers this is the Holy Grail) and duck confit. West Coasters can take comfort in the cioppino: sea creatures bathed in a tomato sauce showered with crispy fennel. This dish is paired with a few slices of Duke’s Pullman bread — the Dukes are sensational local bakers located in the University Area.
A progressive Waldorf salad of Bibb lettuce, poached pears, candied walnuts and blue cheese sings with flavor. Desserts by pastry chef Katie Bowen change frequently, and are first-rate. (How many bars have a pastry chef?) But you don’t have to go to these items on the menu. The roster is filled with traditional choices and expected bar food, such as chili cheese fries, fried pickles, wings; and pub food, including shepherd’s pie and fish and chips, if you look beyond mashed rutabaga on the start menu. Some items, like the lamb burger wrapped in flat bread, are offered throughout the day and on the abbreviated late-night dining menu.
Frankly, the traditional dishes are what I saw at the majority of tables. But that’s OK since Bragg excels in dishes packed with flavors and well-suited for the beer roster, which has 24 on draught including local and regional craft beers. A limited wine list is available, too.
This article appears in Feb 20-26, 2013.
If you really knew the neighborhood, you’d understand that this place is viewed as a black eye. Pay to park? Two identical levels, a menu that’s all over the place and a sloppily assembled/thought-out nightclub? I gave it a chance when it initially opened, and it was empty and overpriced. I like Jack’s, but this is a huge miss. We patronize small establishments who’ve earned their stripes, not imposing, three-story restaurants that assume they’ve won your business solely by showing up. Why would anyone be fiercely loyal to that model of business?
Sorry CLT, but I happen to like the place and don’t understand the bad wrap its gotten. I never used that lot to park, so I have been parking a few blocks away on Commonwealth and walking down as I always have. I’ve been pleased with their bar, MOST of the food I’ve gotten, have found both levels to be fairly crowded the 3 times I’ve been there, and really enjoyed the rooftop when the weather was nice. I haven’t seen a thing on the menu that I thought was overpriced, and my whiskies have always been cheap and generous actually. Frankly I think it needs to settle in to itself for a while since the interior smacks of newness, but I think it’ll actually age well.
So help me out, is all the indignation from the neighborhood a result of the parking thing (which I DO think is a lame move, but of no real consequence) leading to the nitpicking of everything else about it? Or is any new establishment that is primarily new construction, not reusing an older idiosyncratic building, considered inauthentic and unwelcome in PM? Is it the clientele?
In any case, why do you expect the reviewer to take up your cause and play petty neighborhood politics instead of giving a bias-free review as she has?
I disagree with CLT too. You can park other places that are a really short walk away, and the food is worth it. I’ve had the cheese fries with oxtail gravy and the pork belly entree. The fries were really good and obviously fairly unhealthy, in a good way. The pork belly was completely perfect, and I wish I could eat it every day. Prices aren’t bad, either. $40 for 2 people with an appetizer is right for this kind of food.
People need to get over this blind allegiance to their neighborhood. God forbid there be something a little bit different offered! The fact of the matter is, people don’t like this restaurant because it is nothing like anything else in the area really. Besides The Liberty in Southend, real gastropubs don’t really exist in Charlotte, and even that place while astoundingly delicious, has caught flack as well. Southerners like their southern food, 5 page menus with photos, and a bill no higher than 25 dollars.
This really is a restaurant styled like the pubs up north (NYC, Philly, Boston) plopped in the middle of a southern city who doesn’t really like much of anything tinkered with. Short, concise menus and fresh ingredients and this place is a total hit. Nevermind what the actual building looks like, it can fit a lot of people and the rooftop is simply awesome. Beer list is large, but the actual offerings leave a bit to be desired. The food is spectacular. I highly recommend stopping by for brunch on the roof once the weather is nicer. Spend a little more money and try something different and you might be surprised.
I saw. I ate. I drank. It was really good. I left. The End.