‘It’s about the food and the experience’: Charlotte restaurant turns 20. Have you been?
The Fig Tree Restaurant, a fine-dining establishment in Elizabeth, is celebrating its 20th anniversary this March.
Operating a restaurant is not a concrete game of winning and losing, but as The Fig Tree approaches two decades (surmounting the 2008 financial crisis and the COVID lockdown), it’s hard not to mark its existence as a notable success.
The Fig Tree has been named a top restaurant by Charlotte Magazine, OpenTable Diner’s Choice and Axios. But it hasn’t landed there because of chasing any spotlight or “trying to reinvent the wheel,” owner and executive chef Greg Zanitsch said.
“It’s about the food and the experience, not about me and my ego.”
Zanitsch and his wife, Sara, measure success somewhat uniquely — not so much by numbers or head count, but something more intangible: quality of life. The ability to spend time with each other and their three children. Balance, Zanitsch said.
Trust and loyalty amongst staff were other recurring markers of success, too.
A testament to tradition
The ownership couple met working at a restaurant. At the Italian spot in Cincinnati, the two became friends and started dreaming about opening up their own place.
Then, the pair stumbled across a 1913 Craftsman home, The Lucas House, over 20 years ago when visiting Zanitsch’s parents in Charlotte. They knew immediately they had to buy it and build their dream restaurant there.
This designated historic property has an affluent ownership history, from the editor of the “Charlotte Evening Chronicle” to the vice president of what was then Duke Power, and the type of small, intimate rooms Zanitsch wanted in a restaurant.
“I don’t know if we were really thinking anything would ever come of” those early conversations, Zanitsch said.
Like an actual rooted fig tree, this restaurant stands firm in Charlotte and in its own identity as a “warm, romantic special occasion place,” Zanitsch called it.
Noting the time-honored, high-price-point menu of lamb shanks and sauteed scallops, I asked Zanitsch if he was comfortable being perceived as a more classic and traditional restaurant, rather than cutting-edge or trendy.
“I’m very comfortable with that,” he said. “We haven’t chased any trends … We just try to put out a very good product with good service ... take care of people the way they should be taken care of.”
It’s a year-after-year spot, where regulars from couples and families to businessmen and doctors come for birthdays and holidays.
“You become part of their family traditions,” Zanitsch said.
That award-winning wine list
While the Fig Tree is known for signature dishes like the elk chop, the bison ribeye and that rich escargot appetizer, it’s largely recognized for its wine. Wine Spectator thought so, too.
The restaurant’s monthly wine dinners, where producers and winemakers come to the restaurant and pour their wine, have transpired since the restaurant’s opening in March 2005.
It’s commemorating its 20th anniversary in true Fig Tree style: with a wine dinner, specifically with the first ever bottle of The Fig Tree wine label, a 2023 cabernet sauvignon blend from Napa’s Hill Family Estate, at its anniversary dinner on March 5.
Sara Zanitsch, sommelier and front of house manager, has curated a wine list with both collectible gems and familiar names, ranging from a $40 bottle to a $7,000 bottle.
To her chef husband, wine is a more harmonious pairing than cocktails for his menu — a perspective gained after years at Auberge du Soleil in Napa Valley and as a sous chef in Cincinnati.
“We’re known for our wine list and always have been,” Zanitsch said. One of The Fig Tree’s former servers even went on to become a sommelier in Napa at Thomas Keller’s renowned restaurant, The French Laundry.
What creates success?
Zanitsch described what defines success, but what creates it?
Predictable elements like the restaurant’s accessible parking or its proximity to the hospital help, as does Charlotte’s chronic need for fancy business dinners. Actually owning the Craftsman is a huge perk, too.
“My rent doesn’t go up … we own the building,” he said.
Even just expanding the seating on the outdoor patio during the COVID lockdown was great for businesses. These are all key contributors to the long life — in Charlotte years — of this fine-dining establishment.
But it’s largely the trust and “family” feel amongst the restaurant staff that has helped it last 20 years. Over time, Zanitsch has built trust in his team, including the kitchen staff, the bartender of 18 years and the cleaner who has been there since Day One.
“Their dedication every night to give guests a memorable experience is unmatched,” Sara Zanitsch said in a press release on the restaurant’s anniversary.
Even the Zanitsches’ oldest daughter has found herself in this tight family dynamic.
“She grew up in the restaurant,” Zanitsch said.
Their middle daughter, who loves to bake, came into The Fig Tree on her birthday to learn how to make her own cake with the restaurant’s pastry chefs.
And, maybe, the truest display of trust is this: When the Zanitsches took two weeks of vacation in Italy, Zanitsch “didn’t call the restaurant once.” That, in restaurant ownership, is quite a rarity.
But, if Zanitsch is not on a rare vacation or spending time with his children, he is still in the kitchen. In fact, he answered my interview call in the restaurant’s walk-in refrigerator.
Zanitsch has pursued a very active, hands-on ownership style.
“It took us probably 2 or 3 years before we took a weekend off,” he said. He leads by example, where no job is too big or too small, he explained.
“When the staff sees you carrying the trash out at the end of the night, they respect that.”
A slow, steady approach
I asked Zanitsch how The Fig Tree has stayed relevant and respected all of these years, chugging along steadily in the background, yet consistently showing up on the best-of lists.
“Well, it just kind of happened on its own,” he said.
The Fig Tree has no signs of closure in the future. “I don’t have any exit strategy … my youngest son is in 6th grade, so there’s at least another 7 years,” Zanitsch said.
In the meantime, he and his family — his wife and his restaurant family — will be celebrating with their very own wine on March 5.
There will be 56 cases available of the new anniversary wine, the Hill Family The Fig Tree cabernet, starting next month. To make a reservation for the anniversary dinner, call (704) 332-3322.
The Fig Tree Restaurant
Location: 1601 E 7th St, Charlotte, NC 28204
Cuisine: European-inspired, seasonal
Instagram: @thefigtreerestaurant
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This story was originally published February 24, 2025 at 5:30 AM.
