ALL DRESSLER’D DRESSLER’D
UP
A welcome addition
to the neighborhood
Thursday, March 10, 2004
BY TRICIA CHILDRESS
IT’S HARD TO BE a stranger in
Dressler’s Restaurant since owner Jon
Dressler is on hand to greet and converse
with customers
at each and
every table.
Dressler does
it with an easygoing
panache
and eyes
sparkling like a
child who just
looked out the
window and saw 18 inches of snow in the
front yard. We all now know that look.
Dressler has been on the restaurant scene
in Charlotte since he moved here as a
manager of Morton’s of Chicago in 1996 and
became their general manager in 1997. Dressler told me he was as surprised
as anyone that his personal 10-year plan had
come together as he had first envisioned it.
After graduating from Penn State with
a degree in Sports Management, he
moved to Dallas, where his parents had
relocated, and went on to obtain an MBA.
His parents again relocated to Chicago
where he followed. He was offered a job
selling tickets at just above minimum wage
for the White Sox, a path that might have
led to a career in sports management, but
he took a job as a waiter at Morton’s of
Chicago and was promoted to manager in
three months.
“I decided I liked the restaurant business.
I didn’t mind the hours because I could
play golf during the day while everyone
else was working. I decided to learn what
I needed to know,” he said. Dressler
subsequently worked for Morton’s of
Chicago for nearly 10 years.
“People should play to their strengths. Besides, isn’t it
everyone’s dream to own
your own business?” he asked. By the late
1990s he was looking for locations for his
restaurant: first at Concord Mills, then the
Hearst Tower and finally in 1999 to Birkdale
Village. He began serious negotiations in
February 2002 and the restaurant opened in
September 2003.
The 130-seat, 5190-square-foot,
Dressler’s Restaurant is a people place
located in that new urbanism, people-driven
shopping outpost of Birkdale Village. The
interior is subdued and relaxed, yet polished. Walls are accented with
warm stone, earth tones, and water features. Curtains,
which only frame the long wall of windows,
hang from chic rings on ceiling hooks.
Large alabaster lighting fixtures give soft
illumination to the tablecloth-laden tables.
Kim Dressler, wife and co-owner, did the
interior design. The crowd is primarily
composed of groups of friends and couples,
with about equal numbers sipping glasses
of wine as sweet tea.
Jon Dressler designed the menu to fit the
neighborhood — he describes the cuisine as “upscale Continental-American featuring
steak and seafood” - and he brought Chef
Chris Lopez with him from Morton’s.
Many items on the menu are well-crafted
classics, such as the crisp Caesar salad with
aged parmesan shavings, the beef Carpaccio
appetizer, or the side of sautéed spinach
made vibrant with garlic.
Other dishes show a whimsical side of the
kitchen, such as an appetizer of tender diver
scallops with firm texture, accompanied by
warm brie and crowned with a luscious fruit
compote. Another dish is the fried onion
rings, which are hand cut and spiced up.
Every single meat dish arrives looking
all-American good. A 20-ounce cowboy rib
eye is an enormous hunk of Black Angus
knockout while the 16-ounce New York strip
steak, while less butch, is more manageable.
The yellowfin tuna steak, precisely cooked to
order, rides a crispy sesame seed encrusted
rice cake and is framed with sliced cabbage
brightened with a Thai peanut sauce. For
those opting out of the steak and seafood
arena, the chicken penne offers slices of
chicken mixed with pasta, crisp snow peas
and sliced mushrooms in a shade past bland
tomato cream sauce.
Desserts are also very American. Among
them are Bronx-native Joan Dressler’s (Jon’s
mom) New York-style cheesecake and a
sparkling apple crisp. You can have quite a
meal, but it will cost you. Entrée prices range
from $15 to $28.
Service at Dressler’s is not always so subtle.
When faux pas occurred, however minor, I am
reminded of a reader who once asked why table
service in Charlotte seems to diminish in direct
proportion to the distance from the center city.
Dressler’s offers valet parking, which I
always find amusing in a shopping center. How
pampered are we that we can’t walk 25 feet? But
I suppose an entrance is important.
My Exit friends have told me repeatedly that
they were thankful that this restaurant opened.
Dressler’s is a warm, welcoming, locally owned
neighborhood spot offering well-crafted food.
Kudos to the shopping center developers for
allowing a local to shine, and kudos to Jon
Dressler for designing a restaurant so well-suited
to his neighborhood.
