Stroll down (anniversary) lane

Reader Alex Coffin shares his clever 38-year anniversary deal with his wife: They decided each year they would go somewhere new and top-notch (or of sentimental value, as in the Open Kitchen, which he says was "THE 'date place' when I was in college." Now, looking back at "what once were VERY successful restaurants when we went there, I was struck with how many no longer exist ... How fleeting was success."

How many of the defunct (Charlotte ones are marked with an asterisk) do you remember?

(Note: Coffin moved to Charlotte in '76, so I've begun his list then. And this year's 38th-year dinner will be on a Baltic cruise.)

1977 Peking Palace*
1978 The Epicurean*
1979 Nakato
1980 The LampLighter*
1981 The Open Kitchen
1982 Eli's*
1983 Piper (Salisbury)
1984 Lizzie's*
1985 Hemingway's*
1986 Georgio's*
1987 Kabuto
1988 Pompano's*
1989 The Thistle*
1990 Chelsea's Café*
1991 Si*
1992 Thai House
1993 Miss Lucy's (Salisbury)
1994 Cajun Queen
1995 South City Grill*
1996 Patou*
1997 Vincent's*
1998 Campania*
1999 Hidden Garden* (Matthews)
2000 P.F. Chang's
2001 Trattoria Da Mimmo (Venice!)
2002 The Meeting House*
2003 Upstream
2004 Volare*
2005 Carpe Diem
2006 Santé (Matthews)
2007 Olde Hanza (Tallin, Estonia!)
2008 Zebra

And now, a word from France...

When a colleague told me his French exchange student had fallen in love with the Penguin in Plaza-Midwood, I asked if he'd like to write a little something -- add to our global perspective here, get a young voice, all that good stuff.

Samuel Fely from Limoges (that's him with the Big Block Burger) complied:

"Le Penguin Drive-In est un restaurant de Charlotte. Il est reputé et c'est merité. Les cheeseburgeurs y sont très bons, ainsi que les frites. Mais pour avoir une place, il faut attendre car l'endroit est petit et il y a de la queue. De plus l'endroit n'est pas très bien fréquenté et les clients fument, ce qui est désagréable. Cependant les serveurs sont relativement polis et le service est effectué rapidement. Et tout comme je l'ai dit, à toute heure la nourriture est vraiment très bonne. Il y a plusiers sortes de sauce à votre disposition. C'est agréable mais il n'y a pas beaucoup de serviettes, ce qui serait utile. ... Je me suis très régalé et c'était une bonne expérience."

IB French teacher extraordinaire Lynn Stultz, from Myers Park High School, was kind enough to translate:

"The Penguin Drive-In is a Charlotte restaurant. It is well-known and it deserves the reputation. The cheeseburgers there are very good, as well as the fries. But in order to get a seat you have to wait because the place is small and there is a line. The clients smoke and that's unpleasant. However, the staff is relatively polite and the service is quick. As I said, no matter the hour the food is really good. There are several kinds of sauces. This is nice but there are not a lot of napkins, which would be useful. ... I enjoyed myself very much and it was a good experience."

Quail Hollow deals, and more

Bring your Quail Hollow golf tournament ticket (or other proof of attendance) in to Upstream (Phillips Place) through Sunday and you’ll get 15 percent off your food price. Also up at Upstream: Lobster Mondays return. That’s four, mostly lobster-centric courses for $35. 704-556-7730.

Another Quail Hollow promotion: Chef Jim Noble has added a quail entrée at both Noble’s (6801 Morrison Blvd.; roasted smoked quail with ramp and cornbread stuffing) and Rooster’s (6601 Morrison Blvd.; grilled brace of quail). There’s also a new bar menu at Noble’s, and new specialty drinks at both places. And Sunday, Rooster’s will offer complimentary appetizers for diners watching the final holes of the championship.

And more:

• Vintage Wine Cellar (12206 Copper Way in the Toringdon Shopping Center) has expanded its seating with a large communal table in the middle of the café, and added tables and chairs, plus lounge seating on the patio. Also new: “Sushi Tuesdays” for the summer, with chef Tom Landers preparing the fish, and beer, wine and sake specials to accompany it. 704-543-3977.

• Among seasonal dishes showing up now at D'Vine Wine Cafe (Ballantyne Village): pan-seared soft shell crab with lobster and tomato sticky rice over blood orange reduction; corvino (fish) with black Thai rice and ginger sauce; and chocolate dessert sushi with macerated berries. The café has live entertainment four nights a week (“dancing is encouraged!”) and the place’s first wine dinner is slated for May 14, six courses paired with Trefethen wines. 704-369-5050.

Even more for Mother's Day? You bet...

* Gallery (at the Ballantyne Resort) offers brunch for $39.95, with a lineup including Lowcountry shrimp and grits; silver cod with parmesan gnocchi; chicken; filet with sauteed mushrooms; crème brulee of the day and more. 704-248-4100.

* The second Cosmos Café opens May 6 at 8420 Rea Road, in the Robinson Farms development. The menu will be essentially the same as the uptown original’s (300 N. College St.; 704-372-3553), with a kids’ menu added, and dinner will be served nightly, plus lunch on Saturday and brunch on Sunday. 704-544-5268. Both locations will offer for Mother’s Day a $24.95 menu from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. that includes eggs, a carving station of roasted steamship of beef, Scottish salmon and pork loin, plus sides and miniature pastries.

* Charlotte Marriott SouthPark (2200 Rexford Road) offers several meals for Mother’s Day: breakfast buffet or a la carte, and brunch 10:30 a.m.-2 p.m. for $29 ($25 for seniors, $12.95 kids 7-12, free 6 and younger). On that menu: eggs Benedict, blueberry pancakes, omelet and waffle stations, striped bass with crab, beef roulade and more. 704-364-8220.

* Sante (165 N. Trade St., Matthews) will open for brunch from 10:30 a.m.-2 p.m. with a $14 brunch ($9 for those younger than 10), then reopen for dinner from 5-8 with its regular dinner menu. 704-845-1899.

* Mama Ricotta’s (601 S. Kings Drive) will offer Tuscan salad, an omelet station, a buffet including French toast and housemade Italian sausage, a carving station, pastas, desserts and more. $17.95 ($10.95 for children); 704-347-4904.

* Copper (311 East Blvd.) will be open for lunch from 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. with its regular lunch menu. Also new here: a 900-square-foot patio in front of the restaurant, adjoining its shady side porch., with both tables and lounge furniture. 704-333-0063.

* Blue (Hearst Tower uptown) offers brunch 10:30 a.m.-3 p.m. with carving stations of ham and whole roasted salmon, chicken and sausage paella, breakfast foods such as egg casserole and waffles, a cold buffet and more. $34.95 ($12.95 children, free for 6 and younger); 704-927-2583.

* Both Cantina 1511s (Dilworth, 704-331-9222; and StoneCrest, 704-752-9797) offer a special menu that includes shrimp and crab tostada; chicken enchilada suiza; ribeye fajitas and more.

Herbs for Austin's

Rosemary Pete is Pete Vinci, who sells herbs at area farmers markets and loves Caribbean food. Which explains why he'd be unhappy at the thought that Austin's Caribbean Cuisine (345 S. Kings Drive, near the Metropolitan development with Target and Trader Joe's) might suffer in these economic times.

So he's offering what he modestly terms a "deal of a lifetime": Get some of Austin's takeout food anytime in May and he'll give you a coupon for $2 off anything Pete sells at the regional Saturday market at 1801 Yorkmont Road, including dried herbs, plants, fresh produce and more. A few rules: You have to get Austin's to stamp your receipt, since its logo isn't printed on them. You get a coupon for every receipt you have, but you can't use them together to get more than $2 off a single purchase from Pete.

Charlotte cooking in competition

Chef stuff: CPCC culinary instructor Geoff Blount finished runner-up in the Pastry Chef of the Year competition at the recent Southeast Regional American Culinary Federation competitions at the Southeast Regional Conference. Students John Latour, Amanda White, Lisa Borkowski and Amanda Hamilton won medals in baking and pastry arts competition, and Russ Thayer was awarded a $2,500 scholarship.

Restaurant stuff: Nineteen restaurants compete this summer for the title of “Best Dish in North Carolina” in a contest sponsored by the N.C. Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services. Gallery at the Ballantyne Resort is the only Charlotte restaurant on the list, vying for recognition among nine fine dining competitors, while 10 will compete in the casual category. The contest recognizes restaurants that use and promote N.C. food products, and finalists were chosen based on their proposed menus and marketing plans. They are required to offer the proposed dish or combination of dishes for at least a four-week period in May, June or July. Gallery chef J. Kelly Morrow will offer an Underwood Family Farm lamb quartet. Judges will visit each restaurant and declare first-, second- and third-place winners, which will be announced in August. Info: here.

More burgers coming, and Bologna (inspiration), too

Expect a second Big Daddy’s Burger Bar, at Ballantyne Commons in the former Wizeguys spot, by the end of June or beginning of July, says partner Frank Scibelli. He is also looking to place a third Cantina 1511 in the SouthPark area (with rooftop bar!) in the near future. The original Big Daddy’s is in Dilworth, at 1626 East Blvd.

Also coming up at a Scibelli restaurant: new menu items at Mama Ricotta’s (601 S. Kings Drive). He and chef Scott Roule, back from traveling in Bologna, Parma and Milan in Italy, aim to put some of the fare they liked best there on the menu in six weeks or so. Look for cotoletta Milanese done with fine, cheeseless breading; malfatti (spinach and potato gnocchi baked with Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and butter); risotto Milanese; shrimp and fresh artichoke strudel with walnut sauce; and penne with bacon, pumpkin and balsamico.

Roule will open the new Big Daddy’s when it’s time, says Scibelli, which means he’s in the process of looking for a chef for Mama’s, and he’s finding some surprising candidates – “a guy from Gordon Ramsey’s” among them, he says. And “apparently New York has really taken a hit, so I’m … seeing great resumes.”