Background:
One spooky night in October, we attended a mysterious pop-up dinner at an undisclosed-until-the-last-minute location in Myers Park (which turned out to be a private residence). The invitation promised a “glimpse of Charlotte’s first immersive dining experience.” Color us intrigued. But let’s back up, shall we?
Charlotte native Sam Hart started his career in Marketing and decided to change paths after a few years to attend culinary school in 2016. He spent some time working in various restaurants in town, including Heirloom, Myers Park Country Club, and Foxcroft Wine Co., in addition to running his own private catering company, Laughing Duck. In order to gain more experience, Chef Hart packed up and moved to Chicago where he worked at Alinea and Momotaro, along with a stage at Schwa and Publican Quality Meats. He’s also worked as a private chef for high-end, luxury clients with Table at Home.
And now, Chef Hart is ready to bring it all back home to Charlotte and open a fine dining tasting menu with his friend and business partner Erin Skaryak. While they are looking for their brick and mortar, they’ll be hosting pop-ups around town, and we were honored and delighted to attend the first last month (tickets are already sold out for two upcoming December dinners).
What was truly wild was that we dined at Alinea three days prior to the pop-up, so it was even more interesting to experience Chef Hart’s cooking through that lens, as he included a few tongue-in-cheek references to Alinea tropes (like extra-large servingware), and we could definitely see Achatz’ influence at work in the flavors as well.
Bring it on home, Sam (Hart, not Cooke)
We are so excited for a true tasting menu experience to come to Charlotte, and we think Chef Hart is just the man to introduce our city to this level of cuisine. Anomaly will focus on local sourcing, maintaining a waste-free kitchen, and bringing a lighthearted sense of fun to fine dining. We’re all about this mindset – just because you have a Michelin star or a world-rated chef doesn’t mean you need a stuffy attitude or white tablecloths. As Hart said, “It’s not that serious. At the end of the day, it’s food and it should taste good.” Amen, Chef. We think the worst thing those in the food world can do is take themselves too seriously – great food is accessible to everyone, and no restaurant or price tag should make someone think that this isn’t for them or their palate. This level of greatness is for all of us, Charlotte.
Now, onto what we ate at Anomaly’s very first pop-up.
Eat This:
Magnify
Oyster with koji cream, mint, basil, and Ossetra caviar alongside a shooter of Thai Moji
We loved the presentation here – you ate the leaf-wrapped oyster dotted with tangy koji cream directly off of the magnifying glass like it was a giant spoon, and then you used it to read the tiny-print menu that was brought out just prior to plating.
The shooter of Moji, which is a kombucha-like tea beverage, added freshness and additional interest, but we weren't huge fans of the oyster bite. Looking back on the meal as a whole, we feel like this first impression could have used a bit more flavor to stand up to the rest of the meal and accompany the awesome plating.
Roses are red
Miso cured prawns with roses, roe, and citrus
These bites were delicate and savory, and the texture of the rose petals added an extra shot of velvety richness. Not the most memorable course of the night, but very tasty.
Mole
Chicken skin mole bar with prickly pear
Not only my favorite dish of the evening, but one of my favorites of all time. This one stuck with me for a long time afterward, and I couldn’t get over the boldness of the thick chocolate shell with the mole-spiced chicken. I feel like many chefs would have chickened out (ahem) and gone lighter on the chocolate, but the thick and bittersweet shell just put this over the top and delighted and confused my taste buds in the best way possible.
Also, you pulled out the (real!) chicken bone to crack the shell open. So fun and interactive. A real Bronx cheer, if you will.
Tennessee Pig
Pork belly with bourbon, apples, mustard, and chard
This was Jason’s favorite dish of the night. This was the fattiest cut of pork belly I’ve ever had (in case you're wondering, that’s a v good thing indeed). The mustard seed sauce just got into every nook and cranny of this fatty boi, and the chard lightened up the entire experience and provided a hint of bitterness to cut the richness of the pork.
Hamburger
Sirloin, French fry mousse, onion, ketchup consommé
McDonalds, but make it fashion. We both gasped when we heard French fry mousse, because this is a technique used at Alinea, and when our server described it there, Jason giggled like a little girl.
This dish had the punchy flavor profile of a down and dirty takeout burger, but the execution on this amazing cut of beef was all fine dining, bb. Chef brought the meat for our dinner down from Chicago in his carry-on and wore every piece of clothing he brought with him to make everything fit. That’s what I call dedication.
Truffle
200-layer pave with truffle
Dear god, this dish. I didn’t count the layers of potatoes, but I’ll go with 200. But what really blew me away was the THICKNESS of this truffle. Usually you get truffles shaved ultra-thin, but after this dish I’d like to start a petition demanding this kind of thicc on all my truffles from here on out. God bless. Chef said this was 20 grams of truffle. Now that’s what I call a #trufflegram.
Casserole
Sweet tea sweet potato mousse, pecan pie crumble, marshmallow brûlée, pickled sweet potato, micro sage, and sage oil
The flavor profile of this course screamed Thanksgiving to me – you had all of the sweet and savory flavors of a full Thanksgiving feast in a few transportive bites. It was such a great bridge between the savory and sweet courses, and the pickled sweet potato added yet another tangy layer to the sweet and savory elements.
Kids Again
Pimento cheese, cheddar mornay, Duke’s, pimento gel, cream cheese coral, tuile, and cheddar powder
I absolutely loved the concept of a deconstructed pimento cheese sandwich. This is one of the most clever cheese courses I’ve encountered, and it was made all the more fun when Chef instructed us to lick our plates to completely immersive ourselves in the concept of being “kids again.” So fun, so cheesy, and so clever.
PS – I licked my plate because I am down for whatever. Jason was no fun and used his fork. Boo Jason.
Dessert:
Paper Plane
Orange chiffon cake, orange peel, bourbon reduction, Paper Plane explosion, Aperol chantilly, and white chocolate ganache
We had no idea that a Paper Plane was a well-known cocktail created by Sam Ross (and possibly inspired by the M.I.A. song!) made with Aperol, Amaro, and whiskey. This dessert took the flavors of that cocktail and infused them into a light and perfectly balanced cake topped with a brûléed orange slice and pop rocks, which are always a fun time.
We also received a Paper Plane cocktail shooter with this course. A lovely finish to a magical meal!
Drink:
One of the major elements of Anomaly is their thoughtful wine pairing. Like many other tasting restaurants, the only options will be wine and beer, and the pairings will be offered as an additional supplement that you’ll pay for in advance along with your meal when you book on Tock (AKA, our favorite reservation system).
Erin on da right, Chef on da left. Clowns/jokers in the middle.
The wines will vary night to night and change as often as the menu, but if this pop-up is any indication, you’ll be enjoying the finest wines from around the world (that I believe must have been mostly free of sulfates/sulfites, as I enjoyed four or five glasses and didn’t have to answer to a raging headache the next morning. That’s how you know it’s the good stuff, people). Erin is in charge of the wine pairings, and after the exquisite pairings we experienced, we trust her completely.
Atmosphere:
Well, this particular dinner, as aforementioned, was in a lovely Myers Park residence, courtesy of a friend of Hart’s who opened up her home for the pop-up. It was top notch and we plan on getting an invite to move in any day now. In addition to our host, we enjoyed the company of five other diners, and, as you know, we love a good community table. Making new friends often takes a meal to even higher heights of enjoyment, and that was certainly the case at the first-ever Anomaly pop-up. Shoutout to our new BFF Realtor Stephen Cooley!
Hart and Skaryak mentioned they are looking in Dilworth for their permanent location, so time will tell what vibe and neighborhood will complement Hart’s cuisine.
Another aspect that sets Anomaly apart is that they will be setting each course to a song, which is a super cool concept. Lots of restaurants are into banging playlists lately, but no other restaurant takes the care to pair each and every dish with its own soundtrack.
Pop-Up Hospitality:
Much like Schwa, Anomaly will not have any front of house staff or dishwashers. The chefs will running the entire show from prep to clean up and everything else in between. We liked this experience very much at Schwa, and we think it’s a great way to keep costs low while providing diners with a particularly intimate dining experience. We experienced great hospitality from Hart and his team on this particular evening, and we have no reason to expect anything less than stellar with the chef/owners at the helm of service.
Upset/cry face and Jason face.
Frankie’s Notes:
We got into a major fight on the way to this dinner, and I may or may not have shown up sporting major “cry face,” but all that really matters is that we didn’t bail; We thought for a minute we were going to have an Invitation-style cult experience instead of an eight-course meal; Having a wine pairing on a Wednesday is risky business, but we handled it like champs; Cooley told us some of his most wild real estate stories, and one of them involved a death – now that’s spooky!; Frankie’s soundtrack is Paper Planes, and if you catch him at the border he’s got visas in his name.
Rating:
We aren't going to rate this pop-up, since it was essentially a media dinner and, well, a pop-up that’s a precursor to the real deal. However, we were not asked at any point to share our experience out on any platform – we’re just doing that because we love ya (and Anomaly). We will give Anomaly its fair rating once they've been open for a few months and we’ve had a few visits. Charlotte needs this calibre of dining, and we are so happy to have been included in your first Charlotte pop-up. Cheers, Anomaly!