Sunday, December 7, 2008

Scalini at the Hyatt Charlotte













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.



3 comments:

  1. 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!!

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  2. I forgot how lush the interior was. You really forgot you were on the main level of a hotel. Great food, too!

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  3. This place kind of looks like the Hyatt restaurant in Princeton (actually South Brunswick). Too bad your Hyatt closed down.

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