New cocktail club serves gin with dried rose petals, vodka in caramel-coated glasses
If this time of year finds you wishing your life was a real-life Hallmark movie, with quaint downtowns full of shops and people who all know each other, maybe this is perfect timing for a new craft cocktail bar to open in Belmont, North Carolina.
Drive 22 minutes from uptown Charlotte and you’ll find yourself on a Main Street with a Southern barbecue restaurant owned by the Jonas brothers’ father, a cotton candy store that employs people with developmental disabilities and now — a craft cocktail bar with a chef-driven menu.
The Belmont Cocktail Club quietly opened recently in the former Luna Hombre restaurant at the Belmont Drug Company building.
Local restaurateurs the Mason Jar Group (you know them as 204 North, Bargarita, The Union, Grace O’Malleys in Matthews) teamed up with Luna Hombre’s owner Christina Cicci to open the Cocktail Club. Cicci remains as a managing partner.
The results are an approachable-yet-swanky space with a vibe that manages to be both family friendly and girls-night-out.
The Mason Jar Group’s Rachel Kamen decorated the space to be eclectic, funky and feminine. It manages to be both casual and fancy at the same time.
“This is a funky cocktail club for people to get good food and drink, have a girls’ night or have a date night,” Celeste Kaplan of the Mason Jar Group told CharlotteFive.
Cicci purchased Luna Hombre about a year and a half ago. She said she is excited for the chance to work with the Mason Jar Group, who has opened restaurants time and time again. “I’m most excited for the help, the support and the expertise,” she said.
Cicci, who is a trained sommelier, plans to start a wine club, which will offer tastings and hard-to-get wines to members. Yet the real news is that the Belmont Cocktail Club, aptly named, actually serves cocktails (Luna Hombre did not have a liquor license).
Here are a few things to order on your first visit:
(1) Rose Gin Fizz
Gin, cream, lemon juice, grapefruit juice, elderflower, rose, egg white, topped with soda and dried rose petals. $10
(2) Blushing Belmont
Irish whiskey, lemon juice, simple syrup, blackberry puree. $10
(3) Cheese & Charcuterie
Chef’s choice of four: Two meats, two cheeses, choice of accoutrements. $18
(4) Prosciutto Pizzette
Caramelized onion crema, prosciutto, roasted tomatoes, fresh basil. $10
(5) Pork belly confit
Pasture-raised heritage pork, Carolina braised collards, maple cider reduction. $13
Pro tip: Stop by the Cocktail Club before or after you wander through the Mile of a Million Lights holiday light display at Daniel Stowe Botanical Gardens.
Belmont Cocktail Club
31 N. Main St., Belmont
This story was originally published December 3, 2019 at 5:50 AM.