Creative cuisine hits high note at Noble’s.

Chef Jimmy Noble does not equate fine food with the ego-driven, high-pressure performances delivered by today’s popular cooking shows. “Great cooking isn’t about Iron Chefs, throw-downs or what’s happening in Hell’s Kitchen,” he explained. “It’s about enjoying simple but well-prepared local fare, wherever in the world one might happen to be, with family and friends.”

By his own definition, then, Noble has created a venue for fine food in his self-named SouthPark restaurant, Noble’s. With a focus on the warmth and ambiance of a well-prepared and -presented meal, Noble and the restaurant’s chef de cuisine, Kyle Krieger, are committed to excellence. Their devotion shows.

Rooted in regional success, local produce
The fine-dining establishment, an older sibling to the tapas-style eatery Rooster’s Wood-Fired Kitchen, opened in 1999. Noble’s first Charlotte dining establishment is his third culinary venture, following successes in High Point and Winston-Salem. “I had wanted to open a restaurant in Charlotte since 1984, but the timing just wasn’t right,” said Noble. Then in the late 1990s, he drove to Charlotte to sell to Dean & DeLuca a Tuscan olive oil he had begun to import. He noticed Charlotte’s progress as a culinary force and knew it was time to act. Noble’s Restaurant opened a short time later in Morrocroft.

For Noble, and Noble’s, the emphasis is “new Southern” cuisine: preparing locally grown product (vegetables, meats, seafood, poultry and cheese) in innovative but still understandable and delicious ways. When Noble and Krieger can’t find what they want grown or raised locally, they turn to organic or artisan producers and importers across the country. “Fresh is always best, but after that we look for the very best quality available,” said Krieger.

Since the 2006 Rooster’s opening, Krieger has run the kitchen at Noble’s, while Noble travels between restaurants to oversee operations.

Daily menu changes aren’t practical in a restaurant of Noble’s size, said the owner, so the menu evolves throughout the week. If available in sufficient quantity, a midweek farmers’ market find might become a nightly special, but it’s more likely to spur a change in side items. Cooking methods, featured meats and vegetables change with each season.

Starters and strategies: Go for the creative
It’s tempting to dive into entrées at Noble’s. Resist the urge, or you’ll miss stellar signature items such as Noble’s delicious fried oyster salad and a rich, creamy tomato-basil bisque served with artisan goat cheese crostini. Other starters to try include the sweet panseared Georges Bank sea scallops atop a succotash of butter beans and white corn, sauced with a tarragon beurre blanc; the charcuterie assortment; and the incredible foie gras.

For the latter, Krieger purees, seasons and slowly poaches the rich duck or goose liver, then rolls a thick slice of it in finely ground pistachios and serves it atop a crispy slice of brioche with an intense strawberrylavender sauce called a gastrique. A salad of South Carolina micro greens and thinly sliced dried strawberries completes the plate. Krieger’s execution is excellent – perhaps my favorite in Charlotte.

To compete with big-name steak houses, the menu contains USDA Prime selections: a rib eye, New York strip and front steak. The Noble’s touch comes through in the preparation – all seared on a woodburning grill. The beef is indeed good, but it’s still just “steak on a plate” to me with selections reflecting the higher end of the entrée price range. I prefer ordering from the list of entrées that afford the kitchen more opportunity for creativity.

Posh repast
Among the season’s recommended favorites is a seared ahi flavored with coriander and ginger and served over oven-roasted, ratatouille-stuffed cannelloni with lightly sauced wild mushrooms on the side. The slightly spicy ratatouille perfectly complements the tender tuna. Another top-notch seafood selection is a simple seared halibut fillet served over a mélange of vegetables, perfectly seasoned to bring out the flavor of the fish and produce.

Land lubbers, don’t miss the Long Island duck done two ways, an expertly prepared combination of tender, sliced duck breast and duck confit. The confit’s slow-cooked dark meat is rich and wonderfully fatty, creating another melt-inthe- mouth entrée for Noble’s patrons. The duck is served with sweet potato gnocchi and an orange duck glace or savory glaze highlighted with just a touch of grapefruit.

Another savory special is the grilled North Carolina “Poulet Rouge” chicken served with fava beans, English peas, morels and lemon- and thyme-flavored pan drippings. If it’s true that the sign of a good cook is the preparation of a simple roasted chicken, Krieger and Noble graduate with honors. The locally raised chicken is often presented atop a bed of black “forbidden rice,” a hearty grain with a slightly sweet aftertaste.

Noble’s notables
My only disappointment at Noble’s involved a recent special, a braised whole fish to be filleted tableside. While professional on all other planes, our server was not as skilled in deboning. She removed the head and tail, but the fillet was served filled with bones; we might have done a better job ourselves. Noble’s would be better served, I think, to debone in the kitchen and present the fillets in a more appetizing manner.

Every meal includes Noble’s freshbaked organic, naturally fermented bread served with the Tuscan extra virgin olive oil that brought Noble’s to Charlotte in the first place. The breads for Noble’s and Rooster’s are now baked at Noble’s, but soon the bakery operation will move up the street to a new retail market adjacent to Rooster’s. In the evening the retail portion of the bakery will become a wine bar offering Rooster’s patrons a comfortable place to wait for a table and others a place to sit and sip before embarking on the remainder of an evening.

Well-known Charlotte restaurant critic, food writer, cooking instructor and connoisseur of food and wine, Heidi Billotto writes "The Charlotte Weekly: Culinary Corner," a restaurant review or food feature that appears weekly. Contact Heidi with questions and restaurant, food or story ideas by email at heidi@thecharlotteweekly.com.

This article first appeared in "The Charlotte Weekly" on June 22, 2007. "The Charlotte Weekly" is a free, locally owned, independent newspaper that's "About the Community, For the Community," available every Thursday in North and South Charlotte and Uptown.

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