by Kristen Wile

The Artisan’s Palate will host Louisiana Northshore chef Amanda Birdsong of Cured. On Columbia. Photo courtesy

Next week, Louisiana chefs will descend upon Charlotte for a night, cooking alongside local chefs in restaurants across the city. The visit was organized by Louisiana’s tourism board in hopes that giving Charlotteans a taste of Louisiana cuisine will bring a greater interest in culinary travel to the state.

On Thursday, November 3 at 14 restaurants across the city, 14 Louisiana chefs will be in kitchens alongside Charlotte chefs for LouisianaXCharlotte. Participating restaurants include 300 East, Fin & Fino, Flour Shop, The Goodyear House, Haymaker Restaurant, Supperland, and Sweet Lew’s BBQ. Some restaurants are selling tickets for a one-night only dinner experience, while others will have menu takeovers or specials featuring the dishes of their paired chef. 

Laura Cating of the Louisiana Travel Association says the program kicked off more than a decade ago. Previous cities include Nashville, Austin, Atlanta, New York City, and Charleston. The association decided to bring their tour to Charlotte for a night of LousianaXCharlotte dinners due to the increasing number of travelers between the destinations thanks to more frequent direct flights from Charlotte Douglas Airport.

“There’s a lot of leisure and business travelers coming between the two markets, so we want to see that increase, and we want to capture the interest there,” Cating says. “Beyond that, there’s also a lot of food interest in the Charlotte market.” 

The pairing of visiting chefs with local restaurants was done with the help of Charlotte public relations firm Rachel Sutherland Communications, based on styles of cooking and personalities. The Artisan’s Palate chef Christa Csoka will host visiting chef Amanda Birdsong of Cured. On Columbia — a collaboration that has already extended into a planned weekend of exploring the city together. The Artisan’s Palate menu will feature several of Amanda’s specials on November 3. 

“We’re super excited to have Amanda and have someone from Louisiana,” Csoka says. “I love food. I eat everywhere I go, and she’s introducing me to some food I’ve never had before from Louisiana.”

For the visiting chefs, it’s a chance to bring their style of cooking and cuisine to a new audience — and cook with new ingredients while learning how other chefs run their restaurants. Chef Birdsong, for example, will be using Carolina Gold Rice. Because The Artisan’s Palate has several boards on the menu, they’ll be adding a boudin board as one of the offerings for the LouisianaXCharlotte experience.

“To be in her atmosphere and just to see the way everything’s plated and how she executes everything — I’m really excited to just be in her space. I learn a lot from other chefs, and especially people who have been in this a lot longer than me. I’m excited about that.”

Participating restaurants get to keep all revenue from the night’s ticket sales. According to Cating, ticket sales have been impressive — a sign to her team that they selected the right place to visit.

“It really shows us not only is there an interest in Louisiana and the food of Louisiana, but also an interest in food in general with what the culinary scene is going to be like this week [during the BayHaven Food & Wine Festival],” she says. “It’s exciting to see that in Charlotte, again as an emerging market, and exciting to see that there’s interest, hopefully after the fact in coming and tasting more of those flavors.”

See the full list of participating restaurants and chefs and make reservations here.