Charlotte Elite Event: 2011 Yelpy Awards at Upstream

First of all… I would like to thank God & Jesus for bestowing me the gifts I have for writing «FUC“ing (calm down… Funny, Useful, Cool) awesome reviews and being a benefit to the community. Second of all… wait, I didn’t win anything, did I? Oh well, I guess my prepared speech for the Unilocaly Awards will have to wait until the 2^nd Annual Unilocaly Awards.
Congrats to all the winners! What a fun night. Upstream provided a great venue and some tasty food for us all. Everyone looked great and those that didn’t were treated by Diana from Stila (ha…j/k). New Belgium beer is fast become a close 2^nd to my PBR addiction. Can’t thank all those enough for making the Unilocal awards a smash hit, including Pop Rock and of course, Nicole who is the workhorse behind everything we all get to enjoy!

An excellent event of Unilocal’s best looking Unilocalers! Upstream did a wonderful job of keeping the booze flowing and the quick bites stocked up. I stuck to the New Belgium and enjoyed the great company.
Much thanks to Tonya for the awesome photography and Nicole for, of course, for. for something.
Congrats to all the winners and nominees.

What a lovely evening! Yes, it totally helped that I won the raffle for a free cooking class for me and a guest :) However, even if that were not the case, I still would have had an amazing time! The Toasted Head wine and the chilled Fat Tire beer were deliciouso! As most of you know, Shauna and I are kinda sushi snobs, and I can say we were not disappointed. While I mostly had access to just the veggie rolls, the few wasabi tuna ones I grabbed were SO good.
I thought the patio was a perfect setting. We were able to talk in small groups but then get a little rowdy inside! Nicole did such an eloquent job of handing out the awards. The slide show was such a cute addition to the presentation.
Once again, thank you Nicole for such a terrific event!

I love Upstream normally, and then add a Unilocal elite event on top of that? Aw yeah, it’s party time! I used to be addicted to lunch at Upstream not gonna lie, as Adam R. can attest they have shrimp the size of small lobsters here. I loved the food they served at this event as well!
The wine was awesome, I liked the unique chardonnay, and the pinot was no slouch either. The beet pearls with prosciutto skewers were definitely unique! I even got nominated for being funny! I was like yeah time to walk up there and give an awkward speech! Thankfully someone else won that honor!
I loved this event and our lovely CM, it was so much fun seeing everyone get all dressed up for this event!

Fantastic event! The folks at Upstream were quite accommodating.
Lovely people, lovely food, and awesome company! Congrats to everyone who won awards.
Awesome event, Nicole! Definitely a fantastic time.

An amazing event, as usual. Upsteam put out delicious bites of food, and it was a lot of fun to see everyone all dressed up. Congratulations to the award winners!

Nicole has once again gone above and beyond to create a wonderful event. And for the inaugural Unilocaly Awards, she really pulled out all the stops! The vibe of everyone all dressed to the nines at such a swanky locale ensured a wonderful time for all.
Upstream is a beautiful restaurant in a convenient location with tons of parking and fantastic food. The lobster dumplings were beyond delightful, as was the sushi and seared tuna. I will definitely be making a return trip as I heard brunch there is to-​die-​for.
Pop Rock photography was there documenting the evening with photos, and Stila cosmetics made sure all the ladies were looking their best. I tried the Estancia Pinot Noir and it was very, very good.
Wonderful night, people and atmosphere. Congrats to all the nominees and winners!

Once again, our CM has out Unilocaled herself! Great venue and vendors there that helped make it run as smooth as a baby’s behind. Of course at the helm is the ever popular and oh so beautiful Nicole and beside her the obvious workhorse of the operation… Todd! Thanks again to all the Unilocal Elites for making these events fun and enjoyable, but more importantly memorable.
Always good times :)

Thank you Upstream and Nicole for a fab night! We felt so chic getting our pics taken by the paparazzi lol. The Pinot was delish and the food was fantastic — my favorite was the ceviche! YUM! The awards show was fun and I am so happy so many of the deserving Unilocalers were recongnized. Love you Unilocal!!!:-D

Pretty sweet event… I was glad I was able to make it. Work almost got in the way (but we can’t have that happen all the time, right?). I drove straight in from Atlanta [from work training] and it was well worth the rush and a great way to come back to home to Charlotte.
New Belgium is always one of my favorite go-​to beers… I also tried the vino — which was excellent. Food provided by Upstream was tasty and dangerous since the risk of shoveling into your mouth was exponentially increased by the good company, conversation, and great flavors.
The folks at Upstream were super friendly. My +1 friend Mark was able to score a lot of empty bottles since he had asked if the restaurant recycled (and I think they did) but he was able to help recycle even more and walked away with a box of empty bottles for his next batch of home-​brew.
Still pretty shocked and honored that I received the «Useful» award… so please by all means, keep using me! [Wait, that sounds a bit inappropriate]
Good to see everyone and congratulations to my fellow nominees and winners! Thank you again Nicole for organizing!

Echoing the awesome reviews by Will and Chad, I just have to say this was one awesome event! As always, Nicole’s talents as event-​planner extrordinaire set the wheels in motion for a most wonderful evening!
Kudos to Upstream for hosting us and serving up those wonderful appetizers! I concur with Will — the Lobster Rolls were fab along with the tuna-​watermelon skewers and the sushi rolls. I totally enjoyed the Pinot Noir and my guests were thrilled to have the wonderful selection of New Belgium brews.
Tonya gave us tips on how to look your best in a photo — can’t wait to see all the awesome pics!
Congrats to all the award winners for the evening — you all rock! But really, I feel like a winner too for being lucky enough to be a Charlotte Elite Unilocaler!

What a better review to write for my 100^th!!!
I was stoked meeting all you Elite and the evening was a success! I absolutely loved Upstream and intend on coming back. I stuck with the Chardonnay and did have some beer at the end. The food was incredible, but honestly… The vibe and the event planning is what made my night. Nicole you truly are a talented woman and look forward to the many more events…
What a beautiful night for the awards…
Thanks all for being so kind and easy to meet.

Nicole thought of yet another creative and fun way to spend an evening — the Unilocaly awards thoroughly rocked!
Upon arrival we had a little step and repeat Unilocal-​style with Pop Rock photography… then made our way past Stila — which sadly I didn’t get a chance to visit but heard awesome things (love Stila cosmetics!) Then I tried both the New Belgium Hoptober and some Estancia Pinot Noir (which is great –try it!)
Upstream had a delicious array of treats for us to try — my personal favorites being the shrimp ceviche, curried chicken salad, and of course the sushi! All were fresh and delicious! The staff was very friendly Brittany, Angel, and Amy did a great job at making sure everyone at the event was having a great time. The venue itself would be great for a work gathering, small party or reception of some sort. Inside looked quite romantic — so I’ll have to go back and get the full experience soon!
The award ceremony itself was a lot of fun — my favorite acceptance speech had to go to Peggy (but congrats to all!)
Thanks to all the sponsors, staff, and of course the Unilocal crew!

Props to Nicole for organizing another awesome event and to Upstream for hosting this party! Thanks to Tonya at Poprock Photog for taking all the awesome pictures and to New Belgium for keeping my thirst for beer under control. My +1 enjoyed the Toasted Head wine too.
So glad to see everyone again and share in some great conversation.
Congrats to all the 2011 Unilocal Award Winners!

From having our pictures taken in front of the Unilocal backdrop as we walked in (not quite red carpet, but understandable because of the weather) to the tasty bites served up on the patio, this was one excellent event.
New Belgium started it off right with bottles chilling in a tub of ice — at first I thought perhaps we were bobbing for beer, but luckily it was pulled out for you. On reflection, this is probably more sanitary. Wine offerings from Constellation Brands were available on the very same table for those who preferred that instead.
Anyone without the appropriate makeup could have finishing touches applied by Stila (note: steel-​a, not stell-​a!), so as to look great in any pictures snapped by the ever-​present Tonya from Poprock.
In addition to providing the patio and the tasty morsels (my own favorite were those curry spring rolls), Upstream provided an awesome room all to ourselves. Perhaps to keep the noise down, but for whatever reason this gave Charlotte Elites a reason to celebrate as nominees were presented in seven award categories.
As the chair-​back drumrolls sounded, winners were revealed and prizes handed out. Congratulations to the winners from each category, and big thanks to Upstream for having us, and perhaps most of all to our hard-​working CM Nicole W. for putting together yet another unique event!
Edit:
Since I’ve been asked, here are the awards as I recall (if I get them wrong, let me know and I will update the list)…
Funny-​est: Peggy C.
Useful-​est: John H.
Cool-​est: Ian M.
Best Compliments: Shauna H.
Biggest Foodie: Will H.
Rookie of the Year: Jeff S.
Awesome Hat Guy: Me
I would imagine that the F.U.C. awards come from those little buttons under the reviews, so if you want input for next year, get to clicking — you have no one to blame but yourself if you do not like the outcome. (Well, you could blame everyone else for clicking the wrong buttons!)
The others are a bit more nebulous. For instance, it is currently unknown if Shauna is the best complimenter, the best complimented or both. It is also not known just what brought on my hat — but it is known that I am not giving it up without a fight…

How cool was tonight?! Not only did we get some gourmet treats and beverages, but we also got to celebrate fellow Unilocalers and cheer them on?! This was a lot of fun.
Brewed Beverages by New Belgium and then wine selections that included a most tasty Chard and Pinot were a definite highlight. For me, the oaky flavors of a Napa Chard from Toasted Head was a highlight. A pinot noir also called out, but with 4 quality barley and hops selections just a few inches away, it was hard to choose a favorite.
I also really appreciated several of the appetizers Upstream provided tonight. Lobster Dumplings seemed to be a universal hit. A close second had to be the seared tuna and watermelon. Sushi offerings later in the evening were quickly gobbled up, but were a tour de force of the diversity available in the kitchen. Loved the extra touches of micro greens and herbs that made appearances across the appetizer selections.
And where else in town can you make your «red brick» arrival and get your photo in front of the Unilocal wall? Oh yeah, at the annual Unilocaly awards.
After a mix and mingle, it was time for the awards. We had a private room inside Upstream complete with a video projector and crowd-​supplied drum rolls. 7 awards in categories ranging from funniest Unilocaler to Most Valuable Elite. The power point presentation announcing nominees and winners was a great touch. Impromptu acceptance speeches were spot on.
Fun night, some great bites, and quality beverages for all. Sums up Elites events in the Queen City and our CM outdoes herself again tonight. Awesome time with awesome folks. Viva la Unilocal