Charlotte was a haven for good food even before Johnson and Wales brought their campus to town ushering in a new era of great food options to the city. A few new restaurants have been announced and an old favorite is back open after closing during the pandemic. Here is some of the restaurant news we are most excited about.
Salt and Vinegar is a new culinary destination coming to an old potato chip factory, hence the name. It will be the home of Legion Brewing as well as an experimental restaurant called Counter and Biblio wine bar. The development will ultimately house office space, and retail with Legion Brewing and Tap Room anchoring the space. Legion will also have a wood-fired pizza oven to serve Neapolitan style pies. They will be able to produce up to 100,000 barrels of beer and have a canning line so you can take beer home with you. The new location is in the FreeMoreWest/Ashley Park neighborhood on West Morehead Street. Opening should be in March.
Wesley Heights restaurant Counter is expanding and they are opening an additional restaurant called Biblio (the wine bar mentioned above). Both will be located in the Salt and Vinegar space. Counter is a high end concept restaurant with 10 course tasting menus and pairings with music. The story-driven menu changes seasonally so each meal is a surprise. Reservations are required.
Biblio will offer wine and a tapas style menu of small sharing plates. Plates are a little bit bigger than you would think for tapas as they are more in the style of Spain and France where tapas are larger and meant to be shared. The concept is that you purchase a wine and the chef will prepare a special selection of food to pair perfectly with your vintage. Each experience at Biblio should be unique as there are 500 wines to choose from and the menu will change seasonally. Reservations will be required.
But, what we are really excited about is the return of an old favorite. Cicchetti is back in Uptown after a long hiatus. The Venetian style wine bar and sister restaurant Aria Tuscan Grill are now connected by a new entryway. Cicchetti opened in 2019 in the Bank of America Corporate Center, and was closed just 5 months later. With many people returning to in person work Uptown, this is a welcome return indeed. Look for a great wine selection as well as beer and mixed drinks. Small plates tapas style will help you snack or you can head next door for a full meal.
And finally, a big relief. It was announced this week that the building that houses Alexander Michael’s, a fixture of 4th Ward since 1983, is up for sale. Steve Casner, owner of the restaurant, is not shutting the restaurant. The lease for the space is not in question. The building will have new owners if they can find one for the price of $1.5 million. This is welcome news for residents and visitors to the 4th Ward. Al Mike’s will continue serving great food and drinks for many years to come.
