News and Notes

Nickel and Dine

• Skyland Family Restaurant (4544 South Blvd.) is offering breakfast specials 6 to 11 a.m. daily (such as two eggs with bacon or sausage, hash browns or grits and toast or biscuit for $2.99) and a lunch or dinner special that includes meat, two vegetables and a cup of soup for $5.95. 704-522-6522.

• And on the opposite end: Palm (Phillips Place) has a four-pound lobster special for two (with two salads and a side dish to share) for $89.95. 704-552-7256.
  

• Chick-fil-A now does a $2.49 milkshake that's 14 ounces, in addition to the 20-ounce one for $2.89. It's also added a new flavor -- peach, in honor of its Georgia roots -- that will be available through Aug. 22.
  

Toward King's Kitchen

Attend dinner and a silent auction at Noble's (6801 Morrison Blvd.) on June 4 and you can help with the nonprofit The King's Kitchen. That's chef Jim Noble's name for the restaurant he is creating uptown to employ and minister to troubled and unemployed people in Charlotte, with profits going to aid the poor. Cost: $250; www.kingskitchen.org.

News and notes

• Firenze (6414 Rea Road) hosts a wine dinner June 2 matching indigenous varietals to chef Gabriele Grigolon's fare. On the menu: tuna carpaccio with Villa Sparina Cortese Brut; slow-roasted veal porchetta with 2007 Velenosi, Lacrima di Morro; and more. $39; 704-544-4949.

• Longitude 81 (971 Gold Hill Road, Fort Mill) plans a Lowcountry picnic June 6; the restaurant plans these for the first Saturday of each month in the summer. The all-you-can-eat menu includes boiled shrimp, snow crab legs, smoked babyback ribs, cornmeal-crusted baby catfish, fried chicken, peach crisp and more. Live music and drink specials will also be on hand. 803-802-9981.

• Coming up at Ballantyne Hotel & Lodge (10000 Ballantyne Commons Parkway), with all reservations at 704-248-4100: A Rutherford County farm dinner with Childress Vineyards on June 18 for $75; Father's Day brunch 11 a.m.-3 p.m. June 21, a buffet with seafood displays, omelet station, carving stations and more; $48.95 ($25.95 for 7-12, $7.95 for 3-6, free for younger than 3); and a special four-course Father's Day dinner with choices including Vidalia onion soup; Lowcountry shrimp; peppercorn strip steak, softshell crab and more for $49.

First Bite: Big View Diner

The food: Think diner, then amend your thinking. The last diner I was at that had real roasted turkey on its hot turkey sandwich? Wait: There wasn't one. Housemade crisp chips with blue cheese dressing; wings roasted, then grilled and sauced with sweet mustard barbecue sauce; meatloaf with veal jus; mashed sweet potatoes; grilled chicken sandwich on focaccia: all classics tweaked upward and all pretty good. The question is, on this long, long, long menu, will there be a few things so stunning you'll come back on a regular basis? I'll let you know after I've worked my way through a few dozen. Desserts range from handsome cookies of many kinds to mile-high cream pies on extraordinarily flaky crusts, and cheesecakes, and ice creams are made in house.
The look: Think diner, then think retro and expensively-done fun. Circular string cages around the lights (like when kids put starched string around balloons and let it dry, then pop them); brightly colored collage-y artwork; graduated wood panels with vivid red accents; curvy and straight padded booths; and a big dining area, plenty of counter spots and a somewhat-separated sports lounge with big TV screens.
The servers: Ours was a career server type (read: older than 22) who knew the menu well and sold it with aplomb. Others checked on us routinely and energetically and something like three different people boxed up the leftovers (and you are very likely to have leftovers). Well-coordinated.
The details: Breakfast about $2.25-$13; sandwiches $5-$10; lunch entrees $7-$14; dinner entrees $9-$21. 16637 Lancaster Highway near the intersection of Johnston Road and Ardrey Kell; 704-544-0313; www.bigviewdiner.com.

France vs. USA, plus auction prices? Quelle surprise!

Aquavina (435 S. Tryon St.; 704-377-9911) pairs five courses with nine wines in a "French vs. American" wine dinner May 28 on the patio. Among the courses are a deconstruction of Oysters Rockefeller (with anise panna cotta and parmesan air!); beef three ways (cheek ravioli, roasted tenderloin, broiled marinated flank); and creme brulee with mango paper; $75.
Also: The restaurant will hold a silent auction on existing wine inventory to make some room for new stuff, and the auction will start at wholesale prices for Chateau Petrus, Opus One and more.

So what IS "modern Vietnamese cuisine"?

Having heard that diners enter Indochine Grill at the EpiCentre uptown (210 E. Trade St.; 704-688-0078) expecting Chinese-American food -- or Indian food, or (in the case of a few who see the Vietnamese in its subtitle) a pho-soup-only place -- I suspect a mini-primer on Vietnamese food may help stem confusion.

First, a little geography and history: Vietnam is in Southeast Asia, on the eastern side of what's called the Indochinese Peninsula, south of China (and east of India). A long, thin country, it also borders Laos and Cambodia. China, through a thousand years of colonization, and France, in a century or so of occupation, strongly influenced the nation's cooking. Stir-fries and noodles, sausages, baguettes, rich soups and more continue to show this heritage.

Vietnamese native Duc Tran, who owns Indochine Grill, has two Atlanta restaurants. Here, he emphasizes the influences of Japan (sashimi, for example) and the United States (the use of gas-grilled items) as well as France and China in his menu.

So, traditional cha gio (fried egg rolls) are joined in the starter list by sashimi rolls and "Japanese short rib" (marinated and grilled), and a signature salad that mixes greens with green mango, green papaya, Fuji apple, fish vinaigrette and grilled meat or shrimp. There's a tuna ceviche and a tuna tartare next to the traditional noodle soup called pho and the rice vermicelli with meats called bun. And specialty dishes include riffs on the traditional Vietnamese dish called "shaking beef" using lamb and ahi tuna. (The meat doesn't shake; the dish -- thit bo luc lac -- is named for the cook's need to shake the pan as the meat sears.)

French La Lot is what Tran calls the grape leaves rolled around grilled beef or duck and garnished with roasted peanuts; traditionally, this is made in Vietnam with wild betel leaves. And Japanese-Seared Tilapia is the name for a sushi-grade tilapia fillet pan-seared in herbed oil.

Tran is careful to credit the influences on Indochine's take on Vietnamese cooking, which makes the place both interesting and educational.

Toasting wine and beer

Wine and beer dinners coming up:

• Maddi's Southern Bistro at Birkdale Village hosts a three-course farm-to-table dinner May 27 for $35. The menu: pork loin stuffed with andouille sausage and roasted poblano peppers, paired with with Red Brick Peachtree Pale Ale; braised pork belly with apple glaze and The Duck Rabbit Milk Stout; and smoked pork jowl and apple dessert muffins, with Woodchuck Granny Smith draft cider. The pork's from Denver's Grateful Growers farm. 704-987-7762.

• Belgian beer dinner at the Pizza Peel (4422 Colwick Road) May 28: Four Belgian beers, four Belgian-inspired courses from chef Tim Schafer, including Flemish-style roasted pork loin with Le Chouffe, and Belgian dark chocolate torte with Ommegang Chocolate Indulgence. $50; 704-714-8808.
  

• Savannah Red (at the uptown Marriott at 100 W. Trade St.): hosts a J. Lohr wine dinner May 30, with courses including grilled lobster with saffron butter and 2006 October Nights Chardonnay and barbecue lamb loin with 2006 Syrah. $55; 704-358-6524.
  

• Zink (201 N. Tryon St.) hosts a five-course Brooklyn Brewery dinner June 10. Among the offerings: peekytoe crab salad with Brooklyn Pennant Ale; Copper River salmon with Grafton Farms cheddar and sweet corn puree, with Brooklyner Schneider Hopfen Weisse; and herb-crusted Niman Ranch beef coulotte steak with Brooklyn Brown Ale. $48; 704-444-9001.
  

• Morton's uptown (227 W. Trade St.) hosts a Malbec tasting from 6-7:30 p.m. June 12 with hors d'oeuvres such as cheeses, broiled sea scallops, sliced tenderloin on crostini with chimichurri sauce and more. $45; 704-333-2602.
  

New hours, and/or menus

• Gashouse Grill (3078 East Franklin Blvd., Gastonia) is open, a casual American place reimagined from a former Fuel Pizza by the same owners. Burgers, pizzas, wings and ribs top the menu items. About $5.50-$13; 704-865-6889.
  

• Summer hours (starting May 25) for Firenze (6414 Rea Road): Dinner 5-10 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, to 11 Friday-Saturday, to 9 Sunday, and Sunday brunch 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. 704-544-4949.
  

• Cosmos Café at 8420 Rea Road now serves buffet-style Sunday brunch from 10:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. for $17.95. Carving stations, breakfast dishes, pastries and more are available. 704-817-3010.
  

• The Wine Shop at Foxcroft (7824 Fairview Road) now opens for lunch on Saturdays at 11 a.m. and stays open through dinner. The regular menu is offered, plus seasonal specials from the farmer's market. 704-365-6550.
  

• Common Market in South End (1515 S. Tryon St.) is now open 11 a.m.-8 p.m. daily, and offers a "Nite Eats" menu that includes fruit and cheese platter, Mediterranean bites and Grateful Grower's bratwursts. Also up at that location: Kids can get an item from the kids' menu for free Saturday and Sunday with an adult who orders from the regular menu. 704-332-7782.
  

• New on the summer menu at Village Bistro at Ballantyne Village: bone-in pork chop stuffed with prosciutto, mozzarella and spinach; seafood skewers with citrus dressing; tequila shrimp pasta; and mahi mahi with pineapple relish, plus an expanded appetizer menu. 704-369-5190.