Fran's back!

Fran Scibelli, whom you may remember from Metropolitan Bakery at Foxcroft and prior Charlotte ventures, is back, with Fran's Filling Station at 2410 Park Road in Dilworth.

(And yes, despite the fact I am on vacation -- which readers tell me I should note, to explain the infrequency of Web posts -- the restaurant scene grows apace.)

"I did a lot of soul-searching before deciding to open another restaurant," she says, before deciding she really wanted the feedback she couldn't get catering. "And I still thought there wasn't anyplace like the kind of place I want to eat. Not genre-specific, where you can get lots of different flavors. No foie gras, no truffle sauce, just good food… We're jeans and not high heels." (She also figures there's not much difference between what people now call a gastropub and what used to be called an American bistro.)

Lunch brings 11 specialty sandwiches, house-roasted turkey and roast beef, house-baked bread ("just for ourselves!" not for retail sale, she hastens to specify), salads and soups. Dinner is categorized thusly: noshes and nibbles; something crispy, something from the sea, something green, like mom made, and between the bread. Rosemary-grilled chicken breast and slow-roasted beef (pot roast) top the price list at $13.

"You can eat a little heavier (here) or eat leanly. We do have bacon-wrapped tater tots (with maple-black-pepper-rosemary glaze) but we also have seared tuna."

Lunch and dinner Monday-Saturday; 704-372-2009.

Chef leaves Harper's; South End gets gastropub

   Longtime Charlotte chef Tom Condron has left the Harper's Restaurant Group to open a gastropub with more-occasional Charlotte dining stirrer-upper Matthew Pera.  Dubbed The Liberty, it's slated to open in early October in the former McIntosh's space in South End (1812 South Blvd.). 

   Says the British-born Condron, "We're going to have fun food, food that will allow you to have fun at the table." He says the fare will be "as much farm to fork as possible" -- one example: braised pork shoulder and belly, served with Bibb lettuce for wrapping and an array of accompaniments, such as pickled pineapple and Georgia peanuts, "assembly required." The menu will change frequently, and he plans to play off the 70-plus beer list. "When I was growing up, you slammed 'em back with your mates and didn't really appreciate it. ... Now there are these great crafted beers out there. In this economy, it's a lot easier to spend $6 for a well-crafted beer than $12 for a halfway decent glass of wine."

Pera, quoted in a release, says: "Tom and I have often discussed how there is a gap in Charlotte between fine dining and casual," and the pair will put an emphasis on "reasonable" prices, defined here as entrees between $14 and $22.

   Both partners plan to be on hand, Pera (who served as general manager at Marais, Upstream, GW Fins and more) running the front of the house and Condron (who's worked with such luminaries as Joel Robuchon and Paul Bocuse) in the kitchen. The place will seat about 200, with a patio and 50-seat bar, plus private dining space. Plans call for it to serve lunch and dinner daily; the Web site isn't fully operational now but it's  here. 

 

 

Slow Food on Aug. 19

Slow it down with a five-course meal with wine pairings at Passion8 Aug. 19, which will also give diners the chance to hear from speakers from area farms, writers and an S.C. agriculture official. Cost is $100. Details  here.

Odds and ends

Closest place in Bon Appetit magazine's Top 10 Best New Restaurants is ... Cakes & Ale in Decatur, Georgia, where the dish to try, according to said magazine, is citrus arancine with Pecorino cheese.

Happy birthdays

• Miro celebrates its 10th anniversary with a fixed-price meal through September: $36 is dinner for two, with one appetizer, two soups or salads and two entrees. 7804 Rea Road; 704-540-7374.

• Dilworth Neighborhood Grille celebrates five years of business with a $5 limited menu Aug. 10-16, and will partner for five days of fundraising for five charities Sept. 14-18. 911 E. Morehead St.; 704-377-3808.

Always thought you'd be a great restaurateur?

Save yourself -- and your relatives, who'd you'd doubtless be hitting up to invest with you -- some time and money by checking out this. I am told, by PR folks naturally, that three million people play this every day....

Movie and a mousse

Ah.

Here's where a movie theater with food is genius: Aug. 6-9, to accompany "Julie & Julia" showings at the EpiCentre Theater, Mez will offer a lineup of Julia Child dishes. The movie blends the memoirs of uber-cooking-teacher Julia Child and self-professed "government drone" Julie Powell, who decided to spend one year cooking every recipe in Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" and blogging about it. The movie, with Meryl Streep and Amy Adams, opens Aug. 7. Mez has an a la carte list and a fixed-price meal (before or after screenings) for $39. Among the offerings: salmon mousse, French onion soup, foie gras with Madeira, duck a l'orange, bouillabaisse, steak au poivre, orange bavarian and banana Nutella crepe. 210 E. Trade St.; 704-971-2400. Bon appetit...

(For a food-stylist's-eye view of the moviemaking, check out Susan Spungen's story for The Atlantic here.)