Why a Charlotte-area restaurant vanished — and the dramatic transformation taking its place
Two weeks ago, The Bottle Tree served its final brunch in Belmont before closing the restaurant’s doors forever. As soon as the plates were cleared and the diners were out the door, presumably full of Duck Fat Apple Pie and nostalgic goodbyes, the team members got to work.
And no, not on their resumes. Rather, on knocking down walls.
And two weeks later, after a full renovation, the team is ready to reintroduce the new space: Kaya Gastrolounge opens Thursday, March 6.
Why the name change?
The Bottle Tree was a favorite in the area for five years running, attracting customers from Gaston and Mecklenburg counties alike. So why the change?
“We decided it was time to, as a group, try to figure out what the next step was in our journey and we all sat down and decided it was time for a rebrand,” co-owner Gabriel Sawhney told CharlotteFive earlier this week. “Try to do something new, fun, exciting, bring a new flair to to Belmont and to the to the Charlotte crowd,” he said.
“We really wanted to update it and give it a more modern and classy theme,” said Taylor Daniel, general manager and beverage director.
The entire interior and exterior have changed. A new chef was hired: Hector Garcia, who has worked at Napa at Kingsley, was executive chef at Sea Level and also helped to open Calle Sol. He’s created an entire new menu to go with the new look.
What to expect at the new Kaya Gastrolounge
It’s dark and moody now, more “loungy,” Daniel told us. “It looks like an entirely different restaurant when you walk in.” There’s new art on the wall, and the newly opened-up space offers more room, including more seating and more overflow space.
There are two bars now, one inside and one out.
A smaller cobblestone patio with a fireplace now serves as an extension of the inside restaurant, with new heaters and curtains outside to keep the chill out in cooler months.
Just past it is the large patio with an outside bar — the same spot that landed Bottle Tree as having the best patio in the area by CharlotteFive readers. It will open next weekend, and a live music series starts March 22 and will run every Saturday through the end of November. Bar crawls and other events are also planned for the patio space.
A food truck in the corner of the patio functions as an extension of the kitchen, serving up handhelds and flatbreads. It’s much needed, as Sawhney points out: “This (Kaya) is a tiny old house, so it’s about the same size as our full kitchen.”
The Bottle Tree used to serve two menus, but this new design eliminates any confusion, Sawhney said.
“We had a lot of people that wanted to enjoy our quarter-acre garden out back, that wanted to spend time out there, but also order the food from the inside, and then we had people inside that wanted to order food that was outside. And there was a lot of there was a lot of kind of discrepancy between the concepts,” he said. “So what we decided to do was actually make all of the food available everywhere.
“If you want to sit down and have a cheeseburger at the same time that somebody else at your table is having a nice charcuterie board and expensive bottle of wine, that’s no big deal. We’re happy to serve you.” he said.
Kaya’s new tapas-style menu
Speaking of cheeseburgers and charcuterie, Garcia is passionate about his new menu, Sawhney said. “It’s pretty incredible.”
On his first day, Sawhney said Garcia took everything out of the kitchen and reset the whole place. “The whole staff has leaned in.”
The new menu will be seasonal, just like it was for The Bottle Tree. Garcia’s tapas will have Mediterranean, French, African and American influence. In fact, the restaurant’s name has a South African influence: It means home in Zulu, the restaurateurs told us: Apt for a restaurant that’s in a former home.
Back to the menu: Upscale entrees will also be offered.
“We’re going to have a paella. We’re going to have a nice ribeye with truffle potatoes. We’re doing a snippy roast that will have rotating fish, like sea bass, that will be flash fried and have a parsnip puree on it that was actually featured by Chef Hector in a magazine,” Daniel said.
Expect to also see craft cocktails, an impressive wine list and craft beer.
Don’t worry, Bottle Tree fans
“Everybody that supported us for the last five years, we love and appreciate everything you’ve done. We wouldn’t still be here if we didn’t have all of you coming in the door every day,” Sawhney said. “Our goal with Kaya Gastrolounge is not to take any of the great things that The Bottle Tree’s ever done away, but to elevate them and to kinda make sure we’re delivering that new experience.”
Sawhney pointed out the restaurant’s unique patio with a quarter-acre beer garden with live music and “really cool” outdoor events, making it worth the visit whether you live in downtown Belmont, uptown Charlotte or somewhere else in the area.
“We had a lot of disappointed people that we were when they found out we were closing The Bottle Tree,” Daniel added. “And to those people, it’s still going to be the same elevated experience. It’s just going to be a better experience for you.”
Alex Cason contributed reporting.
Kaya Gastrolounge
Location: 102 Davis St, Belmont, NC 28012
Instagram: @kayagastrolounge
An inside look at Charlotte: The Charlotte Observer takes you behind the scenes of your favorite Charlotte teams, landmarks, businesses and more to show you how it all works. Follow along to see where we’re going next.
This story was originally published March 6, 2025 at 6:00 AM.
