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| - My wife and I were anxious to visit Heirloom to try their 6-course chef tasting with wine pairing. Not many restaurants offer this type of dining experience so we were eager to visit Charlotte, specifically, to visit Heirloom. They have a standard menu we're familiar with seeing in these types of modern/southern restaurants; shrimp and grits, steak, crab cakes, etc. Their menu changes every three months but their tasting menu changes daily, based on the local produce available that day. Our meal consisted of salad, soup, crab cake, duck breast, cheese plate and carrot cake. The crab cake was the best I ever had. Very meaty and immensely satisfying. The duck breast was superb. It was very juicy with a slight crust on the outside and lightly drizzled with a sweet duck au jus. The portions were generous. My wife and I were completely stuffed before the desert came out. The wine pairing was ok. We weren't blown away by the wine selection. Each glass that was served was quickly introduced by its vintage, name, location and taste profile. I'd prefer it if the server could explain how that each particular glass was intended to compliment the meal. Overall, we had a pleasurable dining experience.
My wife and I were very satisfied and we had a great time. I guess my hang up would be the words "chef tasting". I'd rather it just be called a 6-course meal, instead. To me, chef tasting means the chef would come to your table to meet and greet and talk about the reason for his inspiration for today's menu. The wine would be served by a sommelier with a more detailed explanation of the wine and the reason for it's pairing. I won't fault the restaurant because of my expectations. If you're looking for high quality southern food, this is definitely your place. However, the foodie/adventurous side of us will cause us to continue our search for that epic dining experience elsewhere.
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