Restaurant Constance is one of just a few farm-to-table spots in Charlotte, and they’ve mastered the art of making every dish perfectly, neatly splittable. For date night, divvy up the soft-shell crab bao buns and the cast-iron jalapeño cornbread (which is really just a savory shovel for Constance’s house pimento cheese dip, rosemary honey butter, and pepper jelly trio). Solo, you could build a three-course seafood dinner out of the bluefin tuna nori wraps, an asparagus and blue crab salad, and Nantucket scallops or sake-marinated swordfish.

To narrow down Charlotte’s restaurants to just a handful is tough, but a few specific ones stood out to the Charlotteans we spoke with. Restaurant Constance was one of the first picks from Kaifer: “Chef Sam Diminich does an incredible job of featuring ingredients from local farms and making unique, delicious, and honest food,” he explains.

Executive chef and owner of Restaurant Constance Sam Diminich is renowned throughout the Charlotte region and beyond for his many professional achievements — from winning on the Food Network’s “Beat Bobby Flay” to launching a successful farm-to-table meal delivery service at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and more. But the achievement Diminich is most proud of is personal. Diminich has been sober for more than eight years, and credits his sobriety for everything he has achieved professionally, including opening his first restaurant in 2023, Restaurant Constance.

One of the best restaurants in Charlotte for fine dining, Restaurant Constance is helmed by acclaimed Chef Sam Diminich, whose lobster risotto beat out Bobby Flay on the eponymous Food Network competition!. The menu at Restaurant Constance elevates local, fresh produce through concoctions like jalapeno cornbread waffles with pepper jelly, marinated scallops with preserved tomato dashi, and Saroya potato gnocchi – essentially pillows of potato-ey goodness swaddled in a rich mushroom bolognese. The Fig Tree is one of Charlotte's most locally beloved restaurants.

Owner and chef Sam Diminich has been a personal chef for Christian McCaffrey, the owner of a successful meal delivery and catering service called Your Farms Your Table, and in 2020 he beat Bobby Flay. Now, he owns a restaurant in Wesley Heights,a mile from where was once experiencing homelessness. Why we love it: You can see the whole restaurant from almost any seat in the dining room, and you’ll spot Diminich coordinating with the staff and speaking with guests throughout your meal.

According to chef Sam Diminch, the “seasons write the menus” at Restaurant Constance, a 10-table, no-concept restaurant. Born out of Diminch’s Your Farms Your Table Restaurant Group and named after his daughter, Restaurant Constance is highly focused on quality, local produce, and the power of connecting over a meal. Expect an evolving raw bar, inventive desserts, and a vast and creative non-alcoholic cocktail menu with your reservation.

Farm-to-table dining is a subtle way to show you care about where your food comes from—without needing to say it outright. At Restaurant Constance, you’ll find all the quality and intention behind that ethos, wrapped in a welcoming, low-key package. The snug, ten-table dining room is modestly decorated, leaving it feeling wonderfully cozy and homey.

This intimate 10-table restaurant is driven and inspired by Charlotte and its local community. The motto is “Your farms, your plate.” Diners enjoy the best and freshest locally sourced ingredients in farm-to-table dishes. In addition to supporting Charlotte’s farmers, the restaurant is dedicated to supporting the city’s community.

Restaurant Constance is the kind of place that would rather let the food do the talking. No gimmicks, no fuss—just a tiny, chef-driven spot where every dish that comes out of the kitchen is treated like it matters. The menu shifts with the seasons, but expect plates that are meticulously composed without feeling overwrought.

Sometimes you just can’t beat the classics and Restaurant Constance delivers on a killer kale salad. This salad is packed with kale, parsnip fondue, pears, candied pecans, sweet potato croutons, pear relish brie, and a white balsamic vinaigrette.

Known as a “restaurant cultivating connections and celebrating local food systems,” Restaurant Constance will be a farm to table concept that’s looking to open in the Fall.