The Arboretum’s New South Kitchen is not cutting edge. Here’s why that’s a relief.

As new restaurants open every day in Charlotte, it’s easy to forget about the old standbys, the places that have grown up alongside the Queen City. We think they’ll always be there for us, but so many favorites have closed along the way. This makes it even more important to support the ones we love. Our series highlights the classic Charlotte eats that you have frequented for years, reminding us why they have stood the test of time.

Maybe one reason I’ve always liked New South Kitchen is that it’s Southern-inspired food that doesn’t try too hard to be Southern.

The menu changes, but it always has things like baked pimento cheese that’s lumpy with chicken sausage, or a deviled egg plate that’s big enough to share — six fat halves, two with bacon, two with not-too-sweet pickle, two plain, for only 6 bucks.

Maybe one reason I’ve always liked it is that the owners, Chris and Sue Edwards, have stuck to a “as much local as possible” mantra for a long time, even when the economy tanked the year after they opened in 2007. There’s a chalkboard by the door with a long list of providers, like Boy & Girl Farm and Bost Grist Mill.

But the real reason I like it? It’s something Edwards says about himself: “I’m not necessarily chasing a James Beard award.”

When was the last time you met a chef who would say that — and actually sound like he means it?

Before New South Kitchen, it was Dakotas

New South Kitchen and Edwards have a long history in the Arboretum, dating back to when that section of Charlotte seemed like the edge of the Earth, before I-485 stretched our boundaries even farther. The Edwardses originally opened as Dakotas, a fine-dining place, in 1997. They started in a smaller spot where Cajun Yard Dog is now, then moved across the parking lot to a bigger spot in 2001.

In 2007, they decided to simplify, closing Dakotas and reopening as New South Kitchen, with an aim to become less of a special-occasion restaurant and more of a local place for people in the neighborhoods surrounding them.

Since then, they’ve become the kind of place that’s perfect for second or third dates, or for women’s night-out dates, the place you go with those new neighbors you like. The food is good enough to feel special, but not so pricey that you can’t afford to go out on a Wednesday night, with sharable small plates in the $6 to $12 range and entrees usually from $17 to $20.

There’s nothing new or cutting-edge about things like fried chicken with honey, shrimp and grits, or a fried green tomato plate. But in Charlotte’s food scene, where it can feel like a race to find the hottest/newest/latest, that can be a relief.

The décor is tasteful but a little muted, mercifully low on Southern kitchen kitsch. One Yelp commenter said it looks like an old Chinese restaurant, and that’s not fair. But a business-park Marriott lobby? OK, that’s fair. It’s not the kind of place you’ll have to shout to be heard, though, and that’s a relief, too.

An insider’s chef

Edwards is a Charlotte native, trained in the culinary program at Central Piedmont Community College. Don’t think his lack of James Beard ambition means he doesn’t take his food seriously: On an interview years ago, my jaw dropped when I saw the collection of cookbooks cramming a shelf in his kitchen office. He’s pared down the collection since then, but he still uses them.

Edwards can sometimes be an insider’s chef. Rock Stone, the seafood purveyor in China Grove who’s notoriously picky about which restaurants he’ll supply, told me once that when he can get his hands on expensive N.C.-caught crab from Harkers Island, Edwards is the guy who will pay the price for it. From Rock Stone, that’s high praise.

With that kind of reputation, though, why does New South Kitchen seem to fly below the radar, one of those places that’s been around for years but rarely makes the hot restaurant lists?

“I wish I had the answer, because I’d have solved it a long time ago,” Edwards said, laughing. “We’ve been here 20-plus years, and we still get first-time diners. We want to be a neighborhood place. My business model, whatever you want to call it, doesn’t stomach a lot of $30-plus entrees.”

Here’s what I really like about New South Kitchen: When you have a new Northern transplant in your office who doesn’t get the concept of grits, take him here. Order the shrimp and grits – a big pool of soft, stone-ground grits topped with a generous helping of shrimp and brown gravy with chunks of tasso. Hand your new friend a spoon.

All will be made clear.

New South Kitchen

8140 Providence Rd., No. 300

Instagram: @newsouthkitchen

This story was originally published January 15, 2020 at 5:48 AM.

Kathleen Purvis

The Charlotte Observer

704-358-5236

Former Charlotte Observer food editor Kathleen Purvis has more than 25 years of experience in writing about food., cooking and Southern food culture. She covers restaurant news (openings, closings, trends and food finds), and she knows where to find the best fried-chicken breakfast in town.