Southern steakhouse Supperland with Charlotte’s first absinthe program is now open

After two years of renovations, the highly anticipated Supperland is now open in a historic Plaza Midwood church.

Why it matters: The stunning restaurant and cocktail bar revives a piece of the neighborhood’s history and stands in contrast to countless new construction projects throughout the city.

Supperland is the latest venture from Jeff Tonidandel and Jamie Brown, the owners of Haberdish, Crepe Cellar, Growlers Pourhouse and Reigning Doughnuts. [Go deeper]

Details: The 5,250-square-foot restaurant retains the vaulted ceilings of the former church and even has restored pews as seating.

• An impressive open-fire kitchen now occupies the former pulpit of the church and is the centerpiece of the restaurant.
• “I think what makes it so special is it being a restoration project and just bringing something back to life,” Brown says.

• Miso mac and cheese topped with a miso cream.
• Flanken, a thin short rib cut, with gremolata.

• A variety of pies — a “mainstay” at Supperland, Brown says.
• Blackened and caramelized onions.

Cocktail bar: A smaller 2,250-square-foot building in the back has been transformed into a craft cocktail bar led by esteemed mixologist Colleen Hughes.

Absinthe program: Nowhere else in Charlotte will you find as elaborate an absinthe program as you do at Supperland. The naturally green super-strong liquor was illegal in the U.S. until 2007, so it’s been slow to appear at local bars. Hughes is out to change that.

• At Haberdish, she established the city’s foremost gin program. “What was the next antique, misunderstood spirit?” she tells me. “Absinthe.”

• Supperland offers four types of absinthe, diluted using a fountain that slowly adds water to the 100+ proof liquor. The cocktails are naturally sweet from the wormwood, star anise, and fennel spices in every absinthe, giving it a licorice-like flavor.
• The restaurant and cocktail bar also offers the “Absinthe Frappé,” an incredibly crushable strawberry-and-mint drink designed for 80°-plus days like today.

Here’s a look around.