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| - Well whaddya' know. Another farm-to-fork venue. Gettin' to where if you open a restaurant in Charlotte, it BETTER source locally, or else you've got no leg to stand on. That being said, the challenge of making THAT original and new is sometimes a struggle. Stoke Charlotte gives a decent try. The ambiance is totally contemporary, but somehow cozy at the same time. Lots of attention to detail, all the way down to our NC sourced tableware! Huge vaulted ceilings make a challenge for any decorator, but they managed to make it beautiful and warm. Definitely on the VERY LOUD side though. Gorgeous marble is everywhere, but sound has a field day in all that open space. Probably not a first-date-restaurant. Unless you prefer yelling at your table mate.
The food was amazing. We started with a cheese plate, and some meat jelly. Oh wait, I meant Bone Marrow. Very nice. Marrow was cooked perfectly, with sharp stabs of ginger and sweetness. For entrees, we had the Duck Ragu, Lamb Shoulder, and Prime Rib. Server tried to warn us that people share, but we got greedy, and wanted to taste too many things. All were melt in your mouth tasty. The ragu, a flavor explosion. The lamb was a fork tender mouth-gasm, and the steak? Well...I always used to say, I can cook the hell out of a steak on my own, why buy it at twice the cost at a restaurant? But this piece of MEAT did the magic last night. Cooked to exact temp (of course), the chef let the flavor of this meat take center stage wisely. Nicely done.
Our sides were also amazing. Although grits that aren't grits, may piss off your average true Southern foodie. That side should be thoroughly explained to the table when ordered (not everyone will know, or love a 63° egg like I do). That's the only food 'complaint' I have. And I can't truly complain, because I loved 'em! The flavor was subtle, but loverly. The rice/(grits) cooked to creaminess, but not sludgy. The fingerling potatoes came out like big fat wanna'-eat-em-with-my-fingers French fries. Super crispy and salty on the outside. Smushy and hot on the inside.
Alas, we only had room for one dessert, and it has to be the smaller one. The Strawberry Shortcake was pretty spectacular. Once again, the main, fresh, locally sourced strawberries were wisely allowed to be the focus. We'll definitely have to go back to try the mega donut cake specialty though! They even had spectacular coffee!
All-in-all it was a pleasant experience. Only got the 4 stars because there were a couple of front-of-the-house glitches. They did pretty well with our SUPER picky expectations. Couple of erroneous food drops, server forgot to ask the entire table if they wanted bevs (rookie mistake, overall he was wonderful), and if you're gonna' pretend like you're that kind of restaurant, (complete with pretty people and a snotty hostess - which I will always grade lower for as snotty is so unnecessary!), you should know who's food is who's when serving. Not "selling" entrees are only a food-snob's standards though. So not a huge thang.
Well done Stokes!! Will definitely have to try again soon!
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