Yes, chef! From sweetbreads to black ants: Charlotte’s daring tasting menu experiences
The first time I ever tried sweetbreads — a deceptively cloying name for the thymus and pancreas of a calf — was when I worked as a server for a tasting menu restaurant in Charlotte. It was lightly fried, perfectly seasoned and, to my horror, quite pleasant. To my surprise, I kind of liked it.
Tasting menus have the keen ability to make you feel uncomfortable; to shock and engage your senses in new and evocative ways, and to make your taste buds sing, pucker or even revolt.
Plus, they take the stress out of having to choose what to eat, are always artfully prepared and often come with a sommelier-level wine pairing. And, even if you didn’t like a certain dish or flavor, at least you tried something new.
Over the past few years, tasting menus have gained increasing popularity in Charlotte, encouraging Queen City dwellers, myself included, to broaden their culinary horizons.
Pioneering tasting menu concepts like Counter- — alongside more recent chef-driven spots like DŌZO Japanese American Kitchen — are continuing to shape Charlotte’s gastronomic scene, evolving our Southern-leaning palates one provocative dish at a time.
Think outside the box (or the plate)
For chef Sam Hart, owner of the high-concept, story-driven restaurant Counter-, the tasting menu set-up encourages a collaborative, creative atmosphere among employees — something that’s not typically seen in a traditional kitchen setting.
“The themes and the concepts are mine, but when it comes to planning out the menus, the experience, the storytelling — everything like that — it’s a team effort,” Hart explained.
Hart’s love of the craft has pushed the boundaries between food and art. One of Counter-’s recent dishes featured a Thai lemongrass curry aeration and black ants. Yes, actual insects. Guests were asked to eat the preparation off the back of their hands.
“ We asked everyone to put their hands out and make a fist,” Hart explained. “Then we put seven or eight ants on top of it. They were black ants that had this really intense lemongrass flavor, and they had to eat it off of their hands. It was a very visceral, intense moment, and it definitely freaked out some people.”
While Hart and the Counter- team hope that guests will enjoy the food, much of which is sourced locally, they don’t necessarily cook with a Charlotte audience in mind. Instead, they follow the flavors that inspire them.
“We actually don’t really think that much about how the guest is going to like or not like it,” Hart explained. “We don’t really put too much stock into that because we create dishes that we’re really excited about making and really excited about eating.”
Finding a balance
For chefs Perry Saito and John Gamble, best known as the formidable team behind Katsu Kart — one of Charlotte’s most beloved food trucks — their newest concept, DŌZO Japanese American Kitchen, is all about serving good food and pushing culinary boundaries all at an accessible price point.
“When I was building out the concept for DŌZO, I definitely wanted it to be a very affordable and approachable space that was accessible to everyone,” Saito explained. “That’s something that’s always been important to me.
Each month, DŌZO presents a ticketed tasting menu experience that allows Saito and Gamble to flex their culinary chops with themes like wagyu, omakase and seasonal concepts like winter and fall.
For Saito, a fourth-generation restaurant industry worker, incorporating a tasting menu into DŌZO’s schedule allows for a sense of creative balance for him and Gamble.
“I have the itch to do things nicer and a little more high-end,” he said. “With these dinners, it was definitely a way for us to have both sides of that sword.”
Saito, driven by his culinary passion — and, having grown up on the beach, his fondness for seafood — and Gamble, with his Culinary Institute of America training background, come together to create tasting menus that inspire.
“With the tasting dinners, I think that is something that gave us an ability to one do something a little bit different, a little more expressive for Charlotte and also find a way to get to that creative energy utilized that we’ve kind of been [building] up for the last couple years that we’ve been out of the restaurant kitchen,” Saito said.
Tasting menus to try in Charlotte
Aqua e Vino
Location: 4219 Providence Rd #3993, Charlotte, NC 28211
Instagram: @aquaevino
Aqua e Vino is an old-school, white-tablecloth restaurant in SouthPark best known for its authentic Northern Italian flavors.
If you’re feeling adventurous, the boutique restaurant offers a tasting menu option in which you leave your meal up to the chef. But don’t worry, with Italian-born chef Gabriele Grigolon, you’re in good hands.
Counter-
Location: 2001 W Morehead St D, Charlotte, NC 28208
Instagram: @counterclt
Dining at Counter- is more than just a dinner, it’s a high-concept, transportive experience that tantalizes all the senses. Over the past few years, the pioneering tasting menu concept has set the stage for Charlotte’s culinary scene.
Led by James Beard Award finalist chef Sam Hart, alongside a talented team of chefs and certified sommeliers, the menus — or, as the Counter- team refers to them, “themes” — change seasonally. No two themes are ever the same, and courses are never repeated after a three-month period.
Dot Dot Dot
Location: 4237 Park Rd Unit B, Charlotte, NC 28209
Instagram: @dotdotdotclt
Tucked discreetly away in the Park Road Shopping Center you’ll find one of Charlotte’s best kept secrets: Dot Dot Dot. The speakeasy is best known for its diverse spirit selection, classic and house craft cocktails, and its small but mighty kitchen.
About once a month, the speakeasy hosts a dinner event where guests are invited to eat, drink and pick owner and master mixologist Stefan Huebner’s brain about the fascinating world of spirits. Signature cocktails and liquor tastings are served alongside a coursed menu. It’s probably best to Uber or take a Lyft to this event.
DŌZO Japanese American Kitchen
Location: 2200 Thrift Rd Suite 1, Charlotte, NC 28208
Instagram: @DŌZOclt
DŌZO Japanese American Kitchen is an intimate, 16-seat restaurant located in City Kitch, serving classic Japanese food with a modern American twist.
Once a month, DŌZO hosts an intimate tasting menu dinner. Chefs Perry Saito and John Gamble create intricate, yet powerful menus that allow them to exercise their creative muscles with higher-end ingredients and unique flavors. Availability is limited, and tickets sell out fast.
Fin & Fino
Location: 135 Levine Avenue of the Arts #100, Charlotte, NC 28202
Location: 8630 Lindholm Drive, Huntersville NC 28078
Instagram: @finandfinoclt
Feeling indecisive? No worries! At Fin & Fino, guests can opt for “The Treatment” — a chef-driven tasting tour of the menu that takes the decision-making out of your hands. Plus, $5 from every Treatment order is donated to a local charity.
Kindred
Location: 131 N Main St. Davidson, NC 28036
Instagram: @kindredrestaurant
For parties up to 10, the beloved Davidson restaurant Kindred offers The Chef’s Table, a private tasting menu experience led by owner and chef Joe Kindred with dedicated wine pairings by Katy Kindred.
The Chef’s Table includes six courses and a dedicated server to help guide you through the evening.
L’Ostrica
Location: 4701 Park Rd, Charlotte, NC 28209
Instagram: @lostrica_clt
Cat Carter and chef Eric Ferguson are a match made in culinary heaven. The duo are the visionaries behind L’Ostrica, a Montford-neighborhood restaurant serving forward-thinking and delightfully innovative tasting menus. At L’Ostrica, expect fresh, seasonal flavors that reflect the local Carolina-Piedmont terroir, served through a global lens.
Aside from L’Ostrica’s tasting menu options, guests can enjoy an a la carte bar menu for when you need a quick bite to eat.
McNinch House Restaurant
Location: 511 N Church St, Charlotte, NC 28202
Instagram: @mcninch_house_restaurant
The McNinch House has been around for more than a century — literally. The historic building was built in the 1890s and has stood the test of time. Before its decades-long stint as a restaurant (it first opened its doors in 1989), the McNinch House was exactly that — a house.
Today, the restaurant offers two tasting menu experiences: The Chef’s Tasting and The Chef’s Table. Each comes with an optional wine pairing, unforgettable food and a truly unique ambiance you can’t experience anywhere else in Charlotte.
Omakase Experience by Prime Fish
Location: 2907 Providence Rd STE 101, Charlotte, NC 28211
Instagram: @omakasebyprimefish
Chef Robin Anthony, owner and executive chef of Omakase Experience by Prime Fish, believes that the best way to enjoy sushi is omakase style.
“Omakase means ‘leave it up to the chef,’” Anthony explained. “Omakase style can give the chef total expression of seasonal ingredients, like fish and the vegetables, giving the best experience to the customer.”
With only six seats available, the Omakase Experience by Prime Fish is an intimate experience with Anthony at the helm. With fresh seafood and rare ingredients imported from the Toyosu Fish Market in Tokyo, each dish is as impressive as the next. Anthony is also a sake expert and delights in finding the perfect pairing for each course (which you can also explore at nearby Prime Fish Cellar).
Peppervine
Location: 4620 Piedmont Row Dr Suite 170B, Charlotte, NC 28210
Instagram: @peppervineclt
Progressive, locally sourced, effortlessly seasonal and wine-centric: Peppervine is all about forward thinking flavors and elevated small plates. The SouthPark date-night locale offers a weekly three-course chef’s tasting menu with an optional wine pairing.
Sora
Location: 2907 Selwyn Ave, Charlotte, NC 28209
Instagram: @thesoranc
Sora is a French- and Asian-inspired restaurant from restaurateur Birdie Yang, known for success with Baku and Yama Asian Fusion. Reservations must be made in advance for small but elegant and modern dining room, where the menus change daily and are tailored to accommodate vegetarian diners and allergies.
Chef Tshering Dorji’s luxurious creations, featuring truffles, foie gras, wagyu and Tokyo-sourced seafood aren’t just pleasing to the palate. They’re also visually stunning works of art.
Supperland Speakeasy
Location: 1212 The Plaza, Charlotte, NC 28205
Instagram: @sppr.lnd
The Supperland speakeasy may be small in size but it’s definitely not lacking in spirit. Located down a steep set of stairs, hidden underneath the restaurant, you’ll find the 10-seat, pocket-sized bar. The speakeasy’s tasting menu, or “spirit experience,” allows guests to try four unique cocktails paired with creative small bites from the Supperland kitchen.
With Colleen Hughes, Supperland’s head mixologist (and a recent James Beard nominee), and bar manager Rhea Buck as the creative forces behind the drinks, the spirit experience is perfect for the cocktail connoisseur.
YUME Ramen Sushi & Bar
Location: 1508 S Mint St Suite A, Charlotte, NC 28203
Instagram: @yumeclt
Located in South End, YUME is best known for its piping hot bowls of Tonkotsu ramen, yakitori and colorful platters of sashimi and nigiri. YUME also offers a chef-curated omakase experience.
With fresh ingredients changing depending on the season, your omakase experience will always be different. The restaurant does require you to book at least two days in advance.
Heidi Finley contributed.
This story was originally published April 4, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
