Feast

Short takes on new, newish, and notable restaurants

Feast, the hot new French-Moroccan joint, is more than a restaurant; it's a scene. Black-clad yups passing small plates and tables of pretty young women in low-cut dresses washing down salads with cosmos. Bright-eyed gay men noshing on crêpes and couples aggressively enjoying each other's company. Thirty-something women sipping and supping and pretending (wishing) they were twenty-somethings. In the middle of it all, surrounded by a trapezoidal bar, chefs cooking the food.

Sandwiched between an upstairs dance club (Play) and a downstairs lounge (Liv), Feast is part of an entertainment complex called Hom (pronounced home). All together, the uptown gathering spot is packed late nights with the beautiful crowd, but Feast draws a more varied clientele for lunches and early dinners. The menu includes savory and sweet crêpe dishes, sandwiches, and a few light entrées. Food is served until 4 a.m.—yes, 4 a.m.

Feast, 116 W. Fifth St. (704-375-3737) $$, L, D, FSB. Open late.