by Jacqueline Pennington

Since Haberdish opened as part of the Tonidandel-Brown Restaurant Group in 2016, it has become a beloved addition to the Charlotte food scene. Chef Lex Falardeau stepped in as executive chef of the mill town-inspired concept at the end of 2024, and has brought a wealth of experience to the NoDa staple. From experiencing classic French food in their mother’s kitchen, to working with renowned chefs in Portland, Oregon, and staging in Michelin-starred kitchens in the U.K., Falardeau has quite the resume. 

Growing up in Michigan, Falardeau was no stranger to beef bourguignon and coq a vin. Falardeau would make these dishes with their mother, whose love of French food inspired Falardeau’s own love for cooking. After working in restaurants as a teenager in their hometown, Falardeau moved to Portland to kick off a career in cooking under chef Jenn Louise.

“That was when I first got a taste of working in a James Beard-nominated kitchen,” Falardeau says. From there, the chef moved to Olympia Provisions kickstarting a fascination with fermented foods. “They were making all their own salamis and making tons of pickles,” Falardeau says. “We were just seeing everything that we could pickle and throw salt on and kind of see what would happen. That got my interest really going on the science side of things.”

Falardeau’s love for pickling is evident on the Haberdish menu in the house pickles and the pickled veggies that top the shrimp and greens and miso pork belly. Yet it wasn’t only the chef’s travels to Oregon that acted as inspiration for current menu items. When Falardeau’s wife received a scholarship to study in the U.K., the couple moved to Cambridge, where they lived for about four years. Falardeau took several stage position in Michelin-starred restaurants.

“A lot of these fine dining plates, I was only executing them for the super rich,” Falardeau says. “Or people just on their birthdays or once a year. That was great, but I started thinking back to working in Portland and one of my first jobs was the kitchen manager of a sandwich place that did $10,000 a day, but it was a chef-driven place. I saw how happy people were, just having something simple.”

Falardeau continued the theme of chef-driven comfort working with a team to open Gorilla + Lamb, a chef-driven smashburger concept. “Taking a fine dining mentality and applying it to those burgers was really liberating,” Falardeau says. It’s an application the chef continues to apply in their role at Haberdish, with dishes such as chicken tenders that can be ordered Champagne-battered or trout served with dill and scallion compound butter.

Looking to be closer to family, Falardeau returned to the States, making a home in Charlotte and looking for their next role. “I sat down with Jeff and Jamie of the Tonidandel-Brown Group and it seemed like they were very open minded,” Falardeau says. “They were looking for growth. They were looking for that kind of R&D mentality to keep pushing and not just be repetitive. Obviously, they keep opening new restaurants and they’re really trying to push boundaries.”

Falardeau had never worked with Southern food before and was excited to take on the challenge. They’ve worked to refine the staples like the fried chicken, hush puppies, and deviled eggs, but also rotates unique seasonal dishes on the menu. “I think my biggest goal with food is to stay focused on nonlinear thinking,” Falardeau says. “I think about what else a collard green could be besides just a collared green. You start thinking about it like it’s a steak or something, and then you start treating ingredients a little bit differently. I think that’s the easiest way to keep creativity sparked inside yourself and inside your team as well.”

Falardeau’s passion for cooking derives from the positive impact they have on their guests, but also the impact they have on their team. “For me, it’s inspiring the young cooks that are still learning and growing up in life and in this industry,” Falardeau says. “Forging a new path for them and doing something that wasn’t necessarily done for me when I was coming up in this industry, which is being understanding and taking care of people. I’m a big supporter of treating people fairly and equally and trying to find what it is inside of them that might release their passion for cooking.”

Falardeau describes their cooking as “violently seasonal” and is proud to be working with local farms to bring in items used creatively on Haberdish’s menu. “Almost every day or every couple days we put new features on the menu with what’s ordered straight from Fresh Lake and Harmony Ridge,” Falardeau says. “So, any of these local farms, whatever looks good that week, that’s what we bring in. Then, we use that non-linear thinking that we were talking about.”

Having experienced mature food scenes like the ones in Portland and the U.K. where accolades like James Beard nominations and Michelin stars are the norm, Falardeau looks forward to Charlotte’s culinary scene expanding — and being part of that.

“I can see that there’s a big willingness to accept all of these new restaurants and new foods, and all these new chef-driven places are popping up all over the place,” Falardeau says. “Now we’re going to be eligible for Michelin stars here in Charlotte, which is really exciting.”