Bubble Charlotte set to open at EpiCentre

Bubble Charlotte, which will serve "chef-driven small plates, crafted for a mature palate," along with cocktails, spirits and wines (especially sparklers), is slated to open mid-May at the EpiCentre. The partnership includes Charlotte native Brad Beltrondo, who ran SUITE (a bottle-service nightclub in Charlotte), Cal Fortis (whose background is in design and entertainment concepts and who designed the place in a way that "integrates Miami style with Uptown elegance," according to the press release) and Bourke Floyd, whose experience ranges from GM at a Los Angeles nightspot to work in San Diego's entertainment district.
210 E. Trade St.; www.bubblecharlotte.com.

Taste out, do good

Taste of the Nation Charlotte, an annual event that works to combat hunger in the area and nationally, is April 17 this year and benefits national hunger relief group Share Our Strength, Second Harvest Food Bank and the Community Culinary School of Charlotte. All proceeds from ticket sales go toward ending childhood hunger. About 25 places serve up tastings, wines and other drinks – plus Stefan Huebner mixing cocktails – are offered, and there’s live music and both silent and live auctions. VIP tickets get you into the preview hour for $100; tickets to the regular event (7-10 p.m.) are $85. Participating restaurants include BLT Steak, Brixx, Cantina 1511, Chima, e2, Ember Grille, Enso, Gallery, Harper’s, Mama Ricotta’s, Mimosa Grill, Napa on Providence, Queen City Q, Savannah Red, Upstream, Village Tavern, Vivace and Wolfgang Puck’s. Wells Fargo Center Atrium, 301 S. Tryon St. (free parking after 7 at the Two Wells Fargo Center deck). Tickets: www.charlottetasteofthenation.com.

Dine out, Charlotte, and do good

Locally owned restaurants pitch in to help the hungry through the new Dine Out Charlotte, a spring kind of restaurant week that's offering dinner at more than 30 area places.

April 12-21 (yes, it's a 10-day "week"), you can get three courses for $22 or $32 (depending on the restaurant's price ranges), and $2 of that is donated directly to the Second Harvest Food Bank’s Feed Hungry Kids program, says founder Jeff Ahmadi. The website lets you book tables, and restaurants are still being added to the list, Ahmadi says. Among those on the current list: Blackthorne, Blue, Cafe Monte, Campania, Cantina 1511 (whose ownership includes area folks), City Tavern, Dressler’s, Fiamma, the Harper’s/Mimosa Grill/Upstream siblings, Hot Stone Grill, Maestro Bar and Bistro, Miro, Miyagi’s, Nick’s Steak, Old Stone, Osso, Pisces, Prickly Pear, Red Rocks, Rudy’s, Santé, Senor Tequila, Wooden Vine and Zen Fusion.

Mix drinks, win $5K?

It's branded, but an interesting idea: The National Restaurant Association is inviting professional mixologists to create a cocktail (with a particular vodka) and try to win its newly created "Star of the Bar" title. There's a $5,000 cash prize in the contest, which will happen at the NRA show May 19 in Chicago (and chef/star Tony Bourdain will be a judge, along with mixologist Tony Abou-Ganim). Five of six semifinalists will be chosen by a judges' panel and the sixth by the general public, through online voting April 22-24.
Interested, or know someone who should be? Directions: Design a signature cocktail, using American Harvest Organic Vodka. Create a video no more than 2 minutes long, describing and mixing the drink, then upload to YouTube. Submit online entry form by April 19, including link to video, by going to iwsb.restaurant.org/Star-of-the-Bar-Form.

Fast food: free stuff, cheap stuff

With the reopening of the Midtown Bojangles (fire damage had closed it for several months) comes the chance for diners to enter a drawing to win a free breakfast combo every week for a year. Stop by the place at 1407 E. 3rd St. through April 11 and enter.

And two for tax day:

* McDonald's offers free small "Premium Roast McCafe" coffee all day April 8-15.

* Bruegger's Bagels' "1040 Tax Day Deal": April 12-15, $10.40 buys you 13 bagels and two tubs of cream cheese -- a "deduction" of about $3.50.

Charlotte burgers up -- on TV, that is

The Travel Channel launches its new "Burger Land" April 15. The series, in which host George Motz -- who wrote "Hamburger America" -- ventures across the land to find great burgers, is slated to include The Diamond and Brooks Sandwich House among its highlighted spots. Los Angeles kicks off the series. (North Carolina, according to the Season 1 lineup, gets those two and Duke's in Monroe: Total.)

Bits, crumbs, free seafood

Get a free seafood "pairing" -- that's three jumbo shrimp, a crabcake or bacon-wrapped scallops -- with any 14- or 18-ounce Prime New York strip at the Palm through April 7. 6705 Phillips Place Court; 704-552-7256.

The King's Kitchen hosts a "Unique Appellations Dinner" April 18. In the lineup: pickled asparagus and arugula salad with country ham and Simonnet Febvre St. Bris Sauvignon Blanc; poached salmon with fava beans and J. Lohr Valdigue; and more. $60; 704-375-1990; 129 W. Trade St.