A lobster roll photographed during menu testing for N.C. Red. Photo courtesy.

Construction at N.C. Red might not be complete yet, but the menu is nearly finished. Chef Drew Dodd gave us an exclusive look at what will be coming out of the kitchen when N.C. Red opens in Plaza Midwood, and the offerings are a true fusion of owner Bruce Moffett’s Rhode Island upbringing and Dodd’s Southern one.

“We’re just trying to do a really nice meld of both cuisines,” Dodd says.

Moffett, the chef/owner behind Barrington’s, Stagioni, and Good Food on Motford, grew up eating in New England seafood houses, and you see that on the menu through dishes like clam chowder (New England, of course), stuffed quahogs (quahogs are a clam), clam strips, and a lobster roll, served hot with butter or cold with Duke’s mayo. The Southern influence comes in the form of fried chicken (ordered as a half or whole chicken), grilled wings with an Alabama white sauce, and a list of sides labeled “fixins” that includes field peas and collards.

Several dishes are a fusion of the two, such as the biscuits with a cheddar Old Bay spread, or the crab hush puppies. There will be several steamed mussel and clam dishes, as well, and a side of buttered linguine enables guests to order a classic clam-and-linguine dish.

Dodd will be leaving his current position as executive chef at Stagioni to take over the kitchen at N.C. Red when it opens, hopefully by the end of the year. He’ll be joining Moffett on a road trip to eat at seafood houses in New England, but Dodd has spent time living in Boston and along the Northeastern shore, so he’s already familiar with the cuisines and traditions of Moffett’s home state.

Another draw is a raw bar, with what Dodd hopes will be some of the city’s best selections. It’s one of the offerings the chef is most excited about. He started seeking out information about oysters while living in Georgia, and has kept learning about them since.

“To me, it’s kind of like wine grown on the west side and east side of a mountain,” Dodd says of the oysters’ different flavors. The way oysters are harvested can lead to nuances in the bivalve’s taste even if they’re from the same region.

The restaurant will be open for dinner only to start, though lunch is a possibility in the future. There will also be a late-night takeout window, where folks leaving the bars in the area can get hot fried chicken. N.C. Red replaces Comida in the old Penguin space, and hopes to be a casual place where families can dine together. It will likely be the most casual of the Moffett Restaurant Group concepts, which include Good Food on Montford, Barrington’s, and Stagioni.

“I feel like people have such a sense of neighborhood over there, we’re going to try and come in and be part of that,” Dodd says. The changes to the space are mostly cosmetic, with the exception of moving the bathrooms to allow the restaurant to open into the patio.

So far, those anticipating the restaurant seem to be most excited about the lobster roll and the clam strip “spuckies,” or sandwiches. Dodd, however, is most looking forward to serving fried chicken.

“My early years’ bonding experiences with my dad involved fried chicken, and to be able to share that with everybody, I’m super excited about, and sharing Bruce’s, the food of his upbringing, is going to be super exciting.” —Kristen Wile