Creative Loafing Charlotte

CUISINE | CUISINE 03.02.05

Getting Real About EthniCity

Charlotte cuisine covers the globe, but do the locals care?

TRICIA CHILDRESS

Next Generation Consulting, that now-notorious outfit that hired focus
groups of “young professionals” to determine Charlotte’s hipness factor,
noted that one element that would make the Queen City “cool” is to have
“authentic” ethnic restaurants, especially “authentic” ethnic restaurants in
the city core. I’m going to assume for the moment that these “young
professionals” did not mean putting in an Epnic (Disney’s Epcot + ethnic)
restaurant along the lines of a P.F. Chang’s on the Square. I’ll go with the
hopeful premise that what they want are locally grown ethnic restaurants
operating in the downtown environment. The study folk call this a “cultural
amenity,” since eating ethnic is a popular fad for grads.

But just how many ethnic restaurants does Charlotte actually have now? I
asked Bill Hardister of the Mecklenburg County Health Department this
question, since his department inspects all the food operations in the
county. Unfortunately, his office does not stratify restaurants by type or
size. On the MCHD list are 1,758 active food operators. This number takes in
all the fast food franchises, including the 31 McDonald’s and the 46 area
Subways, the deli counters at the Harris Teeters, even the jail.

So although there is no official document with the precise number of ethnic
restaurants, I culled through the list and arrived at approximately 300-plus
locally owned and operated ethnic restaurants. I did not include the
hundreds of Italian restaurants and pizzerias, local burrito-type chains
such as Salsaritas, regional burrito chains such as Southwest Moe’s, or
locally grown gyro shops such as Showmars. Nor does this list include the
growing number of ethnic bakeries or food markets. I tried to keep the list
to actual ethnic eateries. In many cases, I made the distinction of ethnic
from non-ethnic by calling the establishment and asking the owner if he, or
she, considered the restaurant to be ethnic. Some non-ethnic eateries are
owned by folks who have very ethnic sounding names.

I went further to break these 300-plus eateries into ethnic groups. The
largest turned out to be the 110 area Chinese food vendors. Not all of these
spots are restaurants. Some are take-out-only places while others are large,
full-scale restaurants such as Wan Fu, Dragon Court, Shun Lee Palace and
Baoding.

The next largest ethnic eatery group was Latino. In this category were about
90 Latino spots: 70 from Mexico, three from South America, four from El
Salvador, and about 10 from the Caribbean islands of Jamaica, the Dominican
Republic, Granada and Cuba.

Next are the “other” (non-Chinese) Asian spots. This list includes over 30
Japanese eateries, a few sushi-only places; 12 Vietnamese restaurants (one
is a soup shop); 12 Thai restaurants; 11 Indian (two of these are south
Indian vegetarian); two Korean (one of these is a small Japanese/Korean take
out, while the other, Koryo, has been operating in Charlotte for 15 years);
one Malaysian; and one Laotian.

Charlotte has four Middle Eastern eateries and one Persian restaurant (in
addition to the Kabob House, Ali Baba take-out says it serves Persian, too).
Two spots serve New Zealand cuisine and two serve African (non-Middle
Eastern) cuisine. Of these, one serves Ethiopian exclusively, while the
other serves Ethiopian and Eritrean. Regrettably, the West Africa
restaurant, Katchikally, closed last year.

In addition to the plethora of Italian places ~W and Italian-American places
~W Charlotte is host to a handful of eateries from Europe, including France,
Spain, England, Ireland and Germany. (If I’ve left out your restaurant,
please call me: 704-522-8334, ext 136.)

Surprising, though, is the lack of a Russian or Eastern European style
restaurant, given the burgeoning number of ex-pats from the former USSR and
Yugoslavia who now call Charlotte home. There are a few ethnic markets: two
Russian, one Russian/Armenian/Eastern European, and one Bosnian market.

But are these ethnic restaurants genuinely authentic? In a brief Spanish
survey given to a random sampling of Latino eateries, I asked if the owner
considered his restaurant’s dishes authentic. The answer was unanimously
yes. All but one owner came from the same country as the food served, and
all agreed that the specialties of the house could be ordered at a
restaurant in their native country.

More interesting was the answer to the percentage of clients who were US
citizens. Not one of these restaurateurs indicated that the “Charlottean”
customers amounted to more than 40 percent. In fact, at a majority of
places, the number was closer to five to 10 percent.

When asked why Charlotteans have the perception that there’s a dearth of
authentic restaurants in town, the owners looked perplexed. Here I was
speaking Spanish on a street with dozens of similar establishments. Most
owners just burst out laughing. Some tried to help by indicating that
Charlotteans might not know these restaurants exist (after all, the focus
group didn’t). Others said that Charlotteans may be uninformed about the
various Latino cuisines. One Caribbean restaurateur, visibly annoyed, noted
non-Latinos thought all Latino food was the same: Tex-Mex. “I do not serve
burritos here,” she said, shaking her head.

But then these Latino restaurateurs were quick to tell me that their
restaurants had specialties not found elsewhere in the city: the cut of
meat, or imported ingredients.

Toi (Sukanya) B. Rogers, a native of Bangkok, owns Thai Marlai in Cornelius.
She moved to Charlotte with her American husband in 1972. In the 1980s, she
opened the phenomenally popular Thai Cuisine. Then in the 1990s, she opened
Thai Orchid. Does Rogers consider her Thai Marlai an authentic Thai
restaurant? She responded wryly, “I am 100 percent Thai. My sister who is
cooking in the kitchen is 100 percent Thai. We get our seasonings, our
chilies and many other ingredients from Thailand, and the recipes are my
family’s. And they are 100 percent Thai, too. If someone does not think this
place is an authentic Thai restaurant, they should come talk to me.”

Many restaurateurs agree with Rogers. Nader Behrouzjou opened North
Carolina’s only Iranian (Persian) restaurant seven years ago. He said, “My
dishes at the Kabob House are all Iranian dishes. People tell me I should
convert some of the recipes, to Americanize them. But my culture is 2,500
years old. I serve the authentic kebob marinated with different spices.”

Alex Ayalew, a native of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, opened Meskerem Ethiopian
Cuisine last year. He reports, “Our food is authentic. It is exactly the
same as the food in Ethiopia. We get all the spices from back home. The
taste is the same.” He said it is just as important for him to educate his
customers about his culture as to serve them delicious food, and he hopes
that more Charlotteans will visit his restaurant, which is less than one
mile from Trade and Tryon. “We try to market to everyone. Once they try it,
they come back.”

In Pineville, Gitta and Tom Maier opened the Waldhorn Restaurant six years
ago. The restaurant is named for her parents’ restaurant in Stuttgart and
her husband is a Culinary Institute of America graduate whose father is a
German baker. Gitta Maier said, “We are definitely authentic. Our customers
rave about the food and say it reminds them of Germany. Two-thirds of our
customers are American, the rest are Germans who live here.”

But the truth is that although some restaurants such as those mentioned
above remain true to their heritage, others do not. As the clientele grows
to include more Americans, a funny thing happens to the menu. It is a common
practice, for example, for Chinese restaurants to have two menus. One is for
Asians and the other for non-Asians. On the latter are such Americanized
Chinese dishes as Chicken Chow Mein, Chop Suey and, more recently, Crab
Rangoon. And no, there isn’t cream cheese in traditional Chinese cuisine.

Why two menus? Tony Koos, owner of Dragon Court Chinese Restaurant in the
Asian Corners Marketplace, puts both of his menus in the same folder ~W that
way Asians and Americans alike can choose. He stated, “We have the two
menus, the regular Chinese and authentic Chinese. Both types use the real
Chinese vegetables. What is different is the cooking style. The authentic
style is totally different.”

But serving authentic can be challenging for the restaurateur who wants to
hear that cash register ring. Would an American choose black chicken feet
stir fry at a Chinese restaurant?

The change in dishes may be subtle. Kevin Cheng, who serves extraordinary
Taiwanese cuisine at Tomi, related, “We have one dish that we had to change.
The dish called for a chicken leg cut up with the bone and the skin. First,
Americans don’t like dark meat. Next, they don’t like the bones, and third,
they don’t eat skin, so we use boneless chicken breast as the meat for this
dish. But all the other ingredients and the sauce are the same.”

Some restaurateurs opt out of the whole authentic arena altogether. At
Salsas, Sergio Gomes said their restaurant’s concept is “American Mexican.”
“We considered both directions and went with this concept. While we have
authentic Mexican choices on the menu, we primarily have Tex-Mex. But
everything is made fresh in house. We try to reach as many people as we can,
so the dishes are not too spicy. About 70 percent of our clients are
Americans; the rest is Latino, but that segment is increasing.”

But what happens to the other ethnic restaurants if one within a category
acquiesces to American taste buds? Bhupen Engineer, owner of Bombay Cuisine,
noted that having high quality Indian restaurants is important to him. He
opined, “Many people will judge all Indian restaurants from one Indian
restaurant. If they do not have a good experience at my competitor’s place,
then I will lose a future customer.”

So if ethnic restaurants have only one menu for all patrons and the food is
“authentic,” do the non-ethnic customers take advantage of the experience?
Most restaurateurs told me that Americans typically order the same dish
repeatedly. Cheng said some customers come into Tomi, realize he doesn’t
serve Americanized Chinese food like chow mein, and leave.

Cuong Duong, owner of Bên Thành Vietnamese Restaurant, reported, “Americans
eat the same thing again and again. I have one customer for the past 10
years and only sometimes does he order something new. It’s always the same.”
Duong also noted that what the Vietnamese come for at lunch is not the same
that non-Vietnamese come for at dinner. “The Vietnamese come in for our Bun
Bo Hue, a spicy lemongrass and rice noodle soup; banh canh, a shrimp and
rice noodle soup; pho soup with meatballs; and a seafood soup. Americans
order the curry, spring rolls, charbroiled meats with sweet sour sauce, and
stir fried tofu and pan fried rice noodle.”

How many is the right number of ethnic restaurants? Out of Charlotte’s
300-plus ethnic restaurants, there are 17 ~W from upscale fine dining to take
out ~W in the center city (within 277): Bistro 100 (French), ARPA (Spanish),
Latorre’s (Latino), Blue (Mediterranean), Luce, Coco Osteria (Italian), SoHo
Bistro, China Inn, China King, China Queen, The Wok, Curry House, Open
Kitchen (Southern Italian), Sushi, Tin Tin, Fuse Box and Fujos. Notably,
this group does not include a number of ethnic restaurants within one mile
from Trade and Tryon, including the exceptional Cuisine Malaya.

While ethnic restaurants may be the culture that the “young professional”
study group yearns for, the fact is I am unaware of any of our current
ethnic restaurants having a lengthy wait at dinner. Not downtown, not on
South Boulevard, North Tryon nor Central. So why come downtown?

Mao Lin, who owns SoHo Bistro in the Hearst building, came downtown because
his family desired to offer more “cosmopolitan” food. Lin had had
restaurants in Fayetteville and a small takeout Chinese restaurant in
Harrisburg.

Other area entrepreneurs have looked into going downtown. Engineer said when
the Indian population grows to about 10,000, a “fine dining” Indian
restaurant could make it downtown. However, a vegetarian South Indian
restaurant could never survive the high rent, reported Narayan Mogera, the
owner of the Woodlands South Indian Vegetarian Restaurant. “I do not serve
meat, nor do I serve alcohol. With the cost of the lease, we could not make
money downtown without selling meat or alcohol. Typically Southern Indian
restaurants, such as Woodlands, are vegetarian. Entrée dishes do not cost
that much.”

Mark Shen, owner of the Emperor Chinese Restaurant that’s within a mile of
Trade and Tryon but outside the 277 loop ~W and, thus, the study group’s
knowledge ~W noted that he has looked into going downtown, but the
ventilation requirements have dissuaded him. “Typically, the hood costs
about $15,000 to $25,000. That’s the common type you would put in here (in a
strip shopping center). Downtown, there are many environmental concerns,
especially if you are operating on the street level of a condominium
complex.” He continues, “Those hoods are very expensive. They muffle the
sound and change the grease output. They cost $75,000 to $100,000.” That
additional $75,000 for just the hood system means the entrepreneur needs to
have ever deeper pockets.

Another factor which is discouraging to entrepreneurs is the high cost of
downtown space. Rogers, who has looked into opening there, said, “Most
places cost about $10,000 a month for rent, plus a percentage.” That’s
$120,000 up a year ~W or, in a restaurateur’s language, the typical
restaurant would have to have sales of over $1.2 million just to break even.
That’s a lot of Pad Thai.

Would Charlotteans fork out $25 for a Pad Thai or Chicken Tikki Masala
entree? The owners I spoke with thought Charlotteans are not ready to spend
that kind of money at an ethnic restaurant. Besides, Charlotte needs to
welcome a larger ethnic community in order to support these additional
restaurants, and Charlotte is not known for that kind of inclusive
hospitality.

How far are the other 300 ethnic restaurants from center city? Ironically, a
large percentage of these restaurants are within 10 minutes from Trade and
Tryon. The 4900 Block of Central Avenue, which is 5.1 miles (or nine
minutes) from the Square, has the following to offer: one Thai restaurant,
two Vietnamese, one Mexican/Honduran, one Caribbean, one Salvadorean, one
Middle Eastern, one Salvadorean bakery, two Middle Eastern markets, and a
Vietnamese billiards/bar.

For now, most of Charlotte’s authentic ethnic restaurants are located in
ethnic neighborhoods, since their main customer base is ethnic. But what
about the brave souls who have staked out an ethnic position in the
netherworld of restaurants, places like Ballantyne? A few years back, Be
Pham and Axel Dikkers opened the remarkable Saigon Café. She had been the
owner of many successful Vietnamese restaurants in town; he had once owned
the French Pastis in SouthEnd. Not only was the rent high in Ballantyne, but
the folks who went to Saigon Café didn’t like the interactiveness of the
food. Dikkers told me, “I think the people didn’t want to do things with
their hands. They wanted me ~W the chef ~W to do it all for them.”

And ethnic owners are no different from Charlotte’s other independent
operators who are besieged by the increasing invasion of chain restaurants.
But the ethnic owners’ true competitor is the Epnic restaurant, since many
Americans find it so much easier to eat in a “kinda authentic” ethnic place.

While today’s customer is much savvier about food and is interested in
ethnic cuisines, will this same customer support the ethnic restaurants if
they move into non-ethnic neighborhoods, or if they move downtown? Remember
Tango Argentino? Siboney Cuban? Inka Grille? Pastis? Closed. Closed. Closed.
Closed.

The very cool aspect to getting our groove back, or getting it for the first
time, is that Charlotte can actually buy its way to being cool. Charlotteans
are very good at spending money. Instead of buying the McMansion, perhaps a
few dollars could be spared to try all the ethnic eateries in the city. In
fact, if you visited one of the 300-plus ethnic restaurants currently open
each week, it would take six years to visit all of them. Plus, during that
time, more independent restaurants would open ~W maybe even a Dutch
Indonesian place. In any case, the ultimate benefit is not “coolness.” The
ultimate benefit is that Charlotte might develop a culinary soul.

–Boundary_(ID_W/d6BdATJCb/VM46zx5xfw)–

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress