FOOD+DRINK
LO C AL F L AVO R
CAMP FARE
In a tough year for restaurants, Camp North End’s planning and progressive community allowed its dining scene to thrive BY ALLISON BRADEN PHOTOGRAPHS BY PETER TAYLOR
Food stall La Caseta (top) serves homestyle Latin dishes like tacos and empanadas (above).
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CHARLOTTEMAGAZINE.COM // JUNE 2021
IN LATE NOVEMBER 2019, Nourish chef and founder Julia Simon co-organized VegFest Jr., a small vegan food festival, at Camp North End. More than 14 vendors were scheduled to set up in the Ford building, an industrial behemoth where the company manufactured Model T’s in the late 1920s. But the space wasn’t heated, and on the morning of the festival, local forecasters predicted that evening temperatures would dip toward freezing. Simon was worried, she says, but Camp North End team members rented massive industrial heaters and did everything they could to make the vendors and guests comfortable. The experience helped solidify her decision to open Plant Joy, a vegan food stall, on the property a year later. “They’re really interested in not only creating a really awesome, viable campus,” she says, “but also making sure that small businesses receive the support that they need to thrive, even in strange times.” Despite COVID-19’s blow to the restaurant industry, Camp North End’s food scene has expanded—and flourished—this past
year, thanks to deliberate planning and an inclusive, supportive business community. (It also didn’t hurt that the spacious campus lends itself to outdoor dining, a trend likely to outlast the pandemic.) New York-based developer ATCO Properties is now six years into a 20-year plan for the property, and food figures heavily in its long-term vision. Varian Shrum, Camp North End’s community manager, explains that the team looks for variety, both in menu items—for the office workers who may lunch there daily—and prices. Food lures families, couples, and tourists to the development, which also houses offices, galleries, and retail, so the leadership has prioritized unique, “destination” concepts. “We don’t want a chicken restaurant where, from your house to Camp North End, you might pass by three others,” Shrum says. “We want it to be special.” So far, those attractions include food stalls La Caseta, Bleu Barn Bistro, Plant Joy, Continued on page 46
