Newspapers / The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, … / Aug. 11, 2005, edition 1 / Page 9
Part of The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
http://www.thecharlottepost.com CI)arIotte THURSDAY AUGUST 11, 2005 Section REVIEW The divine Providenee Cafe By Angela Lindsay T71E CHARLOTTE POST Located obscurely off of Providence Road is one of Myers Park’s most established eateries, the Providence Cafd. Tb keep from driving ri^t past it, you should keep an eye out for its purple awning which promi nently protrudes from the front, like its n£une suggests, the place defrnitely has a quaint, cafe- esque feel at first, but once you sit and take in its sophisticated atmosphere, you will find it has way more to offer than just soup and coffee. The interior summons a bit of the old world through the Aztec- inspired design of colorful tiles embedded in smooth white brick and the large decorative plates linii^ shelves placed high on the wall at the far end of the restau rant. The furniture is simple. The tables are not covered with the crisp white tablecloths that you might expect, and the wood proudly shows signs of wear fix)m many a good meal having been served there. The cloth cushioning of the chairs and booths are accented with blends of purple, green and blue, warm ing up the stark whiteness of the walls, and though a 1980s pop song greeted us at ffie door, jazz music plays softly in the back ground of the dining area. The atmosphere is the perfect dynamic between elegance and comfort. And it is reflected in the menu as weQ. Its wide array of appetizers include lobster crab cakes, toma to-dill bisque, and an interesting combination called Chinese pas try sticks, which are spinach and asparagus wrapped in pastry, lightly filed, and served with Thai peanut vinaigrette. They ai’e welcome diversions finm Usual first course fare such as calamari and shrimp cocktail. For a meal of the lighter vari- ety thiHe is asize^le section of the menu dedicated to an assort ment of salads which range fiom the simple-an icebeig let tuce salad, to the exotic-an Asian tuna salad, to the regional-a Southwestern black bean cake salad, which matches perfectly with the implicit theme of the d^cor. There are a couple of hearty sandwich selections fix)m whidi to dioose and any number of side items to accompany them, but your better bet is to indulge in one of the tempting entrees. After much contemplation, I decided to spring for what was ultimately a most satisfying surf and turf combination. It consists of a petit filet with jumbo prawns, Yukon Gold whipped potatoes and seasoned vegeta bles in a red wine dejni ^ace and lemon dill. And, yes-it tastes as good as it soimds. The steak w^ tender and perfectly cooked, as were the shrimp, while the pota toes and vegetables took on an extra layer of flavor by soaking up the ^ace. The temperature of the food was not particulariy hot, but warm enough to appreciate the bold but simple flavors of each item. The chefs apparent creative knack for blending Ingredients and cultures was hi^ilighted by a peculiar offering of maple pecan glazed pan-seared trout- an unusual pairing one can only appreciate by actually tasting it. Another interesting combination involves salmon and v^etables tossed tc^ther in a stir-fiy But for something a little more famil iar, try the classic southern dish of shrimp and grits, which is spruced up by the addition of spicy andouille sausage, savory applewood smoked bacon, scal lions, and Cheddar cheese. It will be difficult, but you owe it to yourself to save room for dessert. The Cappuccino ice cream pie and twice-baked cin- Please see THE DEVINE/2B #•0 LIFE PHOTO/THE STOCK MARKET Conquering first date i i i ^ 41 C if Going out for the first time? Don’t sweat the details By Cheris F. Hodges cherisJiodge5@theduirlottepost£otn So, e-mails have been exchanged, calls have been taken and now it’s time to meet. When you’re doir^ the online dat- it^ thing, you talk to someone on the phone for weeks before eiffier of you get the nerve to say ‘let’s meet.” WeU, after my misadventures with “Reggie,” I was lucky enoi^h to meet “Thomas.” Unlike Reggie, Thomas attended a historically black college, so we had that in common strai^t away And we like the same football team. So after about a week of long phone conversations about e\ery- thing fix)m hi^ school reunions, the TV sitcom “Good Times,” the Dallas Cowboys’ glory days and what we want out of life. We decided to meet. It seems so much easier to connect with someone over the phone and ovei' e-mails than in person some times. So, even before I met Thomas, I felt like we had a limited connection. In other words, we had some phone chemistry We met at an uptown eatery and it w'as so like a scene fixtm “Sex and the City” There he was, sitting at an outdoor table reading the sports page of USA Tbday eyes hidden behind mirrored sunglasses. And yes, he did look like his picture. (That’s one of the perils of online dating that just mig^it not be his or her picture.) Even thoi^ I knew it was him, I still had to ask, “Are you Thomas?’ It also didn’t help that I was about 10 minutes late, (I know, I know, first impressions) but he was a gcxxi sport about it. We hugged, then sat down and after a few awkward min utes, we got in to the flow, talking as if we were on the phone. Laughing at each other’s jokes, whether they were funny or not. The conversation was v«y li^t. Maybe neither of us had the nerve to ask those piercing questions, like “Why are you single?” or “When was your last relationship?’ Possibly that was a good thing. Really you can’t ®q)ect to develop a relationship over one date. And maybe that’s what a lot of women do. A good fiiend of mine said he does n’t like dating in Charlotte, because Please see CONQUERING2B Alabama court hears sex toy case THE ASSOCIATED PRESS HUNTSVILLE, Ala. - The law that bans the sale of sex toys, but not their possession, in the state of Alabama is again being challenged. Michael Fees, a Huntsville attorney rep resents a group of 10 peo ple, all of whom have been fighting the state’s ban on selling sex toys since the law was enacted in 1998. In a motion filled with a U.S. District Judge Lynwood Smith on Tuesday Fees argued that a U.S. Supreme Court decision banning the criminalization of gay sex based on privacy issues also protects his clients’ right to buy and sell sex toys. He argued that the state law is an unwel come intrusion into his clients’ bedrooms. If Smith decides to over turn the law, it will mark the third time he has done so. , In 1999, Smith ruled against the law only to have it reversed by the lltih Circuit Court after the state attorney gener al’s office appealed his derision. In 2002, Smith again ruled against the law, but a three-judge panri of the 11th Circuit overturned him. The judges, however, sent the case back to Smith to review some other issues, including whether states have the ri^t to legislate morality PHOTO/THE STOCK MARKET Students at genealogy eamp traee roots THE ASSOCIATED PRESS NEW ORLEANS - Jameel Reese expected to spend his summer swimming, hanging out, goofing off with friends. Instead, he spent it finding family Jameel discovered his great, great, great grandfather by — of Eill things — going to camp. He and six other black children age 7 to 15 attended Youth Genealogy Camp, which seeks to nurture an appreciation for the struggles of those who came before them. “He was trained to be a casket maker while he was still a slave,” the soft-spoken 12-year- old said of his ancestor. “He was sold when he was 11. He must have cried a lot then.” The monthlong day camp is the brainchild of Antoinette HarreU- Miller, founder of the nonprofit African American Genealogy Connection. “So many kids have no idea of their own history,” she said. “They don’t stop and think about how their family got here or how they lived.” Harrell-Miller discussed the idea of the camp on her local cable-access TV show, “Knowing Your Family History.” She and a group of parents financed the camp, spending about $1,200 on this first year. “Parents started calling me and saying they wanted their kids to attend,” she said. The campers pored over records in the library and The Amistad Research Center at Tulane University. They also vis ited cemeteries and older family members and went to parish courthouses. They dug through birth and death certificates, deeds, regis trations and voting lists. “We took them to federal and state offices so they could learn how to get records,” Harrell- Miller said. “The thrust of the camp was to teach them how and where to get information.” Yoimger campers, who might have struggled with some of the Please see STUDENTS/3B Religion 8B Survey: black students smoke less THE ASSOCIATED PRESS DURHAM—Fewer black col lege students smoke compared to their white counterparts and they tend to li^t up for different reasons, according to prelimi nary results of a survey at histor ically black North Carolina Central University The survey released Monday found that 13 percent of black students smoked, compared to between 27 percent and 34 par ent of college students in gener al. It also found that blacks are more likely to smoke because of the sensation of smoking or for no reason, rather than in social circumstanfces or out of boredom. Michelle Cotton-Laws, the pro ject evaluator for the study said the information can help develop smoking-cessation programs focused on the needs and tenden cies of students at historically black universities. ‘TSTow we can better tailor inter vention and prevention pro grams specifically for minority students, particularly African- American students,” Cotton- Laws said. “Because in the past, the studies have focused on majority institutions, predomi nantly white institutions.” Researriiers handed out 440 surveys last fall at the 7,700-stu dent school and received 371 responses. The survey conducted by NCCU and the Historically Minority Colleges and Universities Consortium, was financed by the American Legacy Foundation, a national anti smoking group financed by the settlement between states and tobacco companies. NCCU was the first of 11 his torically black and minority schools where researchers will study tobacco use through this program. The work is important because blacks suffer dispropor tionately fium respiratory and cardiovascular diseases and smoking contributes to that, Cotton-Laws said. The next step is examining the reasons blacks smoke and under standing what makes tobacco use desirable to them, she said. ‘T’m very interested in finding out about what is this, what is this sensation,” she said. “We did not go that deep, certainly the next level of research will take us to asking that question.” Cotton-Laws also plans to examine the role parents play in a college student’s derision whether to smoke. The study found no correlation between having a parent who is a smoker and deriding to smoke, which is contradictory to some past stud ies. Gender, depression, and peer influences are other factors in whether a black student wiU smoke. The survey foimd that only 10 percent of women smoke, while 20 percent of men do. It also found methods that black students identified as use ful in smoking cessation pro grams, Cotton-Laws said. Self- help methods were the favored way to quit smoking, followed by peer support and school-based programs.
The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Aug. 11, 2005, edition 1
9
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75