Heirloom Restaurant Opens This Week In Charlotte, Locally Sourced; And For Me, It's Especially Local

It's not often that I get to blog about something in my neighborhood, so it is with great pleasure and excitement that I tell you about Heirloom Restaurant. About two weeks ago, I drove past the building and saw that a new sign had gone up. I wasn't even aware that a new restaurant was getting ready to open, so now I'm particularly looking forward to it because their aren't many restaurants--other than fast food--in this area, which is the Coulwood/Mountain Island area, in northwest Charlotte.

Photo credit: Jarvis Holliday

Last week, I'd noticed several cars in the parking lot at the restaurant, so I was wondering if it had opened yet. Come to find out those were the cars of the people working to get the place open. I stopped by yesterday and talked briefly to the parents of the owner, 27-year-old Chef Clark Barlowe. They told me the restaurant will open on Tuesday evening (February 11).

Barlowe is a Johnson & Wales University graduate and has experience working at some top restaurants. The food and ingredients he'll serve at his place will be locally sourced, meaning they'll be fresh--in many cases organic--and come from gardens and farms in North Carolina, including the vegetables, chicken, beef, pork, and more. This movement, called farm-to-fork or farm-to-table, has grown tremendously over the last several years in Charlotte. And it will certainly add some much-needed flair and food sophistication to this part of town (Bull & Barrister, which does well in its own right, is about the best thing we have going over here).

According to the menu on Heirloom's website, entrees will range from $21 to $31 and include: New Life Farm Half Broiler (boneless half chicken, La Ratte potato puree, kale, red eye gravy), NC Clam and Shrimp Curry (Thai chilies, lemongrass, milk broth, Carolina gold rice, basil, onion), and Asgard Farm Duck (Crispy duck confit, seared breast, red cabbage, hoecake, duck jus), among others

The restaurant is not as far away as you might think. It's only 15 minutes northwest of Uptown--take I-277N (or Exit 11B on I-77N), which becomes Hwy. 16N/Brookshire Boulevard and turn left onto Bellhaven Boulevard. Then it's about a mile down on the right, next to a branch of Suntrust Bank and across the street from the road that leads to Coulwood Middle School.

I look forward to eating there soon, and I'll let you know how it goes.

Heirloom Restaurant, 8470 Bellhaven Blvd., 704-595-7710, heirloomrestaurantnc.com, Twitter @HeirloomRestNC.