Good Food on Montford, the Charlotte restaurant that helped introduce the city to farm-to-table cooking and globally inspired small plates back in 2009, is closing at the end of the month. Chef Bruce Moffett will not renew the lease on the 1701 Montford Drive space when it expires on August 31, and a longtime Moffett Restaurant Group manager is preparing to open a new concept called Bittersweet in its place.
The closure was first reported by Axios, which detailed the succession plan behind the transition. Lee Ann Dolcetto, who has worked for Moffett Restaurant Group for 18 years, will take over the space to open Bittersweet, according to the outlet's reporting. Dolcetto most recently served as general manager of Stagioni and Sala, Moffett's Italian-focused restaurant and adjacent wine lounge in Myers Park.
Bittersweet will differ from Good Food on Montford, though it may keep parts of its predecessor's menu or identity, per the same Axios report. Moffett, in a statement attributed to a press release, called Bittersweet an opportunity for Dolcetto to build her own brand in a space with a proven track record. He said he believes in setting up loyal employees for success — a philosophy that has shaped several of his past moves in Charlotte's dining scene.
A Restaurant That Helped Define Charlotte Dining
When Good Food on Montford opened in 2009, Charlotte's fine-dining scene leaned heavily on traditional steakhouses. Local critics credit the restaurant's debut with helping spark the city's farm-to-table and global small-plates trends, according to the Unpretentious Palate, which notes the spot operated initially under a strict no-reservations policy that generated long patio wait times. The restaurant used ingredients sourced from local farms and served globally inspired small plates that became a hallmark of Moffett's cooking style.
That approach earned Good Food on Montford a James Beard Foundation semifinalist nomination for Best New Restaurant in 2010, making it one of the first Charlotte establishments to gain that kind of national recognition, according to the Scott Joseph Orlando Restaurant Guide. Hoodline previously ranked the restaurant among Madison Park's top spots based on Yelp review data, underscoring its long-running local popularity.
Moffett's Growing Restaurant Empire
Moffett, who owns Moffett Restaurant Group, built his Charlotte foundation in 2000 when he opened his flagship restaurant Barrington's in Foxcroft East, after graduating with honors from the Culinary Institute of America and cooking at L'Espalier in Boston, according to The Roads Traveled. He expanded the group in 2013 by opening Stagioni in a historic 1926 villa on Providence Road in Myers Park, an Italian-focused destination that remains a cornerstone of the company.
Last September, Moffett Restaurant Group launched Sala by Stagioni, a European-style wine lounge and 20-seat private event space directly adjacent to Stagioni, as detailed by the Unpretentious Palate. With Dolcetto moving on to open Bittersweet, Tiffany Dunn — who formerly worked for Rare Roots Hospitality, which includes Fin & Fino and Chapter 6 — will become general manager of both Stagioni and Sala, per Axios's reporting.
A Pattern of Promoting From Within
Bittersweet is not the first time Moffett has spun off a new concept through former Good Food talent. In 2019, he backed Asian street food concept Bao and Broth at Optimist Hall, launched under former Good Food chef Larry Schreiber, according to the Unpretentious Palate. Moffett is also behind Barrington's and Stagioni, and Moffett Restaurant Group has not shared additional details about further new projects, which Moffett reportedly plans to focus on starting in 2027.
Moffett also codified Good Food's culinary identity in book form. His debut cookbook, *Bruce Moffett Cooks: A New England Chef in a New South Kitchen*, was published by the University of North Carolina Press in March 2019 and highlighted recipes from Good Food on Montford, Barrington's, and Stagioni, according to UNC Press.
The End of an Era on Montford Drive
The 1701 Montford Drive space sits along a landmark stretch of Charlotte hospitality that includes the TEN Park Lanes bowling center, operating across the street since 1960, and The Roasting Company, open since 1991, according to Passport Eater. Hoodline has previously spotlighted both of those neighboring businesses, including a roundup of Charlotte sports bars that featured TEN Park Lanes.
Good Food's closure also lands amid a dramatically more crowded Charlotte dining scene than the one it entered in 2009. The city's restaurant industry added more than 100 new openings in 2025 alone, alongside national exposure from the Michelin Guide's arrival in the South and the filming of Season 23 of Top Chef, according to Country 103.7. Against that backdrop, the handoff from Good Food to Bittersweet reads as a passing of the torch in a corridor that helped launch Charlotte's modern culinary identity nearly two decades ago.
