Are you hungry yet?
Before you get the boxes off the moving van, we have a feeling you will be.
As the Observer's food editor, I field questions on everything from where to get plantains to pleas for black and white cookies. And there are the inevitable requests to explain grits and the difference between Eastern Carolina, Lexington and South Carolina barbecue.
Exploring the food of a new area can be as exciting as finding new friends and as nerve-wracking as negotiating strange streets. Let's see if I can get you started. Eating in Charlotte means:
1. New tastes. Thanks to transplants, immigrants and new businesses, the food scene here is changing fast.
In 2003, two schools with an emphasis on culinary training, The Art Institute of Charlotte and Johnson & Wales University, opened campuses here. They joined Central Piedmont Community College, which has had a culinary program for many years.
Today, you can see that influence all over the city, both in students who work in the restaurants and in a wide variety of international flavors.
2. New resources. All that interest in cooking spills over into shopping. From Asian supermarkets with live fish to Mexican markets with fresh tortillas, there aren't many ingredients you can't find. Check the list on page 30.
Many newcomers -- and longtime residents, too -- are excited about specialty store Trader Joe's entry into the market. The first Trader's was thronged by fans when it opened in August at the Shops at Piper Glen, on Rea Road near N.C. 51. A second store is expected by the end of the year in The Arbors on Mallard Creek Church Road, and a third store is still being considered.
Need something to cook with? Try Sur La Table or Crate & Barrel in SouthPark, Williams-Sonoma at several centers around the region, or Cooking Uptown, 1707 E. Seventh St. in Elizabeth.
Want ingredients with a healthy pedigree? Try Earth Fare, which has two locations (Governor Morrison Street in SouthPark and North Community House Road in Ballantyne) or Talley's in Dilworth. Whole Foods plans to open in the SouthPark area by 2009.
3. Fresh food. Charlotte is an urban area in a rural region. Starting with spring strawberries and stretching through apples and pumpkins in fall, farms around us open their fields for pick-your-own crops. The Observer runs a list each April, and we keep it posted through fall at www.charlotte.com/living.
If you'd rather someone else did the picking, we also have farmers markets, and that list is online, too.
4. Traditional food. Yes, you're in the South now. And that means grits, fried chicken, biscuits, corn bread, greens and sweet ice tea. The list on page 30 will help you negotiate those.
Oh, and there is this thing called barbecue. Yes, people in the Carolinas take barbecue seriously. Around here, barbecue is a noun, not a verb.
If your new neighbors invite you for barbecue, they won't mean hot dogs on the grill. (Unless they're not from around here, either.)
To find the most famous barbecue restaurants, head to towns such as Shelby and Lexington.
5. Swapping information. I love answering questions about food. A native of the South, I have 30 years of experience in the Carolinas.
But I'm still learning, too. On www.charlotte.com/food, you can find the Food Q&A, where I answer questions almost daily.
The only thing Southerners like more than cooking and eating is arguing about food. Pull a chair up to the table and join in the debate.
food editor Kathleen Purvis
