Around town: November
October 31, 2022
A new aviation museum broke ground in September. The former Carolinas Aviation Museum will be renamed in honor of Capt. C.B. “Sully” Sullenberger, the pilot who landed the US Airways flight in the Hudson River in 2009 in what’s become known as the “Miracle on the Hudson.” The plane will be the featured exhibit at the museum, which also will include more than 45 historic aircraft, flight simulators, interactive exhibits and more. The 105,000-square-foot multi-building campus is adjacent to Charlotte Douglas International Airport. carolinasaviation.org
Now open
Bonterra is now open at Phillips Place, serving dinner seven days a week with plans to add coffee and breakfast, brunch and lunch. Expect appetizers like the warm burrata, fried lobster bites and PEI mussels; entrees include a range of seafood options plus an apple-butter glazed double-cut pork chop, filet mignon and a roasted chicken breast with citrus barbecue sauce. 6809-A Phillips Place Ct., bonterradining.com
Gibson Mill Market, a 17,000-square-foot food hall in Concord, added six tenants last month, including Johnny Rogers BBQ & Burgers, Taco Street, Defined Coffee and Churn Buddies Ice Cream. Three additional restaurants will open at a later date. Gibson Mill is a former textile factory that closed in 2003 and is being redeveloped with retail, office space, breweries and more. gibsonmill.com
Figo36 opened in NoDa. The restaurant from Menagerie Hospitality Group (The Wine Loft, The Vintage Whiskey and Cigar Bar) serves house-made pastas, pizzas, tableside burrata service and more, along with craft cocktails and wine. 416 E. 36th St., figo36.com
Gone too soon
After a 13-year run, the Joedance Film Festival is ending. The festival was founded in honor of Joe Restaino, who passed away in 2010, four years after being diagnosed with a rare bone cancer. The festival raised funds for pediatric cancer research at Atrium Health Levine Children’s Hospital. “We will continue to help focus money to support research for underrepresented pediatric cancer, just as we have been doing for years,” founder Diane Restaino said in a letter to supporters.
Actor’s Theatre of Charlotte permanently closed following its October production of Evil Dead The Musical. Executive Director Laura Rice cited continuing effects of Covid, disappointing ticket sales and the loss of a permanent venue as reasons for the closure. “For decades, we’ve been able to showcase Charlotte’s wide range of local talent, while providing a home for working artists to tell contemporary stories and entertain residents,” Rice says. “I hope ATC’s journey has made the path easier for another theatre company to fill the void we are leaving behind.”
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Southern Distilling Company in Statesville took home top honors at the New York World Wine & Spirits Competition. The distillery’s Southern Star Paragon Cask Strength Single Barrel Wheated Straight Bourbon Whiskey won Best in Class and Best Overall Bourbon among more than 650 spirits. Southern Distilling was founded in 2013 by husband and wife Pete and Vienna Barger. Its products are available in 20 states. “We love wheated bourbons and chose this mash bill as the first one to distill at our facility,” Vienna Barger said in a news release. “As it reached five years in the barrel and was ready to bottle this year, we were very eager to hear what industry judges had to say about what we believed was an extraordinary bourbon.”
Matthews Community Farmers Market was named the best farmers market in North Carolina based on results of a poll by American Farmland Trust and the Farmers Market Coalition. Shoppers, farmers, vendors and others voted on their favorite markets.
The New York Times named Leah & Louise among its 50 favorite restaurants in America. The article touts Chef Greg Collier’s Mud Island (“a perfect piece of blackened catfish with catfish stew”) and Leah’s Cabbage (“It will forever change how you think of cabbage”). SP
