Chef Eric Ferguson, the new executive chef at Stagioni. Photo courtesy.

Stagioni’s new executive chef, Eric Ferguson, was a line cook there only a year ago. Of course, he may have been the most experienced line cook in all of Charlotte. One of the first culinary students at the now-shuttered Art Institute in town, Ferguson worked for Stagioni owner Bruce Moffett at Barrington’s after graduating. He also held positions at Zebra and Salute before moving to Italy to work in kitchens there for six months.

From there, he moved to the West Coast, working at famed restaurant Quince under chef Michael Tusk, then to Oregon’s wine country to run a restaurant with his wife.

Across cities and restaurants, Ferguson kept in touch with Moffett. After Ferguson and his wife separated, he looked to move back East, so he called to see if his old boss knew of anything. Moffett was planning to open N.C. Red, a New England seafood shack-meets-Southern chicken joint, and move Stagioni’s executive chef, Drew Dodd, to that restaurant. With his background, Ferguson would fit the kitchen as Dodd’s replacement at Stagioni. At that time, though, with N.C. Red still more than a year from opening, Moffett only had a line cook position open.

“When I came in there was a sous chef here,” Ferguson says. “So I started on the line, just like everybody else.”

Dodd spent his final shift at Stagioni two or three weeks ago, handing over the executive chef position to Ferguson. As Dodd’s last day neared, more dishes conceptualized by Ferguson started hitting the menu. With each tweak, the menu shifts towards Ferguson’s vision.

“I think the two things I love most are butchering and making pasta, so we’re definitely going to expand the pasta program quite a bit,” he says. “I really like the gentle use of ingredients, so doing a ton of local sourcing, and really trying to find the best of what’s available to us right here—that’s what defines Italian cuisine.”

As for the butchery, he’s bringing whole lambs and pigs into the restaurant, working to utilize the whole animal.

Thought Stagioni’s pasta program is already pretty robust, Ferguson says he plans to add more hand-cut and stuffed pastas and experiment with different flours. A dish on the current menu that highlights his style is the triangoli, made with saraceno flour from Anson Mills stuffed with cheese and mushrooms, served with rock shrimp, yellow foot mushrooms, and a tomato conserva.

“It’s really simple, letting things shine,” Ferguson says of the dish.

Once Ferguson has the menu where he wants it and things are going smoothly, the restaurant may add some additional experiences, including a pasta tasting menu (!) and family-style Sunday suppers once a month. —Kristen Wile