by TM Petaccia

Neighborhood Concepts did the design for Carolina Farm Trust’s Market and Distribution Center. Image courtesy

This morning, Carolina Farm Trust had a ceremonial groundbreaking on its new CFT Market and Distribution Center on Hoskins Road in west Charlotte. The ceremony took place on chef Michael Bowling’s third day on the job as the center’s new general manager.

The owner of Hot Box “Next Level Kitchen” and HBX Burgers is stepping away from day-to-day duties at those food businesses to focus on his new responsibilities for Carolina Farm Trust, but also due to health issues.

“It’s not 100-degrees-in-the-kitchen type of work anymore, which is something my doctors told me I needed to get away from a long time ago,” Bowling says.

The chef/restaurateur has been very public about his struggles stemming from diabetes and resultant kidney issues. A recent trip to Las Vegas is what made him make the decision to step away from kitchen life.

Michael Bowling. Photo by Peter Taylor

“I was already not feeling well when I got off the plane,” he says. “The next day, I went to dialysis. I got back to my hotel, and before I could get back to my room, I passed out and hit my head. I got up, took a couple of steps, and passed out again. The next morning I woke up, and I thought I felt better. I walked down the hall and passed out again.”

He spent the rest of his Las Vegas vacation in the hospital where he did some soul-searching. “As I lay there, I decided running restaurants every day was killing me,” Bowling says. ” I needed to start working on my exit plan from being an everyday stand-on-your-feet chef.”

Bowling has been on the board of Carolina Farm Trust for two years. CFT is a nonprofit organization focused on fighting local food insecurity as well as reducing the environmental impact of the food we eat. By working with local farmers, government agencies, and community leaders, CFT works to bring local food to underserved areas. It recently received $6.5 million in ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funds and the City of Charlotte to develop the Market and Distribution Center.

As Bowling was working on his exit plan, he reached out to CFT president Zack Wyatt. “I told him I would like to get more involved in the day-to-day operations if there’s a spot for me, and then Zach said, ‘Absolutely.'”

When complete, the center will include a commercial kitchen, a teaching kitchen, meat processing facilities, and a community grocery store. Produce will be sourced from local farms. This first phase is scheduled to be completed in approximately nine months.
“There’s a lot to do before then,” Bowling says. “I’ll be helping to develop the center’s operation infrastructure and procedures — everything from trademarks and licensing to making sure that all of our verbiage is correct, as well as putting policies and procedures in place to coordinate the intake of fresh produce, and of course, fundraising. It’s gonna be a major operation.”

Bowling is also working on what’s next for his restaurant food businesses. He is working with Southern Strain to keep his Hot Box “Next Level Kitchen” brand going at the Concord brewery. “We’re working on the paperwork now,” he says. “We’re looking at some form of licensing or franchise deal. The brewery loves what we do, and the customers really love our chicken wings, hot dogs, risotto fritters, and other items. This gives the brewery what they need, and it keeps the brand alive.”

At the recently opened HBX Burgers ghost kitchen operation in South End, Bowling will still oversee operations, but his staff will be responsible for day-to-day operations.

“Hot Box and HBX aren’t going anywhere,” he says.