by Kristen Wile

John “JD” Duncan, the longtime owner of former Dilworth restaurant Bonterra, passed away last week. Duncan, who graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in Napa in 1997, opened Bonterra with his father, Jack, in 1999, and the restaurant would become a fine dining fixture in the city. In 2007, he was named Restaurateur of the Year by Charlotte magazine. The restaurant closed in 2021 before reopening briefly in SouthPark’s Phillips Place. The original building, a historic Dilworth church, opened its doors once again as a restaurant last week under the ownership of the Tonidandel-Brown Restaurant Group as Leluia Hall. Below, Charlotte hospitality members remember Duncan and his legacy.

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“JD was an incredibly generous and kind man, and I was lucky to have him as one of my very best friends. He taught me everything about the restaurant business, wine, travel, and just being a great human. Everyone that knew him knew how lucky they were to call him friend.” —Melanie Cannizzaro Tritten, Cannizzaro Sauces

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“He was always a great neighbor. Whatever either restaurant needed, we borrowed things back and forth the whole time that they were there, which was a really good thing. We didn’t share a parking lot, but we had this ongoing parking lot thing going on. The funniest thing I think that happened between us would be that the condominium association, where the restaurant is, never liked the customers from Bonterra parking in our parking lot. So one time they planted shrubs with thorns in between the two parking lots. And JD got so mad that he put sandbags out where our parking lot drained, so it would flood our parking lot. My employees would go out in the middle of it late at night and, and get under the shrubs and pull the sandbags out and unblock the parking lot, but I always thought that was funny.

JD always said yes. Anything you ever asked him for as a favor, anything I called him about, he would always say yes. He was really, really generous. And kind.” —Cathy Coulter, founder of 300 East

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“JD was a front runner in the Charlotte hospitality and culinary community. He came to Charlotte from Atlanta where he worked with the Buckhead Life Group and I think one of his original goals was to make the Dilworth neighborhood a destination dining location just like the Buckhead neighborhood in Atlanta had become.

I met John and his dad Jack in 1999, shortly after Bonterra opened; and have had the pleasure of writing about JD, his family and his restaurants on many occasions.

JD’s goal with the Bonterra Dining concept was to offer exceptional fine dining with a dynamic wine program of reasonably priced high end bottles and an extensive list of wines by the glass. When he opened Bonterra, it was the first of its kind in Charlotte, but certainly opened the door for many others to follow. The bar at Bonterra rapidly became a great neighborhood hang; and the kitchen, through a number of top chefs, including Chef Blake Hartwick, who held the longest tenure there, quickly made a name for itself.

Little did I know that I would meet my husband Tom at the wedding reception of Lorin and Jimmy Bookout there and later JD, Blake, Melanie Tritten and the team at Bonterra would help host our wedding reception as well.

JD transformed the historic building from a Christmas and garden shop to a stunning restaurant and wine bar, keeping all of the building’s historic features intact. One of Charlotte’s first chef’s table wine cellars was in the basement and JD often offered the restaurant for community fundraising events, private parties and events; and hosted an annual Super Bowl party folks still talk about.

In the late 1990s JD definitely played a part in helping to raise the bar in terms of what patrons expected in terms of an upscale dining experience.

While he is best known for Bonterra, he was also the creative mind behind the original Mac’s Speed Shop and a wonderful little Spanish tapas joint called Las Ramblas. And along with Melanie Tritten, was the driving force behind the much missed annual Dilworth Chili Cookoff – an event I had the pleasure of judging many years in a row.

John “JD” Duncan’s influences on the Charlotte culinary community and how our dining expectations and experiences have grown as a city are innumerable. He will always be fondly remembered and we will all miss having him around.” —Heidi Billotto, food writer

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“He was a very giving person. They gave me my first opportunity as a chef in Charlotte. He will be missed.” —Blake Hartwick, longtime Bonterra chef and current owner of The Retreat on Lake Wateree

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“JD has been an incredibly important fixture in Charlotte’s restaurant scene. A dozen years ago, I saw his photo in a magazine and thought to myself, “Maybe someday we could be like that.” He was an inspiration. And when it came time to sell his building there on Cleveland Avenue in early 2023, he was generous in giving Jeff and me time to get financing together to purchase it. He wanted it to be taken care of.

What was and remains so clear is that JD created community. He brought people together around food and drink—and we’re honored with Leluia Hall to carry on what he started in that building 25 years ago.” —Jamie Brown, Tonidandel-Brown Restaurant Group

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“I always affectionately referred to Bonterra as “The Church of Wine.” J.D. cultivated an amazing space in which wine professionals and wine lovers came together. He gave Charlotteans an amazing opportunity to taste more wines by the glass than really anywhere else in Charlotte. I’m forever grateful for what he did in that way.” —Sara Guterbock, Japanese Beverage Educator & Key Account Manager for Mutual Trading Company of New York

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