Skip to main content

Southern cooking

 Our expeditions to eat and explore the south continued with a local trip to the town of Belmont NC.

A neighbor suggested southern comfort food at a place called Nellie's Kitchen.  So we tried lunch.  

Below is my humble assessment - after trying cajun chicken and pinto beans with corn bread



Porcelain doves watch over you as you eat


Cajun chicken with potato


Beans and Okra

For a place in the south serving southern cuisine - 

Food - Mediocre (I had to ask for Cajun spice mix on the side to pour over my chicken to get the oomph).  We have had much better food in Napa County in CA far removed from the south but with chefs that have heritage from here.

Ambience - 

  • Eclectic and soothing, loft like with exposed ceilings and polished concrete floor - hardwood tables - no while cloth; 
  • Payment is hi tech with touch less service via QR code (oddly menus are still paper which I appreciated)

Service - Mediocre (honestly think our server chap was hard of hearing having got couple things wrong on a two item order) 

Pricing - On the high side for value

Uniqueness - hip spot to try once with free parking.  The place draws some % of the crowd due I think in part to the owner's family having bred some boys that became a band and are somewhat popular among Gen Z (They are known as Jonas brothers).  One of them recently wed an Indian hot bod female actor and it garnered some eyeballs in the media.


Cardboard cutout and misc paraphernalia on sale at the door is to capture some younger demographic customers no doubt

The town of Belmont itself on the other hand was a great surprise.  About 15 miles west of Charlotte it is sort of place that no one might think of visiting for any particular reason. Once a booming cotton mill town that produced textiles in early 20th century is now losing that industry as China makes most of it.  The older mills that cover acres are getting converted to condos and high density housing along with boutique retail and food places.  However the charm of living on the outskirts of large financial center like Charlotte is drawing attention from retailers and homeowners.  Surrounded by Lake Wylie and Catawba River which makes the lake on its way south it is a leafy exurb worth a visit.

Some more pictures of the area below ..



International beer was to be had in many a local bar/ sandwich shop - gave it a European feel - we actually saw a gent downing an entire bottle of red on a patio at a local dive while kids at the next table were munching on baguette and salami


Notice the yarn spindle logo on the city street signs - a sign of the good times


We will come back to try some other food in the area.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A few good books

 On an informal mission to read one book a week as long as the eyes allow for such ambition. Fiction or non is not important as long as it entertains and /or educates. To that end the past few weeks have brought a bounty in the form of some wonderful and then not so engaging literature. Among the notables are - Non fiction category: 1. Good arguments by Bo Seo (how to handle a dispute or debate the most efficient way possible) 2. Genesis by Eric Schmidt (and former US Secy of State Henry Kissinger, who recently passed) - how AI might affect our lives as we know it 3. One in a billion - Zarna Garg (an autobiographical look at an Indian born American woman with a bindi narrated in a standup format - yes it is at times cliched but still funny) Fiction: 1. Personal by Lee Child (a vigilante story with Jack Reacher the giant, nomad protagonist of Child's novels goes hunting for a sniper) 2. Ramayana unraveled by Ami Ganatra (she might disagree about it being a work of fiction but oh wel...
Post a Comment
Read more

Back in DC

This time for a tech conference in the realm of what else? AI. But applied to an oft neglected space called Knowledge Management. The latter is a community of practice that focuses on analyzing, organizing and making available reams of data that have been gathered over time by various functions within an organization for anyone in the company to utilize. This function or process is ripe for applying AI agents (or agentic AI framework) and optimize for better outcomes. It was informative. More rewarding was getting acquainted with folks who practice this craft as well as learning of what they see in the corporate or public sectors. Since the venue was Washington DC it also afforded me the chance to take evening strolls albeit the weather was trying. With wind chill in the single digit it still is a glamorous place to perambulate through history absorbing what this country has been through since its founding days. I was able to visit the place Lincoln was killed along with his monument t...
Post a Comment
Read more

Costa Rica

 Our first foray into Central America. That elongated isthmus that forms the geographic boundary between two vast continents of North and South America. Specifically landing for NYE 2026 in San Jose, Costa Rica. Capital city for this region that does not have its own army, instead relying on its big bro the Estados Unidos to the north is a metropolis of approx. 500K people. Largely wilderness and with both a Pacific and Carribean/Atlantic coast the country is rich in bio diversity. In Spanish it means the rich coast so named by Columbus landing in early 16th century and being mesmerized by the local tribes sporting gold jewelry.   Our stay included visiting the foothills of a large strato volcano called Arenal and enjoying the naturally heated thermal baths for a while.  Lunching amidst lush forest and watching indigenous species of avian noise makers fly overhead. Toucans, some sort of pea hens, multiple song bird species completed the spectacle. Iguanas and a lonel...
Post a Comment
Read more