FEAST

TRAVEL

feast dotdotdot Innovative Cocktails. Craft & Small Batch Liquors. Prohibition-Style Bar.

by Scott Homewood

Have you heard this one before? Two classy-looking guys dressed in business casual attire meet at a new cleverly concealed prohibition styled bar in the back of a well-known shopping center on Park Road in the Montford area of Charlotte. One, a tall bald gentleman, takes a sip of a perfectly aged whiskey, one of a couple hundred expertly curated whiskeys, scotches and bourbons in this bar. After the sip, the man looks at his older, impeccably-dressed best friend (who is sipping a flavorful, refreshing cocktail) and says “what happens when you take a former touring musician who owned a successful recording studio and later got into the wine business and put him with someone

who worked in the service industry and became a chef before spending time with a local alternative rock band and later becoming an award-winning mixologist?” The two men, Conrad Hunter and Stefan Heubner, look at each other and share a knowing laugh…

Rest assured this exchange never happened, but nevertheless, if you are lucky enough to meet the two owners of dotdotdot you will note an easy rapport, the kind where one finishes the other’s sentences and they have their own common jokes. That testifies to their long friendship and the comfort level they have with each other.

How Heubner and Hunter met is as interesting and multi-layered as one of the many aged Scotches they have on premises. Huebner has been immersed in the hospitality industry since the age of 16 working jobs located in the back of the house and eventually including time spent as a

baker and butcher, culminating with a culinary degree and running his own kitchen as a chef. Hunter, meanwhile, had been working as a professional musician touring the country for many years before becoming a recording studio engineer and eventually owner. Huebner, deciding to take a break from his culinary career to follow a passion for music joined an alternative rock band which toured up and down the Eastern seaboard. Eventually the band wanted to put their songs down and make a CD and would end up in Hunter’s White Room studio and a friendship was born. As both men’s music careers whined down, Hunter wanted a change and entered the wine industry as a wholesale rep while Huebner began bartending for extra money. It was at this point both men found their true passions. For Hunter, this meant opening Foxcroft Wine Co., becoming a wine expert and also developing a passion for single malt scotch and all distilled spirits while Huebner discovered his culinary background allowed him advantages with discerning flavors and how different flavors can be blended to create new tastes. Soon, Heubner was excelling at mixology and started tenures at Cosmos Café and Heist Brewery while simultaneously winning many mixology contests along the way. When Hunter needed someone for dotdotdot it was only natural he turned to his friend Heubner.

“We bonded over music and stayed in touch,” said Heubner regarding his friendship with Hunter. “We also went down parallel paths regarding the end of our musical careers and our gradual branching out into the wine, spirit and culinary worlds. It’s great that we could do this new venture together.”

Once the re-connection was solidified and Hunter and Huebner were on the same page, the process became developing the club and giving it a “personality”. Lots of bars and clubs in Charlotte have cocktails, but to specialize in them (many bars say they do) and actually excel at them (few bars do) are two different things entirely. No doubt most have been to a club touting the best cocktails or hear an arrogant bartender boast about be able to make incredible mixed drinks – and if you have, you know how mediocre and bland those cocktails actually turned out to be. Maybe you’ve had the disappointment of witnessing a bartender reading a drink recipe off of a cue card or their POS system, giving a real-life example of the real meaning behind those letters.

Not so in dotdotdot.

Hunter and Heubner have decided to go all in with their prohibition bar concept, not only by stocking their bar with an incredible collection of dark spirits but also embracing other accoutrements of the classic prohibition style. The only way to get a membership is to sign up at the bar’s website www.dotdotdotcharlotte.com and apply. The cost is ten dollars per year for a membership and each member is allowed two guests per visit. The dress code is business casual and although the code is strictly enforced for members, guests are given a little more leeway as they might not be aware of the rules, but even then, they will be gently warned about being properly dressed the next time.

But, in order to enjoy this excellence of exclusivity one must first find this oasis of alcoholic indulgence!

Here’s the secret: The way you find dotdotdot is by carefully driving around the back of the Park Road Shopping Center. You will pass the new Amelie’s Bakery (another Park Road Plaza secret) and look for a discreet sign featuring a circle with three dots enclosed inside the circle above a nondescript door over what looks like a storage area. The truth is, before Hunter and Heubner took the space and turned it into the epitome of swank, it WAS a storage area. Not where a welldressed gentleman or lady may be hanging outside. This may be your door. Once your membership is confirmed, you will be escorted down a long, dimly-lit hallway where another greeter is seated. Once she has confirmed everything, the door will be opened and you, lucky person, are now admitted to the best adult playground in Charlotte, a playground that excites even the owners!

“I had a place like this in mind for quite a while,” Hunter starts, “and so I contacted Stefan as we had talked about this kind of project before. Of course, we needed to find a space and when I opened the second Foxcroft in Dilworth I was working with Eden’s who has property in Atherton Mills and Kensington Commons. We asked them to find us a space about this size and originally they showed us a space near here that is going to open as a flowershop soon.” Heubner jumps in, “ and while it was a nice space for something like a flowershop, it didn’t really fit for what we wanted to do. We heard about this space and originally they told us ‘That’s a storage area – it’s not for lease’ but we all know that for the right price, everything’s for lease.” Soon, the former storage space was being turned into one of Charlotte’s premier prohibition-style bars and once you

get inside (if you do get inside) it looks elegant yet comfortable. Like a decked out den with some posh yet comfortable furniture. Be warned there is an innovative yet somewhat restrictive phone policy where cell phone use is semi-prohibited. While you are allowed to look at your phone, phone calls cannot be made or accepted while in the club and any calls must be taken outside. You are allowed to return to the club when your call is completed. Both Heubner and Hunter are intent on making the club a more relaxing environment for adults who are wanting to engage with their guests and relax with a great drink even down to the music, a great mix of 40’s swing up to ‘60’s jazz. “The kind of atmosphere we have in here is one of the most important aspects for us” Heubner said. “We’ve got our jazz music that we curate together. Conrad’s old jazz and I’m new jazz.” They both laugh. According to Heubner the “new” jazz will be vintage ‘60’s jazz. No 70’s fusion or smooth-jazz elevator music like Kenny G for these two. Also, Hunter and Heubner insist there will be no DJ’s or any live music in the club with Hunter feeling strongly about the club not having much room for live music and also being able to find enough of the right performers without it being repetitive or boring. “The whole point is to bring something different with this concept. Live music doesn’t really fit here and neither do DJs because we want the music set at a volume where people can still converse and have a good time”.

While the atmosphere will be amazing, it is going to be the libations that will keep the members of dotdotdot coming back.

One could talk about the many bourbons, whiskeys and scotches you can sample, but their very variety of spirits on hand and general rarity in Charlotte is such that almost telling you about any one spirit is pointless because if a bar has a bottle of it and pours it neat, it will taste the same. IF they have it. That’s the rub! The secret to dotdotdot is, many of these spirits are rare enough most will probably just be available at dotdotdot as they’re striving to provide a service to the types of educated drinkers who love these spirits and also to become a truly special bar where you can find just about anything you would ever want to try. The bar is also going to experiment with bringing in whole barrels of certain aged spirits as a special offering to the true connoisseur. Just consider dotdotdot to be your main source of great spirits to try for the next good while. After all, the bar is starting with 250 different dark spirits and will continue to add until there are about 500 or so, according to Heubner. This will give anyone who fancies themselves a spirit-chaser a party playground with plenty to experience and enjoy for a good long time.

But cocktails, those are different animals. Like a chef, each mixologist has their own way of doing things, their own technique, as it were, so a Moscow Mule from one establishment may have a different taste from another. The ingredients used, the way they are mixed, different kinds of spirits, and sometimes the bartender themselves, will each affect the way the flavors hit your tastebuds. One of my choices from their “classics” cocktail menu included a Moscow Mule which featured Russian Standard Vodka, fresh lime (which makes a huge difference), and some fantastic home-made ginger beer and was served over crushed ice. The brand of vodka is amazing right off the bat, but after that, the use of the freshest limes and the homemade ginger beer instead of say Canada Dry or whatever most bars use turned the drink from ordinary into amazing. One of the best I have tasted, actually. Another choice was the Truffle New York Sour from the bar’s “house” cocktail menu with elixars all created by Heubner. The drink consisted of Larceny bourbon, orange liqueur, truffle egg white, house sweet and sour mix, and ruby port. It was just amazing. A common misconception is that the liquor should not be able to be detected in a mixed drink. Wrong. A liquor should not OVERPOWER a mixed drink. All flavors, including the liquor’s should be blended in a

way that each should complement the other and this is what Heubner has achieved. An excellent drink! Instead of going on and on about each drink, a great suggestion would be to simply try each one!

Another aspect at dotdotdot is the small bite menu. Since both Heubner and Hunter have experience with food (Hunter’s two Foxcroft Wine Co locations each have some of the best small bites in Charlotte) a person looking for a great nosh just as much as a great drink will find plenty to like. The small bite menu features three concepts – “Garden”, “Sea” and “Land” with some very delicious options for each. The “Classic Caesar” off the “Garden” portion was very good, with locally farmed romaine lettuce, white anchovies, parmesan, croutons, classic Caesar dressing. The “Sea” portion of the menu had an octopus choice so I had to try that. God, it was good. The octopus is char-grilled and includes some Yukon Gold potato salad and pimento. It was the “Land” portion of the menu that has my heart, however. On it is a selection featuring Bone Marrow which is one of my favorite foods ever. Smoky, creamy and very delicious, dotdotdot does it very well.

In closing, I have to be honest: dotdotdot is an incredible experience! A great semi-secret environment with excellent music and interesting company, and with some of the most exotic whiskeys, scotches, bourbons available. In addition has inventive and flavorful mixed drinks that will tantalize your tongue, and small-plate delicacies worthy of the finest restaurants in Charlotte to make your palate dance. What’s not to like?

DOT DOT DOT MEMBERSHIP: $10.00 / year

HOUSE RULES: 1) Mind the bartenders, their word is law…

2) Don’t be a jerk. Treat others the way you’d like to be treated…

3) Proper dress required & proper etiquette… (See Rule #2)

4) Use your inside voice. This is a Cocktail Parlor not a

Sports Bar…

5) A 5% gratuity will be added to your bill for rudeness…

6) If your drink isn’t strong enough order a double or order a whisky…

7) Please be patient – Each cocktail is hand-crafted and takes time

8) If you need to make or answer a phone call please step outside…

9) Once we’re at capacity it’s a one in/one out policy for all members…

10) The Host knows the Owners too… (See Rule #9)

11) Guests – Limit 3 guests per member. Otherwise please apply for a walk- in membership

12) We treat all guests equally based on race gender or sexual preference. If there is someone making you feel uncomfortable tell our staff and we’ll address it immediately…

*Dot Dot Dot is a private social club for members and guests 21 years of age and older and possesses all required North Carolina ABC Permits…

4237 Unit B Park Road (Park Road Shopping Center – Backlot) Charlotte NC 28209 704-817-3710 dotdotdotcharlotte.com