BITE-SIZED STO R I E S
Foodie News on a Small Plate JOSH OAKLEY stepped into the role of executive chef at Bar Marcel after Nicholas Tarnate’s departure. The SouthPark restaurant serves a mix of small plates, housemade pastas, and entrees inspired by Italian, French, and Spanish cuisines.
Eight + Sand Kitchen is full of natural light (above). The potato “crunks” are the star of the breakfast bowl (right).
Grant Arons and Not Just Coffee co-owners James and Miracle Yoder. Both establishments are known for their attention to detail in even pizza and coffee. Once our food arrives, I nab a crunchy potato “crunk” from the breakfast bowl and dip it in a vibrant parsley pesto sauce. The rest of the bowl is filled with an over-medium egg, sliced avocado, and sautéed kale, onions, and peppers. Each ingredient satisfies on its own, but if you can get a bit of everything in one bite, that’s where the dish shines. I soon run out of the parsley pesto sauce, though, which makes the dish a tad dry. Next is the shakshuka, a tomato-and-egg stew from the Maghreb, Mediterranean, and Middle East. It’s a common breakfast in Israel, where I first had it. When I returned to Charlotte, I tried to make it at home, but I always cooked the eggs too long. The eggs should be poached and added to the top of the stew only at the end of the cooking process. Eight + Sand’s shakshuka succeeds where mine failed. The eggs are runny and ooze into the tomato blend with hints of
PETER TAYLOR
C R I T I C S’ CO LU M N
Eight +Sand Kitchen
paprika, cumin, and cayenne. I dip sourdough bread—made from flour Eight + Sand mills in house—into the stew. On subsequent visits, I try more dishes. The pastrami sandwich ($12.95) is stuffed with tender house-cured beef, and the vegan banh mi ($9.95) balances tangy pickled daikon with rich hoisin-glazed seitan. I’ve tried almost everything from the glass pastry case, too: croissants and cruffins, a hybrid between croissants and muffins. But I keep coming back to that perfect—yup, I said it—mimosa. As I finish my meal, I keep an eye outside to see if the light rail is approaching. The name of the restaurant is fitting given its location next to New Bern Station; the term “eight and sand” was once used by train crews to say safe travels and farewell. I hear the rattle and static of the train before I see it. I dash out the door, looking back as I run out to wave goodbye to my friend.
WHITNEY THOMAS, formerly of 5Church, has been named executive chef at The Queen & Glass, the cocktail lounge and tapas bar in Dilworth. WENTWORTH + FENN, BLEU BARN BISTRO, and BOW RAMEN will be among the first food stalls to open at Camp North End in March. They’ll be along the property’s Graham Street border.
EMMA WAY is the outgoing editor of this magazine.
DINING OUT for brunch usually involves a wait— for a table, for water, for your bill. Eight + Sand isn’t immune to the long lines that accompany most popular brunch spots; we waited 25 minutes for a latte on a Sunday morning and had to scour the crowded dining room for a table. But if you’re patient, you get to savor well-balanced dishes and details like flour milled and beef cured in house. —Charlotte magazine staff
AMBIENCE: SERVICE: FOOD: OVERALL RATING:
JAMIE LYNCH, executive chef at 5Church, will appear on Top Chef All Stars, where he’ll compete with 14 other chefs from past seasons. The 17th season of the Bravo competition show premieres at 10 p.m. on March 19. —Taylor Bowler
FEBRUARY 2020 // CHARLOTTE
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