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Wednesday, April 30, 2014
Beer Construction continues at Sycamore Brewing Company
Posted By Cam Heiliger on Wed, Apr 30, 2014 at 10:30 AM
After navigating the labyrinth of local ordinances, obtaining all the proper permits and getting final approval on its building plans, Sycamore Brewing Company is officially under construction. Owners Justin and Sarah Brigham have been working diligently to get their new South End brewery up and running as soon as possible, and this major hurdle puts them squarely in the driver's seat to make that happen. As of last week, demo is complete, the trenches for the draft lines have been cut and the old service trenches from the building's days as a mechanic shop have been removed.
Tuesday, April 29, 2014
Food News Charlotte Food Truck Association wants to be heard
Posted By Kimberly Lawson on Tue, Apr 29, 2014 at 3:52 PM
Remember when Charlotte only had a handful of food trucks? Creative Loafing remembers.
Now, members of the Charlotte Food Truck Association, comprised of more than 50 local food trucks, plan to respond to a recent food truck proposal from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Planning Department. They and representatives from the Institute for Justice and Action NC will attend a Citizen Advisory Group meeting tonight at 6 p.m. at the Government Center, 600 E. Fourth St.
- Mert Jones
- The Tin Kitchen was the food vendor of choice at CL's Birthday Bash at Birdsong Brewing on April 26.
Monday, April 28, 2014
Beer Charlotte Beer Babes to sponsor fundraiser at The Unknown Brewery
Posted By Cam Heiliger on Mon, Apr 28, 2014 at 10:31 AM
This Thursday, May 1, the Charlotte Beer Babes will host a fundraiser at The Unknown Brewery from 6:30 p.m.-10 p.m. benefiting the Greater Charlotte SPCA. Representatives from the organization will be on hand, and attendees can make cash or check donations at the bar (cards will not be accepted). There will also be several dogs available for adoption via the GCSPCA at the event. This fundraiser is open to the public and The Unknown Brewery is pet-friendly, so other dogs are also welcome. Be sure to check out The Unknown's awesome new Silverback Stout while you're there.
For those who may not be familiar with the group, the Charlotte Beer Babes is a local meet-up-style group for female craft beer enthusiasts. They host regular events around town focused on beer education, charity work and the enjoyment of quality craft beer.
Saturday, April 26, 2014
Mouthful An epic list of places to do brunch in Charlotte
Posted By Keia Mastrianni on Sat, Apr 26, 2014 at 12:11 PM
This list is like your favorite brunch - a smorgasbord of eats to satisfy just about any taste. Whether you like breakfast or lunch, European or Southern, high-falutin' or hangover-soothing, we've got your meal ticket. We scoured our fair city (or maybe we polled a mess of readers on Facebook) to bring you a list of 20 places to brunch in the Queen City. Don't say we never gave you anything.
- Kimberly Lawson
- Breakfast pizza from 300 East
Upstream
6902 Phillips Place Court
704-556-7730
Brunch Hours: Sundays 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
Upstream is known for its seafood-centric menu. $24.95 buys you access to the brunch buffet featuring a shellfish station, sushi, omelets, pastries and plenty of salty breakfast meats.
The Liberty
1812 South Blvd.
980-225-9167
Brunch Hours: Sundays 11 a.m.-3 p.m.
The Liberty serves a full brunch menu featuring French scrambled eggs, a proper English breakfast with bangers, shrimp and grits and other composed menu items ranging between $10-$12 on average.
Bistro La Bon
1322 Central Ave.
704-333-4646
Brunch Hours: Saturday & Sunday 10 a.m.-2:30 p.m.
Bistro La Bon switches it up on the weekend. Sit down to a sophisticated menu, live jazz and imbibe from the Bloody Mary bar starting at 10 a.m. on Saturdays. Order off menu and indulge in Pyttipanna, a Swedish hash plate. On Sundays, enjoy a slightly different experience: $20 All You Can Eat brunch buffet. No jazz or Bloody Mary bar, but there's bellinis, mint juleps, Irish coffees and Bloody Marys to drink starting at noon.
Thursday, April 24, 2014
Recipe Recipe: Beef Short Rib Bibimbap
Posted By Scott Greenberg on Thu, Apr 24, 2014 at 1:47 PM
I'm torn on the whole slow-cooker thing.
On the one hand, it's amazing. You take a giant slab of dead animal, add some barbecue sauce and spices, and eight hours later you have sheer deliciousness for nearly zero effort. Or oatmeal. I hear you can make oatmeal in one of those things too.
On the other hand, it feels like cheating. All those Rachael Ray acolytes squeal their way through the grocery store magazine racks because they find recipes that are SO easy to do at home. It only takes minutes of prep! It's so easy! Just take out your fucking cerebral cortex and get cooking!
Ugh.
So yeah, it's a trade-off. Effort for glory. You get the tasty end result, but none of the credit. No, that goes to the slow cooker. Thank the chunk of porcelain with a coil heater under it, not the cook with years of (admittedly half-assed) experience. Luckily, I don't have a sense of pride, and this particular slab of dead animal is really good over rice and vegetables, so I think we're going to be just fine.
Tuesday, April 22, 2014
Food News Now hiring: A fantastic food blogger
Posted By Kimberly Lawson on Tue, Apr 22, 2014 at 10:10 AM
Creative Loafing has an immediate opening for a blogger to contribute to Eat My Charlotte. We're looking for a local, deadline-capable writer who has a thorough understanding of the Queen City's food scene and can report on it with clarity and conciseness, insight and voice. Lots of voice.
There are tons of food blogs out there on the Internet - Eat My Charlotte aims to set itself apart by focusing on all that the local food scene has to offer yet doing so in a snarky, fun and critical way. Our blogger will be responsible for sharing local dining news and information on upcoming foodie events, as well as analyzing Charlotte's food culture. He or she must post one to three times a week.
We want to not only be involved in daily conversations about Charlotte on the Web - we want to be at the forefront of those conversations.
This is definitely not a full-time position, nor are we offering a competitive pay. What we are offering, however, is the opportunity to write for the coolest media outlet in the city. We're also offering a little fame.
Interested and qualified applicants should submit a cover letter, resume, and three sample blog posts to: backtalk@creativeloafing.com.
Friday, April 18, 2014
Liquid Diet Featured Cocktail: Smokey the Pear
Posted By Lauren Blake on Fri, Apr 18, 2014 at 9:00 AM
Found: 1900 Mexican Grill & Tequila Bar (1523 Elizabeth Ave.)
Ingredients: Prickly pear purée, lime juice, agave nectar, Mezcal, chili rim
Mezcal is a spirit with some seriously colorful origins. Cultivated in Oaxaca, Mexico, and long considered tequila's coarser sibling, it's a liquor that's deeply rooted in the area's cultural traditions. Maguey, the agave plant from which mezcal is made, grows predominantly in Oaxaca; thus, there's a good amount of regional pride for the smoky spirit. People from Oaxaca drink mezcal for every imaginable occasion, from weddings and baptisms to birthdays and funerals; hell, some even enjoy it in the morning in a terra cotta bowl of coffee. The popular saying, "Para todo mal, mezcal, y para todo bien tambien" (for everything bad, mezcal, and also for everything good) gives you an idea of just how significant the spirit is in Oaxacan households.
Thursday, April 17, 2014
Events Sampling Charlotte's finest foods at Taste of the Nation
Posted By Nikki Wilson on Thu, Apr 17, 2014 at 2:23 PM
After an evening filled by visiting 18 local restaurants, a massive silent auction and a trip to the mixology station, my night was now complete - and quite satisfying... OK, there were several trips to the mixology station.
- Photo by Nikki Wilson
- Executive chef Mike Suppa of Uptown Kitchen and Bar.
At last night's Taste of the Nation event, guests took over Uptown's Wells Fargo Atrium and indulged in food including the bruschetta trio from Mama Ricotta's, roast baby beet skewers topped with robiola and chervil from Ilios Noche, and pulled pork sliders - literally pulled right off the roast pig laying tableside - from the new Uptown Bar and Kitchen set to open this spring.
The food and drink serves as the main entertainment for the event, rightfully so as I was wristbanded and dived into the first restaurant, with drink in hand, within 15 minutes. But the jazz band was a delightful touch to the evening and the photo booth is always a good time. Each of the featured eateries offered a variety of flavors - a quick way to obtain a true taste of Charlotte cuisine in one easy stop. And yes, I visited all 18 stations.
Wednesday, April 16, 2014
Kitchen Chemistry Wake and bake: How to cook with cannabis
Posted By Keia Mastrianni on Wed, Apr 16, 2014 at 8:36 AM
On the upcoming stoner holiday of 420 (better known this year as Easter), folks will be celebrating in all sorts of ways - tokes, vapes, bong rips. For cannabis culinarians, that means a wonderful assortment of cannabis-based edibles. That is, weed made delicious.
The practice of ingesting cannabis has a long history of medicinal use, dating back to 2500 BC when its euphoric properties were discovered by the ancient Chinese. Since then, folks have been tinkering with methods to extract the mood-altering cannabinoids (the stuff that gets you lifted), primarily tetrahydracannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD) from the plant, to add to their favorite recipes.
Edibles run the gamut from baked goods to full-on culinary applications, such as soups, sauces and even breads... and weed, man. Most commonly, edibles arrive in the form of cookies or brownies, although there are thousands of recipes to, um, elevate your curiosities.
Friday, April 11, 2014
Recipe Recipe: Oatmeal Creme Pies with Green Tea Creme
Posted By Scott Greenberg on Fri, Apr 11, 2014 at 9:00 AM
I like to think I'm an open-minded kind of guy. I listen to other people's viewpoints; I try damn near any food I can put near my mouth; I even let people get through the whole YouTube song they wanted to play for me before I tell them their musical taste is complete shit.
I'm a downright egalitarian.
But there are a few things that I absolutely, positively will not budge on, and this is one of them:
Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies are far superior to oatmeal raisin cookies.
I will go to war on this point. There'll be knives flying through the air and Anderson Cooper will be there rescuing refugees from my kitchen. We're talking full, nationwide coverage, people.
And here's the reason: Oatmeal cookies are already chewy. That's the whole point, and that's what makes them so delicious. It's all the warmth and softness of a bowl of oatmeal in your hand. Raisins are ALSO chewy. They're chewy as SHIT. So when you put two and two together, you get the goddamned chewpocalypse in your mouth. It's boring, uni-textual cookie snores. Yawn.
Chocolate, on the other hand, breaks up your cookie experience, both literally and figuratively. You get that nice, gooey pull-apart effect you see on those excessively food-porny close-ups on the Nestle Toll House commercials, and you get the silky texture of chocolate to break up the rougher oats. It just works, people.
Plus, it's fucking chocolate. And green tea frosting. What more explanation could you possibly need?
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Braised Chicken with Shallots 2
I don't think I'll be making this again, but hey, if you like shallots more than a fat kid likes cake, then go for it.
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Dorie Greenspan's Perfect Party Cake 9
It looks so sophisticated, this cake's got me feeling like Miss Fancy Pants baker girl.
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Dorie Greenspan's Tiramisu Cake
This layered cake is definitely a "pick-me-up" with a little booze and caffeine.
