An upscale restaurant that opened last March in Charlotte's SouthPark neighborhood has landed on a list of the 20 best new restaurants of 2019 by OpenTable. Peppervine is the only North Carolina establishment to be featured on the list, which is presented in alphabetical order.
Hendrix, a farm-to-table restaurant in Columbia, South Carolina, is also named on the list.
As CBJ has previously reported, Peppervine marks the second venture for Anita Greene and husband Bill. She’s general manager, while he’s executive chef. They partnered with Robert and Robb Lackey on the SouthPark restaurant, which builds on the Greenes' success with Banner Elk concept Artisanal. The Lackeys are behind Imagine One, which is tied to music, events and restaurants.
Peppervine also made it onto a ranking of Charlotte's best new restaurants provided exclusively to CBJ by Yelp.
This slideshow offers a countdown of the top-rated new restaurants in Charlotte, based on reviews by Yelp users. (December 2019)
In other local news, the Queen City lost a net 14 bank branches last year, according to an analysis by Magnify Money, a division of locally based LendingTree Inc. (NASDAQ: TREE).
Rock slides have shut Interstate 40 and other major highways in the mountains of western North Carolina.
And Pier 1 Imports is the latest retail chain to disclose plans for store closures, laying out those plans along with its third-quarter earnings report yesterday. Bloomberg notes the company plans to close about 450 of its 940-plus stores in the U.S. and Canada as well as reduce its headquarters staff by about 40% as it mulls a possible bankruptcy filing. Pier 1, which sells furniture and home decor, has at least a half-dozen stores in the greater Charlotte area, including locations on South Boulevard and in Ballantyne as well as in regional towns such as Matthews, Mooresville and Huntersville.
Yesterday's top-read story on the CBJ website: Former Panthers player launching fitness business
In the national news:
- Mourners killed in stampede during Iranian general's funeral procession — The New York Times
- Dozens of Iranian and Iranian-Americans report being detained at U.S. border crossing — USA Today
- Former national security adviser willing to testify in Trump impeachment trial, raising pressure on witnesses — The Times
- 6.4-magnitude earthquake hits Puerto Rico, knocking out power — The Times
- Fewer bank failures could be a warnings sign for U.S. financial system — The Wall Street Journal
- Australia fires put farmers in double jeopardy — WSJ
- Dairy giant Borden files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection — Dallas Business Journal
- Japan issues arrest warrant for wife of ex-Nissan chair Carlos Ghosn — Associated Press
- Impossible Foods' meatless pork is here, and it's freaky-similar to the real thing — CNET
And among the top-read stories across the bizjournals.com network is this piece from the Cincinnati Business Courier: Macy's will close at least 2 stores, including Cincinnati location
Sports:
The Charlotte Hornets lost 104-115 to the Indiana Pacers last night at Spectrum Center. Next up, the Hornets will host the Toronto Raptors tomorrow before hitting the road to face the Utah Jazz on Friday.
Here's an updated look at the NFL playoffs picture heading into next weekend's divisional-round games.
And Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton is still crushing the competition in the league's Walter Payton Man of the Year charity challenge, extending his lead with roughly 552,000 mentions on Twitter as of Tuesday morning. By comparison, the No. 2-ranked nominee, Kyle Rudolph of the Minnesota Vikings, has racked up a little more than 261,000 mentions. Fans can vote in the challenge by tweeting a player's unique hashtag — for QB1, for example, that hashtag is #WPMOYChallengeNewton.
This week and beyond:
Queens Feast: Charlotte Restaurant Week returns Jan. 17, with a dozen new restaurants among the participants.
Find details and registration for upcoming CBJ events here, and place nominations for awards programs here.