‘Queen City’ leaving turbulent past behind for bright future
Friday 3 p.m., market to museum Entrepreneurial cooks and purveyors share ideas and peddle wares at 7th Street Public Market in the heart of Uptown. Lin McKay and Mike Shafer, former math professors, preside at bar Chocolate, selling candy creations including bee pollen praline and ghost chili sea salt caramel ($2.50 for each, a half dozen for $14). At Orrman’s Cheese Shop, try a Calvander from the nearby Chapel Hill Creamery. 7 p.m., the art of dining When the restaurateur Alejandro Torio and his partners commissioned Charlotte artist Jon Norris to paint the ceiling tiles of their new restaurant 5Church two years ago, he amazed them by reproducing all 40,000 words of Sun Tzu’s Art of War. But if the ceiling is the centrepiece, Jamie Lynch’s menu is no less inspired. The “60 Second” New York strip ($35) is his signature cut, seared on one side, rare on the other and served with a gorgonzola fondue. 9:30 p.m., evening musing A few kilometres from Uptown lies a former textile mill community. Twenty-five years ago, with most of the jobs gone, turn-of-the-century homes were boarded up and the company store and mill buildings were shuttered. That began to change when a group of artists turned several buildings into galleries, and the term NoDa (North Davidson arts district) was born. In 2001, a local musician, Joe Kuhlmann, opened Evening Muse. This intimate space is a place to catch emerging acts such as Shovels and Rope before they follow fellow Evening Muse alumni the Avett Brothers, Sugarland and the Civil Wars, and outgrow walls that only hold 120 fans. Saturday 9 a.m., raw breakfast Grab a Lynx light rail train from Uptown ($2.20) to the East West station. You’re a short walk from Luna’s Living Kitchen, where Juliana Luna offers a creative menu chock full of raw foods. A raw bagel ($7) is a delicious concoction of hummus, almond pulp, rosemary, olives, zucchini, flaxseeds and olive oil served with sour cream, basil leaves and tomato. Her Living Burrito ($12) holds sunflower seeds, refried beans, cauliflower rice, pico de gallo and guacamole, all wrapped in a collard leaf. 10:30 a.m., adventure on two wheels The East-West station has a kiosk for one of the largest bike-share pro- grams in the South. Grab a Charlotte B-cycle ($8 for your pass, first halfhour is free, $4 per half-hour afterward) and spin through Dilworth — created at the dawn of the 20th century as a streetcar neighbourhood (the streetcar lines were ripped up in 1938). 12:30 p.m., French indulgence Return to NoDa by way of Amelie’s French Bakery. Lynn St. Laurent’s eclectic bistro never skimps on the butter or fresh ingredients that grace her quiches ($4.99) or her grandmother’s spinach, asparagus and leek soup ($3.99). Nearby Pura Vida Worldly Art sources toys, clothing and art, like a singing bowl cast by exiled Tibetan monks ($39 to $200), from fair trade vendors across the world. 3:30 p.m., built for speed Race fan or not, you’ll find Uptown’s NASCAR Hall of Fame fascinating. Opened in 2010, the museum traces NASCAR’s roots from Appalachian moonshine running to competitions along the sands of Daytona Beach with cars that could be raced only if they were “stock” (sold exactly as they left the dealer’s lot) to the billion-dollar spectacle of today. Most fascinating are 1950s and ’60s exhibits that showcase the dangerous rides of pioneer garage mechanic racers like Marshall Teague’s original 1952 Hudson Hornet, immortalized in the film Cars. 7 p.m., ’cue & brew Charlotte has never been known as a big barbecue town, but Midwood Smokehouse’s pitmaster and executive chef Matt Barry seeks to change that with this noisy, popular restaurant. Barry cooks his chicken, pork and turkey over North Carolina hickory in a computer-controlled smoker. Barbecue plates run $8 to $15. Pair with collards and baked beans and chase with a Red Ale from NoDa Brewing Company ($5). 8:30 p.m., juke joints and blues Brian and Mark Wilson’s Thirsty Beaver Saloon is a cinder-block juke joint with a modest stage, two pool tables, photos of Burt Reynolds and Charlotte’s longtime cartoon show host “Cowboy Fred” Kirby on the walls, and a chandelier from Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker’s PTL Club. (The show was once based in Charlotte, though what became the vast PTL empire was in Fort Mill, S.C.) The owners’ band, the Loose Lugnuts, play old-school country and often welcome regional country and bluegrass acts. A few miles south, the Double Door Inn has been dishing out rock and blues (alumni include Eric Clapton, Junior Brown and Stevie Ray Vaughan) since 1973. Sunday 9 a.m., walkabout Soak up last night’s libations at Zada Jane’s Corner Café in Plaza Midwood. This cheerful little joint offers vegetarian fare and fruit pancakes ($7.50) alongside omelettes stuffed with veggies and local sausage ($4.50 to $10). Arrive early or expect to play shuffleboard for a while out front. Afterward, stroll down Thomas Street to Belvedere Ave. and Plaza Boulevard through a neighbourhood of oaks and Craftsman cottages before returning to Central Avenue. 2 p.m., artistic riches The Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts and Culture’s permanent collection includes an incredible body of African-American art collected over 50 years by John Hewitt and his wife, Vivian Davidson Hewitt. Works include lithographs, woodcuts and paintings from J. Eugene Grisby Jr., Ernest Crichlow, Charles Alston, Virginia Evans Smit and Charlotteborn Romare Bearden. Current exhibitions include Selected Works of J. Eugene Grigsby, Jr.: Returning to Where the Artistic Seed Was Planted. The New York Times