Charlotte, N.C., long known for dishing out some of the country’s friendliest hospitality, is fast evolving on the culinary stage, and there are terrific ways for meeting attendees to experience the tasty scene.
From an afternoon of chocolate-tasting and pastry-making at one of Charlotte’s finest hotels to foodie tours commingled with local museums and a visit to a winery that offers a bird’s-eye view, here are six outstanding options.
Savory Spice Shop
www.savoryspiceshop.com
Located in Historic South End, Savory Spice Shop carries more than 400 freshly ground herbs and spices, 140 hand-blended seasonings and more.
“Spices are ground and blended to order weekly, and customers are encouraged to sample products,” says Amy MacCabe, owner of the shop.
Amy and Scott MacCabe offer a 45-minute interactive Spice 101 workshop, which encourages participants to touch, smell, taste and learn about spices ranging from cinnamon to chiles.
“Participants leave with a better understanding of how to kick up the flavor in their home-cooked dishes by incorporating the different flavor profiles of spices,” MacCabe says. “For a nominal group charge, tastings and recipes are provided and include dishes such as bakers brew spiced coffee cake, herb-infused olive oil dips, Mediterranean spiced cucumbers and spiced beverages.”PageBreak
Bar Cocoa
www.ritzcarlton.com/charlotte
Bar Cocoa at The Ritz-Carlton, Charlotte, is a purveyor of chocolate and delicious desserts, and was designed with groups in mind, according to Heidi Nowak, the hotel’s director of sales and marketing.
“We conduct several Bar Cocoa group activities that are quite different from typical group offerings,” she says.
Groups can take Saturday cooking lessons such as Classic Desserts from the hit movie Julie and Julia.
“[They] include tastings of everything prepared in class, along with a take-home apron and recipes,” Nowak says, adding that Cocoa Lab kitchen is the creative hub for Bar Cocoa, offering an insider’s look at hotel kitchens and options such as an Urban Chef cooking competition.
“With members of the group all together in the Cocoa Lab competing and sampling as they go, it makes for an enjoyable, different and truly memorable team-building experience,” Nowak says.PageBreak
Food and Farming
Experience
www.museumofthenewsouth.org
“Food is a fun way to explore a community,” says Dr. Tom Hanchett, staff historian at Levine Museum of the New South. “Especially here, where long-time Southern traditions are mingling with cultures that newcomers are bringing from across the U.S. and around the globe.”
The Food and Farming Experience facilitated by the museum pairs groups with a knowledgeable guide to explore the award-winning permanent exhibit Cotton Fields to Skyscrapers.
“Sit at the humble table of a tenant farmer’s home, peer into the cast-iron oven in a cotton mill worker’s kitchen, twirl on the seats at a dime-store lunch counter in the 1960s,” Hanchett says. “It’s an interactive experience that really brings home how much Southern eating has changed over the past century.”
Afterward, groups head next door to the 7th Street Public Market where they’ll find everything from a produce stand to flower and confection shops.
“Your guide will help start conversations with food purveyors ranging from local vegetable farmers to pizza makers to Charlotte’s first full-time cheese monger,” Hanchett says.PageBreak
5Church
www.5church.com
5Church Restaurant, located in the historic Ivey’s Building, opened in May. According to Mandi Bane, the restaurant’s sales director, the cuisine at 5Church is made up of Chef Jamie Lynch’s take on new American dishes.
“His ‘60 Second Steak,’ a thick slice of New York Strip cooked only on one side, allowing the temperature to rise throughout the cut, has been personally complimented by journalist Bryant Gumbel,” she says. “While his roasted chicken with a maple chipotle sauce, locally grown collard greens and sweet potato mash has been ordered multiple times by local sports celebrity Michael Jordan.”
5Church has three rooms for private dining.PageBreak
Taste of the Mint
www.mintmuseum.org
The Mint Museum Uptown offers a food-tasting tour with small plate and drink pairings at two restaurants just below the museum, Halcyon: Flavors from the Earth Restaurant and E2: Emeril’s Eatery.
“Visitors get to sample some delicious food as well as learn how to prep and cook different items, and also learn about different types of wines,” says Kacy Harruff, spokeswoman at the museum. “It’s all followed by a customized one-hour exploration of the Mint’s exhibits.”
The new F.O.O.D (Food, Objects, Objectives, Design) exhibit runs until July 7.PageBreak
Charlotte NC Tours
www.charlottenctours.com
Learning about Charlotte and all it has to offer never tasted so good, according to Terryn Abram, spokeswoman for Charlotte NC Tours, which facilitates the fun Taste & Cycle bike tour.
“Knowledgeable guides present Charlotte’s history, architecture and other information in a fun and refreshing way that’s sure to keep groups entertained,” she says. “The places visited all offer something different and delicious.”
Stops along the way include Mert’s Heart and Soul, where delegates will taste cornbread; Price’s Chicken Coop for some fried chicken; and Pure Pizza, which uses local ingredients, including honey, on their pizza.
“We encourage our customers to visit the restaurants they’ve tasted from after the tour and we provide them with discount cards,” Abram says.
Freelancer Carolyn Blackburn thinks the Savory Spice Shop’s recipe for Mediterranean spiced cucumbers sounds delicious.
