44 CHARLOTTEMAGAZINE.COM // JUNE 2019
Bill and Anita Greene are the couple behind
the progressive eatery, which serves a rotation
of small and large plates that emphasize sea-
sonal ingredients. It’s Mediterranean-meets-
Asian-meets-Southern, with house-made
breads, charcuterie, and ice cream.
The Greenes also own Artisanal, a farm-
to-table restaurant in the mountain town of
Banner Elk, otherwise known as the Christmas
tree capital of the world. For 13 years, they’ve
operated Artisanal from May to October, where
Bill is executive chef and Anita is general man-
ager. The converted barn has become such a
foodie destination that guests have own in by
helicopter to have dinner there.
The Greenes met their Pepper vine business
partners, Bob and Robb Lackey, three years
ago when the father and son were guests atArtisanal. The Lackeys manage Imagine One
Hospitality, which owns a number of busi-
nesses, including Café Rule & Wine Bar in
Hickory. According to Bob, that dining experi-
ence at Artisanal was near-perfect. “The adven-
ture was in the exciting and delicious approach
to some of the normal staples—yeast rolls and
doughnuts were out of this world,” he recalls.
“All the sauces and presentations were beauti-
ful, approachable, and the avors were beyond
any restaurants we had visited in the country.”
Bill has a talent for combining seemingly
unrelated ingredients and cuisines—lamb
belly with kimchi porridge, smoked butter-
nut squash with miso, ricotta dumplings with
beef cheek—so his guests can sample culinary
experiences from around the globe. That talent
has won him a number of awards, includingFOOD+DRINK
(Clockwise from top
left) Big eye tuna tartar;
smoked breast of duck;
Bill and Anita Greene in
Peppervine’s main dining
room; yeast rolls baked to
order; baked sunchoke.PEPPERVINE
4620 Piedmont Row Dr.,
Ste. 170B
980-283-2333
peppervine.com
Entrées: $25+