Q & A with Chef Marc Jacksina and Mixologist Maggie Ruppert

Q. How would you describe the food at Halcyon?

A. Marc: We’re farmhouse chic, a Southern heritage ingredient restaurant. We seek out people that are doing things in a particular way. Since we’re ingredient driven, my mantra is all about respecting the product.

Q. Tell us about the bar program at Halcyon.

A. Maggie: I’m making local-centered cocktails. It's difficult with North Carolina ABC legislation because we can only get what everybody else can get, so being able to make a lot of your own materials and incorporate those into cocktails are the really important thing to start the ball rolling.

Chef & Mixologist’s Recs | North Carolina

Find | Fish To Eat In North Carolina

Hog Snapper

Marc: I would say if you’re coming to North Carolina, try hog snapper. It’s not a fish that is commercially caught, they spear catch it. It’s amazing fish. 

Wreckfish

Marc: Try wreckfish. You find it into the South Carolina border. There is a small pocket where there is no season for wreckfish, but it is weight mandated by how much they allow per year to be caught. If you see wreckfish on the menu when you come to Carolina, order it.

Find | Shops & Markets

Bodega | The Common Market

Marc: It’s the only bodega that I've seen in the South. I’m not vegan or vegetarian but they do great vegan and vegetarian sandwiches and specials. They buy fair trade coffee. They have a small bar in there as well with a great beer selection, a really decent wine selection, and cool sodas.

Farmers Markets | Matthews and Atherton

Marc: The farmers are actually doing the selling, so it’s very authentic.

Fish Market | Clean Catch

Marc: It's a fish market over in Myers Park. It’s expensive, but good fish is. They’re buying it directly from the fisherman and this is what he is charging.

Bakery | The Kings Bakery

Marc: Super crusty breads and it flakes off the way that it should.

Vintage | The Rat’s Nest

Marc: They are the owners of The Thirsty Beaver bar and it's one of the best vintage shops in town. You can get cowboy boots and old concert t-shirts.

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Eat | Restaurants

American | 5 Church

Marc: Jamie Lynch is the chef there and I think they're doing really good work.

American Bar | The Comet Grill

Marc: It’s a Dilworth neighborhood bar and I love the hamburgers. It’s an off the beaten path place. They have live music almost every night of the week and it’s free. The beer is cheap and it’s usually pretty chilly inside. Occasionally the AC gets a little wonky, but that’s the charm of it. When certain bands play there they have to stock up on certain brands of alcohol. If the Loose Lugnuts play there won’t be any whiskey left. It doesn’t matter how much they buy, all the whiskey and all the bourbon will get drank.

BBQ | Old Hickory House

Marc: It’s one of the only pit barbecue joints in Charlotte. I love barbecue. The condiments are okay, but the pulled pork is amazing.

BBQ | Queen City Q

Marc: Dan Boone does probably the best brisket that you’re going to find outside of Austin, Texas. He has a box smoker, he doesn’t have a pit smoker. He makes some of the most perfect, spot-on, Southern-style barbecue. I always get the brisket, it just calls me every time I’m there. Coleslaw is amazing. Some people bitch that he serves out his collards with too much pot liquor, I like that much pot liquor because you’re supposed to have it with your corn bread. You just dunk it! I’m on the record saying it's ‘punch your mama in the mouth good!’

Southern | The Diamond

Marc: I’m not a huge hotdog fan, because usually they’re pretty cheap and nasty, but here I get a Race Track Dog. It’s a Southern dog with chilly, slaw, mustard, and onions. I always go for a Big Block Burger. Full Blown Hemi is like a mass amount of food.

New American | Barrington’s 

Marc: It’s sort of the stately dame of Charlotte, it’s upper-end cuisine. Bruce Moffett is a very accomplished chef and was nominated for a James Beard Award. It’s a little stuffy for me. I love the food, but it’s just too quiet.

New American | Good Food on Montford

Marc: It’s sort of a small plate, eclectic-style restaurant, very beautifully done. It’s one of the best pork steamed buns in the city, which is amazing. Their charcuterie is really good that they do in-house. I’ve always had really good luck with the risottos.

Vietnamese | Saigon Palace

Maggie: A Vietnamese restaurant in a strip mall. Their menu is fantastic. It's owned by an older Vietnamese couple. Order the Bún Bò Huế, which is a really spicy Vietnamese red broth that’s got pork knuckle, tripe and tendon. You pick these two big giant pork knuckles up and just kind of muscle through them with your hands, which is pretty disgusting, but it’s so delicious.

Marc: I just order pho and throw everything in it. I love the broth. It is pork knuckle, fatty tendon and tripe and I’ve just got to get it.

Vietnamese | Pho Real

Marc: It’s a little bit more Anglicized and it’s a little more lounge-y feeling, but the food is pretty darn good. I always get the train size bowl, because I’m going to take it home. I’ll crave it two hours later because I’ll fixate on it.

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Drink | Cocktails

Good Food on Montford

Maggie: Good Food has a solid, well-rounded cocktail list. They’ve got a great cold-smoked mint julep; they’ve got some dessert cocktails; they’ve got a gin, St. Germain, Meyer lemon, egg white kind of a deal. If I want to go out for a cocktail, I know I can depend on them to be consistent, really good and worth the money.

Drink | Bars

The Common Market

Maggie: They have Birdsong and Note, if you’re having a beer. You literally open the cooler and take a beer out. It's a standing room and they have DJs spinning on certain nights.

Thirsty Beaver Saloon

Marc: It’s a cinder block building next to the rail road tracks, it looks like my childhood has been thrown up on the wall. The two boys who own it also own one of the best vintage shops in Charlotte. They have overalls with a Hee Haw print. There’s Evel Knievel stunt sets up on the wall, the jukebox is free, the beer is cheap and it only comes in a can, you can’t get it in a bottle.

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Details

Details of chef Marc Jacksina and bartender Maggie Ruppert’s recommendations for where to eat, drink and shop in Charlotte, NC.

Recipes

- Cheerwine Boiled Peanuts