Eat My Charlotte

Soul Gastrolounge, 1500 Central Ave. on the corner of Central and Pecan (upstairs), will be open on Thanksgiving from 5 p.m. until 2 a.m. The menu includes hot sage sausage and brioche stuffing cubes; sour cream whipped potato croquettes with giblet gravy; turkey and provolone panini with cranberry aioli; fried mushrooms on creamy shaved Brussel sprout ragout; and tempura fried green beans and onions with porcini mushroom cream. $6 to $8. 704-348-1848.

The Morehead Inn in Dilworth, The VanLandingham Estate in Plaza-Midwood, and their Good Gracious! Events catering arm has Thanksgiving “To Go” again this year. The menu includes roasted turkey with giblet gravy and cranberry apple chutney; beef tenderloin; honey ham; broccoli and cheese casserole; oyster stuffing; pecan pie; pumpkin pie; and chocolate cake. To order visit or call: www.moreheadinn.com or 704-376-3357; www.vanlandinghamestate.com or 704-334-8909; or www.goodgracious.net or 704-375-3919. Items may be ordered through Monday, Nov. 23 and picked up Monday through Wednesday, from 10 a.m. until 8 p.m.

Harper’s Southpark and Harper´s To GoGo, 6518 Fairview Road, have complete Thanksgiving dinners to go. Orders must be placed by Monday, Nov. 23rd, and picked up Tuesday, Nov. 24 from 5 p.m. until 8 p.m. or Wednesday, Nov. 25, 10 a.m. until 8 p.m. 704-366-6612.

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BLT Steak, 110 North College Street in The Ritz-Carlton, has a three-course, $68 ($34 for children under 12) prix fixe Thanksgiving Day menu available from noon until 9 p.m. Selections include Organic Turkey with chestnut stuffing and cranberry-grenadine sauce; roasted prime rib of beef with garlic confit jus and caramelized onion and bacon popovers; or seared Scottish salmon with braised fennel, leeks, fingerling potatoes and cockles. Reservations: 704-972-4380. www.bltrestaurants.com

Zink American Kitchen, 201 N. Tryon St., has a Thanksgiving buffet from 11 a.m. until 7 p.m. Among the items offered are Oysters Rockefeller, shrimp cocktail, stone crab claws, butternut squash soup, mountain-cured country ham with biscuits, slow roasted Ashley Farms Turkey with cornbread stuffing, spit-roasted prime rib of beef, roasted pork tenderloin with apple plum chutney, cedar plank roasted salmon, spice roasted sweet potatoes, smashed Yukon gold potatoes, macaroni and cheese, green bean and squash casseroles, cranberry sauce, apple cobbler, white chocolate cheesecake, chocolate pecan pie, and pumpkin pie $21.95 adults, $10.95 for children 3 to 10, under 3 free. 704-444-9001.

The Q Shack, 10822 Providence Road at Promenade on Providence, has whole smoked 10 to 12 pound Thanksgiving turkeys for $34.95. Also available are mashed sweet potatoes and Brunswick stew. ($2.99 half pint, $5.99 pint, $10.99 quart.) To order: 704-542-5959. Turkeys must be picked up Tuesday, November 24, or Wednesday, November 25.

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Owner Nobby has opened the House of Kabuki in Indian Trail, 6701 Old Monroe Road. The 130-item menu includes sushi, sashimi, hibachi, and tempura dishes. Hours: Monday through Thursday 11 a.m. until 9 p.m.; until 9:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday; Sunday noon until 6 p.m.

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• 50 Applebee’s Restaurants, owned and operated by the Apple Gold Group, will host a Halloween Bash, Saturday, Oct. 31, from 9 p.m. until 2 a.m. Guests are encouraged to dress up in a costume. A costume contest will be held at midnight. “Spooky” drinks will be served. www.AGGrestaurants.com.

• Maddi’s Southern Gallery, in Birkdale Village, 16925 Birkdale Commons Parkway, Huntersville, is hosting a wine dinner on Wednesday, Nov. 4 at 7 p.m. On the menu are Sumarocca Cava Brut, cornbread and tasso ham stuffed mushrooms with St. Hilaire Cotes du Rhone Blanc, pumpkin bisque with Foris Gewurztraminer; roasted acorn squash with lentils and goat cheese with Chehalem Pinot Gris Reserve; apple and sage stuffed pork tenderloin with roasted root vegetables with Brutocao Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon; and for dessert, a trio of assorted mini muffins with coffee. The cost is $49 per person. Reservations are required: 704-987-7762 or www.maddissouthernbistro.com.

• New on the menu at Sullivan’s Steakhouse, 1928 South Boulevard, are never frozen Florida stone crab claws as appetizers or entrées with the traditional Dijon mustard sauce. Stone Crabs will be available at Sullivan’s until May 15, 2010.

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• Cantina 1511, 1511 East Boulevard in Dilworth and 7708 Rea Road in Stonecrest Shopping Center, is offering a $7 weekday lunch menu for the fall. Menu items include Tacos Dorado – three white corn tacos stuffed with crab, shrimp, scallions, lime and valentina sauce, deep fried and served with Mexican crema and shredded cabbage; and Crab Quesadilla filled with avocado, lump crab, jalapeño bacon, mixed cheeses; garnished with an avocado crema and served with a jicama slaw and red pepper crema.

• Beginning in November (National Diabetes Month), Dream Dinners of Fort Mill, 1646 Highway 160 West, are participating in a new meal program designed specifically for customers diagnosed with diabetes or those at risk for developing diabetes. The Dinners for Life menu use “diabetic friendly recipes”. Menu items include Chicken Paella and Baked Fish and Chips. According to franchisees Meera Pattison & Mary Beth Lakshmanan, all meals are physician approved and dietitian designed. To be able to provide these special menus, Pattison and Lakshmanan along with certain members of the staff were required to obtain their Dinners for Life Certification.

• To celebrate their third anniversary, Global Restaurant, 3520 Toringdon Way, are offering a special Anniversary Menu, $79.00 for Two which includes a bottle of wine ($60 without wine). The menu includes soup, cured beef with Gribiche sauce, Asiago cheese, toast points; an endive salad with a mix of blue cheese, pecans, tomatoes, chives, with an apple and almond vinaigrette. Entrees include W & D mushroom raviolis with wilted greens, drizzled with wild mushroom infused oil; market fish; and organic chicken ziti with sun dried tomatoes, mushrooms, kalamata olives, feta, and pesto. Dessert is a strawberry flambé with Gran Marnier, whipped cream and puff pastry. www.global-restaurant.com.

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Fiji Sushi Bar & Lounge located on 5th Street Uptown in Feast’s old spot is set to open to the public this Friday and Saturday, Oct. 9 and 10.

Here are a few pics of what’s to come:

fiji05

Read more about Fiji and also Kashmir Nightclub that is housed below it here.

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Fish. Finding a source for fresh fish in Charlotte has been a problem since I’ve lived here, and that’s basically forever. (I arrived before the Panthers and before NationsBank morphed into Bank of America.) For me, having lived in cities on the water like San Francisco — with a wharf — and D.C. — with a mini wharf — and near Manhattan, which used to have Fulton Fish Market — this was an adjustment.

The question of where to find fresh fish was raised again after my speaking engagement at Davidson College last week. A man asked where he could find a good fish market. I floundered, so to speak. He had moved to this area from northern Jersey where fish markets are common and variety exists beyond Alaskan wild salmon, yellowfin tuna, mahi mahi, Pacific halibut, tilapia, rainbow trout … and did I say salmon already?

I cheerfully offered what we do have in abundance here: shellfish. Wild-caught shrimp, heads-on shrimp; blue, king and snow crabs; scallops — both bay and diver; mussels; crayfish; lobsters; and oysters. And prices for these items are reasonable.

But fin fish? Clearly Dean & Deluca at Philips Place has quality, but is expensive. While it is true that I’ve bought Icelandic Artic Char locally (at the Teeter), I rarely see Striped Bass (pictured above), Alaskan Pollock, King or Spanish Mackerel, or Pacific Cod. Charlotte’s Asian fish markets like Inner Harbor and Overseas carry a variety of smaller fish, but Charlotte does not have a large fish market with variety and reasonable prices as you would find in northern New Jersey.

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Enso Asian Bistro & Sushi Bar has opened at the EpiCentre uptown. The posh restaurant, located across from CVS on the lower level, threw their V.I.P. grand opening party Wednesday night. Guests were treated with a red carpet entrance, a looooong sushi bar, an open bar that included high-end liquors, small plates of appetizers, and a bottle of pear sake as a take-home gift.

The restaurant’s decor features luxe red and gold colors. Upon entering the restaurant, you will find dark wood floors, stone walls, red crocodile print stools, velvety lounge chairs, high-backed red upholstered dining chairs, and red bars flecked with metallic pieces. Glass lotus flower votives illuminate the bar area with a rosy glow.

The sushi was exceptional and served with pickled ginger arranged into rose buds and wasabi molded into little leaves placed on radish slices. Among the small plates that were passed around were dumplings which Enso calls “dim sum,” Kobe beef with fried rice, impressively large rock shrimp, lamb shanks, sea bass, and more. All were beautifully presented and served by attentive wait staff (many of which were Asian!).

Watch out Nikko … there is a new hip sushi restaurant in town. I anticipate Enso to become the new chic place to see and be seen on the weekends prior to a night of schmoozing uptown. Check out these pics:

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The fast food burger company Hardee’s paid a visit to the offices of Creative Loafing a few minutes ago — the visit was part of a marketing blitz for the joint’s new French Dip Thickburger.

Hardee’s sent over a bunch of burgers … and four ladies dressed as french maids to introduce us to their new line of burgers. Now, I personally don’t eat at fast food spots too much anymore (trying to get sexi-fied) — except for those nights when I need some grease to cut through the alcohol in my belly — but I don’t turn down free food. I also don’t turn away women dressed as French maids, youknowwhatI’msayin’?

Take a look for yourself:

Nice, right? (Shut it you haters!)

Oh and here’s a little video we shot of one of the French maids:

Cute, eh? (Oh whatever!) Lastly, here’s a shot of the burgers — before the CL staff ravaged them, that is:

How do they taste? Well, it was free, so that skews judgment a little. But, they were pretty tasty.

All in all, however, I think I liked the French maids more.

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Customers often ask me where to find “authentic” Mexican food. I usually suggest a couple of places that I frequent. If I see them again and remember to ask them what they ate, I’m almost always disappointed with their answer. They either complain of the venue not having nachos, the sauce being too spicy or that none of the staff spoke English.

Yesterday was a different story. A young non-Latino customer posed the common question to me. I gave him my standard answer. Then he asked me specifically if these places served chicharrónes or menudo. My heart did a joyful beat. I was stunned. This guy really knew his stuff. It turns out his “baby mama” is Mexican. He went on to describe how he enjoys his chicharrónes with “the green sauce” — salsa verde as Mexicans call it.

Chicharrónes are deep fried pork skin. In Mexico, they are fried to a crunch and often eaten in a taco or gordita with spicy salsa verde.

Menudo is a soup made with tripe (cow stomach). It’s heavy and considered a great hangover cure. My mom used to make it every Sunday. It’s time intensive to make so she would start the night before. The smell of raw or boiling tripe is awful! My siblings and I would wake up with the taste of tripe in our throat, the pungent smell having made its way into our nostrils and throat as it simmered overnight. Locking our bedroom doors couldn’t keep the smell out! I’ve personally never been much of a fan of menudo. If I add cilantro, lots of lime juice and chopped onion I can enjoy the soup but I dislike the chewiness and texture of the tripe.

The response of yesterday’s customer has encouraged me to encourage you to explore Mexican food. Try something you have never had. I suggest you go to festivals where you can try a variety of foods. Being engulfed by blaring Mexican or other Latino music and Latino people will only enhance your experience.

Here are a couple of the bigger ones that are coming up:

Sunday, July 19 — Carowinds Fiesta Latina. Carowinds Amusement Park.

Sunday, October 11 — Latin American Festival.

— Teresa Hernandez

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