The Hyatt Charlotte Hotel opened across the street from Southpark Mall on Tuesday November 14, 1989. The hotel featured 260 rooms, seven suites, a health club and sauna, and over 6000 square feet of meeting space-- all spread over seven stories. The centerpiece of the hotel, however, was its four-story atrium which was home to Scalini.
Scalini featured dishes from Northern Italy with a menu heavily slanted towards Northern Italian seafood dishes. Dishes ranging from shrimp wrapped in pancetta with marsala sauce, to grilled trout, to a whole roasted snapper with a bean relish vinaigrette showcased the seafood selections. Calamari served over grilled eggplant with a spicy tomato relish was a popular starter. Scalini also had many pasta dishes including a unique dish of wide pappardelle noodles finished with sausage, peas, and tomatoes.
Besides its extensive, well-executed menu, Scalini also had a compelling atmosphere. With its striking fountain, stone floor, woven chairs, and an airy, tree-filled atrium, it was easy to forget you were in the middle of a hotel.
In an era where Charlotte hotel restaurants were, for the most part, on the decline, Scalini proved to be a restaurant that was both viable and successful. The Hyatt closed last year which brought an end to the long run of Scalini.
We took a field trip to the Hyatt in the first grade, i kid you not, and ate at this restaurant. I don't recall what the reason was, but I do remember eating there!!
ReplyDeleteI forgot how lush the interior was. You really forgot you were on the main level of a hotel. Great food, too!
ReplyDeleteThis place kind of looks like the Hyatt restaurant in Princeton (actually South Brunswick). Too bad your Hyatt closed down.
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