Charlotte chef Michael Bowling dies years after kidney transplant
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported the year that Michael Bowling received a kidney transplant. He received a transplant in 2007 and a second, attempted transplant more recently, which could not be completed.
Charlotte chef Michael Bowling, known for his innovative southern cooking, optimistic outlook while battling kidney disease, and genuine and honest relationships with his peers, died Sunday. He was 49.
The former co-founder of Hot Box Next Level Kitchen and HBX Burgers, Bowling died about 20 years after receiving a new kidney and about four years after a plan for him to receive a kidney from a childhood friend. He was not able to receive the second kidney transplant.
He was, as local chef Chris Coleman described him in a phone interview with The Charlotte Observer on Monday, a “foundational chef of Charlotte.”
He didn’t always get the credit Coleman thought he deserved, but Bowling’s influence in Charlotte’s kitchens and restaurants can be felt today, even by people who may not have known who he was. And that was largely because of how generous Bowling was with his time and mentorship. Many chefs, especially chefs of color, are still working in Charlotte kitchens because of Bowling, Coleman said.
“He had a big heart that he wore on his sleeve all the time, and he would be the first to step up and give to people who needed it, even if he didn’t have anything himself to give,” Coleman said.
Rapper turned chef
Bowling’s career as a chef was his second. His first, according to his friend Jamal Millner, was as a rapper.
The pair, who met in their native Roanoke, Virginia, have been friends for 30 years — brought together by a desire to promote Bowling’s music and have his rap career take off, Millner said.
“One thing you did to promote your albums was to have parties,” Millner said in a phone interview Monday. “He was all about trying to be in the rap scene.”
Bowling would record the music and Millner would design the graphics used to promote their parties, some of which would bring out hundreds of people. Eventually, when Bowling transitioned into becoming a chef, their symbiotic relationship continued.
Only instead of music, Millner was using his graphic design skills to help promote Bowling’s food. They’ve been loyal friends since and Millner became the godfather of Bowling’s first child.
“He was always there. He was there when you needed him, and he was there when you didn’t need him,” Millner said. “He was always just a good friend.”
Sharing cooking tips
Millner said that one day, Bowling told him he was going to attend Johnson & Wales University to learn to become a chef, coming as a surprise to Millner.
“He was committed to anything that he did,” Millner said.
And as he learned new things in cooking school, he would share those tips with his friends, Millner said. Millner said he has adapted those things in his own life, including, “if it smells good together, it should taste good together.”
Bowling would teach his friends how to properly season food, food safety tips, or how to make a reduction. And he would let his friends taste things he was trying, including his chili. It had a delayed heat Millner loved.
“He was always doing something new to try to raise everyone else’s level,” Millner said.
Championing Black food in Charlotte
Coleman said he met Bowling about 15 years ago like most people in Charlotte’s small chef scene do: feeding each other and working together.
“I think the first dish that I ever ate from him was off of his Hot Box truck,” Coleman said. “He was doing a taco special that day, and had like, collard green leaves instead of tortillas and ... that blew me away.”
Bowling was a chef of many firsts in Charlotte, Coleman said. While most vendors were still selling gyros and hamburgers out of food trucks years ago, Bowling saw food trucks as a launching pad for serving African-American dishes.
“He was one of the first African-American chefs to really kind of show folks that this is what Black food looks like,” the chef of The Goodyear House said.
That innovative spirit continued as Bowling grew his food truck into full-fledged restaurants. And his generosity continued with the Soul Food Sessions series which was aimed at promoting Black chefs and raising money to provide aspiring chefs of color with scholarships to attend culinary school.
“We’ve always been believers that you can’t just start a conversation, you have to continue to carry the conversation,” Bowling said in a June 2018 interview.
Not just a chef, also an advocate
“I think if you ask any chef in Charlotte, there was probably a time where they got a call from Mike, or ran into him at an event or somewhere, and he would kind of light into you a little bit about what you could be doing more for the scene and more for the Charlotte chefs as a whole,” Coleman said.
Coleman said he got one of those conversations once after stepping down from the board of the Piedmont Culinary Guild after experiencing some burnout. He was too high profile of a chef to step away, Coleman said Bowling told him.
It made Coleman rethink his priorities and what he could be doing to champion Charlotte’s chef scene and local farms — something Bowling was passionate about — and pushed him to rejoin the board. Coleman said he later took on the role of chairman.
Bowling spoke his mind, which could be offputting, but he always did it with the intention of lifting people up, Coleman said.
Local chef Mark Allison, founder of FORK Cancer, said he met Bowling ten years ago when Bowling volunteered to work at a cancer charity event for Teal Diva, a nonprofit that fights gynecologic cancer.
“From the moment we met, Michael had a way of making everyone around him feel like family,” Allison wrote in a message. “His warmth came so naturally, and his talent as a chef was undeniable.”
Health struggles
For years, Bowling spoke openly about juggling his love of cooking and owning a restaurant — sharing a family recipe for fried chicken and creating a comfortable environment for diners — with his health struggles. He was diagnosed with kidney disease about two decades ago.
In 2021, the local chef community rallied around Bowling, who was going to receive a kidney transplant from a friend, to raise money to help with medical costs.
But while many might focus on healing during treatment, Bowling still worked, Coleman said. He wrote emails and messages while going through kidney dialysis.
“For the longest time, he’d go down and do treatment for a couple of hours, and then drive right back to his kitchen and put in the work,” Coleman said. “I think that is probably just his love for the industry. He loved it. He loved feeding people. He loved cooking.”
In an October 2021 interview with CharlotteFive, Bowling said it was important to stay positive and keep pushing forward.
“A large majority of people feel like people with kidney disease or any other life-threatening disease can’t have regular lives,” he said. “It’s imperative for people to know you can still live your life and do big things, even if you have things that are in your way, whatever it may be.”
A family guy
But in 2023 Bowling made the decision to close Hot Box in Concord, citing his health.
“It breaks my heart to see this project end, but if I am going to stay alive to see my grandbabies grow up, I must step back,” Bowling said at the time.
In January, he made a GoFundMe to help with medical costs.
“As most of you know, the last year has been challenging for me medically and personally. My health has drastically hurt my ability to earn a living,” Bowling said. “I have filed for disability, but that process takes time.”
Bowling was a family guy, Coleman said. While he loved kitchens, there were few places he enjoyed being as much as watching his sons on the football field. Some went on to play in college.
“He was super proud of them,” Coleman said. “When it came to his boys ... he loved them deeply.”
This story was originally published March 10, 2026 at 5:00 AM.
