Photo courtesy of Savor Charlotte.

Q: I love events like Queen’s Feast, Savor Charlotte, and Charlotte Wine & Food Week, but will any of this really establish Charlotte as a food destination city?
Tom: This is a really good question, and a very difficult one to answer. My off-the-gut answer is it’s an uphill battle at best. While Charlotte is home to many outstanding restaurants, including James Beard semifinalists and finalists, the city, truthfully, just doesn’t offer as many ancilary tourist draws as our Southern metropolitan friends Charleston and New Orleans. The city also suffers a misconstrued reputation as a “meat-and-potatoes/meat-and-three” town, which won’t exactly help bring in food-focused travelers. Also, because of Charlotte’s huge success as a financial and business city, we’ve caught the eye of many national casual and fine-dining restaurant chains, which is great for building tenancy, but waters down our uniqueness. On the other hand, I’m not ready to throw in the towel. Our city houses a wealth of creative, energetic, and skilled chefs and restaurateurs. So who knows? One or two breakouts, and we can be on our way. So I guess I’m saying we have a chance.

Q: Is LoSo about to be new South End, food-wise?
Tom: Sure looks like it. A number of really good spots have opened up lately, such as State of Confusion, Supperclub, Yama / LoSo, and the return of Phat Burrito — plus Majid Amoorpour is saying his LoSo location of The Everyday Market is only a few weeks away. There’s a lot more about to happen in that area as well. Be sure your UP subscription remains current so you can get all the details.