Bin Better

The Hidden Bin aims to pair upscale drinking with lake life

Lake Norman Currents | July 2019

By Aaron Garcia

Al Updike sells blocks of cheese at his wine shop concept, The Hidden Bin, for $7.50. With that you get a cutting board, knife, crackers and insight into why he opened the location late last year.

"I'm so tired of going somewhere and paying $30 for a cheese plate, and you only get two ounces of cheese," says Updike.

It's a sentiment that runs like a thread throughout Updike's wine shop idea, whether you're looking at the menu, décor or the execution of the concept — Updike wants to make wine and cheese accessible to the lake crowd.

"I don't care if you come straight off the lake," says Updike, "we're flip-flop friendly."

A wine shop, with an emphasis on shop

The Hidden Bin, which opened in November 2018, is more comfy than cavernous, yet Updike's voice still echoes a bit when it's empty. This is due largely to his "super simple and clean" decorating approach that succeeds in creating a space that feels more open than it really is.

The combination of slate gray walls and light wood adds depth and finish, yet still manages to feel warm and inviting. Currently, Updike says he has roughly 150 labels available. He keeps some of the reds in a cellar-temperature cooler behind the bar, and always makes sure to have a variety chilled and ready. Many of the rest fill up maple shelving along the side, serving as an accent wall for the gray and light woods. It's the perfect backdrop for what he ultimately wants to do with the shop.

"We're trying to add a really good value to an industry that's sometimes overpriced and pretentious," says Updike.

Despite being next door to his Langtree restaurant, Table 31, The Hidden Bin is run as an entirely separate entity, explains Updike. That means that the wine shop doesn't have to share storage space with a menu's worth of food, allowing Updike to offer wine — by the glass, bottle or on tap — at a price closer to what his customers can expect from a supermarket.

That value gets even deeper when you consider the bulk-pricing discounts he offers on purchases of six and 12 bottles.

As a result, The Hidden Bin boasts an inventory filled with limited editions and small-batch wines that you wouldn't typically find in a traditional restaurant setting.

"I want to stay true to it being more retail, with the ability to sit and drink and enjoy," says Updike.

Want some cheese(burger) with that wine?

While Updike, and state liquor laws, are clear that The Hidden Bin and Table 31 are two separate entities, there are certainly some perks to their relationship, especially when it comes to reinforcing those cheese plates with some heartier fare. While Table 31's waitstaff don't serve at The Hidden Bin, patrons can order online from a limited "delivery" menu, which is then brought over to the wine shop.

Whether you're pairing your wine with the grilled artichoke or Oyster Cesar, or using it to wash down the short rib chili on your All-American Coney Dog, the abbreviated menu highlights the flair for eclectic, upscale casual dining that has made Table 31 and Alton's, Updike's Cornelius restaurant, such hits with Lake Norman-area diners. While the food certainly isn't the main attraction, Updike says it's available if you need it.

That's the way he would want it if he was the customer, says Updike.

"I'm probably the average person eating in my restaurant," says Updike. "I want to eat and drink the way I want to eat and drink because I think that's probably the norm."

If it's not, it should be.