A night out with Charlotte food influencers
Plus: School board member's new school assignment critiqued; Tina Turner's 1984 Ovens Auditorium concert; Health insurance podcast; Pickleball now open on Ballantyne parking deck
Good morning! Today is Friday, May 26, 2023. You’re reading The Charlotte Ledger, an e-newsletter with local business-y news and insights for Charlotte, N.C. This post is sent to paying subscribers only.
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As diners increasingly consult social media, restaurants ramp up outreach to Instagrammers; Rave reviews after Suffolk Punch VIP night
Tuna nachos to rave about: Food Instagrammers line up to shoot photos of ahi tuna nachos at Suffolk Punch at a “VIP preview” four days before it opened this month.
by Tony Mecia
On a recent Tuesday night, just a few days before Suffolk Punch’s new spot at SouthPark Mall opens, a waiter places four plates of ahi tuna nachos on the bar.
The nachos look tasty, and it’s dinnertime. But they’re not for anyone in particular to eat.
Instead, some of the several dozen guests at this invitation-only VIP preview approach the bar, with phones out. They’re here to shoot photos or videos of the food to post on their Instagram accounts.
One of those hovering over the nachos is Dre Fox, who posts videos on Instagram for her 8,900 followers under the handle “dailydre1.” To illuminate the tuna and aioli on the wonton crisps, she is using what’s known as a “selfie light” attached to her phone.
“Sometimes you go to a dining experience, and it’s 7 p.m., and they bring out the dish, and you try to get these photos and you’re like, ‘This looks terrible,’” Fox explains in an interview. “This [light] makes it look amazing every single time. This has saved me a lot of embarrassment.”
It’s jarring to walk into a restaurant and see nobody eating the plates of food placed in front of them, but instead arranging the dishes and adjusting iPhone settings to achieve the perfectly composed photo for social media. But that was the scene at the Suffolk Punch “VIP preview” earlier this month, one of the latest stops for Charlotte food Instagrammers on the circuit of new restaurant openings. (After the photography, the nachos and other dishes were eventually eaten.)
Allowing people with large social media followings to preview the food and drinks — and to share the mouth-watering photos with their thousands of followers — has become an important strategy in launching new restaurants. Diners, particularly younger ones, increasingly rely on social media to guide their decisions on where to eat.
A report last year by restaurant management software supplier TouchBistro found: “While diners primarily decide where to eat based on what they’re craving, online reviews and social media increasingly play a role — especially among the digital generations.”
A national survey cited in the report showed that:
14% of diners consider social media to be a deciding factor on where to eat, up from 3% in 2017
Among Gen Z, who are generally regarded as between the ages of 13 and 28, 57% have tried a restaurant based solely on positive social media
39% of Gen Z say they have tried a new restaurant “based solely on the recommendation of an online influencer”
In Mecklenburg County, which has more than 4,500 permitted food service establishments, a push from social media can help restaurants stand out. In the last few years, the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority has also started officially partnering with influencers as a small part of a larger marketing strategy, a spokeswoman said.
“Social media is a very important part of what we do when we open a restaurant,” says Rachel Sutherland, CEO of Rachel Sutherland Communications, which handled publicity for Suffolk Punch’s opening. “It’s not the only thing we do, but we think it’s an important part.”
Sutherland says some of her restaurant clients have experienced surges of customers from social media that took off, such as Bang Bang Burgers’ tie-in to a cheeseburger scene in the HBO Max movie “The Menu” to the What the Fries food truck being inundated with out-of-town visitors after a local TikTok-er’s 8-second video received 2 million views.
“A lot of people like to discount the impact of social media, but when it works well, the impact is undeniable,” she says.
Keeping it positive
The Suffolk Punch at SouthPark Mall is the company’s second location, after its well-known flagship site in South End. For the opening, Sutherland’s firm invited the owners of food- and lifestyle-oriented social media accounts to the “VIP preview,” as well as lined up dedicated one-on-one time with several media organizations earlier in the day. Food and drinks for the two-hour preview event were complimentary.
None who attended received compensation, Sutherland said. One social media account owner asked to discuss the possibility of “sponsorships,” or being paid, but Sutherland said no: “Generally, when influencers attach money to it is when we tap out and say, ‘That’s not part of our plan.’”
Most tend to be motivated to attend not by money but by other considerations, Sutherland says, such as supporting local businesses, furthering their interests in food and photography and gaining access to buzz-worthy destinations ahead of the public.
Generally, at these previews, there tend to be no requirements or limitations on what those who attend can post. But there’s also a realization among those who show up that any whiff of negativity could mean being scratched from future invite lists.
“If you get off the PR list, it’s tough,” says Fox, whose full-time job is as a social media consultant and coach. On her Instagram account, she said she tries to focus on what she finds positive about new restaurants. At one recent preview in April, for instance, she found the food “arguably a little off,” but she “loved the feeling” of the place, so she highlighted that in her video.
Like many people who post about food and events, Fox doesn’t think of herself as an “influencer.” She prefers the term “content creator.”
Calamari and asparagus arranged just right
Meanwhile, out on Suffolk Punch’s glass-paneled main dining area that’s laid out like a beer hall, Angela of Queen City Voyager was lining up plates of fried calamari and prosciutto-wrapped asparagus. She’s a physician who declined to give her last name and says she started building a following of foodies after a fellow bridesmaid in an out-of-town wedding encouraged her. Her first post, from October 2020, was of the Wicked Weed Brewing at Charlotte’s airport on the trip home. Today, she has 3,300 Instagram followers.
She says other cities can be competitive, but in Charlotte, “I feel like everybody’s collaborative.” People like her, who don’t post on social media as a job, “do it for the drinks and the food and the fellowship and the fun,” she says. She attends events like these every couple weeks.
At an adjacent table, one of the people in attendance who sticks out from the crowd of mostly 20- and 30-somethings is Karen Falls, a retired Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools assistant principal who runs the Instagram account “finer_with_thyme,” with 4,100 followers. She’s 65. (“I just got Medicare,” she says.)
“My goal was for the people I knew, like my friends, to quit calling me about places to eat,” Falls says. “Like, just look at my Instagram.”
Her big break came in December 2020, when her daughter surprised her by reaching out to Charlotte Agenda, now known as Axios Charlotte, which mentioned her and her Instagram account favorably. The publication’s newsletter that morning included:
Charlottean: Karen Falls, a former assistant principal and CMS employee, for her instagram account @finer_with_thyme. Karen told her daughters that when she retired she wanted to follow her passion: showcasing small businesses and the Charlotte food scene. "She’s pretty adorable," one daughter said to us yesterday. "I’m obviously not biased." We agree, and think you will, too.
Falls gained about 700 followers that day. “I didn’t know what was going on,” she says, “and my daughter is like, ‘Well let me tell you.’”
She says she and her fellow food enthusiasts — she also detests the word “influencer” — have become close. They’ve thrown baby showers together and enjoy hanging out, even outside of preview events. Few are in it for the money.
Falls said she feels uncomfortable when she is occasionally recognized and offered special treatment when she’s out to dinner. She said she went to Osteria LuCa at Park Road Shopping Center recently and was surprised when an appetizer of burrata and a dessert that she didn’t order showed up at her table for free.
“It’s really kind of weird,” she said.
Suffolk Punch’s VIP preview yielded plenty of exposure on social media, including posts by (left to right) dailydre1, Queen City Voyager and finer_with_thyme.
Inside at the bar, Suffolk Punch co-owner Seth Stidham says he understands that opening a restaurant these days depends on spreading the word on social media: “We’d prefer traditional press, but you know how it is. You have to do both. You have to do all of it, to some degree.”
Suffolk Punch opened May 13, four days later, to gushing reviews on social media and from traditional media:
Finer_with_thyme called its hot chicken sandwich “stunning.”
Queen City Voyager praised its “delicious cocktails.”
Dailydre1 complimented its “beautiful interior.”
The Charlotte Business Journal called it “the perfect environment to grab breakfast and coffee, a business lunch or a night out with family and friends.”
WBTV called it SouthPark Mall’s “new crown jewel.”
The Charlotte Observer’s CharlotteFive highlighted six “menu items to look forward to.”
Early returns show the positive attention seems to have worked. A week later, on a balmy Friday afternoon, children slid down the outdoor slide, while dads held beers and watched. There were no empty tables.
By then, Charlotte’s food Instagrammers had moved on to the next spot.
Related Ledger articles:
“How I hired a Charlotte influencer” (March 3, 2020)
“Building design factor: Can you Instagram it?” (Jan. 17, 2020)
Did a school board member’s address play a role in the CMS south Charlotte boundary map?
One of the bigger discussion points in the south Charlotte school boundary redrawing process in recent months has been the area around Olde Providence Elementary, including the Olde Providence neighborhood, which is being rezoned away from Myers Park High School to relieve overcrowding.
Some scenarios have proposed that students in the Olde Providence neighborhood attend South Mecklenburg High, while other scenarios have had students going to Providence High. The current map calls for the Olde Providence Elementary zone to split, with some students attending South Mecklenburg and others attending Providence High. Some people consider being assigned to Providence as more favorable than South Mecklenburg.
School board member Lisa Cline, who is serving her first term after being voted in last November, happens to live in the Olde Providence neighborhood, on a street that’s zoned for Providence High.
School board member Lisa Cline lives in the portion of the Olde Providence Elementary zone that is to be switched to Providence High from Myers Park High, with much of the surrounding area headed to South Mecklenburg High. Some residents have found the boundary line suspicious. (The black dot in the circle denotes Olde Providence Elementary)
We’ve heard from a number of readers that talk is swirling around whether Cline influenced the decision to draw the boundary line in a way that sends her part of Olde Providence to Providence High, although there appears to be no hard evidence to support those claims.
One speaker brought up the issue during Tuesday night’s public hearing, and several have emailed the Ledger on the topic. Here’s a sampling of the email:
“Something to consider for your next piece. Zoom in on the latest proposed boundaries on the interactive map. That teeny tiny little yellow sliver — that’s where board member Lisa Cline lives,” wrote one reader to The Ledger.
“Just something I found interesting — that in the new gerrymandered section … the two neighborhoods positively impacted are Providence Spring (home of the most influential Democrat in the county, Jeff Jackson) and Olde Providence (home of school board member Lisa Cline). The lack of transparency on this was surprising.”
“Board member Lisa Cline lives in the Olde Providence neighborhood!!! The progression of drafts 1,2,3 reflect a bias by Lisa Cline to pull all of our neighborhood to Providence High. Lisa Cline campaigned on this promise and as a result has silenced the majority of voices and has been negligent in her duties to provide transparency throughout this process. This situation has not received the proper media coverage. Our neighborhood has been gerrymandered to a school that has less than 1% low SES and is at 100% utilization.”
We reached out to both CMS officials and Cline, who both said that where Cline lives had nothing to do with where the boundary lines were drawn.
When asked by The Ledger to respond to the claim that she influenced where the Providence High boundary line was drawn, Cline replied via email: “That’s not true! No maps were drawn in consideration to where I live! Anyone who says otherwise is wrong!!!”
Charles Jeter, CMS executive director of government affairs, policy and board services, sent The Ledger this statement when asked about whether Cline’s address influenced the boundary line:
First, at no point during this process has consideration been given to any Board Member’s residence. Any suggestion that lines were altered because of Ms. Cline’s home, or any other Board Member’s home, is simply false.
The reason for changes to the boundary you reference below were twofold:
To ensure that the Olde Providence neighborhood was kept together per longstanding Board Policy
To ensure that Providence High was not overcrowded
It’s likely that those answers won’t totally satisfy some people. Olde Providence Elementary’s high school boundary lines have been puzzling for many people for years. Some believe a long-ago board member had a hand in sending the Olde Providence neighborhood to Myers Park High, but the evidence behind those claims is hard to track down and prove. —CB
Flashback: At Ovens Auditorium in 1984, Tina Turner was simply the best
From the Aug. 12, 1984, Charlotte Observer article “Soul Singer Tina Turner Performs Benefit Concert at Ovens Auditorium,” by Jerry Klein. (Turner died this week at age 83.)
The year’s just half over, but I’m not going to mince words over this — Tina Turner’s concert at Ovens Auditorium Saturday night wins “best-of-the-year” honors.
She set a standard of energy and excellence so high that anyone else who comes to town this year will have to be superhuman to match it, let alone surpass it. … This singer returns to prominence — she’s better than ever — with class, maturity and a presence that’s astounding.
Ovens Auditorium was jammed Saturday night when Turner leaped on stage clad in skintight leather, looking sensational, emulating the set’s black panther backdrops. … For “Private Dancer,” Turner changed into a slinky black mini-dress. Tim Copello’s saxophone was as smoky and alluring as the woman herself. …
It was a night when the crowd left awed by the presence of a great lady and performer.
Pickleball is everywhere — even atop Ballantyne parking decks
Ballantyne developer Northwood Office announced Thursday that it has opened two “brand new, rooftop” pickleball courts on the top level of a parking deck, at 11405 N. Community House Road. The courts are first-come, first-serve, and supplies are available on-site. Hours are 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Northwood said the addition of parking-deck pickleball is part of an effort to “elevate the office experience.” (Photo courtesy of Northwood Office)
Business Toolbox Series 🧰: Exploring healthcare options
We hosted our third of three weekly Business Toolbox series of webinars this week — it’s a collaboration between The Charlotte Ledger and Catapult to provide practical and useful advice to small- and mid-sized businesses.
In this week’s episode, The Ledger’s Tony Mecia talks with Catapult’s Martha Barker about the often-tricky topic of healthcare coverage — including strategies for covering different types of workers, how to find a good broker, trends in healthcare coverage costs and newly popular options that some companies might not have considered.
🎧 The good news is that if you missed Wednesday’s webinar, you can still check out the discussion as a podcast!
We’ll be back to our usual weekly podcast episode next week. —TM
You might be interested in these Charlotte events
Events submitted by readers to The Ledger’s events board:
SAT, SUN & MON: Aquatic Adventures Kayak Rental, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Mount Holly Boat Landing, 724 Elm Ave. $20 all-day kayak rentals on the Catawba River. Paddle and explore as long as you want from 10 a.m.- 4 p.m. Offer good all weekend: Saturday-Monday. Tandems $30. Paddles, PFDs included. Shuttle service available.
SAT & SUN: CMS Varsity Esports and STEM League 2023 District Championship, 5-8 p.m. Friday, 12-7 p.m. Saturday, Bank of America Stadium. Watch more than 130 CMS students showcase their skills in competitive gaming and STEM, with esports including Rocket League, Valorant and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate — the first event of its kind in North Carolina. Free.
FRI, JUNE 2: Full Moon Paddle, 8:30 to 10 p.m. at Mt. Holly Boat Landing, 724 Elm Ave. An adventure for anyone from beginners to experienced paddlers. $55.
◼️ Check out the full Ledger events board.
➡️ List your event on the Ledger events board.
In brief
Wet holiday weekend ahead: Flooding and high winds could impact Memorial Day weekend plans. Parts of North Carolina are expecting an “excessive” amount of rain, flooding, high winds and temperatures 20 degrees below average. (Observer)
Mobile home crash on I-485: Four people were injured after a mobile home fell onto I-485 in west Charlotte. The incident caused significant traffic backups and the closure of one direction of the interstate. Emergency responders worked to clear the scene, and the interstate was reopened later in the day. The company responsible for the mobile home, Clayton Homes, said that no team members were injured, and they are cooperating with local authorities in the investigation. (WSOC)
Charlotte fire captain describes SouthPark fire: A crane operator trapped high above a burning apartment building in Charlotte's SouthPark area was rescued by firefighter Kevin Murphy, said Charlotte Fire Capt. Jeff Bright. The operator communicated with firefighters for over 35 minutes as they battled the five-alarm fire. While the crane operator survived, two construction workers tragically lost their lives, and the fire, believed to be accidental, destroyed the apartment building. (WFAE)
CATS pledges security and training after bus shooting: The Charlotte Area Transit System announced plans to double its security spending over the next two years and implement de-escalation training for drivers after a shooting between a bus passenger and a driver. (WFAE)
Uptown park demolished: Thomas Polk Park, a prominent fixture in uptown for over 30 years, is being demolished, and a fountain created by Bulgarian artist Angela Danadjieva will not be preserved. The decision to tear down the park and remove the fountain has sparked controversy, with critics expressing dismay over the destruction of significant artwork. The city of Charlotte plans to replace the park with a new public space named after former Bank of America CEO Hugh McColl Jr., with design and planning expected to be completed by summer 2025. (WSOC)
Students charged after high school prank: More than 50 Mallard Creek high school students vandalized the school’s hallways Monday night after entering through an unsecured classroom window on the first floor that had been unlocked earlier in the day, according to surveillance camera footage. Custodians spent hours cleaning up the damage, including picking up balloons, confetti and removing markings from the walls. Many of the students involved were seniors and may not be allowed to attend graduation. (WSOC)
All hail ‘Sweepy McSweepface’: The city’s new bike lane electric street sweeper will be named “Sweepy McSweepface,” which beat out other contenders “Clearopathra” and “Sweep Caroline” in voting, an official at Envision Charlotte told The Ledger on Thursday.
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Executive editor: Tony Mecia; Managing editor: Cristina Bolling; Staff writer: Lindsey Banks; Contributing editor: Tim Whitmire, CXN Advisory; Contributing photographer/videographer: Kevin Young, The 5 and 2 Project