Charlotte chef Michael Bowling, known for his innovative southern cooking, optimistic outlook while battling kidney disease, and genuine and honest relationships with his peers, died Sunday. He was 49.
The former co-founder of Hot Box Next Level Kitchen and HBX Burgers, Bowling died about 20 years after receiving a new kidney and about four years after a plan for him to receive a kidney from a childhood friend. He was not able to receive the second kidney transplant.
He was, as local chef Chris Coleman described him in a phone interview with The Charlotte Observer on Monday, a “foundational chef of Charlotte.”…