Last updated: April 3, 2024

In the Weeds

by Kristen Wile

A city’s restaurant scene can only be as great as its diners allow. 

That seems to be often lost in the frequent conversations of whether Charlotte is — or can become — a food city. We lament which styles of cuisine are missing, or the number of restaurants serving steak, yet neglect to consider the fact that customer support — or lack thereof — is what drives restaurants to succeed or fail. 

In L’Ostrica, a tasting menu restaurant off Park Road, Charlotte faces a test. L’Ostrica is one of the best restaurants the city has ever seen. If we’re the food city we hope to be, reservations will soon be hard to come by.

Owned by Eric Ferguson and Cat Carter, L’Ostrica is a multi-concept space that evolved out of a pandemic delivery business. (Disclaimer: Carter wrote for Charlotte magazine while I was food editor there). The duo started L’Ostrica delivering restaurant-quality dishes that diners could finish and enjoy at home during the shutdown, dishes that evolved to be the heart of the Chef’s Market, a collection of items you can purchase during the day at L’Ostrica to take home and reheat. Yet it’s at night, when the curtain is drawn over the bright lights of the market refrigerators, that L’Ostrica gives Charlotte restaurants a new level of competition. 

Guests can make reservations for either 5-7 course or 10 course tasting menus, priced at $110 and $175, respectively. The menus change seasonally, and are focused primarily on cooking with what’s available in Charlotte, supplemented by a few choice vendors beloved by Ferguson or Carter. While there are certainly some expensive ingredients on the list, this isn’t the kind of place you’re expected to be impressed solely by the proliferation of high-dollar items such as truffles or caviar.

In fact, looking at many of the dishes, you see beauty in plating, but also simplicity. That simplicity is deceptive. One bite into what you think might be an unextraordinary pasta, for example, or the moment a drop of soup hits your palate, you recognize you’re experiencing something new. Ferguson has the ability to create so much nuance in his sauces that it doesn’t take much beyond them to bring your meal to a level unmatched in Charlotte. That’s one similarity that runs through every dish on the menu, a menu that brings together a wide range of global influence thanks to Ferguson’s and Carter’s diverse backgrounds, from Ferguson’s time in the Pacific Northwest to Carter’s Korean heritage: you’ll be surprised by how much layered flavor is present in such outwardly simple courses. 

The meal always starts off with a caviar bite, flowing slowly into more substantial courses. In both the kitchen and front-of-house, you’ll find seasoned veterans of Charlotte’s restaurant industry, leading to an experience that’s nearly flawless. The cocktail program and wine offerings are expertly curated to fit the experience, with staff educated on the selections. A close eye from the servers enables the kitchen to time each course so there’s just enough time between when your plates are cleared and the next one arrives, with an explanation that implies the front-of-house is just as passionate about the food as the kitchen.

The subtle creative genius behind the menu is in large part driven by passion, something that becomes clear when Ferguson delivers a dish to your table. Ask him a question, and you’ll understand how much the restaurant means to him. One recent course featured carrots ground to the texture of risotto, then cooked in the style of risotto and served with rock shrimp. The debut menu included a high-end version of a lobster roll, with house-made brioche set upon a smoky, unctuous aioli and topped with smoked, butter-poached shrimp and salted cucumbers. It’s a familiar idea, yet the attention to detail put into each and every ingredient on the plate takes the entirety to a level that will bring a smile to your face. You may not be able to taste each of those details independently, but the harmony of each bite is evidence they are present. 

Will Charlotte, a city known for jumping from new to newer, slow down to appreciate the art of L’Ostrica? If we’re a food city, the answer is yes. For L’Ostrica is the kind of restaurant that defines a food city: unassumingly fantastic and consistently impressive, chasing no accolades but the joy on a diner’s face when they bite into course after course — whether it’s on the 10-course tasting menu, or one of the rotating lunchtime sandwiches made with the same focus.