Mar 16, 2018
My trip to Cornelius and Davidson, NC, was a trip down nostalgia’s lane. As a native Charlottean, I’d spent time at the lake growing up, and one of my first writing gigs was as a features writer at Lake Norman Times, so when I went to visit Joe and Katy Kindred at Kindred and Hello, Sailor, I was having all the feels checking out my old stomping grounds. But that was just the beginning -- friend and chef Craig Deihl, from the recently closed Charleston, SC faves Artisan Meat Share and Cypress, is now the CDC at Hello, Sailor, and then there was the calabash shrimp on the menu, the fried bologna sandwich, and oh, the hushpuppies. It’s a wonder I held it together for this interview. But it’s more than just about me and my memory lane here. Kindred, and now Hello, Sailor, are hot restaurants, and not just in the Queen City area, but with people such as the James Beard Foundation, Bon Appetit, and Eater. These restaurant teams craft a 360 experience that is grounded in exceptional food in laid back settings, and I am here to attest that the meals I had this day are two of the best I’ve had in a year of eating. And these people make me laugh, as you’ll hear in the following.