The Official Charlotte, NC Discussion Thread
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- Start date
Bryan Danielson
Jmare007 x Bryan Danielson x JLova = King Ghidorah
Y'all know what I'm tired of hearing......
These dam auto commercials on the radio with that nkka Fawnky Boyif I hear this dude annoying voice again...... I swear
Lol which station?
http://www.charlottefive.com/small-business-cooking-pot/
http://www.charlottefive.com/
Small business: The Cooking Pot brings authentic Nigerian food to Independence Boulevard
By Vanessa Infanzon -
January 11, 2017
When Esther Ikuru opened The Cooking Pot in 2014, she knew it would feature a strictly Nigerian menu. She wanted everyone to experience good African cuisine the same way it is prepared in her homeland of Nigeria.
“I use the core principles of cooking an African meal,” Ikuru said. “I stay true to that value. We use grass-fed beef and we use hen, instead of the regular chicken. Anything you get from us is exactly how we cook it at home.”
Ikuru and her family moved to Charlotte from Nigeria 20 years ago. She explained that jollof rice –a long-grain rice in a savory tomato sauce — is the life of the party in Nigeria. It is cooked in a certain way so that there is a balance between mushy and al dente.
“If you don’t have jollof rice at an event, it‘s a meeting,” said Ikuru. “If you don’t have it, you don’t have anything going on.”
Pepper soup and fufu are two other dishes that Ikuru recommends. The Nigerian pepper soup is spicy and contains fish, goat or chicken. Fufu is the popular dough that goes with the soup. According to Ikuru, some go crazy for fufu.
Entrées at The Cooking Pot range from $8-$15.
We asked Ikuru five questions for C5’s Small Business series:
(1) Why do you think you have been successful?
“I cannot take that credit. I have to give it back to God because if I sit and tell you I know what I am doing, I would be lying. It is by the grace of God. I have been successful because I have God on my side. That’s all I can say.”
(2) If you weren’t doing this, what would you be doing?
“I have to do this. If there was no other option, I would have to do this.”
(3) What advice do you offer to small business owners?
“Make sure you are in the right business for you. Don’t be a manager when you open. Be the worker, be everything. After that, you can be the manager. If you open as the manager, then you will never know how everything works. If you don’t know the nitty-gritty of how your business runs, you are going to fail.
“Be patient. You need a lot of good strong support from family or friends. Even if they do not come to help you, they can encourage you when you are like, ‘Oh my God!’”
(4) How do you make sure that you provide customers with consistently good food?
“I cook my food myself. It goes back to when you open your business, be everything before you can only be one person. I did this all by myself for a long time. Even if I am not there, my standards are there. I got everything down pat so I know what I need even if I am not there.”
(5) What are three qualities of successful small businesses?
“Customer service, good product and ask for feedback.”
The Cooking Pot: 5622 East Independence Blvd., Suite 129.
Hours: 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Saturday; 12 p.m.-7 p.m. Sunday
Photos: Vanessa Infanzon
http://www.charlottefive.com/
Small business: The Cooking Pot brings authentic Nigerian food to Independence Boulevard
By Vanessa Infanzon -
January 11, 2017
When Esther Ikuru opened The Cooking Pot in 2014, she knew it would feature a strictly Nigerian menu. She wanted everyone to experience good African cuisine the same way it is prepared in her homeland of Nigeria.
“I use the core principles of cooking an African meal,” Ikuru said. “I stay true to that value. We use grass-fed beef and we use hen, instead of the regular chicken. Anything you get from us is exactly how we cook it at home.”
Ikuru and her family moved to Charlotte from Nigeria 20 years ago. She explained that jollof rice –a long-grain rice in a savory tomato sauce — is the life of the party in Nigeria. It is cooked in a certain way so that there is a balance between mushy and al dente.
“If you don’t have jollof rice at an event, it‘s a meeting,” said Ikuru. “If you don’t have it, you don’t have anything going on.”
Pepper soup and fufu are two other dishes that Ikuru recommends. The Nigerian pepper soup is spicy and contains fish, goat or chicken. Fufu is the popular dough that goes with the soup. According to Ikuru, some go crazy for fufu.
Entrées at The Cooking Pot range from $8-$15.
We asked Ikuru five questions for C5’s Small Business series:
(1) Why do you think you have been successful?
“I cannot take that credit. I have to give it back to God because if I sit and tell you I know what I am doing, I would be lying. It is by the grace of God. I have been successful because I have God on my side. That’s all I can say.”
(2) If you weren’t doing this, what would you be doing?
“I have to do this. If there was no other option, I would have to do this.”
(3) What advice do you offer to small business owners?
“Make sure you are in the right business for you. Don’t be a manager when you open. Be the worker, be everything. After that, you can be the manager. If you open as the manager, then you will never know how everything works. If you don’t know the nitty-gritty of how your business runs, you are going to fail.
“Be patient. You need a lot of good strong support from family or friends. Even if they do not come to help you, they can encourage you when you are like, ‘Oh my God!’”
(4) How do you make sure that you provide customers with consistently good food?
“I cook my food myself. It goes back to when you open your business, be everything before you can only be one person. I did this all by myself for a long time. Even if I am not there, my standards are there. I got everything down pat so I know what I need even if I am not there.”
(5) What are three qualities of successful small businesses?
“Customer service, good product and ask for feedback.”
The Cooking Pot: 5622 East Independence Blvd., Suite 129.
Hours: 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Saturday; 12 p.m.-7 p.m. Sunday
Photos: Vanessa Infanzon
Power 98 and 92.7
I love Charlotte.
Anybody been to SCORE? It's a Black-owned clothing store and cafe in NoDa
Score, a clothing boutique and coffee house, is now open in NoDa
Score, a clothing boutique and coffee house, is now open in NoDa
By Jonathan Wells | December 12, 2016
Views: 2,036
Score just opened on 36th Street, next door to the new home of NoDa Bodega. It’s at an oddly interesting intersection of clothing boutique meets coffee house with a dash of neighborhood bar, with an art gallery garnish.
I shouldn’t say “opened” — owner Jay Knox calls this “more of an extended soft open. Or a long-term pop-up.” He’s set an official grand opening for mid-January. After getting through the Christmas rush, they’ll undergo some slight remodeling, but then it’s business as usual.
Owner Jay Knox with his son Cassius
So how would you best describe the overall Score concept?
Jay Knox: It’s a retail café, retail lounge. We want you to come in, hang out. We tell everyone, we want you to take it easy, slow down a little bit, enjoy yourself. Order a great hot quality cup of coffee to order.
We’ll have a full stocked bar on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. And on other nights, we want people to come in the same way. Monday through Friday we’ll have coffee and tea.
And then also our sweets. Our theme in our café is our sweets, so sweet treats that’s kind of where we are.
With our clothes, you’ll find them specifically made for our store and you just come and hang out. We’re just kind of your local place to come hang out, to just shop and eat, eat and drink. We’re trying to bring the concept of people here to understand the retail and the café and the food altogether, so that’s the goal.
How did you come up with a café concept/retail boutique?
We did a similar thing in a larger scale in D.C., with a restaurant and everything. But I’m from Charlotte, born and raised, and I was trying to get back here with my 2 year old kid. We were kicking around the idea of how there was something I could do back home.
So this is the way to build it, put it together, we love the food, we love the coffee, and we love the fashion so that’s where we’re at.
In terms of fashion, what all do you carry?
We carry men and women’s, footwear, accessories, jewelry, bags, and we pretty much stick with a casual style but we also do ties, dress shirts, and a lot of headwear.
Of all that, what really sets you apart?
Probably the uniqueness of our style. We don’t try to conform into any different particular brand, we are not super brand driven. We’re more: come in, find what you like. We manufacture all of our own clothes, we design our own clothes. We’re focused on the style and what might fit your style.
We’re trying to bring people here to understand the concept of the retail and the café and the food altogether.
What are the names of some of the designers?
Our core clothing brands, we do Civil, we do Bone (one of our most popular brands, it’s a brand designed here we mostly started in New York but we brought it back here so you can find it everywhere around).
As far as other brands that we carry, we have Vans, Nikes, all the core Adidas which are all identifiable brands.
In terms of café stuff, what’s serving?
We do local pour over coffees, made to order. So you do a light, dark, or medium roast.
We carry alcohol infused cupcakes, we do three different flavors every single day. We bring out fresh alcohol infused cupcakes, you can’t go wrong!
We also do bar chocolate, local artisan chocolate, and we just do pretty much a bunch of infused teas and flavored teas that are done locally as well. So everything we do from the café is local, all within about a five mile radius of our location.
It helps that you’re in NoDa.
We love the fact that we’re in NoDa. That was the reason for this. We looked at five different locations in Charlotte. We actually had two deals on two other places and we wanted to come to NoDa.
I live in Elizabeth and so I was close. NoDa’s growing, changing, getting better and better every day and we wanted to kind of branch it out on this end instead of right in the heart of NoDa. We want to bring some people out here.
What’s the general message you want to convey to anybody that’s interested in coming in?
We want you to come in, enjoy yourself, relax. Come in, shop without pressure.
You can come in and just chill and eat or you can just come in and buy some clothes and lace yourself up or you can just hang out. You know, I can buy anything. That’s the whole purpose of having a big nice sofa and a lot of sitting areas, you can just come in and chat with us and hang out with us.
Have fun, a place where you can come do multiple things. You don’t have to go to the mall, you don’t have to go way out of the way. NoDa’s not a big shopping destination so we give you that shopping here, and you can still hang out and have a few drinks and as the bars start opening you can have a few alcoholic drinks, just enjoy yourself.
Score, a clothing boutique and coffee house, is now open in NoDa
Score, a clothing boutique and coffee house, is now open in NoDa
By Jonathan Wells | December 12, 2016
Views: 2,036
Score just opened on 36th Street, next door to the new home of NoDa Bodega. It’s at an oddly interesting intersection of clothing boutique meets coffee house with a dash of neighborhood bar, with an art gallery garnish.
I shouldn’t say “opened” — owner Jay Knox calls this “more of an extended soft open. Or a long-term pop-up.” He’s set an official grand opening for mid-January. After getting through the Christmas rush, they’ll undergo some slight remodeling, but then it’s business as usual.
Owner Jay Knox with his son Cassius
So how would you best describe the overall Score concept?
Jay Knox: It’s a retail café, retail lounge. We want you to come in, hang out. We tell everyone, we want you to take it easy, slow down a little bit, enjoy yourself. Order a great hot quality cup of coffee to order.
We’ll have a full stocked bar on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. And on other nights, we want people to come in the same way. Monday through Friday we’ll have coffee and tea.
And then also our sweets. Our theme in our café is our sweets, so sweet treats that’s kind of where we are.
With our clothes, you’ll find them specifically made for our store and you just come and hang out. We’re just kind of your local place to come hang out, to just shop and eat, eat and drink. We’re trying to bring the concept of people here to understand the retail and the café and the food altogether, so that’s the goal.
How did you come up with a café concept/retail boutique?
We did a similar thing in a larger scale in D.C., with a restaurant and everything. But I’m from Charlotte, born and raised, and I was trying to get back here with my 2 year old kid. We were kicking around the idea of how there was something I could do back home.
So this is the way to build it, put it together, we love the food, we love the coffee, and we love the fashion so that’s where we’re at.
In terms of fashion, what all do you carry?
We carry men and women’s, footwear, accessories, jewelry, bags, and we pretty much stick with a casual style but we also do ties, dress shirts, and a lot of headwear.
Of all that, what really sets you apart?
Probably the uniqueness of our style. We don’t try to conform into any different particular brand, we are not super brand driven. We’re more: come in, find what you like. We manufacture all of our own clothes, we design our own clothes. We’re focused on the style and what might fit your style.
We’re trying to bring people here to understand the concept of the retail and the café and the food altogether.
What are the names of some of the designers?
Our core clothing brands, we do Civil, we do Bone (one of our most popular brands, it’s a brand designed here we mostly started in New York but we brought it back here so you can find it everywhere around).
As far as other brands that we carry, we have Vans, Nikes, all the core Adidas which are all identifiable brands.
In terms of café stuff, what’s serving?
We do local pour over coffees, made to order. So you do a light, dark, or medium roast.
We carry alcohol infused cupcakes, we do three different flavors every single day. We bring out fresh alcohol infused cupcakes, you can’t go wrong!
We also do bar chocolate, local artisan chocolate, and we just do pretty much a bunch of infused teas and flavored teas that are done locally as well. So everything we do from the café is local, all within about a five mile radius of our location.
It helps that you’re in NoDa.
We love the fact that we’re in NoDa. That was the reason for this. We looked at five different locations in Charlotte. We actually had two deals on two other places and we wanted to come to NoDa.
I live in Elizabeth and so I was close. NoDa’s growing, changing, getting better and better every day and we wanted to kind of branch it out on this end instead of right in the heart of NoDa. We want to bring some people out here.
What’s the general message you want to convey to anybody that’s interested in coming in?
We want you to come in, enjoy yourself, relax. Come in, shop without pressure.
You can come in and just chill and eat or you can just come in and buy some clothes and lace yourself up or you can just hang out. You know, I can buy anything. That’s the whole purpose of having a big nice sofa and a lot of sitting areas, you can just come in and chat with us and hang out with us.
Have fun, a place where you can come do multiple things. You don’t have to go to the mall, you don’t have to go way out of the way. NoDa’s not a big shopping destination so we give you that shopping here, and you can still hang out and have a few drinks and as the bars start opening you can have a few alcoholic drinks, just enjoy yourself.
DynamoEAR
All Star
I went to eat at the new pizza place near Northlake Mall called Firenza
Every employee was Black and I was
Then the owner walked out and he was white and I was
The pizza was good though
Every employee was Black and I was
Then the owner walked out and he was white and I was
The pizza was good though
Larry Lambo
Superstar
I went to eat at the new pizza place near Northlake Mall called Firenza
Every employee was Black and I was
Then the owner walked out and he was white and I was
The pizza was good though
Yeah, I seen that spot. The demographics in the Northlake area have changed so quickly. I moved to Charlotte in 2006 and it was 80% white. Now it's like 80% black.
I bought my home up in the Northlake area in late 2008 and seen a lot of sh*t change over the years. They redistricted the schools in 2010, had all the rich white kids in Huntersville go to Hough, brought in kids from some rougher areas to North Meck. North Meck used to be a "good school" and now it's average, (which is considered "bad" to middle class whites).
So the white folks ran out (except the ones that couldn't afford to take that L on the house because of the market). 2014-2015 comes around with the housing market being strong again and now those white folks are out as well
Black people didn't leave because we had no real reason to do so, and more black people came in because it's a fairly nice area with affordable homes. It's a cool area to raise a family if you want to be in a middle class area that has a sizable amount of black people. It's not as congested as University but still has a bunch of amenities. I'm 6-7 minutes away from the mall, 10 minutes away from Huntersville/Birkdale, 10 minutes away from Concord MIlls, and 15 minutes away from downtown. Works for me.
Bryan Danielson
Jmare007 x Bryan Danielson x JLova = King Ghidorah
I went to eat at the new pizza place near Northlake Mall called Firenza
Every employee was Black and I was
Then the owner walked out and he was white and I was
The pizza was good though
Speaking of Northlake, a girl I work with who has a couple of cousin's in the NBA said that Allen Iverson lives in a townhouse near that area and hangs out at Fridays frequently.... yall hear about that?
last Christmas I was at my wife's work Christmas party. her coworker had met Iverson earlier that day and he came up there later. we didn't believe her when she said he was coming.
I remember reading about him at Friday's a few years ago when there were rumors that he might sign with the Bobcats. But here is an article from last month: Friday’s Roundup: No. 1 North Meck routs No. 16 West Charlotte in front of Allen Iverson
Bryan Danielson
Jmare007 x Bryan Danielson x JLova = King Ghidorah
LOL... oh wow.... yea my coworker was like "you'd be surprised who lives here in Charlotte"
I know awhile back I saw Special Ed casually at my barbershop and I was like
Larry Lambo
Superstar
One of my co-workers saw AI a couple years ago at CIAA hollering at some chubby chick. That dude is a character.