The second round of funding in Charlotte Center City Partners’ Innovation Grant series has been distributed, and among the recipients are several restaurants. The purpose of the grant is to support businesses’ pivots to ensure success during the Covid-19 pandemic, and applications must indicate how the grant money will ensure success for the business. The application window for a third round of funding ended Nov. 9, with recipients to be announced in the coming weeks. 

The first and second rounds favored those in the Center City area, while the third round will expand eligibility to all of Charlotte. Here are three of the restaurants that earned an award in the most recent round, and what they plan to do with the money.

HALCYON
With additional funding, Uptown restaurant Halcyon will reopen in December with a reservation-only policy — and a new outdoor experience. With Uptown quiet, the restaurant opened briefly for Halcyon Ad Hoc, a casual takeout and delivery operation. “This reaffirmed what we already knew: Halcyon is at its core experiential,” says Jill Marcus, president of parent company Something Classic. The restaurant plans to add greenhouse-esque pods to the Mint Museum patio, like the ones in Amsterdam that gained popularity on social media. Diners can enjoy five-course meals with beverage pairings in their own private dining space, Marcus says. The grant also enabled the restaurant to partner with The Chef’s Farmer, Jamie Swofford, to create a garden to supply the restaurant. The restaurant will also be upgrading software and point-of-sale systems, and contracting with Black Wednesday for additional social media support. 

THE HOT BOX
Chef and owner Michael Bowling turned popular food truck The Hot Box into its first brick-and-mortar spot as the food partner to Southern Strain Brewing in Concord, providing brewery patrons with his flavorful style of American cuisine. With a grant from the city, he plans on expanding his presence into West Charlotte. “The West End neighborhood of Charlotte, — Seversville into Trade, Beatties Ford, Five Points, all of those neighborhoods — is a food desert. I used to live over there, my sister still does, and there’s no food options,” Bowling says. “There’s Bojangles, there’s Church’s Chicken, but there’s no real healthy options, less fatty options, such things like that. So I’ve been wanting to open up a restaurant over there.” The grant is giving Bowling the opportunity to set up a food trailer that will stay in one place, and serve about a dozen items off The Hot Box menu in Concord. He hopes to provide an underserved neighborhood with quality food at an affordable price and in a location they feel comfortable visiting. A craft brewery, he says, isn’t the most inclusive location for a restaurant. In 2022, he hopes to evolve from the trailer to a true brick-and-mortar spot in the neighborhood. 

ZIA PIA
With fewer visitors to Uptown, tenants at 7th Street Public Market have seen some slow days. Zia Pia Imports + Italian Kitchen owner Victoria Custodi plans to use money from the Innovation Grant program to amplify awareness of the prepared foods part of her business. Zia Pia launched as a market stall to purchase quality Italian goods, from pastas and tomatoes to sauces and flours, but expanded into an anchor space in the market to serve diners. To expand their retail operations, Custodi is planning for changes to their online store, enabling customers to purchase Zia Pia’s sauces, spreads, soups, and meals online for pick-up or delivery. Expect to see more of the brand’s Italian foods on social media, too, thanks to an increased investment using grant funds. 

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