You may know Charlotte-based chef Sam Hart for their innovative tasting menu in Charlotte NC at restaurant Counter- and their growing hospitality group, Irreverently Refined. That being said, Hart’s focus has expanded beyond the plate. A James Beard Award finalist and creative force behind several Charlotte eateries including Spaghett and Maneki, Hart is now taking aim at one of the city’s most urgent challenges: food insecurity.
“Restaurants were created to nurture communities,” says Hart. “We’ve lost sight of that in some ways. I want to bring it back.”
From Tasting Menu in Charlotte NC to Neighborhood Markets
Hart’s hospitality group, Irreverently Refined, departs from tradition with its employee-owned model. Its mission is to serve the community beyond just serving quality food. That mission recently led him to a partnership with The Bulb, a Charlotte nonprofit addressing food access in low-income neighborhoods through mobile farmers markets.
Unlike traditional food pantries that typically provide boxed or canned foods, The Bulb offers fresh produce. Moreover, it does so free of charge and free of judgment. Their signature policy is take what you need, and give what’s affordable—no proof of need required. Their mobile market truck rolls into 12 food-insecure neighborhoods every week. It offers everything from leafy greens to strawberries, sourced through local farms, urban gardens, and grocery partners like Trader Joe’s.
In June, The Bulb launched a new market at the West Charlotte Recreation Center. The response was powerful: sixty people came within the first 45 minutes (most markets receive 20 customers total on their inaugural day). Thanks to the support of Hart and their team at Counter-, it will continue operating every Tuesday morning through the end of the year. At this point, Hart has committed $65,000 to support this initiative. Doing so directly addresses the 11.8% of households in Mecklenburg County facing food insecurity. That equates to over 185,000 people living in food deserts—areas with limited access to affordable, healthy food.
“We firmly believe that fresh produce is a right, not a privilege,” Hart says. “Food equity is something we can actually solve at the local level, if we commit to it.”
Hospitality with a Heart
This commitment builds on Irreverently Refined Hospitality’s wider mission to support the Charlotte community. Over the past five years, the group has raised more than $500,000 for nonprofits such as Time Out Youth, The Relatives, ArtPop, and Carolina Farm Trust. However, the collaboration with The Bulb marks a significant deepening of Hart’s community impact. All told, his efforts blend his culinary ethos with his belief in social justice.
“Our goal is to eventually have enough of these markets to end food insecurity in the Queen City,” Hart says. With Chef Sam Hart at the helm—not just of a kitchen and a tasting menu in Charlotte NC, but a movement—Charlotte’s food landscape is being reshaped, one market and one meal at a time.
thebulbgallery.org
counterclt.com
