Ain't No Thing but a Chicken Wing

Wednesday's Autumn AirFest, put on by the Charlotte Chamber, was a great event, with great weather, food, and networking. The highlight of the midday event was the chicken wing competition, in which five local restaurants competed: DD Peckers' Wing Shack, Fuel Pizza, Mac's Speed Shop, Nana's Soul Food, and Wild Wing Cafe. Attendees were able to sample wings from each of them; then they were allowed to cast their vote for the best using an electronic voting kiosk.

The winner, receiving the most votes, was DD Peckers', and the runner-up was Nana's Soul Food.

I differed a little from the majority. My choice for winner was Wild Wing Cafe. They served three different wings, but it was the "Crazy Daisy" wing that made them tops in my book. It's an Asian-style barbecue wing with rich, flavorful sauce and great texture--fried just right.

But like the audience, I too choose Nana's Soul Food as my runner-up. Chef Charles Rucker was on hand serving up his Zesty Garlic wings. They were hot (spicy), but not too hot, tender--meat nearly falling off the bone--and very flavorful. It possibly could've been my winner had the skin been fried harder.

Here are some of my camera phone pics from the event.

Chef Rucker of Nana's Soul Food serving guests.

This nifty tray from Big Frog of South Charlotte allowed me to hold my drink and food with one hand.

You would think someone burnt this, but it's the Ming wing from DD Peckers' and it's quite good.

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Affordable Housing: If You're Scared, Go to Church

The title of this blog post is inspired by an Ice Cube song from a few years ago called "Go To Church." The West Coast rapper provocatively taunted (with the help of Lil Jon and Snoop Dogg) that "if you're scared, go to church, go to church." The lyrics from that song couldn't be further removed from the tone of a luncheon I attended last week. But that one line, "if you're scared, go to church," popped in my head just now because that's really what city officials were hoping to do--get clergy to resolve the fears of their congregations over affordable housing.

I attended the Clergy Lunch on Affordable Housing last Thursday at Covenant Presbyterian Church Fellowship Hall. Organized by Mecklenburg Ministries, the luncheon featured City of Charlotte officials to address the need for more affordable housing in the area. The purpose of the meeting was also to help diffuse some of the scare tactics and the misinformation about affordable housing that has been spread in Charlotte recently. Communities like Ballantyne and Ayrsley have made headlines this year in successfully keeping those housing units from being built in their neighborhoods.

Go to CrossroadsCharlotte.org, to read my coverage of the luncheon: "Clergy Lunch on Affordable Housing Sparks Conversation."

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Charlotte Restaurant Week Summer 2010

It comes around twice a year, when fellas can treat their ladies to a nice dinner without breaking the bank. The summer 2010 installment of Charlotte Restaurant Week takes place July 16-25. In what's becoming a local dining tradition, this 10-day celebration of some of the city's finest restaurants once again offers a prix fixe, three-course dinner for $30 per person (not including tax and gratuity) at nearly 90 participating restaurants in the Charlotte area. And several restaurants are known to sweeten the deal by either including a fourth course or throwing in a glass of wine.

Interior shots of some of the participating restaurants - from left to right - bottom row: Customshop, Aquavina, Aria; middle row: Global, Carpe Diem, Vivace; top row: M5, The Liberty, Blue (click image for larger view).

Participating restaurants include:

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Eat Here Now (and Blog Here Now)

I'm eating at Eat Here Now in Ayrsley Town Center and using my phone to test out the mobile blogging feature through Blogger. My food has just arrived. I ordered the Carolina Classic burger with sweet potato fries, and the sweet tea is really good. This restaurant is sorta cool. It's been open for a couple of years and my waiter said they renovated it back in April. Now it resembles a 1950s era diner, complete with a jukebox (though satellite radio is playing right now). Okay, Andrea is giving me the eye. Time to stop typing and start eating.

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