AT 21 STORIES, Fahrenheit is one of Charlotte’s most popular places to dine on a rooftop. When COVID-19 invaded the city this spring, Executive Chef and Director of Operations Dave Feimster and his team made the difficult decision to temporarily close their restaurant on South Caldwell Street in Second Ward. But instead of a complete shutdown, they put their operation on wheels and brought Hawaiian street fare to customers in a little red food truck they call roof.top21.
“It was actually built in late December, pre-pandemic,” Feimster says. “We were going to keep it a surprise and use it for catering and special events, but then the pandemic happened, so we thought, ‘Let’s get it out on the streets and start feeding people now.’”
Roof.top21 hit the pavement in April with a limited menu of handheld, Hawaiian-inspired street food. “We’ve been taking it to a lot of apartment complexes because it’s a great way for residents to stay safe and still get restaurant food,” Feimster says. The Fahrenheit team also joined the “Feed the Soul” initiative to help feed frontline health care workers during COVID-19. On Thursdays in April and May, members delivered 300 meals to Novant Health and Atrium Health’s main hospitals.
The food truck menu includes Kalua (Hawaiian barbecue) pork, a poke bowl, a spicy chicken katsu sandwich, and Kalua pork crinkle fries. “Hawaiian food is so trendy right now,” Feimster says. “Everyone loves chicken katsu; turn that into a sandwich, and you’ve got the Hawaiian version of the Nashville hot chicken sandwich. Kailua pork is a barbecue, but Hawaiian-style. All of this is a play on ‘local’ Hawaiian.”
This story is from the August 2020 edition of Charlotte Magazine.
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This story is from the August 2020 edition of Charlotte Magazine.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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