I went to Tavern on Park for lunch the other day and the first thing the hostess said as she walked us to our patio table was, “you should come back at night, it’s so pretty out here.” And by out here she was referring to Park Town Village Shopping Center where lights drape atop two stories of patios where bands, such as The Dempsey Gibson Band play (and will be playing again on May 1 and 2, might I add).
Tavern on Park is a restaurant fancier than the price. When I walked in, it felt as though I had entered a fancy restaurant in South Park, even the patio has fans and wooden benches cushioned with decorative pillows. I had a delectable little sandwich and salad with a fancy plate presentation and friendly service ... for the same price as the Market Fresh chicken salad I got from Arby’s last week.
Between Tavern on Park, Duckworth’s Cheese Steakery, Hef’s, Marble Slab, Jason’s Deli and WAM (what Mama Fu’s mysteriously transformed into overnight), Parktown Village Shopping Center is like the EpiCentre of Dilworth and Myer’s Park ... for food. But at night, Tavern on Park turns into Tavern on Park After Dark. While I was in Boston, I sent my newest intern, Tiffany, there to see Simplified. So, everyone meet Tiffany ... Tiffany, Everyone – Everyone, Tiffany. (But don’t worry, Sarah’s not going anywhere)
By Tiffany Handy
Old men dirty dancing to Reggae and cougars on the prowl were among the many at Tavern on Park After Dark, last Friday.
I went there to see Simplified, whom I’d heard so much about — great band, by the way — but I was disappointed when, in the first five minutes, a fuse was blown ... but that didn’t blow the night.
Tavern on Park After Dark could use some work preparing for bigger crowds — granted, Simplified draws a big crowd, but drinks were served in 20-minute increments while guitars and drums motivated dancers to take the floor. As the night went on, the once empty dance floor filled up. A drunken girl couldn’t stop swooshing her hair back and forth. I was sure she would soon get sick from all the swaying, but surprisingly, she held her own.
As in the Eric Church concert at Coyote Joe's.
The Deal
I am at risk of becoming a Coyote Joe regular; that was my third time there in a month. I was boot scooting and boogying the week before to Jason Aldean and to Lee Brice a few weeks prior to that. Like Church’s song people were drinking a little drink and smoking a little smoke … outside (cause Coyote Joes has gone smoke free … now we don't have to worry about spontaneously combusting due to the combination of smoke and hairspray).
The Good: All three shows were good, but Eric Church was great. He sang that he loves a good loud honky tonk that rocks on Friday night. Well, he was the one rocking the honky tonk — along with opener Jonathan Singleton
The Bad: People took off their boots off during Eric Church’s song about cowboy boots and proceeded to wave them in the air (like they just didn’t care) which made the place reek of feet. Is that like the country’s version of the Petey Pablo song: North Carolina, come on and raise up, take your boots off, waving 'em round your head, spin it like a helicopter… YEE HAW!
The Verdict: Eric Church reps the Carolinas well … he even named his latest album Carolina. That, and either this dude is a bed-wetter, or he drank a little too much that night:
Upcoming shows at Coyote Joe's ...
April 30: John Michael Carroll's album release party
May 9: Jake Owen
May 21: Zac Brown Band
Four drinks per round. Eight rounds. Do the math. That’s 8 x 4 ... wait for it ... there it is ... 32 cocktails I had to sample while judging Three Olive Vodka’s Bar Wars 2009 to benefit AIDS Walk Charlotte. Myself, along with Sarah Aarthun from The Observer, Joey Hewell from Uptown Magazine, Steve Caldwell from ELEVATE Magazine, Breezekat from the Ace & TJ show and Roxy Moorecox from Petra’s Piano Bar were doing our part to save the world , one sip at a time.
Bar Wars is a Bars Against AIDS Respond event that raises thousands of dollars for AIDS Walk Charlotte which is coming up May 2. The bars throughout Charlotte round up their troops and throw their bartenders into battle to help fight against AIDS. The drink competition consisted of four categories: martini, shot, Red Bull beverage and Three Olives cocktail. The panel of judges rated each cocktail on a scale of yuck to yum. As a judge, I can go ahead and give you at least one verdict ... I got kinda drunk.
At one point there were this many drinks in front of me — and yes, that’s a peep floating in my drink. It’s a "Duck in the Pond" made by Lenny at Loft 1523. Let’s just say that was one of the cocktails entered into the contest I wanted to take more than one straw suck of.
Happy Birthday to the intern...
By Sarah Coombes
Today, 4/20, is my birthday — and contrary to popular belief, I’m not out getting stoned. Although I do suffer from the munchies on a regular basis, but unlike Harold and Kumar, I didn’t go to White Castle ... I went to the Arboretum.
One of my favorite restaurants there (and in general) is Noodles and Company. There you have your choice of noodles from Asia, the Mediterranean or America — around the world in 80 bites (as opposed to days). My usual serving saint Melody always greets me with a smile and asks how my day is going, meanwhile Katie always makes sure I’ve been taken care of. With oodles of noodles and a friendly staff, Noodles and Company is like a noodle-topia of sorts. There is also a Noodles and Company new to SouthEnd.
And since you’re already down South why not try a little upscale southern cooking. New South Kitchen and Bar replaced Dakotas with its fancy fried green tomatoes and the redneck cheese board. And as a favorite for all night-lifers, there are nightly drink specials and live music Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.
Mickey and Mooch is another joint that offers nightly drink specials, and right now they are offering 20% of bottles of wine. And there’s live music on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.
Last night was Shear Madness ... literally.
With how busy life can get we tend to develop Alzheimer's of the little things ... like closing the bar tab, transferring laundry from the washer to the dryer, where we put our keys and car inspections — and now that they got rid of the sticker, there goes our daily reminder. Oh but don’t worry, the DMV will remind you when they fine you.
And as in my case ... looked like shit. It had been over six months since my last hair cut — not only did I forget to get it cut, I forgot the last time I had it cut. And its been growing like I’ve been putting Miracle Glow in it. The universe must have been telling me something because I called Modern Salon to see if by chance my girl Brittany had an opening before next year, and she did, for 6:30 p.m. ... right before Shear Madness at the Stage Door Theater in Blumenthal.
Modern Salon and Spa wasn’t shear madness, but the play was. It was like playing a game of Clue — an interactive play where the audience gets to play detective. At intermission Jack Dillon, who played the cop, even questioned the audience as witnesses. It combined improv and acting to make one entertaining production that makes you laugh and think. Mrs. Shubert played by Linda Edwards and Tony Whitcomb played by Tom Wahl were guilty of stealing the show. See for yourself who is guilty of the crime. (Get tickets here)
I literally ran down Tryon to make the end of Taste the Nation for a night of gluttony and glee. There was a lot of dancing and socializing going on ... but I was hungry and in a hurry. My mom taught me not to talk with my mouth full, so I didn’t talk much: “Hi, how are you, good to see you, gotta go.” My fat ass was too busy chewing on chicken salad from Wolfgang Puck Bistro, Chilean Sea Bass from Bricktopps, and chicken salad croissants from Johnson and Wales.
And to wash it down I had a drink from M5’s Josh Hunter, “bartender to the stars.” The good food was for a good cause, the event raised money to benefit food banks and fight childhood hunger. I was too busy eating to take pictures, so check out QC After Dark.
Never in my life have I ever been hit on by so many gross old men than at Taste of the Nations last night. They were like polar bears ...
Last night, I went to Whisky River, not for college night ... but for college. I enrolled in Better Class’ Goddess 101 and Mixology 101. I rolled up to WR in yoga pants for Pole Dance Charlotte’s workshop, and ended up behind the bar concocting my own cocktail for their Bartender’s Spring Slinger.
Now, I wouldn’t necessarily say that I respect strippers, but I do respect the art and admire their agility – they’re like Olympic gymnasts on those poles. (Now, if only they Lysol’ed the pole every time a stripper slid down it in no more than a thong, I’d find the art a little more sanitary).
Although it would probably hurt to actually have balls and dance on a pole, you need to have balls in order to dance on a pole — if you know what I’m saying. Well, to help you grow some balls, shed some inhibitions and unleash your inner stripper, Goddess 101 supplies you with a Tommy Bahama Mojito before stripper class. They will be at Whisky River again next week and then changing locations to a more intimate setting. Speaking of which, Pole Dance Charlotte also provides private pole dance party that also include lap-tease classes.
On the other side of the curtain was the Spring Slinger bartender contest. One of the managers asked me to make a drink for their “Mixed Drink Contest,” which required me to concoct my own cocktail. Having never mixed a drink, let alone invent one, I thought to myself - the only mixed drink I know how to make is a Shirley Temple ... why not pop the virgin’s cherry. And with that came the “Slutty Shirley Temple,” or virginal Brittney Cason ... whatever you want to call it.
Jenna from Blackfinn and Mark from Whisky River helped me concoct the cocktail recipe ... (and learn how to pour liquor).
Put cherries on the bottom of the glass
Pop the cherry with some ice
Add Cherry Vodka (3 seconds worth of pouring)
Add a splash of coconut
Fill with Sprite
Top with grenadine and a cherry on top
Jenna did a taste test and told me to use less coconut and more cherry. Another bartending babe advised me to use less cherry because that’ll make her even sluttier.
I hope everyone had a good Good Friday and a Happy Easter ...
They say home is where the heart is, well, my home is where my mom is — but in my mother’s house we don’t celebrate Easter ... my mom is a CPA, so the holiday she celebrates falls on April 15. In turn, I made Easter dinner for my Charlotte family who didn’t get to go home to their families ... and I managed to successfully refrain from burning the house down.
While normally my idea of cooking is preheating the oven, my sister that lives in Baltimore is such a domestic diva she won a car, an entire living room worth of furnishing, a washer and dryer, and a Starbucks Barista in a radio station’s “Super Mom” contest. She’s a chemical engineer in real life, and in the kitchen.
She sent me an Easter basket full of recipes that even I could avoid screwing up somehow. And I want to share them with you for your next big night in ... because playing Martha Stewart at a dinner party does constitute as nightlife.
The Brie Ball of Joy
You will need ... (I am trying to sound like a cook book ... as if I actually own one.)
And so does DJ Complete who remixed Asher Roth’s song "I Love College" to "I Love Charlotte" with the help of Alex Johns.
DJ Complete has spun with DJ's Supa Skip, DJ Rowshay, D-rock & Dirty Thirty. He’s a resident DJ at The Sunset Club and Apostrophe Lounge and occasionally spins at Suite and TILT. He DJs in Columbia, Greenville and Raleigh, in addition to Charlotte, but like his song indicates ... he loves Charlotte!
You can also hear this remix on Kiss 95.1 and 96.1 The Beat.
Last night was the last Bobcat’s home game. Thanks to the Jumper Classic, the Bobcats have been evicted from their home court and have to play their way to the playoffs on the road.
The Bobcats are actually good this year ... and like we’ve learned with the Panthers and their Field of Dreams — in Charlotte, if you win they will come. For the final game, the arena was packed, like a concert. And they actually have a chance to go to the play-offs ... if they win the next four consecutive games and Detroit loses three games — miracles do happen.
The Bobcats not only went green from all the ticket sales — but green as in Green Uniforms, which they gave away signed and sweaty after the game during the “shirts and shorts ceremony.” And the GameTime program included recycling tips and Harris Teeter even gave out reusable shopping bags.
The Bobcats biggest fan, LaMichael, announced that he officially named the stuffed-afro-wearing monkey he wears around his neck ... Brittney Cason — he even wrote about it on his blog. That might just be the sweetest thing a guy has ever done for me.
It’s a good thing I wear tips thus physically can’t bite my nails ... cause it was a nail-biter of a game.
But the Bobcats won 101 – 98. And what’s even more exciting is that since the Bobcats broke 100 points we can all get free tacos from Taco Bell with our ticket stubs.
For the second time in a week ... I slept in, but I didn’t throw a hissy fit this time. In fact, I probably would have thrown a hissy fit if I actually did wake up for the 6:30 a.m. call time for the Cooper River Bridge Run. 40,000 people ran across the Arthur Ravenel Bridge in Charleston, about 10,000 of which came in from Charlotte for it — and about 5,000 thousand of them actually ran. The Cooper River Bridge Run weekend is not just a 10K, it’s like a corporate spring break — Charlotte on the beach.
For some runners the Bridge Run is a masquerade of a marathon. My friend dressed up as a cop to run while her friend dressed up like a burglar and they ran the entire race like a criminal pursuit. I just did my own little "Cooper River Bridge Rollerblade" along the beach where people were a hot mess. Half of them because they were sweaty from running, the other half were just drunk. A group of Charlotteans were even going around conducting beach breathalyzers. When I blew a .00 they handed me a beer and told me I was under the legal limit and that I needed to drink up to catch up by order of the law ... twist my arm.
That afternoon I went to Windjammers, which kinda felt like being at the Rusty Rudder. I heard Zac Brown Band’s Chicken Fried (who is playing at Coyote Joe's on May 21 ) three times within a 30-minute time span ... and I didn’t mind at all.
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