After a wide and varied journey through all sides of the restaurant industry, bbq fan Lewis Donald launched his shop, Sweet Lew’s, in the Belmont neighborhood of Charlotte, NC because he felt Charlotte needed a true barbecue shop and “I felt like that was my best avenue to be me, have fun and I could see myself doing it for the rest of my life.”
Originally from Cleveland, Lew’s moved all over – Hawaii, Tennessee, Georgia, West Virginia, and L.A. where he learned Spanish. At the “Swanky” Greenbrier Culinary Apprenticeship Program, he had an invaluable deep dive into the ingredients, prep and everything that goes into cooking. The posh Greenbrier may not seem like a BBQ pit haven, but it was where Lew grew to love the style of cooking. Pitmaster, Ken Hess, would wheel in his trailer smoker and have the apprentices help with barbecue competitions. Lew continued to pepper in barbecue throughout his career and developed a lasting fondness for it. So in 2018, he set forth opening Sweet Lew’s BBQ.
What he learned from the opening: “I think every restauranteur in Charlotte goes through the same thing — everything new in Charlotte is great.” The first 90 days are full of free press and booming sales. “Then there comes that time in Charlotte you constantly have to reinvent yourself.” Lew stays in his lane…want boiled peanuts, Brunswick stew and brisket? He’s your guy. But he’s not changing up the menu and adding items for publicity.
He focuses on simplicity, inspired by the different regional BBQ styles. And while he does have house-made sauces, he doesn’t sauce his meat. He wants to be a master of the BBQ biz, not a jack of all trades. ‘We want to be here for generations,” Lew says, hopefully, he’ll feed families for years to come. Fun Sauce Facts: The mustard-based sauce is an SC thing because of German settlers Big Bob Gibson is credited as the originator of white sauce in Alabama NC is regionally divided – some areas focusing on vinegar-based sauces, others tomato-based Last thoughts: Are you thinking about starting a business? Lew’s advice: “Talk to somebody before you do it – talk to many people. Do your homework, do your research, and really think about what you’re getting yourself into. It’s hard to translate what you’re doing at home or what you’ve done for your family or friends — just because you make the best pie at thanksgiving doesn’t mean it’s going to become a business.”
“Just because you make the best pie at thanksgiving doesn’t mean it’s going to become a business.”
Chef Chris Coleman has won Chopped, Beat Bobby Flay, and now he’s it’s It-Guy in the Charlotte, NC restaurant scene with his popular The Goodyear House restaurant in the NoDa neighborhood and now Old Town Kitchen & Cocktails in Rock Hill, SC.
Paper Trails Podcast is channeling Bill Nye vibes on this episode — we learned SO MUCH from the inspiring owners of Cloister Honey in Charlotte, NC. First, Nick suited up and learned beekeeping (go back and check out part 1 if you haven’t!) and on part 2, Nick sits down with founders Joanne de la Rionda and Randall York who share the scientific process behind their crystalized honey blends. Hear how they went from hobby beekeepers who shared honey with friends, to creating their cinnamon honey to compete with teachers/part-time bee keepers and sell at farmers markets.
“Crystalized honey is not rocket science but it’s a pain. We do the hard stuff. It’s not as easy to make cinnamon, ghost pepper, lavender, pumpkin spice at high quality.”
Nick suited up and got a lesson in beekeeping from Charlotte, NC’s own Cloister Honey. (there were no bees with Jerry Seinfeld’s voice, unfortunately.) It’s an entirely fascinating process learning about the the work of the queen, the hive, what makes a have successful.
“Nature is brutally efficient.” Cloister Honey’s Randall York shares on the unforgiving behavior of how the hive crowns a new queen.
A few fun facts Nick shared from the hives:
1) You can move a hive 2 feet or 2 miles… nothing in between because the bees won’t find their hive
2) Bees only live for a few weeks
3) The bottom 2 boxes of hive are never touched bc that’s the honey for the bees to eat and live off of. The ones above that are the ones that bee keepers take to eat or sell.
Beekeeping is fascinating and we’re so excited to share a bit about what goes into their honey with you.
“In the hive, about 97% of all the bees in the hive are female. They do all the work. The males do nothing – all they do is they hope to mate.”
“QC Javi” as he’s known in the Charlotte, NC area from his popular @qc_javi Instagram account, covers the most mouthwatering, authentic Latin food around the Queen City and beyond. Originally from Guadalajara, Mexico, Javi has always stuck with his roots when it comes to his content creation work. From his early days capturing the Latin music scene, to transitioning his photo skills to the food scene.
Javi made the decision to step in front of the camera, invest in equipment and developing his food-centric content. He jumped out of his comfort zone, attended an influencer event and felt a pivotal change while networking with other foodies. His content production style and platforms have developed from years of trial and error and he suggests trying everything to find what resonates with you. “See which one will make you feel happiest… it’s a lot easier to be myself than to try to come up with other stuff that isn’t related to me,” says Javi.
Catch Part 2 where Javi introduces us to traditional dishes from Oaxaca, México.
Always a fitness fan, Charlotte, NC-based Adkin’s love of lean burgers was missing one thing… the perfect, high protein, low-carb bun. So what does an entrepreneurial-minded guy do? Create his damn own. That’s right. While working a full-time job, Adkins spent 6 years testing recipes in his own kitchen until he finally found the perfect, yet SUPER SECRET (we tried) formula. Then he brought his UnbelievaBun recipe to a kitchen and started selling to consumers. Adkins had to develop his story and show how his buns truly were legit. “I got tired of people thinking it was going to taste like cardboard,” so he went to some high-end chefs to prove his point and showed off his buns. UnbelievaBuns is now working on distribution – a nine-year project is coming to fruition. He paved his own path. He made the connections. He chased the dream. How did Adkins maintain the determination? “I realized I was different from the beginning,” Adkins laughed. “But you can develop that passion.” Grand plans? End world hunger. Then start a healthy burger restaurant. Adkins believes in giving back, and the motto “To much is given, much is required.” So seriously, ask Jerrod about his Buns.