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| - Aside from the full name (Halcyon Flavors from the Earth? It sounds like a chapter in "Lord of the Rings") this place is a sophisticated and delightful addition to the Charlotte dining scene. My go-to place in town is Soul Gastrolounge... Halcyon is a step up, in both quality and price point, and a gorgeous space for a date night.
It's in the new Mint Museum (there's parking underground); and it's smaller than you'd expect. A smattering of tables around the room and several bars that overlook the kitchen. Several of the tables are made of big slabs of varnished tree wood... just beautiful.
At dinner we started with 2 cocktails: bourbon with maple syrup and bacon (awesome, though don't forget to stir before you sip); and gin with arugula and black pepper. I'm an arugula freak so this should have been right up my alley - but it needed something sweet or citrusy to balance all that bite. Don't get me wrong, I finished it, but it was what I'd call a "sipper."
Among the appetizers you MUST get the country ham skillet cornbread with blackberry butter. I want this for breakfast every day.
I love to share plates so we started with the cornbread, then shared the "Snack board" - boiled peanut hummus, deviled eggs, homemade pickles, pimento cheese with bacon marmalade, and some kind of blackbean spread. At $17 it's a pricey appetizer but frankly you could JUST have this followed by one entree and leave perfectly sated. All the options were winners except the black beans, which tasted vaguely like Mexican refried beans. I've had something similar (eerily similar in fact, at Empire State South in Atlanta: http://www.eattalk.net/2012/08/postcard-from-atlanta.html#.UE5TxlSJ9Mo) only Halycon was much more even-handed with the salt, and I appreciated the thin flatbread that came with the dips.
After the snacks, the salad. Given the season I opted for the tomato salad, simply dressed and tossed with herbs and fried bread. Delicious.
They have several interesting entree options but we split the Market hog - whatever cut of pork the chef is in the mood for that night. Ours was a pork chop grilled medium, served with french toast stuffed with peach compote and some kind of cheese (marscapone? ricotta?). I expected something a little more refined... it was literally a serving of stuffed french toast. Huge. Tasty, to be sure, but a ton of food... and the pork chop was the size of my face.
Didn't stop us from ordering dessert, though! a peach-blueberry cobbler that they wanted to serve a la mode with spiced orange ice cream but spiced orange ice cream just seemed WRONG with that kind of cobbler. I opted for whipped cream and a frankly STUNNING cup of coffee.
This place is great. A Must-Do in Charlotte.
-erin
www.eatTALK.net
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