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Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Events Listen up - or in
Posted By Tricia Childress on Wed, Feb 3, 2010 at 10:17 AM
I’m going to be dishing Charlotte restaurants, food, and, perhaps, dissing Valentine’s Day with host Mike Collins and local food writers Helen Schwab of the Charlotte Observer, and Heidi Billotto of Charlotte Living Magazine on WFAE's Charlotte Talks, 90.7 FM, Friday, February 5 at 9 a.m. Past discussions have proved lively, and the show takes calls, 704-926-9323, and e-mails: charlottetalks@wfae.org. So talk to us.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Mouthful New year dieting? We've got it all backwards ...
Posted By Tricia Childress on Tue, Feb 2, 2010 at 3:27 PM
We’ve got it all backwards — this dieting we go through at the beginning of each new year. For some reason, we seem to be tied to Janus, the Roman god of beginnings, and make resolutions to lose weight and get in shape. Yet at the same time, food magazines sport glossy cover shots of “hearty” stews, “stick to your ribs” dinners, and gooey calorie-laden desserts.
Dieting or gorging ourselves in winter belies basic human biology. Twenty-thousand years ago my ancestors were enjoying life in the freezing Alps (yeah, I sent my DNA into National Geographic for The Genographic Project). I guarantee you those folks were not dining on osso bucco and beef bourguignon, nor were they worried about how snug those animals’ skins were. In winter, they were hungry — in kind of a forced fasting. My ancestors bulked up in the summer and fall so they could literally last through the winter.
Today we do the opposite. In summer, we’re eating salads and light foods and then we start packing it on around Thanksgiving. In colder places in the U.S., people explain winter weight gain by not getting outside to exercise as much. But we can’t use that excuse in Charlotte. We may have a few “bone chilling” weeks — and then it is spring. My genes — and maybe yours do, too — seem to dictate holding onto each incoming calorie possible during the winter. And evidently my ancestors were successful at doing that. I am here, after all. So why do we think our genes can overcome thousands of years survival commands quickly enough to accommodate, say, a Super Bowl party?
Smorgasbord / Priscilla Tsai / Queen's Feast - Charlotte Restaurant Week Queen's Feast: Bonterra
Posted By Priscilla Tsai on Tue, Feb 2, 2010 at 12:57 PM
Housed in an old church in Dilworth, Bonterra Dining and Wine Room always keeps it classy. I can always count on them for impeccable service, delicious food, and special touches like specialty butters and freshly baked bread. Last night they served up three great courses as part of Charlotte Restaurant Week, which was extended at Bonterra to tonight, Feb. 2, due to the inclement weather this past weekend.
If you've got more than $30 to spend, check out their list of wine flights. For $9-20, you can taste a flight of four wines or bubbly (!).
Hurry, I just checked their online reservations via Open Table and they still have reservations available for tonight!
Here's what I enjoyed last night:
Azalea Salad - Chopped Iceberg Lettuce, Sliced Apples, Smoked Bacon Buttermilk Bleu Cheese
Coriander Crusted Pork Tenderloin - Cheddar Polenta, Rapini, Ravigote Sauce
Pecan & Sweet Potato Pie - Vanilla Ice Cream, Bourbon & Caramel Infused Whipped Cream
Food News Buffalo Wings & Rings opens tomorrow
Posted By Priscilla Tsai on Tue, Feb 2, 2010 at 12:03 PM
Local couple Frank and Kristine La Fragola are opening a franchise of Buffalo Wings & Rings in Ballantyne. The grand opening will be on Wednesday, Feb. 3.
The menu will include tradition and boneless Buffalo-style wings, along with 10 sauces with five levels of heat. If wings aren't your thing, they will also have burgers, salads, gyros, and your hearty bar appetizers like chili-drenched fries, popcorn shrimp and mozzarella sticks.
16715 Orchard Stone Run.
11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday through Thursday
11 a.m. to 2 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays
Events Brewer's Dinner at Rock Bottom
Posted By Priscilla Tsai on Tue, Feb 2, 2010 at 11:51 AM
Uptown Charlotte's only brewery Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery will be hosting a Brewer's Dinner on Thursday, Feb. 11 at 6 pm. The dinner will be the first of a series of four dinners this year featuring specialty menus designed to compliment the restaurant's beer.
Along with dinner, guests will be provided with tips for pairing food and beer, and Brewmaster David Gonzalez will be sharing his knowledge of the brewing process.
Tickets are $40 per person. Call for reservations: 704-334-2739.
Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery
401 N. Tryon Street, Ste 100
Charlotte, NC 28202
704-334-2739
Mouthful Dressler’s Metro to open
Posted By Tricia Childress on Tue, Feb 2, 2010 at 11:40 AM
Restaurateur Jon Dressler will open Dressler’s Metro on Monday, February 8 in the Metropolitan shopping center. His first Dressler’s Restaurant is in Birkdale in Huntersville. (Read about it here.) On the menu at Dressler’s Metro are Thai crispy calamari, Low Country crab dip ,heart of rib eye, New York strip, halibut, tuna, and Dressler’s mom Joan’s famous New York cheesecake and carrot cake. Scott Hollingsworth is chef. Lunch hours are 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. daily. An intermezzo menu will be served in the bar from 2 p.m. until 5 p.m. Dinner hours are Monday through Saturday 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. and Sunday from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Mouthful Bakery with a Dominican flair opens
Posted By Tricia Childress on Tue, Feb 2, 2010 at 11:33 AM
Now open is Juanita Abad's new spot: Juanita’s Bakery, 2809 South Boulevard. In the display case are cupcakes ($.50 each), Tres Leche ($1), flan, breakfast crumb cake, and rice pudding. Juanita specializes in wedding and birthday cakes, and makes a Dominican cake for her fellow Dominicans – and everyone else, too. Hours: 8 a.m. 7: 30 p.m. daily.
Mouthful Charley's bows out in March
Posted By Tricia Childress on Tue, Feb 2, 2010 at 11:28 AM
Charles Robinson is closing Charley’s Restaurant in Cotwold on March 19, 2010. Robinson noted the lease was up for renewal and the corporation will concentrate on catering and sibling restaurant Trio, 10709 McMullen Creek Parkway. Trio’s property is owned by the corporation. Originally located in SouthPark Mall, in the space to the right of the current Maggiano’s Italian Restaurant, Charley's would have been 25 in April.
Monday, February 1, 2010
Smorgasbord / Priscilla Tsai In pictures: BLT Steak's $5 bar menu
Posted By Web Editor on Mon, Feb 1, 2010 at 8:10 AM
BLT Steak, located in the Ritz-Carlton Uptown, introduced their $5 bar menu a few weeks ago. You can get $5 small plates at the bar every day from 5 pm to 7 pm. Drinks are pricier than other bars in Charlotte ($5 Bud Light, $7 Stella Artois, $12 martinis, $22 whiskeys), but $5 food makes up for that. So what can you get for $5? Here's a look at the bar scene and food.
The sweet potato fries dish with rosemary and blue cheese was probably the unanimous favorite among my fellow bar diners. Try the popovers (that bread/muffin looking thing in the pic). It's not on the menu, but they'll give it to you. Slather it with butter, eat, repeat.
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Dish on this: Charlotte-based chefs join ACF Culinary Team USA 2016
As fall approaches, local chefs prepare for a culinary battle in Germany.
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Recipe: Roasted Vegetables with Dijon Béarnaise Sauce
Vegetables. Cheese. Béarnaise. These are things you're going to put in your mouth shortly after reading this.
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What's hoppening at Unknown?
I had to check out the brewery's inaugural Improper Glassware Night.
