Greg and Subrina Collier Debut 3rd & Fernwood in Midtown

When Greg and Subrina Collier first arrived in Charlotte in 2012 with dreams of entering the local restaurant scene, they were inspired by eateries like Delta’s Restaurant in Uptown, and Jackson’s Cafeteria in Uptown — diners that doubled as community hubs, serving a diverse range of people. 

“What we loved about those places is everybody was there,” chef Greg Collier recently told Queen City Nerve. “You had the mayor and the city council there with general contractors, there with lawyers, there with folks working on the buildings. It was an everybody place.”

Both of those beloved restaurant destinations would close within a year of the Colliers’ arrival in the city. What Charlotte-area foodies could not have known then, however, was the impact that these two new arrivals would have on the local culinary scene over the next dozen years as they pursued their own vision of how community intersects with food. 

When I last spoke with two-time James Beard nominee chef Greg Collier and his wife Subrina — the entrepreneurial and design mind behind the couple’s acclaimed establishments and events — in fall 2022, they were in the midst of planning the second annual BayHaven Food and Wine Festival, a yearly event that prominently features Black culinary artists from around the world in Charlotte. 

Two years later, amidst planning for the fourth iteration of Bayhaven, they are also opening their third Charlotte restaurant, 3rd & Fernwood, an homage to the African diaspora, its ties to the American South and Greg and Subrina’s experiences growing up in Memphis, Tennessee.

Having opened two establishments in Charlotte during their time here thus far, the co-founders of BayHaven Restaurant Group aim to make 3rd & Fernwood their most community-centered eatery, an “everybody place” in the fashion of Jackson’s, Delta’s and other treasured dining spaces the Queen City has lost over the years.  

A new chapter in Charlotte’s culinary scene

Greg and Subrina Collier’s first venture into the local restaurant scene came with The Yolk, which they opened in Rock Hill in 2012. While they felt the diner-style establishment encapsulated their goal for a community-centered restaurant, service was limited to breakfast options. 

In 2018, they relocated The Yolk to Uptown, rebranding to Uptown Yolk in the 7th Street Public Market, then made another move to South End in 2023. 

Their second restaurant, Leah & Louise, opened in March 2020 just as the COVID-19 pandemic clamped down on the restaurant industry. Inspired by the juke joints built and patronized by Black residents of the American South during the Prohibition era, the restaurant was born of the couple’s interest in exploring the African diaspora culinarily as it related to the American South. 

“The goal with Leah & Louise is always to show people what Afro-Southern cuisine can look like,” Greg said. “We like to call Leah & Louise Afro-Southern because we want to look at it from the perspective of the whys and the what to the diaspora.”

Leah & Louise accumulated a fervent following, racking up accomplishments and acclaim including multiple James Beard nominations and a selection as one of the best new restaurants in the country by Esquire Magazine in 2020.

The Colliers closed the Camp North End location in April 2024 with plans to eventually reopen in Charlotte’s Historic West End. In the meantime, they are full steam ahead with their latest venture: 3rd & Fernwood. 

The new restaurant, which celebrated its grand opening on Aug. 30, features a meat-and-three menu, which allows for a protein and three sides, offering more customizable options than Leah & Louise.

Similar to Leah & Louise, Greg and Subrina aim to create an homage to the African diaspora, its ties to the American South and both of their experiences growing up in Memphis with 3rd & Fernwood.  

As with their other establishments and BayHaven Food & Wine Festival, the couple has split their duties at 3rd & Fernwood. While Greg maintains the kitchen and culinary experience, Subrina has spearheaded the aesthetic and design aspects of the establishment.

“Greg is the culinary artist,” Subrina told Queen City Nerve. “I guess that’s my type of artistry input into our business — the design side.”

In designing the restaurant, Subrina wanted to cultivate a vibe that wasn’t too casual or too formal, inspired by her childhood home, which was located at 3rd Street and Fernwood Avenue in south Memphis. 

From the jewel-toned color palette down to the ornate mural along one wall of the 5,200-square-foot space, Subrina’s interior design was inspired by her mother’s decor style. 

“It’s not formal, but it’s a little bougie-casual,” she said. “We wanted to create a familiar space where folks feel comfortable celebrating an anniversary, sharing stories over a drink with old friends and everything in between.”

A space that feels like home

Building on the Prohibition-era vibes the couple cultivated in their juke joint-inspired Leah & Louise, they’re introducing a fresh concept with their latest venture: a speakeasy. 

Sure, the point of a speakeasy is to keep it hush-hush, but Subrina gave Queen City Nerve permission to write about it for this story (not that we’re claiming exclusivity here, as the idea was included in the couple’s original announcement of the new restaurant in August 2023). 

“You’re not supposed to reveal the speakeasy because it’s supposed to be private or secret, but nobody will know [if we don’t say it],” she said.

Serving as an ode to Subrina’s childhood home, and specifically her father, the name of the restaurant is two-fold: “3rd” refers to the speakeasy while “Fernwood” is the restaurant. 

Set to open sometime in the fall, the speakeasy will offer a different vibe than the restaurant, with a different entrance to get in. It will include around 20 seats, opening three nights a week to serve cocktails paired with small plates in a rotating menu. 

“It’ll be higher cocktail quality, crafted cocktails, just really where mixologists and chefs can do small plates — just get your rocks off in your skill,” Subrina said. “We wanted to make sure we still did that because, as creatives, you still have to be able to get your creativity out. It can get real monotonous if you’re doing the same thing every day and not able to go through and actually show your creativity.”

The Colliers wanted to work the speakeasy concept in at the Camp North End location of Leah & Louise but it didn’t work out in the space. The new location gives Subrina a chance to get creative with the interior design. Right now, what will become the entrance is just another door in the restaurant, but once it’s ready to open, it will be made more inconspicuous. 

There are many things that 3rd & Fernwood will do similarly to its sister locations — seasonal items on the menu, Southern food made with local ingredients, and a concept that pays homage to the Colliers’ past (Leah & Louise was named for Greg’s late sister and grandmother, while 3rd & Fernwood references Subrina’s father’s home in Tennessee). 

Above all, as with his other ventures, Greg said he wants to foster an image of Southern food done differently. 

“We want it to be a little different than the traditional, right?” he said. “We got fried okra on the menu, but we serve it with shrimp remoulade and hot chili — so it’s fried okra for sure, but it’s a little different.

“If people want to call it Southern food, whatever they call it, I’m totally fine with it,” he continued. “It’s not exactly what you’re going to get from every soul food spot.” 

Other options patrons can expect include sweet potatoes with a brown butter and brown sugar glaze; macaroni and cheese with smoked gouda, cheddar, mozzarella, mild cheddar, and Monterey Jack; and oxtail meatloaf, which Greg said has already become a fan favorite during the restaurant’s soft opening. 

Ultimately, the duo wanted to do something that could offer Greg more of a creative outlet for his dishes. 

“With Leah & Louise, I was only thinking about dispelling the myth of what Black chefs were supposed to do or what Black food is,” he said. “With this restaurant, I don’t really care what people think I’m supposed to be cooking or what Black food is supposed to be. Now I can just cook food that I cook for my family, food that I cook at home for the holidays, celebrations, or whatever. It’s really, for all intents and purposes, top to bottom, a family restaurant. That’s the goal.”

Like everything Greg and Subrina do, 3rd & Fernwood is a passion project that mixes their talents to create more than a restaurant but a dining experience — one that centers community in the vein of the eateries they once loved. 

“I think the easy expectation is you’re going to walk into a beautiful space, and I think that sets the expectation of how the meal is going to be,” Greg said. “We want to give people the room to eat how they want to eat.”  

3rd & Fernwood is located at 1100 Metropolitan Ave., St. 170, in Charlotte’s Midtown area and is open noon-9 p.m. on Monday and Wednesday-Saturday, then 1-6 p.m. on Sunday. Learn more at 3rdandfernwood.com. 

This year’s Bayhaven Food & Wine Festival is scheduled for Oct. 3-6 at Savona Mill at 500 S. Turner Ave. in the Historic West End area. Learn more at bayhavenfoodandwine.com