• Pewter Rose Bistro, 1820 South Blvd. in SouthEnd, will serve brunch on the Friday following Thanksgiving, Nov. 27 and on New Year’s Day, Friday, Jan. 1, 2010.
• Mama Ricotta’s Restaurant has hired Tom Dyrness as executive chef. Dryness is a graduate of Johnson & Wales, Providence, R.I. and most recently worked at Mimosa Grille.
Upstream’s First Annual Oyster Bash will go down on Friday, Nov. 20 at 6:30 p.m. until 8:30 p.m. Oysters include Old Salt (one of my favorites) from the Chincoteague, Blue Point from the east coast, and Kumamoto from the west. Paired with the oysters are wines and champagne. A portion of the proceeds from the evening will be donated to Share Our Strength, the national organization that is fighting to end childhood hunger by 2015. $75 per person, exclusive of tax and gratuity. 6902 Phillips Place. Reservations: 704-556-7730.
Eat Here Now, 2016 Ayrsley Town Boulevard, has a Thanksgiving meal for six people for $49.99 plus sales tax. Dinner includes 2 pounds of sliced turkey, 2 pounds of homemade dressing, 8 ounces of turkey gravy, cranberry sauce, 3 quarts of a side item and rolls or cornbread. Sides include green beans, corn, sweet potato casserole, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole and new potatoes. Pecan, chocolate pecan, pumpkin or sweet potato pies are $7.99. Dinners may be picked up from 8 a.m. until noon on Thanksgiving Day: 704-499-9999 or www.eatherenownc.com.
Pewter Rose Bistro, 1820 South Blvd. in South End, will be the first stop on a bar crawl, Thursday, Nov. 19, to celebrate of the arrival of the 2009 Beaujolais. The crawl begins at 5:30 p.m., and then travels to Sullivan’s, Blue, Terra and then back to Tutto Mondo (Pewter Rose’s adjoining lounge) for the finale. The cost is $15 per person per location, or $50 for all of them. Each restaurant will be providing a glass of the Beaujolais with a special appetizer made especially for the wine. The finale at Tutto Mondo will feature Beaujolais cocktails and mulled cider. Transportation for the crawl; boas and berets; musical entertainment; and festive flags will be provided. Tickets can be purchased at Pewter Rose and must be acquired before Nov. 16.
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.
Sunday, June 28 was the last day of operation for Sonny’s Real Pit Bar B Q, 4301 Monroe Road.
• Max’s Ally, 355 John Galt Way in Afton Village, welcomes back Executive Chef Brendon Murphy who was responsible for the original menu. Murphy, a Johnson & Wales University graduate who also co-hosted the PBS food show Fingerprints with his brother, plans to utilize local ingredients on his new summer menu.
• Providence Café, 110 Perrin Place, has a $19.95 prix fixe theater menu available before or after performances at the Blumenthal or Ovens. The menu includes a choice of grilled mahi mahi with roasted pineapple salsa; pulled pork barbecue with southern slaw; roasted half chicken with scallion cream gravy whipped potatoes; blackened chicken penne pasta in a gorgonzola cream sauce, and angel hair primavera with artichoke hearts, grape tomatoes, spinach, kalamata olives, portobello mushroom, in a white wine sauce.
Chef Blake Hartwick, formerly the Executive Chef at Bonterra Dining & Wine Room, Las Ramblas Cafe, and The Lodge, is now Executive Chef at Blair’s American Bistro & Wine Bar, 1600 Montford Drive, 704-525-8282.
Chef Cory Sharpe is now Executive Chef at Bonterra Dining & Wine Room, 1829 Cleveland Ave.. Sharpe had been the Sous Chef there since 2002. Marcelino Santos has been promoted to Executive Chef at Las Ramblas, 2400 Park Road, where he had been the Sous since the 2006 opening. Joe Leischner is now Chef at The Lodge, 7725 Colony Road. Leischner had been a cook at Bonterra.
Soon, when you go out to eat, the hostess won’t be asking you if you want “Smoking or Non-smoking.”
N.C. Gov. Bev Purdue says she will sign into law a bill the state House of Representatives passed Wednesday that bans smoking in bars and restaurants in the state.
The House approved by a 62-56 vote a version of the smoking ban that had been passed by the N.C. Senate. The measure will make it illegal for restaurant and bar owners to allow smoking in their establishments.
Read the full story from the Charlotte Business Journal here.
