Haymaker, the upscale, farm-to-table restaurant in Uptown at 225 S Poplar Street, is taking on new ownership after being recently sold.
Built on Hospitality Group, owned and operated by industry veterans Sean Potter, A.J. Klenk, and celebrity chef Chris Coleman, purchased the restaurant from Chef William Dissen, according to the Charlotte Business Journal. With the acquisition, the group plans to expand the bar program with beverage director Bob Peters, add a lunch service, add new menu items, and offer new happy hour specials.
Coleman has gained notoriety by winning some of TVs biggest cooking shows, including Food Network’s “Chopped,” “Beat Bobby Flay” and “Alex vs. America” The trio founded the restaurant group in 2020 and opened The Goodyear House in NoDa and Olde Town Kitchen & Cocktails in Rock Hill. Now, with their third restaurant, the group will move into Ascent Uptown, a 33-story, mixed-use development near BB&T Ballpark. While the group plans to implement a few changes, they will preserve the foundation that Chef Dissen created with Haymaker.
“The direction I want to take Haymaker is already en route,” Coleman tells the Charlotte Business Journal. “We’re not going to see immediate, massive changes. Chef [Dissen] has built a great restaurant, and we wouldn’t be taking this on if we didn’t really firmly believe that. We are growing pretty rapidly and have plans to do a few more things over the next couple of years. This is a great jumping-off point for us. It just made sense. We’re a growing restaurant group. Charlotte is our home base and will always be our home base.”
