W hen Your Front Yard is the Front Nine...You’re Home
On Kiawah Island, Ocean Park’s magnificent landscapes play backdrop to a lifestyle of sporting and social riches. Front Nine Lane, our newest built-for-sale enclave, introduces a fresh, modern aesthetic to the community, pairing fabulous Ocean Course and Atlantic views with easy access to the first-in-class amenities of the Kiawah Island Club. Now, the home of the 2021 PGA Championship can be your home, too. Strike while the Nine-Iron is hot. Kiawah Island Club & Real Estate is a trade name and not a legal entity. Kiawah Island Club, Inc. and Kiawah Island Real Estate, LLC are entirely separate entities involved in different businesses on and around Kiawah Island. Kiawah Island Club, Inc. operates a private membership club with dining, golf, and other recreational amenities. Kiawah Island Real Estate, LLC is a real estate brokerage firm featuring properties on Kiawah Island and within the neighboring Cassique community. Obtain the Property Report required by Federal Law and read it before signing anything.
C L A I M YO U R PL AC E A M O N G T H E L A N D S C A PE O F LE G E N D S kiawahisland.com/southpark | 84 3.410.3998 No Federal or State agency has endorsed or judged the merits of value, if any, of this property. This is not an offer to sell or solicitation to buy real estate in any jurisdiction where prohibited by law. This project is registered with the States of New York and New Jersey. Any offer in New York is made pursuant to CPS-7 application No. HO16-0007, which application and related documents may be obtained from the sponsor. Obtain and read the NJ Public Offering Statement before signing anything (NJ Reg#16-15-0011 and 0012). An Affiliate of Kiawah Partners.
KITCHEN & BATH I FULL SERVICE DESIGN I REMODELING I CUSTOM HOMES I INTERIOR
342 Circle Avenue in Myers Park JohnMorgan@UBGCharlotte.com 704.307.4606 See Our Portfolio @ UrbanBuildingGroup.com
DECORATING I HARDSCAPES I POOLS I OUTDOOR LIVING SPACES
WINE &DINE LAKE NORMAN | BLAKENEY | SOUTHPARK | ASHEVILLE
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Join us at our SOUTHPARK location for HALF OFF ALL BOTTLES OF WINE every Tuesday. DINE-IN or CURBSIDE-TO-GO. Reserve wines included. 704-343-0131 | 5970 FAIRVIEW ROAD
FROM THE EDITOR
CATHY MARTIN EDITOR
editor@southparkmagazine.com
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elebrating Charlotte cuisine should be easy, right? Putting together a food and drink issue in the middle of a pandemic — not so much. Few industries have been impacted as severely in 2020 as hospitality. The first place I went out to eat after restaurants reopened in June was Hello, Sailor. It was still weeks before the soul-sucking Carolina heat and humidity would set in, and I knew the restaurant had plenty of outdoor seating for safe social distancing. I also estimated, correctly, that the drive up Interstate 77 from south Charlotte to Cornelius — normally maddening enough to convince me to stick closer to home — would be a breeze with fewer cars on the road. And, I had a serious craving for the restaurant’s mussels Provencal. I remember the awkward feeling when I masked up for the first time, entered the restaurant and approached the host. I’d barely left the house over the last 10 weeks, and I wasn’t sure I understood the new Covidera rules of etiquette. But our genial server — who seemed grateful to be back at work — put us at ease right away. We ordered way too much food, overcompensating for many missed meals out, and enjoyed every minute of it. Four months later, wearing a mask has become about as routine as wearing sunglasses or a sweater. But not much has changed for restaurant owners, who are still practicing the same balancing act: try to do enough business to keep the lights on and employees paid, while seating at limited capacity and convincing customers it’s safe to dine out. Still, in putting together this issue, it became clear that many hospitality workers and business owners aren’t throwing in the towel on 2020. Instead, they are cautiously plowing ahead while adapting their businesses to the changing times. Bar manager Justin Hazelton of Leah & Louise, which had to push back the opening of its dining room from March to June, told me the staff has been using this time to hone their soft skills and bonding as a restaurant family. Similarly, mixologist Bob Peters at Grinning Mule, a neighborhood spot in Plaza Midwood that also opened during the pandemic, says managers have been spending more hands-on time coaching younger workers, giving them a more solid foundation as business steadily picks up. Chef Sam Diminich, formerly the executive chef at Upstream, seized the opportunity early on to launch a meal-delivery business that allows him to earn a living and support local farmers who saw much of their business supplying local restaurants disappear. And after catering orders came to a standstill, the owners of Porcupine Provisions started a side business delivering baskets filled with gourmet ingredients to make a complete meal, along with videos demonstrating how to prepare the dishes at home. Sure, things are different right now, but Charlotte’s food and beverage workers are finding ways to get through it (and to help us hopeless cooks get through it, as well). They, along with other artists, designers and creators, help form the character of our community. To preserve it, our support for them right now is essential.
Charleston • Atlanta • Charlotte • Dallas 2212 HAWKINS STREET | CHARLOTTE, NC | 704-334-2478 ACQUISITIONSINTERIORS.COM
The Mark of Distinction in World Class Home Building™ Charlotte (704) 889.1600 Charleston (843) 801.1600 www.kingswoodhomes.com
C H A R LO T T E C H A R L E S TO N World Class Living
October
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DEPARTMENTS 25 | Blvd. Five food trends; Gathered’s gourmet baskets; Verse & Vino 2020’s all-star lineup of bestselling authors; an Avett Brothers concert like no other.
49 | Simple life A story for these times.
55 | Bookshelf This month's notable new releases.
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57 | Omnivorous reader A McCorkle couplet.
60 | The road home Rethinking prepandemic decisions.
128 | Snapshot Discovering Black movie classics with film historian Felix Curtis.
106 ABOUT THE COVER Caramelized queen scallops with Jerusalem artichokes, broccoli rabe, roasted heirloom carrots, preserved lemon and warm harissa vinaigrette at Mico, a new restaurant at uptown's Grand Bohemian Charlotte. Photograph by Jonathan Cooper.
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additions renovations signature homes
Charlotte and Boone
andrewroby.com 704.334.5477
making it home since 1950
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67 FEATURES 67 | Sips to savor by Cathy Martin | photographs by Justin Driscoll
Six fall cocktails from some of Charlotte’s most talented mixologists.
74 | A new turn by Emiene Wright | photographs by Jonathan Cooper
Whitney Thomas and Kirk Gilbert offer a modern take on Latin-inspired cuisine at Mico.
80 | Healthy addiction by Ken Garfield | photographs by Michael Hrizuk Neither a pandemic nor past struggles are keeping chef Sam Diminich down. 86 | Pie guy by Michael J. Solender | photographs by poprockphotography Pizza master Peter Reinhart soldiers on in his search for the perfect slice. 92 | Smoky perfection by Vanessa Infanzon | photographs by Michael Hrizuk Lexington barbecue is steeped in tradition.
106 | Room to grow by Catherine Ruth Kelly | photographs by Erin Comerford Miller A low-country style home that’s both functional and beautiful.
114 | Into the woods by Cathy Martin
Relax, recharge and explore the Smokies at Under Canvas.
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AWAKE EYE LIFT
6817 Fairview Rd. Charlotte, NC 28210 (704) 325-8062 CarolinaFacialPlastics.com
SouthPark WAVERLY LAKE NORMAN
KATY BRADFIELD 704-965-5968
MAREN BRISSON-KUESTER 704-287-7072
BUSH | THOMAS TEAM 704-904-1212
COOK | PIZZO TEAM 704-236-1135
MELANIE COYNE 704-763-8003
MICHAEL EMIG 704-999-9309
BRIDGET GRAVES 704-560-2311
SHERYL HALLOW 704-907-1144
PATTY HENDRIX 704-577-2066
CHRISTY HOWEY 704-996-0484
BETH LIVINGSTON 704-778-6831
ANNA MEDICA 704-620-2047
CALVIN MITCHENER 704-787-6252
VALERIE MITCHENER 704-577-8200
PEGGY PETERSON 704-904-6279
JUDY RAGHAVAN 704-807-9970
TIERNAN ROSE 561-706-5450
JENNI SCOTT 704-904-6541
KIM SHEEHEY 704-612-3210
ANNE SPENCER 704-264-9621
HELEN ST. ANGELO 704-839-1809
STACEY STOLAR 704-400-1539
MEG WILKINSON 704-906-5747
MARGARET WOOD 704-904-6022
Bush | Thomas Team
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1230 West Morehead St., Suite 308 Charlotte, NC 28208 704-523-6987 southparkmagazine.com _______________ Ben Kinney Publisher publisher@southparkmagazine.com Cathy Martin Editor editor@southparkmagazine.com Andie Rose Art Director Lauren M. Coffey Graphic Designer
A TRADITION OF KNOWLEDGE AND TRUST
Alyssa Rocherolle Graphic Designer Whitley Adkins Style Editor Amanda Lea Proofreader Contributing Editors David Mildenberg, Taylor Wanbaugh Contributing Writers Michelle Boudin, Ken Garfield Vanessa Infanzon, Catherine Ruth Kelly Caroline Langerman, D.G. Martin Michael J. Solender, Emiene Wright
Gay Dillashaw 704-564-9393 gay.dillashaw@allentate.com
6700 Fairview Road, Charlotte, NC 28210
10TH ANNUAL CHARLOTTE
COAT DRIVE
DONATE NOW THROUGH NOVEMBER 13TH 2020
Donate a Coat. Make a Difference. Many Charlotteans are heading into the cold season without a coat. But your donation – even just one coat – could make a difference in someone’s life. Please donate a new or gently used coat today and help us reach our goal of 6,000 coats. 100% of donations benefit the Salvation Army of Greater Charlotte.
To find a drop-off location near you or to donate monetarily online, visit
CharlotteCoatDrive.com
Presented By:
Contributing Photographers Jonathan Cooper, Daniel Coston Justin Driscoll, Michael Hrizuk Erin Comerford Miller, poprockphotography _______________ ADVERTISING Jane Rodewald Account Executive 704-621-9198 jane@southparkmagazine.com Scott Leonard Audience Development Specialist/ Account Executive 704-996-6426 scott@southparkmagazine.com Brad Beard Graphic Designer _______________ Letters to the editorial staff: editor@southparkmagazine.com
Benefitting:
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Owners Jack Andrews, Frank Daniels Jr., Frank Daniels III, Lee Dirks, David Woronoff Published by Old North State Magazines LLC. ©Copyright 2020. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. Volume 23, Issue 10
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Serving Others. Enriching Lives. “ We have a special team here in Charlotte, excited about serving our community. Let us introduce you to a unique style of banking, based on relationships and friendships. Expect the extraordinary at TowneBank.�
Phil Jurney, President TowneBank Charlotte Lifelong Charlotte resident
6337 Morrison Blvd. (704) 644-4001 Art by Susan Grossman / courtesy Jerald Melberg Gallery
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TowneBank.com Member FDIC
CHARLOTTE RUG GALLERY A GALLERY OF FINE RUGS
(10’ 2” x 13’ 7”) Recreation of an old Oushak 9x11.6-(100% Hand Spun Wool)
VISIT OUR NEW LOCATION AT: 416 Providence Rd., Suite 1A, Charlotte NC 28207
www.CharlotteRugGallery.com
704-332-1717 What you seek, is seeking you...
Trades Considered, Cleaning, Restoration and Appraisal Services Available
blvd. People. Places. Things.
PHOTOGRAPH PROVIDED BY THE PLAID PENGUIN
FIZZY FLAVOR
Good news for spiked-seltzer fans: The Queen City’s first seltzery opened last month in the bustling Wesley Heights neighborhood in west Charlotte. Summit Seltzer serves house-fermented hard seltzers — a lower-calorie alternative to beer — and nonalcoholic seltzers made with natural flavorings at its 3,880-square-foot taproom and patio. Expect familiar flavors like limeade and grapefruit along with playful mashups like pineapple jalapeno. Seltzer cocktails are also on the menu, including a cosmopolitan seltzer, a seltzer mule and a seltzer mojito. Want to take some home? Order a growler to go. Wine and craft beer are also available. summitseltzer.com SP
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From left: Little Fête’s satay kit; shrimp hibachi fries from What the Fries; Your Mom’s Donuts
FIVE FOOD TRENDS IN 2020
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t’s been a year like no other, and in a few short months the ways that we break bread have changed dramatically. For much of the year, our city’s beloved restaurants have had to operate at limited capacity — and figure out how to fill takeout orders more efficiently. All have had to innovate in order to keep the lights on, and a lucky few have even thrived amid the downturn. Here’s a look at five food trends in 2020.
DINING OUT: We mean literally. For restaurants, having an open, outdoor-seating area has been more relevant than ever. Camp North End, which opened three new outdoor food stalls (La Caseta, Bleu Barn North End and SARU by Bow Ramen) during the pandemic, plans to add overhead heaters and develop more covered seating areas for guests to stay warm throughout fall and winter. Expect others to follow their lead to keep outdoor spaces comfortable as autumn brings cooler days. SWEET TREATS: We’ve got enough to worry about these days, so why not indulge a little? Bakeries are back in a big way. From s’mores brownies at The Batch House to cookies from online newcomer Honeybear Bake Shop, Charlotteans are finding plenty of new ways to satisfy their sweet tooth. 26
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FOOD TRUCKS: These restaurants on wheels are the ultimate grab-and-go destinations, and many now accept (or require) pre-orders so you can avoid crowded lines. What the Fries, known for its loaded French fries, burgers and homemade tots, celebrated its fifth anniversary in August, a considerable feat considering that 80% of restaurants fail long before reaching that milestone. Look for chef/owners Jamie Barnes and Greg Williams to establish a brick-andmortar spot in the near future. GOURMET GROCERIES: Your Mom’s Donuts hasn’t stopped making their mouth-watering, square-shaped delicacies, but in an effort to help her farming and retail friends, owner Courtney Buckley turned the shops into de facto grocery stores, selling local produce, eggs, meats and cheeses. Earl’s Grocery rebooted as a neighborhood store, with shelves of dry goods and specialty foods replacing tables and chairs. Copain Gatherings opened a brick-andmortar location, selling baked goods, take-and-bake meals and gourmet pantry staples. SP
PHOTO OF YOUR MOM’S DONUTS BY PETER TAYLOR
HOW WE EAT
MEALS TO GO: With large gatherings canceled, caterers have adjusted menus to accommodate smaller get-togethers. Roots Catering started Little Fete for dinner parties and small celebrations. Porcupine Provisions launched Gathered, delivering baskets with ingredients to create a gourmet meal at home (page 28). Chef Alyssa’s Kitchen added family table meals, and former Upstream chef Sam Diminich started Your Farms, Your Table, preparing and delivering three-course meals for $30 (page 80).
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Basket bounty
GATHERED’S CURATED COLLECTIONS MAKE PREPARING GOURMET MEALS A CINCH.
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hese days, more people than ever are strapping on aprons and getting busy in the kitchen. A new delivery service from the team behind Porcupine Provisions is making the job a little easier for at-home chefs. Bruce and Leslie Schlernitzauer started Gathered in early July: Twice a month, they assemble baskets brimming with house-made and regionally sourced ingredients to create a gourmet meal at home. Customers place their order online, and baskets are distributed via contactless delivery. “Like everybody else, we were trying to figure out a pivot of something to do” after large gatherings — and catering orders — were canceled, Leslie says. The couple has run Porcupine Provisions, a local catering business, since 1999. “We started Gathered as a way to branch out and support other local folks, too.” For every 10 baskets sold, Gathered provides a meal for a local family in need. A recent barbecue-chicken basket was stocked with Joyce Farms chicken, locally grown cabbage and a slaw recipe, 28
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house-made barbecue sauce, house-made cornbread mix, and tongs. Each basket includes a link to a video where Bruce, a Johnson & Wales-trained chef, demonstrates how to prepare the meal. In August, they decided to make several of the more popular baskets available anytime, so customers can order their favorites whenever they want. A breakfast basket (pictured) filled with local bacon and eggs, house-made bloody mary mix, a house-made scone mix, and Cloister honey, has been a big hit and makes a great housewarming gift, Leslie says. They’ve also introduced meal kits and individual grocery items. Gathered has become a family affair, with the Schlernitzauers’ two adult daughters, Megan and Grace, managing social media and video production. Most baskets are priced at $60 and feed two people, but larger baskets are available. SP gatheredclt.com, Instagram: @gatheredclt
Located minutes from Hendersonville, Asheville and airport. Spectacular views. Unique “meadow on a mountaintop� topography. Gated community with underground utilities, city water and AT&T Fiber Optics internet. Vibrant community life. Grand Clubhouse with fitness center, library, Mountain Top Pub, Sunset Deck, dining room and activity room. Community barn, hiking trails and dog park.
Overnight discovery tours available. Call 828.233.1017 for a tour today, or email Info@GrandHighlands.com
GrandHighlands.com
10 Autumn Sky Dr., Hendersonville, NC 28792
Grand Highlands is a registered trademark of Bearwallow Mountain Land, LLC. This is not intended to be an offer to sell or solicitation of offers to buy real estate in Grand Highlands for residents of CT, HI, ID, IL, NY or PA or any other jurisdiction where prohibited by law. Grand Highlands is exclusively marketed by Beverly Hanks & Associates.
Since 1984, Tri-Square has specialized in designing, remodeling, and building custom homes throughout South Charlotte, turning visions to reality for over 1,500 clients with varying goals, project sizes, and design styles. Our unified team and innovative approach have positioned Tri-Square as one of Charlotte’s most respected builders. Let us partner with you to create the home of your dreams.
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T H E G I F T OF F L E X IBIL IT Y As a resident of The Barclay at SouthPark, you can live life the way you want while keeping control of your assets. There are no large entry fees with our unique rental model, giving you the financial freedom to do what you want, when you want. Flexibility extends to your day-to-day life too. Enjoy a host of resort-like amenities, a variety of dining venues, and a myriad of social, recreational, educational and cultural opportunities. Call us to schedule a visit, either in person or virtual. Suffice it to say, we’re flexible.
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My favorite things ... MOHAMED AND HOLLY MAHFOZE When I arrive at Dean’s Shoe Repair on Selwyn Avenue, Moe Mahfoze is repairing a customer’s favorite Louis Vuitton bag. Naturally, I am intrigued and want to know more. Does Moe know the difference between the real bags and the more common fake versions? “You see this? This is real. You can tell by the stitches and by the material. In a real bag, you will never find the letters in the stitches,” he says. “And of course, you can tell from the lining. And if [the hardware is] too shiny, it’s fake. The studs have no name on the fake ones. … This is the real.” Moe, who is from Egypt by way of Hoboken, N.J., and his wife, Holly, “a Southern belle” from Atlanta, opened the shop in 2009. It’s named for Holly’s late father. Dean’s specializes in everything from traditional shoe cleaning and bag repair to equestrian equipment and leather reconditioning. “I love Charlotte because it made us happy as business owners,” says Moe, who has a philosophy degree from Alexandria University. “You can start a new life here and be happy. This is the American dream.” Comments have been edited for brevity and clarity. THE CUSTOMERS Holly: We have made such good friends with several of the customers that we are now like family. There’s one gentleman, Bill from Bank of America, who usually comes in every Saturday to get his shoes shined. It’s gotten to the point now that he will call or email us if he is not going to be in town for a weekend. … Maureen O’Boyle did a story on us years ago. She’s a sweetheart. … Angie Harmon is one of our customers, and her fiance, Greg. She’s adorable, gorgeous — her personality is so down-to-earth. … “We used to take care of Dion Lim’s shoes when she lived here. … Trip Harder, the traffic man on WCCB — one of the funniest people I’ve ever met in my life.
LOCATION Holly: You can be somewhere else really quick. You can be at the mountains or the beach. We love Asheville. We have friends who live right down the hill from the Omni Grove Park Inn. Every time we drive on [U.S. Route] 321, we get a few miles down the road off Interstate 85 and just breathe deep and relax.
BOOMTOWN Moe: The growth here has been great. [The city] needs to be growing. Nothing stays the same. I think the growth has helped the economy of our city. You see younger generations moving to Charlotte instead of moving away to the big city. Charlotte is a new “big” small city. I love it!
RESTAURANTS Holly: Our favorite place to eat in Charlotte is Kabab-Je Rotisserie Grill. It’s a Mediterranean and Lebanese restaurant. There’s one at Stonecrest, and there’s one on Highway 51. We’ve gotten to know the owner, Yasser Sadek, well. The food is delicious. One of my favorite dishes is called Moujaddarah. It’s a dish with lentils, rice and fried onions. I also like Wan Fu on Highway 51 and Nothing but Noodles in Stonecrest. Moe: We love Brooklyn Pizza Parlor at Rea and Colony Roads. It’s the closest we’ve found to our pizza up north. I’ve never had anything bad at Ilios Noche. — compiled by Whitley Adkins
THE NEIGHBORHOODS Holly: My favorite is Dilworth. I have family that have lived on East Park Avenue for 30+ years. It is very quaint. I’ve always loved driving through the neighborhood and seeing the older houses. The tree-lined streets — it is beautiful. Moe: My favorite is Myers Park. The customers and the people are just so friendly. The homes are beautiful. We live in Matthews. The thing that we enjoy most is going home to quiet, privacy, and peace and quiet. We go home, sit on the back porch and just chill. In Hoboken, we lived above the shop, so this allows us to actually leave work and get away. 32
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ANTIQUING Holly: I love The Sleepy Poet. I’ve found a couple of other places within an hour’s drive: White Owl Antique Market in Mount Pleasant near Concord, and in Gastonia, there is Gaston Pickers, as well as a Sleepy Poet.
Know of a Charlotte tastemaker or person of interest we should feature here? Email whitley@thequeencitystyle.com.
SouthPark WAVERLY LAKE NORMAN
UNDER CONTRACT
SOLD
MYERS PARK
MYERS PARK | THE SELWYN
MYERS PARK
964 Granville Road
2615 Selwyn Avenue, #103
1255 Queens Road West
Elegantly renovated | 5BR/5.1BA | Carriage House $1,995,000
Open plan | 3BR/2BA | Renovated kitchen & MBA Sold Price: $560,000
Magical .89 acre lot | 4BR/4.2BA | Gourmet kitchen $2,395,000
SOLD
SOLD
230 SOUTH TRYON
CAMERON WOOD
MYERS PARK
230 S. Tryon Street, #1303
9217 Stonecrop Court
237 Ridgewood Avenue
Fabulous penthouse condo | 3BR/2.1BA $1,375,000
Designer touches | 4BR/2.1BA | Private bkyd Closed Price: $432,500
Study | MBR w/fpl | 5BR/4.1BA | Cov’d terrace Sold Price: $1,285,000
SOLD
SOLD
ELIZABETH
4TH WARD | JEFFERSON SQUARE
MYERS PARK
2323 E. 5th Street
401 N. Church Street, #206
2161 Norton Road
Inviting floor plan | 4BR/3.1BA | Private bkyd $849,900
Updated 2nd Floor unit | 2BR/2BA | Center City Sold Price: $378,000
Charming 1930’s cottage | 4BR/3.2BA | Pool Sold Price: $1,100,000
SHERYL HALLOW 704-907-1144
MEG WILKINSON 704-906-5747
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PATTY HENDRIX 704-577-2066
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Building inspiration CHARLOTTE MECKLENBURG LIBRARY FOUNDATION LOOKS TO CREATE A DAZZLING UPTOWN DESTINATION TO MAKE CHARLOTTEANS PROUD.
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BY CATHY MARTIN
n November 5, the seventh annual Verse & Vino will unite book lovers, not in a packed uptown ballroom but on TVs, laptops and iPads in homes across Charlotte. The format may be different for this year's Charlotte Mecklenburg Library Foundation fundraiser, but much remains the same: You’ll still be able to sip wine, enjoy great food, and hear from five New York Times bestselling authors. Radio personality and event emcee Sheri Lynch will be there, too. And you’ll get an autographed book of your choice to enjoy after the celebration is over. Last year’s sellout dinner drew 1,350 attendees; this year, even more bibliophiles will be able to take part as the event shifts to a virtual format. The foundation has been planning since April to ensure that the digital experience will be every bit as festive as the traditional in-person event. Last year’s Verse & Vino marked the public announcement of CommonSpark, an ambitious campaign to raise $135 million to pay for systemwide programs and technology upgrades, fund an endowment, and build a spectacular new uptown library that’s part of a two-block redevelopment that will include shops, a hotel and a reimagined Spirit Square. As of late August, the foundation had raised about $95 million toward its goal. Construction on the new library should begin in late 2021, with an opening planned for 2024.
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SouthPark spoke with Jenni Gaisbauer, chief community officer and executive director of Charlotte Mecklenburg Library Foundation, to learn more about this year’s Verse & Vino, plans for the new uptown branch and the library’s goals for serving the community. Comments have been edited for length and clarity. What can attendees expect at this year’s Verse & Vino? We’ve been innovative. This is not a Zoom experience — it’s going to be super high quality. Of the 90-minute production, 75% will be pre-recorded, and 25% will be live with Sheri Lynch and some cameo appearances by local celebrities. For couples, we’re going to deliver to you a date-night box: it will be a three-course meal, a bottle of wine and a book of your choosing of the five authors. We also have party boxes for groups of 10. Lowe’s, our party-pack sponsor, commissioned local artists to make charcuterie boards. You’ll have food, desserts, a warm appetizer, nice tea towels for your kitchen, lots of wine. [Presenting sponsor] PNC Bank is providing stemless stainless-steel glasses. It’s pretty over the top, I would say. What updates can you share since the announcement of the CommonSpark campaign and new uptown library? We’re building a public institution, a public library that’s for everybody. What it represents is this beacon of hope that
Hospice & Palliative Care Charlotte Region is pleased to announce the reopening of our South Charlotte hospice facility Opening October 7, 2020 The Levine & Dickson Hospice House is open to families across our region and located on the beautiful Southminster campus Our re-imagined inpatient care center offers spaces that look and feel like home, within a state-of-the-art medical facility.
10 patient rooms • 2 guest rooms for families • Dedicated full-time and experienced medical and hospice teams to serve patients and families • On-site pharmacy and more, all to ensure quality of life and quality of care Call 704-375-0100 for more information.
8919 PARK RD, CHARLOTTE, NC 28210
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704-375-0100
|blvd. I think people seem really excited about. It’s something to increase our civic pride. The county is going to tear down Spirit Square. They’re investing up to $40 million in revamping and restoring McGlohon Theater and Duke Energy Theater. When you walk in the main library entrance and you go to the left, those will be the entrances into those theaters. We’re creating a main library, but we’re [also] creating a destination. When you have friends coming in from San Francisco, we want you to say, “We have got to have a glass of wine down at the main library. You have to see this library.” It’s more than that, obviously, for us, but we want this to make people want to come down and be entertained — but also get all the resources they need. How did the building design come to be? We’ve partnered with Snøhetta, which is an amazing architecture firm that started in Oslo. They helped create the North Tryon plan. They have done two projects that we love: N.C. State University’s James B. Hunt Jr. Library and Calgary’s new Central Library. They really have a passion for libraries and people. [Library CEO] Lee Keesler’s thoughts were, and I believe it: Everyone deserves to be inspired; everyone deserves to be in a building to be inspired. What new services will the library provide? In the new space, we’ll have consultation services and spaces for privacy, which we don’t have today. We’ll also have career coaches, and coaches for young teens. What we’ve learned with Imaginon is that teens are growing out of that space a lot faster than they did 15-16 years ago. We want to be able to provide that next step for them. We’ll have a community media lab, an editing booth and a recording booth where they can learn how to record and tell their stories. Libraries are going really much more toward these open spaces. There will be books, but they’re built more for people now. What else is going on at Seventh and Tryon? The library is going to be on half the footprint — we’re [building] up. There will be a 30-story, class A corporate tower. The first nine levels will be parking, and they’re going to have a four-story outdoor terrace working area. It’s beautiful, and the rest will be corporate offices. Right next to that is going to be a hotel. There will be retail all around it, and a mid-block plaza. The theaters will have a beautiful presence, as well. Aside from the new uptown library, what will funds raised by the CommonSpark campaign support? We are also raising $20 million for systemwide programming. Our budget for programming is really small for how many programs we do a year. We do 29,000 programs a year. Technology will be another [investment] for this system. The other thing is creating an endowment. When the foundation was created, the goal was to create a $20 million endowment. Right now, our endowment is close to $4 million or $5 million. This time is really, really tough for nonprofits of all types for unrestricted support. It’s a struggle, because donors, including myself, like to give for something [specific] that feels good. But the more flexibility donors give nonprofits, the better.. SP 36
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Verse & Vino 2020 DINNER, DRINKS AND AN ALL-STAR LINEUP OF BESTSELLING AUTHORS: MARK YOUR CALENDARS FOR NOVEMBER 5 AT 7 P.M. FEATURED AUTHORS: India Hicks, An Entertaining Story. Hicks was a host on the second season of Bravo’s interior-design competition Top Design. Megan Miranda, The Girl from Widow Hills. Miranda is the bestselling author of suspense thrillers The Last House Guest, The Perfect Stranger and All the Missing Girls, plus several books for young adults. Christopher Paolini, To Sleep in a Sea of Stars. Paolini’s youngadult series The Inheritance Cycle has sold nearly 40 million copies worldwide. Alice Randall, Black Bottom Saints. Randall is a songwriter, the author of novels including The Wind Done Gone and co-author of the NAACP Image Award-winning Soul Food Love. Christina Baker Kline, The Exiles. The No. 1 New York Times best-selling author of eight novels, including Orphan Train and A Piece of the World, is published in 40 countries.
TICKETS: Individual ticket: $125, includes an autographed book and a link to the event Date-night box: $300, includes the above plus a three-course dinner and a bottle of wine Party box: $1,250, includes book bundles for book clubs and other groups, a charcuterie board, a hot appetizer, desserts, wine and more for 10 people For more information and to purchase tickets, visit foundation. cmlibrary.org/verse-vino/.
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Along the way DAVIDSON-BASED AUTHOR MEGAN MIRANDA, ONE OF VERSE & VINO 2020’S FEATURED AUTHORS, OFFERS A GLIMPSE INTO HER SURPRISING WRITING PROCESS.
M
egan Miranda knows how to spin a good tale. But the New York Times bestselling author who pens keep-you-up-at-night psychological thrillers says she doesn’t actually know how her books will end when she first sits down to write. Instead of mapping out the mystery before putting pen to paper, she lets the characters guide the story. “I don’t do a lot of plotting up front,” Miranda says. “For me, my first drafts are figuring out who my characters are and discovering what their relationships are like and what their backstories are. I feel like the mystery develops hand in hand with that. I think if I knew the end from the start, it would be too obvious.” The 39-year old mother of two is one of five featured authors at Verse & Vino, the blockbuster annual fundraiser for Charlotte Mecklenburg Library Foundation. This year’s event will be presented virtually on November 5. Miranda admits her creative strategy can make for a complicated and sometimes lengthy writing process. “I don’t know if it’s an ideal process — it requires a lot of rewriting when I do figure things out — but I don’t really see a whole story up front. I may see a halfway point.” Miranda moved to Huntersville from Boston with her husband in 2004 and recently relocated to Davidson. Her adopted home state often plays a role in her novels, including her latest, The Girl from Widow Hills. “I’m really drawn to small-town settings, but I always make up the town because I don’t want to take someone’s lovely small town and then turn it creepy — which is inevitably what happens in a thriller.” The Girl from Widow Hills is about a woman trying to escape her childhood, when she was the center of a news story that captured the nation’s attention. Miranda says she got the idea after a story from her own childhood resurfaced. “I had been listening to the news and they said, ‘Baby Jessica is getting married.’ I thought, I haven’t heard that name in years — and yet I could remember the story just from
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that name. Then the Thai cave rescue [of 12 youth soccer players and their coach in 2018] happened, and I was so invested in that story, too.” Both of those real-life events served as inspiration for her book. It’s the fourth adult novel for Miranda, who got her start writing young-adult thrillers, and her first new book since Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine book club picked her novel The Last House Guest as a book of the month. “[Witherspoon] has such a big platform, and it really increased the visibility of the book — and then, people who discovered that book are going back and reading [my] other books.” After that exposure, Miranda says a lot of book clubs chose the book for their own monthly reads, and that meant she got to chat with a lot of them — something she is doing more frequently since the pandemic put an end to her planned book tour. Main Street Books in Davidson hosted her virtual launch party and has been a great partner, she says. Having them in the neighborhood means she can easily pop over to sign some books and do a little shopping of her own. While she may be a master at suspense, Miranda is not always a fan of similar genres. “I cannot watch scary movies or TV shows in general. I’m always drawn to thrillers and suspense. I think maybe I’m drawn to them because as a character, you make it through to the other side, but I cannot watch a scary movie unless someone has told me the entire plot. Things get in your head and can keep you up at night.” She’s writing another thriller right now, but she doesn’t want to divulge too much about the subject just yet. “Based on my process, things can change,” the author says. “But I can tell you it’s another adult psychological suspense novel and it relates to a lot of the themes I’m drawn to that have been in previous books. It centers again on a very tender dynamic between two women.” True to form, she’s keeping us in suspense — at least until next year. SP
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ON VIEW BEGINNING OCTOBER 16, 2020 MINT MUSEUM UPTOWN Color is inescapable. Perception is everything. Steeped in vibrant hues, In Vivid Color: Pushing the Boundaries of Perception in Contemporary Art investigates the effect of color on perceived realities through sculpture and paintings, because life is not just black and white.
In Vivid Color: Pushing the Boundaries of Perception in Contemporary Art is generously sponsored by Wells Fargo Private Bank. Additional generous individual support provided by Mary Anne (M.A.) Rogers, Ann and Michael Tarwater, and Mozelle DePass Griffith in loving memory of Edward Colville Griffith, Jr. IMAGE: Gisela Colรณn (b. 1966 Vancouver, Canada, raised 1967 San Juan, Puerto Rico). Hyper Ellipsoid (Azure Gold), 2019, blow-molded acrylic. Courtesy of the artist.
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Better here THE AVETT BROTHERS PERFORM FOR A SELLOUT CROWD IN A DRIVE-IN CONCERT AT CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY. PHOTOGRAPHS BY DANIEL COSTON
O
n a picture-perfect summer evening in late August, fans of folk-rock favorites The Avett Brothers were treated to what’s become a rare event in 2020: a live concert at Charlotte Motor Speedway. More than 1,500 cars, trucks and SUVs packed the parking lot as the hometown stars — brothers Seth and Scott Avett grew up in Concord — played a two-hour set ranging from tracks from their new album, The Third Gleam, all the way back to “Pretty Girl from Matthews” from their 2002 debut, Country Was. Photographer and SouthPark contributor Daniel Coston, who captured these images, estimates he’s photographed the band 50 or 60 times. “I’ve seen them literally go from playing for 30 people to selling out a crowd of 1,500 cars at Charlotte Motor Speedway,” Coston says. He first photographed the Avetts in 2001 at the former Fat City Deli in NoDa, right around the time that bass player Bob Crawford joined the band. (Cellist Joe Kwon joined in 2007.) The show was projected on the speedway’s 16,000-square-foot TV screen to ensure all concertgoers didn’t miss a minute of on-stage action. One couple, who drove from Colorado, got married in the parking lot. “We’ve all been so starved,” Coston says. “I think we need nights like this to remind us that these things are still possible.” — Cathy Martin
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southparkmagazine.com | 43
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A story for these times
|simple life
BY JIM DODSON
O
n a lovely evening beneath the trees not long ago, as summer green gave way to autumn gold, my wife, Wendy, shared a charming little story a friend had recently passed along to her via email. She wondered if I’d ever heard it before. In fact, I had. But it had been many years since I thought of it and the wise soul who first shared it with me decades ago. Here’s the story. The Bohemian novelist and short-story writer Franz Kafka was walking home through a park in Prague one afternoon when he passed a little girl who was crying because she’d lost her favorite doll. The writer, known for stories that fuse realism and fantasy, suggested that the two of them search for the missing doll, but the doll was nowhere to be found. Hoping to console her, he suggested that they meet the next day and continue the search. Upon his return, he presented the girl with a letter he insisted was written by her missing doll. “Please do not mourn for me,” the doll wrote. “I have gone on a trip to see the world. I will write to you about my adventures.” Over the days and weeks that followed, he presented a stream of “letters” that recounted the doll’s amazing encounters with interesting people she’d met on her journey through the world. The letters provided deep comfort to the little girl. When their meetings finally came to an end, Kafka presented the girl with a new doll that didn’t look anything like the original. To ease her confusion, he read the girl a final letter from her doll explaining why she seemed so different. “I have been out in the world,” the doll wrote. “My travels have changed me.” The little girl hugged the new doll and carried her home. Franz Kafka died a short time later from tuberculosis. He was just 40 years old. He never married. His stories and novels, however, were destined to become some of the best-loved writings of the 20th century, exploring themes of loss, grief and existential anxiety in a rapidly changing world. His very name — Kafka — would become a synonym for a world turned upside down by surreal predicaments. The poet W.H. Auden called him the “Dante of the 20th Century” and novelist Vladimir Nabokov ranked him
among the most influential voices of all time. Many years after her meeting with Kafka in the Prague park, the little girl, now an old woman, found an unread letter secreted in her beloved childhood doll. “Everything you love will probably be lost,” the letter said. “But in the end, love will return in a different form.” Though at least one of his biographers later questioned whether the encounter in the park actually happened, it is reported that Kafka, a prodigious letter-writer, put as much time and care into the creation of the doll’s colorful adventures as he did crafting his own wildly imaginative tales. Regardless, the story outlived its author and has provided comfort to untold numbers of people wrestling with grief and loss, a timeless “healing” story long used by grief therapists and spiritual advisors. In a year that will be remembered for its incalculable losses of life and livelihood, its Kafkaesque politics and a historic pandemic that will change each of our lives, the doll’s message seems more relevant than ever. Everything you love will probably be lost. But love will return in a different form. Hearing the story again gave me a shot of much needed hope. It reminded me of the first person who told me the story over a bowl of soup, a dear old friend named Col. Bob. During the last decade we lived in Maine, Col. Bob and I met every few weeks for lunch and conversation at a village cafe. Bob Day was a decorated veteran of WWII who’d led one of the first Army units over the Rhine into Nazi Germany. After his service, he returned to West Point, where he taught logistics. He made his mark as the pioneering director of admissions who is credited with admitting women to America’s top military academy by convincing his superiors to adopt merit over patronage as a primary means of admission. We first met one Christmas when Bob played the angel Gabriel in the annual Christmas play at our local Episcopal Church. My two knee-high nippers had important roles in the pageant. One was playing a lamb, the other a baby cow in the climactic manger scene. As Col. Bob stood hovering over the blessed setting with his goofy, Gary Cooper smile, one of his plaster-of-Paris wings fell off and conked a baby cow on the southparkmagazine.com | 49
|simple life head. The audience gasped with alarm but erupted with applause when the boy beneath the cow’s head turned out to be laughing. The boy was my son, Jack. Col. Bob was a volunteer grief counselor with a local organization that worked with families suffering from the loss of a child. As he explained to me over soup one crisp autumn day, his main job was to listen and care and simply “be” with people wrestling with unimaginable grief and loss. As I learned in time, Bob was uniquely qualified for such soulful service. One day during his early years at West Point, his wife phoned him at the office to report that their youngest son had run outside to play and been run over and killed. Not long after the funeral, Bob returned from work to discover that his grieving wife had packed up and moved out with their two other two boys. The weight of sorrow had become too much. Bob understood. He set up his wife and kids in a nice house in a neighbor-
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ing town. Though he and his wife were never fully reconciled, they remained the best of friends for the balance of her life. A few years later, a second son set off to see the world before college, contracted a strange virus and died. Once I learned of these tragedies and others in his life, I understood — and deeply admired — the source of Col. Bob’s easy grace in the midst of so much personal suffering, including his unsinkable sense of humor and belief in the healing power of love. Every year for almost a decade, he showed up at our annual winter solstice party. Guests were invited to perform for their supper — to sing a song or read a poem to lighten the darkest night of the year. Col. Bob read hilarious limericks he spent the year composing. Bob’s thing was original limericks. Some were sweet, others were poignant. Some were devilishly blue. The solstice crowd loved them all. Bob loved literature and life. As I said, it was he who first told me the
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story of Kafka and the little girl with the lost doll. This was not long after my own father died and I was going through a double dose of loss from his death and a divorce that seemed to come out of nowhere, leaving me more than a little discouraged about the future. It was Bob — using this story — who reminded me that, given time and an open heart, love and laughter would come again in different form. He was right. Both came in the form of an extraordinary woman who has been the joy of my life for more than two decades — the same woman, I might add, who reminded me of the story of Kafka and the doll as we sat beneath the autumn trees a few weeks back. Hearing it again also reminded me of the last letter I received from Col. Bob a decade or so ago, inquiring about Wendy and our kids and our new life “back home in the South.” He informed us that he, too, had recently moved home to Connecticut to be close to his surviving son and grandchildren. He was volunteering as a docent at a history museum several days a week and still working with grieving families. The hand-written letter included several pages of his original limericks — the “greatest hits of an angel with a broken wing,” as I like to think of them. Not long after the letter arrived, I learned that Bob had passed away, and I drove up to his memorial service at West Point. It was great to meet his son and several of Bob’s old friends, students and colleagues. We all had stories of his amazing grace and healing sense of humor to share. Folks had a good laugh when I explained how a broken angel’s wing in a Christmas play introduced me to Col. Bob, a gift not unlike the one that Kafka gave the little girl in the Prague park. It’s still the perfect message for a changing season and Kafkaesque days like these. Everything you love will probably be lost. But love will return in a different form. SP Contact Editor Jim Dodson at jim@ thepilot.com
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October books NOTABLE NEW RELEASES.
COMPILED BY SALLY BREWSTER
The Searcher, by Tana French Cal Hooper thought a fixer-upper in a bucolic Irish village would be the perfect escape. After 25 years in the Chicago police force and a bruising divorce, he just wants to build a new life in a pretty spot with a good pub where nothing much happens. But when a local kid whose brother has gone missing convinces him to investigate, Cal uncovers layers of darkness beneath his picturesque retreat and starts to realize that even small towns shelter dangerous secrets. Memorial: A Novel, by Bryan Washington Benson and Mike are a mixed-race couple living together in Houston. Mike is a Japanese-American chef at a Mexican restaurant, and Benson is a Black day care teacher. They’ve been together comfortably for a few years — but now they’re not sure why they’re still a couple. When Mike finds out his estranged father is dying in Osaka just as his Japanese mother, Mitsuko, arrives in Texas for a visit, Mike flies across the world to say goodbye. In Japan, he undergoes an extraordinary transformation, discovering the truth about his family and his past. Back home, Mitsuko and Benson are stuck living together as unconventional roommates, an absurd domestic situation that ends up meaning more to each of them than they ever could have predicted. Both men will change in ways that will either make them stronger together or fracture everything they have ever known. A funny and profound story about family in all its strange forms.
Missionaries, by Phil Klay A group of Colombian soldiers prepares to raid a drug lord’s safe house on the Venezuelan border. They’re watching him with an American-made drone, about to strike using military tactics taught to them by U.S. soldiers who honed their skills to lethal perfection in Iraq. In his debut novel, National Book Award-winning author and Iraq War veteran Phil Klay examines the globalization of violence through the interlocking stories of four characters and the conflicts that define their lives. Missionaries is a window not only into modern war but into the individual lives that go on long after the drones have left the skies. Troubles in Paradise, by Elin Hilderbrand Warning: If you haven’t read the first two books of this trilogy, don’t start here. If you have, read this one slowly, because at the end we will be saying goodbye to the series’ endearing cast of transplanted Midwesterners and their new friends in the U.S. Virgin Islands. After uprooting her life in the Midwest, Irene Steele has settled in the villa on St. John where her deceased husband Ross had been living a double life. After a visit from the FBI, Irene realizes how little she knew about the man she loved. Evidence mounts that the helicopter crash that killed Ross might not have been an accident, and surprises are in store for Irene and her two grown sons. SP Sally Brewster is the proprietor of Park Road Books, located at 4139 Park Road. parkroadbooks.com. southparkmagazine.com | 55
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A McCorkle couplet CONNECTING TISSUE OF TWO NOVELS BY D.G. MARTIN
I
n 1984, a young North Carolina writer, Jill McCorkle, shocked the literary world by making her debut with two simultaneously released novels, The Cheer Leader and July 7th. The New York Times called her a born novelist. She went on to write three more novels, Tending to Virginia (1987), Ferris Beach (1990), and Carolina Moon (1996). Then she paused to concentrate on short stories that won high praise. But in 2013 she was back with another novel, Life After Life, and then again in July 2020 with Hieroglyphics. Both books deal with the complications in older people as they face life’s end. Life After Life focuses on residents of a retirement home and the people who work for and with them. Hieroglyphics deals with one couple’s efforts to adjust to retirement and aging. Into these settings McCorkle injects rich and disturbing stories that hold her readers’ attention throughout. Life After Life is set in the fictional town of Fulton, North Carolina, a place not unlike Lumberton, where McCorkle grew up. In the Pine Haven Retirement Center, her characters come together as residents, staff, visitors and family. One important character, Joanna, provides hospice-like counseling and comfort to dying residents and their loved ones. Her activities give the novel a gentle storyline and provide a persistent reminder that illness and death are an inescapable part of the experience at Pine Haven. A mentor tells Joanna, “Make their exits as gentle and loving as possible. Tell them how good it will be, even if you don’t believe it yourself. You’re Southern, you know how to do that.” McCorkle describes how family members embrace Joanna “like she is one of them. Lung. Brain. Breast. Uterus. Pancreas. Bone. The families discuss and explain their loved one’s symptoms and diagnoses for her as if they have never been heard of before, have never happened to anyone else, and she listens.” Each of McCorkle’s characters has a different set of challenges, but the onset of fatal illness and death is a constant.
Dealing with the presence of death is part of life’s experience. Reading Life After Life deepens a reader’s realization of its oncoming approach. It makes one wonder again why we are here, why we are still here, and whether there really is some life after life. At the end of Life After Life, one of Pine Haven’s most popular service people, C. J. (for Carolina Jasmine), is found dead in her apartment. It looks like suicide, but there are hints that something is amiss. A single parent with a young son, C.J. had been secretly seeing a surgeon who had a wife and other love interests. The surgeon is an obvious suspect, but there is no closure to his fate. Near the book’s ending another character remembers “a train wreck in this very county in 1943 where over 70 people died, most of them soldiers trying to get home for Christmas.” McCorkle says she recalls her dad talking about visiting the crash site near Lumberton and seeing all the scattered debris. C. J.’s death and the train wreck provide connective links from Life After Life to Hieroglyphics. The father of a central character in Hieroglyphics died in the train wreck. McCorkle also lived in Boston for a number of years, where she heard about a 1942 nightclub fire that took more than 492 lives, including the mother of another key character in Hieroglyphics. When Lil, whose mother died in the fire, and Frank, whose father died in the train wreck, first met, they discovered their common bond, one that held them through 60 years of marriage. The story begins with Frank and Lil, now in their 80s, retiring to Southern Pines. They live within driving distance of the train wreck’s site, which is near the modest home where Frank lived for several years after his dad’s death. Frank and Lil have driven to the old house, now occupied by Shelley, a single mother, and her young son, Harvey. Shelley has seen Frank driving by before and is nervous. “It doesn’t help that that old man rides by so often now, his southparkmagazine.com | 57
|omnivorous reader green Toyota slowing in front of the house and then circling the block.” When Shelley meets Frank at the door, he explains, “I grew up here. I would love to see inside if convenient. My wife, too.” Shelley resists, but at the end of the book Frank is in the backyard of the old house finding some closure. In the 300 pages between its opening and closing at the old house, McCorkle takes us deep into the lives of the characters we meet on the first pages: Frank, Lil, Shelley and Harvey. Frank carries the consequences of the train wreck throughout his life. Both his father and mother were on the train, coming from Florida to their home in Massachusetts, where Frank and his grandmother waited for them. Frank’s seriously injured mother remained in North Carolina to recuperate. She was sure she heard Frank’s father calling, “Don’t leave me.” So she stayed and ultimately married a local man. Frank joined her and they lived in her new husband’s house. Ultimately, Frank went to college and graduate school, married Lil, and became a college professor specializing in ancient history and archeological relics. Along the railroad tracks he collected relics from the wreck, including a toy decoder that he imagined his parents were bringing him for Christmas.
Lil cannot get over the loss of her mother, a ballroom dance instructor, who had not told her husband or Lil that she was going to the nightclub. The questions of who her mother was with and why still haunt Lil. She is also a collector. McCorkle uses Lil’s collected newspaper clippings and copious notes to help tell a story that include her agonizing experience of Frank’s misadventures with a younger academic. Shelley’s son, Harvey, collects horror stories about the Beast of Bladenboro, the Glencoe Munchkins and other scary tales that keep him awake at night and that he uses to frighten his schoolmates and add complication to his mother’s life. Shelley is a court reporter in a Robeson County courtroom during a high profile trial of the doctor accused of murdering one of his many girlfriends. The doctor’s victim was C.J., a major character in Life After Life. Shelley’s troubles with Harvey and Frank intersect with her life’s other challenges to put her court reporter’s job at risk. McCorkle brings these different characters together into a complex, layered and gripping novel, making Hieroglyphics, along with Life After Life, more proof of her storytelling genius. SP D.G. Martin hosts North Carolina Bookwatch Sundays at 3:30 p.m. and Tuesdays at 5 p.m. on UNC-TV.
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|the road home
Kindergarten cobbler PRE-PANDEMIC CHOICES WEIGH
HEAVY AS THE START OF SCHOOL APPROACHES. BY CAROLINE LANGERMAN
I
was bending over to peek in the oven when I saw my 5-year-old’s bare feet on the kitchen floor. A berry cobbler had been my quarantine wish for this steamy, stormy Sunday afternoon, and I’d ordered four quarts of blackberries for delivery. Managing three young kids in a pandemic had put me in a pretty serious relationship with Instacart. I lived with a baby on my hip, an eye on the backyard, an ear in the playroom, and my thumb poised to “accept” or “reject” the substitutions of a well-meaning shopper. Our doorstep had become a cauldron of not-quite-right items in absurd quantities. I ordered one garlic bulb and received one pound — seven bulbs. I requested one heirloom tomato, hoping for a big knobby-kneed explosion that I could slice with mozzarella, and received a group of tomatoes so small and green they could have been mistaken for bouncy-ball prizes at the pediatric dentist. Once, I received four slices of bread, wrapped in plastic and twist-tied — did my shopper imagine me making exactly two sandwiches? I cooked shrimp that I didn’t realize hadn’t been deveined and declawed. “The vein is the digestive tract,” my husband said, with a terrifying crustacean poised on his fork. “But it’s edible.” It was past my son’s bedtime, but I couldn’t resist sharing my success. “Want to see my cobbler?” He stepped forward, incredulous that his stall tactic was working, and I pulled the pan from the oven like a Mommymagician. Blackberry juice bubbled at the sides of a golden crust. “It’s a Kindergarten Cobbler. Anyone who eats it will be ready for kindergarten!” This fantasy was for my own benefit. John had turned 5 on a recent June morning and was now tall enough to see up on the stovetop, where secret things steamed. His thighs bumped the roof of his kid-sized table, where I’d never imagined he would eat salmon and spinach. Thinking it’d be easier for
him, we’d gotten him a turtleneck style mask, but pulling it over his larger-than-average head was hard for his larger than average hands, and the dinosaurs often got inside out. He beamed at my masterpiece and went back upstairs. A good sign of readiness! But a moment later, his footsteps returned. “I need to say something into Mommy’s ear.” Now I had the ice cream out on the counter, and things were getting awkward. But his specificity was alluring. I brought my ear to the stairwell, and he knelt down. “When I talk to God,” he asked, “do I have to talk out loud, or do I talk in my mind?” This wasn’t as pure as it sounds — I had given him God on another sleepless night the way you might offer an iPad on an airplane. Still, the question had my heart bubbling like the blackberries. “In your mind,” I said, thinking it wouldn’t be long until he really leaned down towards me. He nodded, as if he’d already known but now had permission to know it. And this instruction-following, this methodical seek-and-confirm, was the reason why, back when life had been normal, we’d decided to throw him to the Kinderwolves, as I’d started to think of it. A boy with a summer birthday presents a Sophie’s choice: let him turn 6 in preschool, or send him to kindergarten and let him be newly 5 along with the kids who turned 6 in preschool. “Can he do his day?” a school administrator had asked, pointing to moments of transition, attention span, a general roll-with-it-ness. My self-interest rejoiced: He could do his day! And if he could do his day, I could finally do mine! But once Covid turned everything upside down, pre-pandemic decisions we made about child care and education seem like shopping lists for stuff that is longer in stock. The carefully selected nanny, the painstaking decision of which school southparkmagazine.com | 61
|the road home to attend, the children we spaced so they’d have the “right” amount of attention, the house that would work for now, the involved grandparents — they’re all on back order. The very idea of “readiness” seems discontinued, recalled. My 3-year old is riding a two-wheeled bike but wetting her pants again. My 7-month-old is exclusively breastfed but lives in a car seat. My 5-year-old has the vocabulary of a teenager and the social skills of a snail. And here I am, trying to make substitutions on behalf of tiny, helpless customers who can’t accept or reject what I’m delivering.
***
After he went upstairs to talk to God, I scooped ice cream into my ridiculous grown-up bowl, feeling very childish indeed. Another recent evening, he’d asked, “Will you come in to see me after you have dinner?” And I said yes, brushing his bangs across his forehead, knowing that I wasn’t coming back. But was it really lying, if he’d be asleep soon, and I had a pile of dishes to get to? If I loved him so much? There’s this dance we do, where we want absolutely all of our child: let me hold you, let me sunscreen you with lion’s whiskers, fork over your fears and wishes so I can gobble them up and caption them. But then, our own self wrestles up and wants them gone, nudging them out of the room or onto a screen or into a socially distanced and disinfected school bus
so we can get back to our own fears and wishes. Will I wish I’d gone back into his room one more time “after dinner”? Will I be able to bear that he might be better off if I’d ordered him another year of preschool? That the only thing protecting my “young 5” from the masked and remote Kinderwolves is his heartbreaking compliance and the fact that everyone else is struggling, too? On the brink of school starting, in the middle of a pandemic, I feel less like a mommy-magician and more like a confused delivery person, unsure of what my child needs and in what quantities. I grab a cartful from one aisle and nothing from another. I’m counting out seven garlic cloves and twist-tying four slices of bread. I look upon his freckles appearing in sweet little areas of his face — one under his eyebrow, one above his lip — and try to make peace with the weird mix of stuff I’m leaving at his doorstep. On the first morning of school, I take a picture of his smile: pretending it’s proof of delivery. I hope, in these strange circumstances, he’ll still find a way to roll up his sleeves and make something good. The world has been tweaking recipes for a very long time. SP Caroline Langerman is a writer in Charlotte. Her essays have been published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Town & Country and others.
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Sips to
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TEMPERATURES ARE DROPPING, AND IT’S TIME FOR EASY DRINKING PALOMAS AND SPRITZES TO STEP ASIDE AND MAKE WAY FOR A NEW SLATE OF FALL COCKTAILS. WHAT ARE THE BOOZIEST COCKTAIL TRENDS THIS AUTUMN? WE ASKED SIX OF CHARLOTTE’S MOST INNOVATIVE MIXOLOGISTS TO SHARE THEIR NEWEST CREATIONS.
BY CATHY MARTIN • PHOTOGRAPHS BY JUSTIN DRISCOLL
Butternut brandy For this cheery fall cocktail at Grinning Mule, Bob Peters combines Doc Porter’s limited release apple brandy, butternut squash, egg white and Cynar, an artichoke-based amaro. “Amaro has been around forever, but it’s bitter,” Peters says. “The American palate is not predisposed for bitterness, so it takes a little getting used to, but it adds a ton of depth to things.”
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Colleen Hughes
l Haberdish
Falling for you pistachio orgeat, apple-cider syrup, lemon, bitters, nutmeg, Cruzan Black Strap rum, Plantation Original Dark rum and Becherovka (an herbal bitters) “I feel like most of the time when people talk about fall cocktails, they think whiskey, maple, pumpkin … but fall here is warmer,” says Hughes, beverage director for Haberdish, Crepe Cellar Kitchen & Pub, Growlers Pourhouse and the soon-toopen Supperland. “Our North Carolina falls are still pretty darn nice. You don’t need 100-proof liquor in your hand” to toast the fall season. Being mindful of social distancing, the team at Haberdish decided to pause its wildly popular Tiki Wiki cocktail event, held each year in August. But Hughes still wanted to create some drinks that were refreshing and fun. A house-made pistachio orgeat is a twist on the traditional almond-based sweet syrup commonly used in tiki cocktails. Notes of apple and dark rum add richness and warmth. 68
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Eli Privette l Dogwood
Southern Table & Bar Rudeneja bourbon, Amaro Oscura, Dolin Vermouth de Chambéry blanc, Cocchi Dopo Teatro vermouth amaro, oleo saccharum and homemade allspice bitters Privette took the reins as bar manager at Dogwood Southern Table & Bar this summer after several years working at Rare Roots Hospitality siblings Fin & Fino and The Porter’s House. In his Rudeneja, a Lithuanian word describing the way weather starts to feel like fall, Privette fuses autumn-inspired baking-spice flavors such as nutmeg and cinnamon in a house-made bitters. Amaro Oscura, an Asheville-based liqueur that’s made with locally foraged ingredients, is a key component. “It’s kind of what we like to do at Dogwood — using North Carolina-made and North Carolina-grown products,” says Privette, who this year was named among the top 50 U.S. bartenders by the U.S. Bartenders Guild. “The amaro just reiterates that idea behind it.” Another concept Privette has introduced: A zero-waste “farm to glass” cocktail series, featuring a weekly libation centered around a single ingredient that incorporates locally grown produce.
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Brian Lorusso
l
Little Mama’s Italian Kitchen
Cool beans Averna amaro, Tia Maria, amaretto and barely whipped cream Lorusso created this drink to serve a dual purpose — as a fun brunch cocktail or an after-dinner treat — with Tia Maria coffee-flavored liqueur and amaretto, an almond-flavored Italian liqueur. Drinks incorporating amaro, a classic Italian digestif, are particularly well suited for Little Mama’s rich menu of hearty pastas and entrees, Lorusso says. Lorusso, a fixture on Charlotte’s cocktail scene for more than 15 years joined FS Food Group as bar manager in July. Look for this sweet sensation, garnished with a dusting of cocoa powder, on Little Mama’s new brunch menu, which was set to debut last month.
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Justin Hazelton
l Leah & Louise
Finally famous Calvados de Christian Drouin, yellow chartreuse, Cappelletti (a wine-based apertif), fresh lemon and Angostura bitters Hazelton’s cocktail combines flavors of fall with bright notes for a refreshing mixed drink. “Fall in the Carolinas is really kind of hot,” says Hazelton, whose résumé includes 5Church locations in Charlotte and Atlanta, Sophia’s Lounge, and FS Food Group. The bar manager joined Leah & Louise this spring after getting to know chef/ owner Greg Collier through the Soul Food Sessions dinner series. Finally Famous is a riff on Naked and Famous, a popular cocktail created by Joaquín Simó at New York speakeasy Death & Co. Hazelton substitutes Calvados, an apple brandy, for mezcal in his variation, which is garnished with a baked apple chip.
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l Grinning Mule Bob Peters
Salted maple pear Cardinal small-batch gin, pear juice, maple syrup and salt water These days, you’ll find quintessential Charlotte barman Bob Peters at Grinning Mule, a lively new neighborhood spot in Plaza Midwood that serves small plates like crab cakes and lettuce wraps, flatbreads, “won ton” tacos, and salads in a former garage. Former NBA player Bart Kofoed opened the nonprofit restaurant this spring. Peters uses Cardinal small-batch gin, made by Southern Artisan Spirits in Kings Mountain, in his salted maple pear, a libation garnished with fresh-grated nutmeg that’s refreshing while still infused with the flavors of fall.
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Larisa Yanicak
l O-Ku
PSL Plantation Original Dark rum, Fernet-Branca, Japanese pumpkin orgeat, coconut milk and dalgona coffee foam When a chef-colleague introduced Yanicak to Japanese pumpkin, also known as Kabocha squash, the bar manager at O-Ku decided to incorporate it into a cocktail. “It’s a smaller green pumpkin, more closely related to a sweet potato,” says Yanicak, who has worked at the Japanese cuisine and sushi spot in South End for four years. Yanicak roasted the squash with warming spices and made a homemade orgeat, a sweet syrup used to flavor cocktails. Fernet-Branca adds a mintiness to the cocktail, which is an homage to that quintessential fall coffee drink, the pumpkin spice latte.
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A new turn CHEFS WHITNEY THOMAS AND KIRK GILBERT OFFER A MODERN TAKE ON LATIN-INSPIRED CUISINE AT MICO. BY EMIENE WRIGHT PHOTOGRAPHS BY JONATHAN COOPER
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hitney Thomas is a pioneer in the Carolinas’ food scene as one of the few women — and even fewer African Americans — to lead top restaurants. Her latest role as chef de cuisine at Mico, the fine-dining concept inside the posh Grand Bohemian Charlotte hotel, allows Thomas to expand her repertoire while flexing her considerable skills. There, she works alongside Executive Chef Kirk Gilbert, whose résumé includes The Gallery Restaurant at The Ballantyne Hotel and The Inn at Palmetto Bluff in Bluffton, S.C. The uptown hotel and restaurant opened in August. Mico’s menu is a hybrid: Argentine-influenced, with nods to Peruvian and other South American flavors, while bringing in Mediterranean, Caribbean and North African notes. Rather than a direct interpretation, Thomas lightens and brightens traditional recipes, often substituting coconut milk for dairy or grilling instead of frying. “We use their ingredients but in new ways,” Thomas says. “The goal is to make good food with rich flavors and still be as health conscious as we can. My style is experimental; if a dish goes too far one way, I pivot and try something new.” Before this juncture, Thomas, whose previous positions include executive chef at 5Church Charlotte and executive sous chef at Farenheit, mostly had experience with French, Southern and Mediterranean food. The South American flavors at Mico pushed her to stretch.
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Mico’s blue crab- and shrimpstuffed wood-grilled calamari is served with an Aleppo pepper muhammara and walnut and orange gremolata.
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This page: Mico’s Executive Chef Kirk Gilbert and Chef de Cuisine Whitney Thomas. Opposite page: Sweet corn and butternut squash soup is seasoned with Vadouvan spiced almonds, vanilla, coriander oil and smoked paprika.
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“One of the reasons I took this job was because I’d never done this type of food,” the Reidsville native says. “I’m learning something new every day, constantly reading articles and flipping through cookbooks.” Her latest obsession: a simple-yet-sophisticated plantain mash, one of her featured sides that has become a top seller. Similar in texture to mashed potatoes, the dish gets an incredible flavor boost from the ripe plantains, coconut, shallots and ginger and is topped off with a coriander vanilla oil for a satisfying balance of sweet and savory. The fall menu was still in the planning stages when we spoke. Seasonal dishes centered around peaches and tomatoes soon will be swapped for heartier fare complemented by broccoli rabe, sunchokes and other fall staples. But sopa de fuba, a Brazilian stew of kale, chorizo and peppers thickened with in-house ground corn flour, will remain. And the unique take on calamari — limbs are stuffed with a steamed mousse of shrimp and crab and finished on the grill — is game-changing. The secret to Mico’s success on the plate starts in the kitchen with Gilbert, a 30-year industry veteran. In addition to having a diverse staff — he says it’s about 80% women — Gilbert makes a point to foster a spirit of collaboration among his team. Before opening, Gilbert developed the menu and had Thomas fine-tune the recipes. “The relationship between the executive chef and the chef de cuisine is like that between a comic-book writer and a comic-book artist,” Gilbert says. “The writer supplies
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the story, plot and character arc, while the artist outlines, colors in and adds shading, giving depth and a fuller story. It’s not about me putting my name on the bottom of the menu. I’ve had that.” Thomas extends that collaborative feel with a daily line-up, where servers try the dishes and provide feedback on what they like and what might require tweaking. “It feels good knowing I’m making someone else feel good. That’s one of my main motivators, especially because it’s an open kitchen and I’m able to see the guests’ faces when they get their plates. So getting staff feedback early in the day is definitely a help,” Thomas says. “It’s a very different culture from any kitchen I’ve worked in my entire career,” says Sous Chef Marketa Appiah. That may be because Gilbert and Thomas play off each other so well. Gilbert has been a figure in upscale fine dining for decades. Years of experience have lent the executive chef a laid-back, confident air. Thomas, just 31, has a reputation for taking the bull by the horns when it comes to kitchens. On busy nights, the chef de cuisine often works the line. “We’re both very passionate culinarians and complement each other’s style by presenting food in a way that works for everybody,” Gilbert says. “She’s super creative and has a level of intensity. I tend to have a calming effect and keep everyone focused. There are multiple ways to get the job done.” Thomas agrees. “I can be more high-strung, whereas Chef [has] a cool head, and the mix of both works for the kitchen. The world could come crashing down, and he’d never show it. I crack the whip.”
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Opposite page: Oakgrilled Joyce Farms chicken is served with roasted asparagus, heirloom tomatoes, gigante Peruvian lima beans and aji de huacatay. This page: cocktails at Mico.
Thomas weathered a bumpy break with 5Church last winter. After she rose from sous chef to chef to cuisine to executive chef, the restaurant abruptly decided to go in a different direction with management, a move that could have cooled her progress. Instead, it fueled her ambition. “I’m super hungry now. I don’t see a stop anywhere. My trajectory is to the top. I always wanted success and to be great, but that’s one of the things that is pushing me,” she says. Currently, Mico’s dining room is seating at half capacity, about 130. The rooftop concept, Búho Bar (named after a type of owl), is was slated to open October 1, with indoor and outdoor seating at socially distanced intervals. Appiah will assume the reins of that kitchen. “Our food is a gateway to expose people to a different kind of cuisine than they’ve had in Charlotte,” Thomas says. “We have a foundation of understanding the flavors and techniques, but it’s a new take.” SP
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Healthy addiction NEITHER A PANDEMIC NOR PAST STRUGGLES ARE KEEPING SAM DIMINICH DOWN. HIS LATEST VENTURE — A FARM-TO-TABLE MEAL-DELIVERY SERVICE — HONORS LOCALLY GROWN FOOD AND ALLOWS THE CHEF TO PURSUE HIS LIFELONG PASSION. BY KEN GARFIELD • PHOTOGRAPHS BY MICHAEL HRIZUK
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ooking has been a way of life for Sam Diminich. Growing up in Myrtle Beach, S.C., he’d hop on his bike after school and ride over to his grandfather’s Italian restaurant, Roma, to bus tables and wash dishes. He surrendered early to the aromas of the kitchen, the frenzied passion of the work, the rewards of empty plates and smiling faces. Today, several lifetimes later it seems, cooking for him remains an act of pure fulfillment, a stage on which to unleash his energy. Only now, after the addiction and homelessness, it is also an act of redemption. Each time he prepares a three-course, farm-to-table meal, he is proving to himself, his kids and all of us that the bourbon and cocaine are behind him. That the kitchen is his home now, not a gas-station bathroom. Today, there is a sweetness to his blueberry bread pudding that cannot match the sweetness of the story behind it.
Chef Sam Diminich, opposite page, hand-picks produce at New Town Farms, a family-owned organic farm in Waxhaw, in July.
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ou may not know Diminich, 44, but there’s a good chance you’ve tasted his food. Trained at The Culinary Institute of America, he’s cooked in several Charlotte restaurants since first moving to the city in 2004, among them Blue, Arpa, New South Kitchen & Bar, Fran’s Filling Station and Vine American Kitchen. Charlotte restaurateur Frank Scibelli, who employed Diminich as executive chef at Cantina 1511 at the Stonecrest shopping center in south Charlotte, praises him as both a culinary artist and mechanic. “He understood that consistency was very important,” says Scibelli, who has since sold the Cantina restaurants. “He’s also artistic and creative but not so much that a dish came out different each time. Sam’s great. I’ve always been a fan.” Before Covid-19 changed everything, Diminich was executive chef at Upstream, the upscale seafood restaurant at Phillips Place. That’s where he earned his 15 minutes of fame. His take on lobster and bay scallops risotto walloped celebrity chef Bobby Flay’s version on Food Network’s Beat Bobby Flay. Diminich says he was laser-focused on making Upstream a success before he lost his job at the start of the pandemic. Owned by Burke Hospitality Group, which operates Mimosa Grill and Harper’s locations, Upstream closed after 20 years, an impressive run for any restaurant. Suddenly out of work, Diminich was about to apply for a job processing packages at Amazon when an idea came to him while grilling steaks and veggies with friends. More on Your Farms, Your Table in a bit, and how Diminich is delivering a three-course meal to your door, with a twist. But you can’t fully appreciate the joy that Sam is putting into this venture until you understand the journey that led him to embrace locally grown vegetables as a healthy addiction.
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n 2002, while working at Aspen Grille in Myrtle Beach, Diminich succumbed to what he calls the underbelly of the food and beverage industry: Beer, bourbon, pot, cocaine, “All the lines we promise ourselves we won’t cross have been crossed,” he says. His family intervened, and Diminich wound up in treatment. Admitting now that he had one leg in and one leg out of Alcoholics Anonymous, recovery never took. He relapsed in 2009 while cooking at Cantina 1511. He says a doctor prescribing the opioid painkiller Percocet for a separated shoulder contributed to his return to the darkness. In 2013, he hit bottom. “One-hundred percent unemployable,” as he puts it. Separated from his wife and children, his car repossessed, he spent a year on the Charlotte streets. Once an accomplished chef, he slept in the ER waiting room or a gas-station bathroom — anywhere but a shelter, because shelters have curfews. “If I took a shower in that year,” he says, “I don’t remember it.” This he remembers, though: “I recall the lengths I would go to manifest my addiction. It was an unstoppable force.” What saved him? He says he didn’t want to die. And a beating on the streets in November 2014 landed him in the hospital for five days. That’s when he saw the light. Or at least enough of it to show him the way. When he got out of the hospital, he took a bus home to Myrtle Beach and spent six months at Any Length Recovery in Sumter, S.C. It was his second stay. This one took. “He knew if he didn’t find a way to find happiness without chemicals, he’d never find it,” says Dennis Wormlsey, a recovered alcoholic who co-founded the center. “But none of that was available to him when his alcoholism had a hold on him.”
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Wormsley says that only when Diminich embraced the principles of Alcoholics Anonymous — trust in a higher power, making amends to those you’ve hurt — could he look up from rock bottom and again see the joy of life and cooking. Even if he had to learn again the proper way to hold a kitchen knife. The date of Diminich’s last drink — Sobriety Day, he calls it — is Nov. 16, 2014, just 10 days after he was beaten.
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espite the summer heat, Diminich is like a kid on Christmas morning. He’s arrived at New Town Farms in Waxhaw, a rural oasis amid the fancy subdivisions, to check out what looks good to cook later that day for Your Farms, Your Table. Sammy Koenigsburg, who oversees the family-owned, 50-acre organic farm, has known Diminich long enough to welcome his visit. “Sam’s just a bright light,” he says. “He always makes your day better.” After Upstream, Diminich says he was motivated to create a business that was community-based. The chef works with several local farms and the Matthews Community Farmers’ Market, whose produce forms the centerpiece of his new venture. Here’s the business model: First he scouts out vegetables for the day — on this July morning, summer squash, okra, tomatoes (the uglier the better; Diminich calls them “underdog tomatoes”) and the like. Then he writes the menus, building it around the vegetables rather than the protein. “How can I honor those ingredients?” is how he puts it. Customers place their order and pay for it online. The 84
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three-course meal is delivered starting at 5:30 p.m. For $30, you get soup or salad, an entrée and veggies, and a dessert. Now here’s the twist: You don’t know what you’ll be getting for dinner. Menus vary daily, but it’s always a surprise, on purpose. “It’s part of the culinary journey,” Diminich says, “part of the adventure.” So you’ll have some idea of the style, he posts sample menus like this one on his website: arugula salad; North Carolina shrimp with early season corn succotash, jasmine rice and Old Bay broth; and, for dessert, apple-blackberry jam pie. Sometimes, he posts dishes or ingredients on Instagram, offering a hint at what he’s cooking that week. Your Farms, Your Table can accommodate dietary restrictions. Diminich started out preparing about 10 meals a day; now he averages 30-40 orders daily, and he employs a small staff, many who are also in recovery. After moving into a new kitchen in September, he plans to launch lunch service in early October. You can tell Diminich is getting restless, sitting on the patio at the farm with Koenigsburg and a SouthPark magazine writer, recounting what a long, strange trip it’s been (apologies to the Grateful Dead). Enough looking back. He’s ready to tromp around the garden, then race back to the kitchen and get busy. That’s where his life has begun again. “Cooking has been the only thing I’ve ever wanted to do,” Diminich says. “There was a period in my life when I didn’t think I’d be able to again. It makes my life now so much more fulfilling.” SP
A LIFE OF COOKING Bio: Sam Diminich grew up in Myrtle Beach, S.C., where he learned the restaurant business from his grandfather and father. A graduate of The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y., he’s worked in a number of Charlotte restaurants, most recently as executive chef at Upstream at Phillips Place before it permanently closed during Covid-19. Current gig: Your Farms, Your Table. Diminich cooks and delivers three-course meals built around fresh vegetables sourced from local farms, which he says are still struggling as a result of the pandemic-related restaurant slowdown. Dinner is served every day except Sunday, with lunch debuting this month. The twist? Each day’s menu is a surprise — you won’t know what you’ll be ordering and getting. Family: He and his former wife, Tracey, are the parents of Constance, 17, and Allan Grey, 13. Helping his peers: Diminich is active in Ben’s Friends, a nationwide support group for workers in the food and beverage industry struggling with abuse and addiction. It’s named for Charleston chef Ben Murray, who took his own life in 2016. Guilty pleasure: Pizza from Benny Pennello’s in NoDa. What he’d wish for if he was stuck on a desert island: Korean barbecue and his father’s lasagna.
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Pie guy RENOWNED PIZZA MASTER AND AMBASSADOR FOR ALL THINGS PIE, PETER REINHART SOLDIERS ON IN HIS SEARCH FOR THE PERFECT SLICE. BY MICHAEL J. SOLENDER • PHOTOGRAPHS BY POPROCKPHOTOGRAPHY
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or Peter Reinhart, there are only two types of pizza: Good and very good. “By very good, I mean great,” says Reinhart, baking instructor and chef on assignment at Johnson & Wales University in Charlotte, who defines greatness as pizza that’s truly memorable. “Pizza is the perfect flavor delivery system. Whether it’s the classic white clam pizza like those found at the iconic Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana in New Haven, Conn., or a sublime Margherita crafted by pizza innovator Chris Bianco at Phoenix’s Pizzeria Bianco, there are key differentiators common to truly memorable pizzas. Those are what I seek out.” Pizza is something of an obsession for Reinhart. At 70 years old, he could be slowing down, easing into a well-deserved retirement after working nonstop for more than five decades. His love of baking and people has led to an intertwined career that marries bread-making, storytelling and teaching — and has inspired legions of students and fans from the Carolinas to California. Instead, he’s elbow deep in dough, working on his 13th book, an homage to the current crop of America’s best artisan pizza makers. The book, due out in late 2021, has a tentative working title of Pizza Quest: My Never-Ending Search for the Perfect Pizza Continues. In it, Reinhart shares backstories and tribute recipes to the wave of memorable pies he’s encountered in his ceaseless cross-country hunt.
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This is his third pizza book and comes nearly two decades after his bestselling classic, American Pie (2003), and Perfect Pan Pizza, a book he released last year for enthusiastic home pizza-makers hungering for the Detroit, Sicilian, Roman and grandma-style pizzas representing the latest pizza craze enchanting Americans. What drives one of the country’s foremost artisan-bread authorities (his book, The Bread Baker’s Apprentice won the 2002 James Beard Award for Cookbook of the Year) into the relentless pursuit of pizza greatness? Pizza, according to Reinhart, is quite simply the world’s most perfect food. And that perfection begins always with the crust. “You can have the greatest toppings in all the world,” Reinhart says, “but if you don’t have a fantastic crust, all you have is an interesting pizza. If you have a great crust, however, with simply olive oil and salt, or sauce and cheese, it’s still going to be a great pizza. The toppings are a bonus. For me, it’s all about flavor synergy between toppings and crust.”
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t’s at this intersection of artisanal bread baking, dough science and craft pizza where Reinhart has found a tribal community of like-minded independent artisans, where the sharing of knowledge, technique and respect for the craft is taking pizza in America atop the culinary Everest. “Peter and I met shortly after he wrote American Pie,” says Tony Gemignani, 13-time World Pizza Champion, Pizza Today magazine writer, master instructor and chef/owner of several pizzerias in the San Francisco Bay area. “Our industry was filled with independent pizza operators and, at the time, began a renaissance of bakers that jumped into the realm of pizza-making. Peter was one of the first to really get into this arena, he was one of the pioneers and a master at what he
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does. As pizza-makers became better and really began to understand bread chemistry, the crossover accelerated that enhancement.” After publishing American Pie, Reinhart was approached by independent Los Angeles-based TV producers interested in creating a series based upon the chef’s hunt for the perfect pizza. Soon, they were shooting a pilot in California after garnering interest from a PBS affiliate in Boston. Reinhart was a natural on camera and easily engaged in breezy interplay with pizza/ bread mavens such as Nancy Silverton (La Brea Bakery), Craig Stoll (Pizzeria Delfina) and Chad Robertson (Tartine Bakery). Shortly after the project began, the Great Recession put the kibosh on series funding, and with dozens of hours of footage “in the can,” Reinhart looked to the internet as a vehicle to share content with the broad audience he knew existed. “I found a sponsor with [wood-fired pizza oven-maker] Forno Bravo,” Reinhart says, “We launched a website, Pizza Quest with Peter Reinhart, re-cutting our content into short webisodes.” What began as repurposed video content featuring a handful of California pizza-makers has grown into a decade-long online series showcasing a who’s who of pizza consiglieres. Guests and website contributors include Scott Weiner of Scott’s Pizza Tours in New York City, John Arena of the renowned Metro Pizza in Las Vegas, Chris Bianco, and Michael Shepherd, a four-time World Pizza Champion from Ohio. As Reinhart’s pizza journey has grown, so have his relationships with pizzaiolos (pizza makers), equipment manufacturers, food companies, restaurateurs, home cooks and an expansive tribe of pizza enthusiasts. He speaks at pizza conferences and expos and is often called upon to judge competitions. In Charlotte, he’s consulted on pizza product development with the former uptown
Pan-tastic pies Perfecting a classic Detroit-style pan pizza for a restaurant client inspired Peter Reinhart to author Perfect Pan Pizza, released last year to bring advice to home chefs on how to create these pies in their own ovens. Detroit-style pizza is baked in a square pan where the cheese flows over the edges forming a “frico,” or crispy baked cheese shell. Cooked tomato sauce is spooned on in distinct stripes after baking and before serving. Reinhart showed off his “embedded cheese” technique for SouthPark magazine at Johnson & Wales University in uptown in early August. “I take cubes of cheddar, fontina and mozzarella and push them into the dough as it is proofing (pre-rise before baking),” Reinhart explains. Before baking, the pie is topped as desired — here (opposite page) with tomatoes, pepperoni, pepperoncini and more cheese. “When the pie bakes, the embedded cheese caramelizes around the edge and along the bottom, helping form a toffee-like crust that crackles and tastes like hot buttered toast.” Reinhart handcrafted several pies for the photo shoot, each using his master dough recipe made 24 hours in advance. JWU students Jacob Whitson and Summer Huelle assisted with the prep work and added some culinary flourishes of their own, including a hot-honey drizzle Whitson whipped up on the spot with four parts honey, one part Tabasco sauce, black pepper and hot pepper flakes to taste. Sweet, hot and sharp, the glaze was a bright complement to Reinhart’s pies. 90
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pizzeria Pie Town, Pure Pizza and Brixx Wood Fired Pizza. Nationally, Reinhart works with organic food pioneer Amy’s Kitchen on their frozen pizza line, among others. “When my first book came out, there were maybe a couple dozen pizzerias that made the cut in terms of being memorable,” Reinhart says. “Today, there are hundreds. They learn from each other and interact with the artisan bread community and share ideas, starting with the dough. Now there are people making sourdough pizzas, natural fermentation, ancient grain crusts, fiveday ferments. It’s almost endless.”
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arlier this year Reinhart was scheduled to speak at the International Pizza Expo & Conference in Las Vegas. While the pandemic canceled the in-person event, organizers looked to Reinhart to present online in a Zoom-cast. “The experience was a good one,” said Reinhart. “It got me thinking how I could take advantage of the technology and continue live conversations with the pizza community without having to visit face to face.” Pizza Talk, live dual screen Zoom interviews with his pizza pals, was born. Taking residence on his Pizza Quest website, the nearly one-hour conversations offer viewers a deeper dive into the pizza scene with back stories on products, technique and process input, and insights into the latest pizza trends and innovation. Since May, the indefatigable Reinhart has aired more than two episodes a week, hosting the likes of Audrey Jane Kelly of Audrey Jane’s Pizza Garage in Boulder, Colo., and Nicky Giusto of Central Milling, a grain and flour expert. While there is no questioning Reinhart’s passion for the “perfect flavor delivery system,” it’s evident in watching him interact with his peers, associates and students, there is a much greater connection he enjoys from his quest. “Ultimately, I believe everyone is on a personal journey in search of a meaningful life,” Reinhart says. “There are many levels of meaning, and this is what is behind my commitment to the craft of making bread and pizza. It opens a deeper understanding of how life works. I’m known for the saying that the mission of the baker is to evoke the full flavor of the grain. My goal as an educator is to evoke the full potential of my students. My product is now my students.” SP
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Smoky perfection LEXINGTON BARBECUE IS STEEPED IN TRADITION. BY VANESSA INFANZON • PHOTOGRAPHS BY MICHAEL HRIZUK
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illowing smoke from barbecue pits and the smell of cooked pig were part of the spectacle during courthouse sessions in Lexington, North Carolina, in the early 1900s. It was a chance for the people to have their day in court — and eat barbecue, too. District court judges traveled across North Carolina to hold sessions in the county seats. The aroma of smoked pig was the signal for the judge to call a recess, no matter where they were in a hearing, says Newell Clark, the town’s mayor since 2011. Lexington, with a population of roughly 19,000, is about 60 miles northeast of Charlotte, or about an hour’s drive. In 1916, Sid Weaver cooked in open pits and began selling barbecue outside of the courthouse at the corner of West Center and Greensboro streets, an area now dubbed Barbecue Alley. Eventually, Will Johnson and Jesse Swicegood also set
up stands selling barbecue — and not just on court dates — according to Lexington’s history. Beck’s Barbecue was the first brick-and-mortar barbecue “joint” — the preferred name — and Weaver, who is revered as the “Father of Lexington-style barbecue,” served as the pitmaster. By the 1950s and 1960s, barbecue joints were spread all over Lexington, at times as many as 20 within Davidson County, a longtime hub for furniture and textile manufacturing. Five years ago, a renovation of city hall revealed the 1930s brick-and-mortar pits from Beck’s Barbecue joint. They were hidden behind wallboard hung in a 1970s renovation. It’s now a public exhibit. “As they started to do the demo, we saw these four windows,” Clark says. “We had a lot of older citizens coming in saying, ‘I knew that was there.’” southparkmagazine.com | 93
The Bar-B-Q Center has been around since 1955. “In one day, we cook about 350 to 700 pounds [of meat],” owner Michael Conrad says.
Today, there are 15 barbecue joints throughout the county, most operated by second-generation family members, with a third-generation in training. “Barbecue is a religion here,” Clark says. Lexington-style barbecue implies the meat is cooked and served in a similar way: Pitmasters slow cook pork shoulder over hot oak or hickory coals, usually every day. Menus feature barbecue sandwiches, plates or trays, with the meat served chopped, sliced or coarse-chopped. Some restaurants include burgers, hot dogs, smoked turkey and homemade desserts on the menu. Choices for sides might include baked beans, French fries, hush puppies and macaroni and cheese. Lexington slaw —chopped cabbage mixed with ketchup and vinegar, not mayonnaise — is typically served on top of the pork unless otherwise requested. Add sweet or unsweet tea or Cheerwine to complete the order, and it’s ready in a matter of minutes. Michael Conrad operates the Bar-B-Q Center on North Main Street with his brother, Cecil Conrad, and their mother, Nancy Conrad. The restaurant’s been around since 1955, opening originally as the Dairy Center. “It takes eight to 10 hours [to cook],” Michael Conrad says. “In one day, we cook about 350 to 700 pounds [of meat].” Rick Monk is a second-generation owner. His father, Wayne Monk, started Lexington Barbecue in 1962 with Sonny Honeycutt. The location off Interstate 85 was not considered ideal at the time. Honeycutt left the business after 60 days. Some locals still refer to
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the restaurant as Honey Monk’s, while others just call it Monk’s. Either way, if you ask a local how to find Lexington Barbecue, they won’t know where to direct you. Lexington style barbecue is meant to be enjoyed without heavy sauces: The taste of the meat is what’s important. When you’re in Lexington and want something extra, be sure to ask for the dip, not sauce. “[The name] dip actually comes from drippings, believe it or not,” Monk says. “Seniors, from age 75 to 100, that have been around Davidson County all these years, would call the grease coming off the bottom of the shoulders ‘drippings.’ They would collect it and pour it back on the shoulders.” These days, dip is a vinegar-based sauce used for sandwiches, fries, even hush puppies. Each Lexington joint makes its own proprietary dip with a blend of spices. “We make about 400 gallons of dip a week to use in the restaurant,” Monk says. “I would not sell [the recipe] for a million bucks.” SP FESTIVAL BREAK Since 1984, Lexington has hosted its iconic Barbecue Festival, an event bringing in more than 20,000 participants by car, plane and train. Due to Covid-19 guidelines, organizers had to cancel this year’s event but are already looking ahead to next year’s festival on October 23, 2021. Ten blocks on Main Street are cordoned off for pig races, children’s rides, an elaborate sand sculpture, antique and Corvette car shows, a BMX bicycle-stunt show, arts and crafts, and other vendors. Seven stages highlight live local, regional and national acts. Of course, plenty of Lexington-style barbecue is available for purchase. Get to the festival early to see the mayor kick off the celebration with a ceremonial first bite of a barbecue sandwich.
In the early 1900s, Sid Weaver and others began sellling barbecue outside the courthouse in Lexington. The area is now known as Barbecue Alley.
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BE TEMPTED The Cheesecake Factory • Sushi • Burger • Bar Maggiano’s Little Italy McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood Restaurant Nordstrom’s Marketplace Cafe Reid’s Fine Foods & Wine Bar
Dining out will never be the same. We’ve made it even better. Maybe we all treasure the experience more now. At Bonterra Dining & Wine Room, we welcome you to enjoy a safe, delicious meal in one of Charlotte’s best loved restaurants. Our excitement about food and wine shows. We’ve crafted a newly expanded menu with a range of offerings: steaks, seafood, sandwiches and salads at a variety of price points. There’s something for everyone at Bonterra. Our menu reflects a strong partnership with local farmers to provide fresh, seasonal produce daily. Award-winning dishes put a new take on Southern cuisine by letting the true flavors of our ingredients shine. Our wine list is legendary with more than 200 wines by the glass and 200-plus reserve wines from our private cellar.
Special events are ON at Bonterra! The restaurant can accommodate a variety of party sizes and will ensure your event is beautifully executed and within current safety regulations. From weddings to birthdays and rehearsal dinners to anniversaries, Bonterra is one of Charlotte’s most beloved special event venues. During this challenging season, we are working diligently to provide a safe, superb dining experience. Our historic Dilworth location allows guests to dine inside the spacious setting of a former church or outside on our patio in view of Charlotte’s gorgeous tree canopy. Customers can also wine and dine at home with Bonterra’s Take Out service.
Bonterra has been a Queen City staple for more than 20 years. Providing an extraordinary culinary experience is our passion. Providing excellent service and community is our calling.
1829 CLEVELAND AVENUE @ EAST WORTHINGTON AVENUE, CHARLOTTE, NC 28203 | 704.333.9463 | BONTERRADINING.COM SPONSORED SECTION
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BOO K YO U R
The Manchester, an American Gastropub, in the heart of Charlotte’s vibrant South End. With a wide selection of 20 craft beers, incredible menu, and weekend brunch.
If you’re searching for a more intimate and exclusive setting, join us at Room 1812. Nestled underneath the Manchester is Room 1812. In the tradition of prohibition era Speakeasies, enter with a daily password posted to @room_1812 on instagram.
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1812 SOUTH BOULEVARD | CHARLOTTE, NC 28203 | 980.237.0391 | WWW.MANCHESTER1812.COM SPONSORED SECTION
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The Cowfish is committed to working with sustainable fisheries & partners with only the best U.S. farms for our all-natural, antibiotic and hormone-free burgers. Join us for a one of a kind dining experience inside or on our patio! 4310 SHARON ROAD, CHARLOTTE, NC 28211 | 704.365.1922 | THECOWFISH.COM SPONSORED SECTION
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Come for the food and drink. Stay for the fun. Sir Edmond Halley’s, a classic English pub, has been a gathering place for more than 24 years — a place where guests can enjoy fresh, made-from-scratch food in a lively atmosphere. Order from a wide selection of both local and international beers (no one else pours a better pint of Guinness), choose from an extensive wine list (half-priced bottles on Wednesdays and Sundays) or try something off the cocktail list. Dine in the fresh air on the spacious and dog-friendly patio, in the handsome dining room, at the friendly bar or in the infamous pub room, complete with darts, chess, checkers, backgammon and more. Sir Edmond Halley’s is serving a full menu each day until 11pm. Come for the food and drink — stay for the fun.
4151 PARK RD A | CHARLOTTE, NC 28209 | 704.525.7775 | WWW.HALLEYSPUB.COM SPONSORED SECTION
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WE’RE BREWING SOMETHING SUPER TASTY FOR QCBF 2021. While we work out all the juicy details, continue to support your favorite Charlotte breweries – from home or at the brewery.
qcbrewfest.com
40+ TAPS
BUT ONLY THE BEST MAKE IT IN HERE
On the pursuit for the best in craft beer? Discover more at Brewers at 4001 Yancey: a craft house featuring award winning craft brews from along the East Coast and provisions allowing you to eat as well as you drink. Visit us: brewersat4001yancey.com • 4001-A Yancey Rd, Charlotte, NC 28217
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BREWERY AND TAP ROOM
Solar Powered
voted best brewery in charlotte
proudly brewed in CLT since 2011
QC Nerve 2019 best in the nest awards
1016 North Davidson Street
704-332-1810
| birdsongbrewing.com
Get Ready for Cool Evenings and Holiday Celebrations! With enticing dancing flames, you can feel the warmth of the new RH Peterson Real Fyre G52 Radiant Fyre Gas log systems. Molded with an exclusive fiber enhanced refractory ceramic mixture, these handcrafted logs showcase the crisp Charred Evergreen Oak & Charred Evergreen Split Oak bark detail. They glow and radiate like burning wood.
M-F 10-6, SAT. 10-5
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Room to W
grow A MYERS PARK FAMILY OF SIX RENOVATES THEIR LOW-COUNTRY HOME WITH A DESIGN THAT’S BOTH FUNCTIONAL AND BEAUTIFUL. BY CATHERINE RUTH KELLY PHOTOGRAPHS BY ERIN COMERFORD MILLER
hen they moved into their house nearly 15 years ago, this Myers Park family had two young children with twins on the way. Nestled on a tree-lined street, the low-country style home seemed perfect, with ample space and proximity to schools. As the four children grew, so did their need for more room, but the homeowners couldn’t find a new house enticing enough to motivate them to move. “We would tour homes with smaller kitchens or fewer bedrooms, and we really wanted to stay in the area,” the homeowner explains. “We love that our kids can walk to school.” So the renovation planning began. The homeowners lined up their team, including architect Andrew Woodruff, Tri-Square Construction and interior designer Jennifer Felts of Habitude Interiors. “Functionality was the main goal for these clients because they have four teenagers, so we created a plan for them that was both functional and beautiful,” Felts says. The homeowners wanted a clean, beachy vibe, so
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A Calacatta quartz island with pendant lights by Arteriors anchors the kitchen, the family’s favorite room in the house. In the breakfast area, a sprawling light fixture by Regina Andrew adds to the home’s nautical feel, along with basket weave chairs from West Elm and blue-and-white Kravet fabric valances. 108
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Felts maintained a neutral palette accented with soft, coastal hues. The biggest structural change was converting the garage into living space that includes a new mudroom, pantry and a spacious laundry room, allowing the kitchen to extend into the old laundry area. The room features a counter long enough for four laundry baskets as well as an area for hanging clothes. Felts added pops of color with a vintage runner from Adrienne Davis Design and a painting by Charlotte-based artist Robert Langford. “The laundry room is larger than most,” Felts adds, “but with four kids, they wash a lot of clothes.” Slate-colored porcelain field tile from Harkey Tile & Stone links the laundry room to the adjacent mudroom, where six custom cabinets and cubbies — one for each family member — provide storage for sports gear, off-season clothes and more. Drawers for shoes help keep the space tidy. The family’s favorite area of the house is the kitchen. The bright, airy room is anchored by a generously sized island, accented by teardrop glass pendants. A custom copper hood by Francois and Co. tops the 60inch Wolf range. “The larger cooking area and island have made
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a huge difference,” the homeowner says. “I encourage all of my children to help with meal prep, so having more shoulder room has been wonderful.” The family takes most of their meals at the island or around the custom 72-inch round table in the breakfast area. The sprawling light fixture features multiple blown glass globes connected by a black fabric cord, creating a nautical feel. Basketweave chairs and blue-and-white fabric valances continue the coastal theme. Felts encouraged her clients to make a statement in the butler’s pantry, since it is mostly used for entertaining. She added sophisticated touches such as a dark Castillo gray quartz countertop, a round bar sink and a striking chevron-patterned brass and marble backsplash. “We wanted the butler’s pantry to be dramatic and a bit edgier that the rest of the
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Dramatic accents such as the chevron brass and marble backsplash from Harkey Tile & Stone add sophistication to the butler’s pantry, a hub for entertaining.
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house, and my clients fell in love with the tile,” Felts says. “They decided it was worth the splurge.” In the powder room, blue and white Thibaut wallpaper gives the space a beachhouse chic. A custom vanity with a marble counter and scalloped backsplash pairs perfectly with brass fixtures and an acrylic and gold-leaf mirror. The rest of the house was functional but needing updating, so Felts focused on modernizing the family room, stairwell and upstairs bathrooms. Removing unnecessary columns and archways created a more open, flowing floor plan. A yellow oak railing along the stairwell was replaced with iron, adding a clean, contemporary aesthetic. Fresh tile, paint and fixtures revamped the upstairs bathrooms. The homeowners say the renovation is perfect for their family. “Your home should exude who you are — your vibe, your essential style,” Felts says. “My clients’ house is always their house, I just aim to elevate their style and tailor it to their needs.” SP 112
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In the mudroom, a spherical Robert Abbey chandelier complements polished chrome hardware on the six custom cabinets, one for each family member.
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Into the woods
RELAX, RECHARGE AND EXPLORE THE SMOKIES AT UNDER CANVAS LUXURY CAMPING RESORT. BY CATHY MARTIN
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Autumn just might be the perfect time to visit: The first three weeks of October is typically peak season for colorful fall foliage, according to Under Canvas General Manager Andy Chafe.
STAY When you go camping, remembering to pack everything you’ll need for even a short trip can be overwhelming. Fortunately at Under Canvas, practically all that you’ll need during your stay is provided. When arriving at the resort, you’ll check in at the main lobby tent, a 24-hour hub that’s the center for most camp activities. Breakfast and dinner are served here, and complimentary coffee and tea is available all day long. Whether you’re traveling as a couple, with family or with friends, the resort offers a myriad of luxury tents to choose from, spaced comfortably apart so you don’t feel like you’re eavesdropping on your neighbors. Tents are designed with rustic wood floors, neutral decor and private covered porches for sipping morning coffee or a cold beer after a long hike. Each is equipped with a woodburning stove and all the firewood you’ll need. Linens and towels are provided, along with EO plantbased soaps and shampoos. Deluxe tents have king-sized beds and private en suite bathrooms with showers. For more space, you can opt for a suite,
PHOTOGRAPH BY JOPHOTO AND DREAMTOWN CO
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here’s something uniquely soothing about falling asleep at night and waking up in the morning to the sounds of the forest — a gentle rolling stream, the wind in the trees, birds singing at daybreak. It’s part of camping’s allure. Now imagine waking to this relaxing symphony of sounds while snugly tucked in a plush, comfy bed, a crackling fire in the wood stove to keep you toasty. Such is the experience at Under Canvas Great Smoky Mountains, a luxury camping resort on 182 acres about 10 miles from Gatlinburg, Tenn. Luxury camping, or glamping, is having a moment, as urbanites seek driving-distance getaways away from the crowds. Under Canvas was an early pioneer of the trend when it debuted its first glamping experience in Montana in 2009. Today, there are seven Under Canvas resorts, each bordering a national park or memorial, including the Grand Canyon, Zion and Glacier. New camps at Acadia National Park (Maine) and Lake Powell (Utah) are set to debut in spring 2021. Under Canvas Great Smoky Mountains became the resort’s first East Coast location when it opened in 2018. There’s a good reason why the Smokies, which straddles the North Carolina-Tennessee border, is the most-visited national park: Its 500,000 acres of wilderness boast 2,100 miles of streams and rivers, more than 1,500 wildflower species, waterfalls galore, and more than 800 miles of hiking trails.
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EAT One of the best perks about staying at Under Canvas is the onsite dining for breakfast and dinner. The menus boast a variety of well-prepared dishes, often incorporating locally sourced ingredients. Breakfast selections include steel-cut oatmeal, a yogurt parfait with fresh berries — a great grab-and-go choice if you’re hitting the trails early — and a hot daily special. The dinner menu includes shareables such as a charcuterie plate and house-made hummus, salads, burgers and sandwiches. A grilled chicken bowl is a healthy option served in a hearty portion: Herb-marinated chicken breast and sauteed veggies over rice and quinoa is brightened by a zesty green goddess dressing. A small selection of craft beers and wines are available, and there’s a kids’ menu as well. Order at the counter and settle in at one of the outside tables under string lights as you recount the day’s adventures. After dinner, cozy up to the campfire and enjoy complimentary s’mores before turning in for the night.
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of difficulty. The Grotto Falls Trail takes you on a 2.6-mile round-trip hike to a 25-foot waterfall. Alum Cave, accessible via a 5-mile round-trip trail, is actually an 80-foot bluff that’s more akin to formations you might find out west than in the southern Appalachians. For a full-day activity, a strenuous workout and a bucket-list adventure, continue hiking past the cave to the summit of Mount LeConte, one of the highest peaks in the Smokies. It’s a steep ascent, but the views along the way are worth the climb, and at the summit there’s a lodge selling sack lunches and baked goods — a llama train brings provisions up the mountain three times a week during spring, summer and fall. If spending a day on the water sounds like fun, Nantahala Outdoor Center, the original Bryson City river outfitter, has an outpost on the Pigeon River for whitewater rafting trips geared for both novices and intermediates. NOC also has a massive outfitters store in nearby Gatlinburg, where you can stock up on clothing and gear for whatever adventures you have planned. With advance notice, the staff at Under Canvas will assist with booking reservations for guided hikes, rafting, jeep tours, helicopter tours and more. Back at the campground, lawn games such as bean-bag toss, volleyball and horseshoes have been limited due to the pandemic. But two nights a week, regional musicians entertain guests as part of the resort’s Acoustic Campfire Music Series. The fall calendar includes Nashville up-and-comers Temecula Road and singer-songwriters Troy Cartwright and Emily Earle. Given the vastness of the Great Smokies, you’ll have to spend a little time in the car to get from one activity to another. But if you’re an outdoor enthusiast who doesn’t want to abandon all the comforts of home, Under Canvas might be a perfect base camp for all your mountain adventures. SP Under Canvas Great Smoky Mountains is located near Pigeon Forge, Tenn., less than a 4-hour drive from Charlotte. The resort closes for the season on Nov. 30 and reopens on April 21, 2021. Visit undercanvas.com to learn more.
PHOTOGRAPH BY PAUL JOYNER
with or without an adjacent “kids’ tent” — an adorable miniature version with two twin beds that’s just a few steps away. To fall asleep while gazing at the night sky, book a “Stargazer” tent with a viewing window above the bed. The more economical “Safari” tents are located a short walk to a shared bath house, with individual suites with showers and sinks. For the most privacy, request one of the four tents embedded in the woods at the back of the property, perched high above the ground for a treehouse-like vibe. The goal at Under Canvas is to truly unplug: There’s no Wi-Fi, and there are no electrical outlets in the tents, but there are LED lanterns with USB plugs for charging cell phones. For those who might need to check in with the outside world at a moment’s notice, it’s important to note that the camp is a bit remote, and service can be spotty.
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PRIVATE SCHOOLS SERVING CHARLOTTE AREA STUDENTS Oaks Christian School Providence Day School British International School of Charlotte Palisades Episcopal School Charlotte Preparatory School Chatham Hall Saint Mary’s School
Conveniently located in the Cotswold area, Oaks Christian School exists to nurture, develop, and educate the whole child – mind, body, heart, and soul. It is our mission to accomplish this and promote a love of learning through a distinctive program that includes experiential learning environments, a Christ-centered community, service learning partnerships, and a convenient year-round calendar. Serving Grades K - 5 (2020-2021) For more information, please call: 980-242-9933. 4921 Randolph Road Charlotte, NC 28211 theoakscharlotte@gmail.com The school does not discriminate on the basis of gender, race, color or national origin in the administration of its educational programs, admissions policies, financial aid policies, employment practices or other school-administered programs.
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Providence Day School With our mission to inspire a passion for learning, a commitment to personal integrity, and a sense of responsibility to the larger world, Providence Day School has a 50-year history of academic excellence. Providence Day was the first independent school in the nation to offer a Global Studies diploma; we were the first in the nation to host a Children’s Defense Fund Freedom School site.
5800 Sardis Road Charlotte, NC 28270 (704) 887-6000 www.ProvidenceDay.org/Admissions
We are widely recognized among our peers for our global focus; our achievements in the arts and athletics; our focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion; and our innovations in learning. Our classrooms are places of discovery, where learning about diverse cultures and shared experiences creates connections to a larger humanity. We teach students to respect others, develop their communication skills, and build their confidence, so they can collaborate and lead in our culturally diverse society Virtual admissions open houses will take place on October 29 at 6:30 p.m. for transitional kindergarten through grade 5 and November 8 at 2 p.m. for transitional kindergarten through 12th grades.
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Offering in-person learning The British International School of Charlotte occupies a unique place in the educational landscape of private schools in Charlotte, NC. Our school is part of Nord Anglia Education, a family of 68 premium and contemporary international schools across the globe – and growing. Our family sized school and smaller class sizes not only allows our British trained and experienced international academic team to deliver a highly personalized approach to learning to ages 18 months to 18 years, but also allows us to adapt our programs and policies to work with this ever-changing world. As we know that we learn best when in the presence of others, we are committed to offering a safe, in-person learning experience for everyone. We welcomed our students back into the classrooms on Monday, August 31, 2020 as well as our families that chose to begin the school year with our virtual ‘Classroom Connect’ option. Our ‘Classroom Connect” option offers a structured, rigorous and inclusive curriculum to families that are not ready to return to in-person learning but with the goal for their children to integrate back into the classroom at some point during the school year.
7000 Endhaven Ln (704) 341-3236 www.bischarlotte.org
Apply today!
We challenge, motivate and inspire all students to become independent, creative thinkers, achieve ambitious results and exceed expectations. Weaving together world-leading international curricula, one-of-a-kind collaborations with MIT, Juilliard and UNICEF along with our pedagogical approach to learning prepares our students to enter the world-renowned International Baccalaureate Diploma Program (IBDP). The IBDP is a challenging two-year course of study leading to the IB Diploma qualification, which is highly regarded by colleges and universities worldwide. We do not just prepare students to succeed in higher education, we prepare our students to succeed at life.
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Palisades Episcopal School – Joyful Love of Learning! Every day is Open House at PES – schedule a tour at your convenience anytime!
13120 Grand Palisades Parkway Charlotte, NC 28278-8449 704.583.1825 pescharlotte.org
Palisades Episcopal School (PES) is a school honoring Christ and committed to providing a classical education challenging the mind, body and spirit. Serving students in Junior Kindergarten – 8th grade, PES offers intimate class sizes and low teacher-student ratios which allow for differentiated instruction across every grade. In addition, our service integration helps students develop citizenship skills and fosters values of integrity, courage, responsibility, compassion, and hard work. PES students graduate knowing how to connect their heads to their hearts, becoming lifelong learners who are academically prepared for high school and beyond. For more information about PES or to schedule a tour, visit us at pescharlotte.org.
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SMALL SCHOOL
BIG FAMILY Now more than ever, your children need a school where they are known for their unique personalities, loved by their teachers, and challenged to rise to their personal best. At Charlotte Prep, children receive an outstanding education in a safe, nurturing environment that fosters intellectual, expressive, physical, and ethical growth.
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Empowering Grades 9-12 Girls to Better the World Learn more at www.chathamhall.org
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choose Why to blend in? want Yaouschool that
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At Saint Mary’s School you can immerse yourself in a vibrant learning experience. Our innovative curriculum is designed with you in mind – whether you’re on campus or distance learning. You’ll build key competencies, apply what you learn to real-world problems, and explore new ideas and interests in a community that values and respects your unique voice and talents. You have big dreams. We can help you achieve them. Find what you need at sms.edu/shine
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|swirl A monthly guide to Charlotte’s parties and galas
Purple Heart Homes Spring Golf Classic June 19, Rocky River Golf Club
PHOTOGRAPHS BY DANIEL COSTON
Bill Layle, Jim Stevenson, David Satterfield and Kyle Davis
Kyle Barthelson, Melissa Wyman, Bryce Wyman and Carl Barthelson
First place winners: Andrew Coulter, Clay Costner, Colin McHale and Mike Newell
Golfers from across the Charlotte region took to the links for a good time and to raise money for Purple Heart Homes, which provides housing for disabled and aging veterans.
Second place winners
A Seat at the Table: A Black Chef’s Table Experience A benefit for My Sister’s House July 31, Mint Museum Randolph
PHOTOGRAPHS BY DANIEL COSTON
Patrons dined under the stars to support My Sister’s House, which helps women who have experienced homelessness lead self-sufficient lives. The evening featured four courses prepared by local Black chefs with wine provided by Davidson Wine Co.
Sean and Melanie DesChamps
Kaity Ross and Crystal Roache
Lindsey and Aerik Williams
Diane Doherty and Deidra Parrish Williams
Teddy and Ryasia Cain
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|swirl A monthly guide to Charlotte’s parties and galas
24 Hours of Booty UnLooped A benefit for the 24 Foundation July 24-25
Lauren, Michael and Karen Whittaker and Kathryn Rizzo of Team Cootie Jones
Spencer Lueders
PHOTOGRAPHS BY DANIEL COSTON
Eve White
Brent Gribble
With the pandemic forcing this annual event off its usual track, 119 teams throughout the Charlotte region raised more than $800,000 for the 24 Foundation by cycling, running and walking in their own neighborhoods. The Foundation supports organizations that assist cancer patients and their families.
Dennis Whittaker and Spencer Lueders
Stratford Kiger and Holly Peterson
Rich Jones and Kevin Farley
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SNAPSHOT
Discovering Black film classics
FILM HISTORIAN FELIX CURTIS SHINES LIGHT ON THE ARTISTIC VALUE OF THE COMPLEX BLACK FILM CANON. BY MICHAEL J. SOLENDER
What criteria do you use to designate a film classic and choose for screening? It’s the quality and the content of the film. Since launching the series, most films have been in that ’30s to ’60s period. Initially I looked to noteworthy talent like Dorothy Dandridge, Oscar Micheaux, the great Paul Robeson, Josephine Baker and others. Recently, I’ve been showing the films that have been done in the ’70s. Half or maybe even three quarters of my audience hasn’t seen these films. The older films are the ones that I really gravitate toward, because they highlight actors that people aren’t familiar with or didn’t know existed but were great actors. You mention Micheaux, why is he so venerated? He’s identified as the godfather of Black cinema. Modernday filmmakers like Spike Lee and John Singleton found inspiration in Micheaux. He was a guerrilla filmmaker, making films on small budgets and [with] borrowed material. Two clas 128
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sic Micheaux films I recommend are both silent. Within Our Gates (1920) was a counterpoint to Birth of a Nation (1915). Body and Soul (1925) is a classic because it was Paul Robeson’s first film, and he played two parts. There was an era (from the ’20s to the ’40s) of what were called “Race Films.” What is their background? Race films were films [made by Black film companies for Black audiences] that had a predominantly Black cast and predominantly racial themes. There was segregation in the mainstream theaters during this time. These were serious films though, not comedies. They were dramas. There was always this element of the color, of there being either someone passing for white or someone upholding the Black race against those who were trying to degrade the race. In the ’70s there were Blaxploitation films. These films had a predominantly black cast, though the subject matter was usually that of ‘getting one over on the man.’ Superfly (1972) is a good example. One of my favorites is Willie Dynamite (1973). It was a Blaxploitation film featuring a good-natured pimp. Ironically, the star of this film was one of the original stars of Sesame Street, Roscoe Orman. What do you find exciting about contemporary Black film? Female filmmakers are showing what they’re capable of. Ava DuVernay is spearheading that whole genre of positive image, love stories — dealing with things other than race, dealing with relationships. Ryan Coogler is doing great things. Black Panther (2018) is a culmination of his prior great work. Fruitvale Station (2013) was great. Many actors are getting into directing now. Regina King is doing great work acting and directing, and Spike Lee is still producing Spike Lee movies. Hollywood is not the epicenter of quality films. Independent films are now dominating as far as the quality, and audiences are responding. SP
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wo years after moving to Charlotte from the San Francisco Bay area in 2006, Felix Curtis was itching to bring his love of lesser-known films featuring Black artists and themes to Charlotte audiences. Curtis came to Charlotte as the longtime curator of the San Francisco Black Film Festival and Black Filmworks, the annual festival component of the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame, where he later served as executive director. In 2008, the Classic Black Cinema Series was born, screening the second Sunday afternoon monthly at the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African American Arts + Culture (the series has been online during the pandemic). SouthPark recently spoke with Curtis, who shared insights on his selection process, race films and contemporary filmmakers to watch. Comments were edited for brevity.
4521 Sharon Rd, Charlotte, NC 28211
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OfďŹ cial Jeweler of the Carolina Panthers
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