Top Chefs in Charlotte for Beard

Gene Briggs of Blue will be host chef for this year's James Beard Foundation fundraising dinner in Charlotte on Sept. 22, joined by Bruce Moffett of Barrington's and Good Food on Montford, and pastry chef Geoffrey Blount of CPCC. As part of the Celebrity Chef Tour, the dinner is also slated to bring in Top Chef dolls-from-last-season Kevin Gillespie, of Atlanta's Woodfire Grill, and Eli Kirshtein, who had cooked at Eno, also in Atlanta. Proceeds benefit the James Beard Foundation's programming and educational initiatives. $150; 206 N. College St.; tickets at 720-201-1853 (Jeff Black).

Speaking of familiar names, chef Mark Hibbs, formerly of Ratcliffe on the Green (which closed in uptown last week), says he just became chef at Oak Street Café in Highlands. The fare is European-style fine dining, he says, mostly French and Italian influence. 332 Main St.; 828-787-2200.
And less familiar names: Anoosh Shariat has taken over the helm at Mez; where he plans to be “big into local,” according to public relations folks, but will take a transitional approach to changing Klime Kovaceski’s original menu; expect about a third to change in the near future, followed by more. A native of Persia, Shariat comes here from Louisville, where his experience was in fine dining and he’d gained a particular reputation for vegetarian fare, though his work was never exclusively vegetarian. Mez is at 210 E. Trade St.; 704-971-2400.