Winner Landen Ganstrom

Here’s how the Eat This! Food Fight works: Two chefs square off by creating the same dish at our launch party (see page 45 for details) ~ Guests at the launch party conduct a blind taste test (the tasting is blind, not the tasters) ~ Afterward the guests will cast their vote based on taste and presentation ~ The winning chef will move onto round three ~  Each quarter is a new round and a fun-filled social for all of our readers.

At Sea With Captain Magwood

The glory days of the American frontier are long gone. The concept of the cowboy – the rugged individualist relying on wit and brawn to survive in untamed territories – has been immortalized on the silver screen and in the pages of Western novels. Of course, ranches and rodeos, 10-gallon Stetsons and snakeskin boots are still around today, but those iconic cowboys of yore have become increasingly difficult to find. Men and women alike long for that ideal, those John Waynes and Clint Eastwoods who once showed us that life can still be an adventure. Those cowboys are still around; it’s just a matter of looking in the right place.

It’s hard to believe that only a few months ago, I was navigating what seemed to be impossible hurdles to publish the first issue of EAT THIS! Now I am holding our second edition in hand, and what immediately strikes me is how the magazine has evolved from issue one to issue two.

The focus of this issue is seafood. Thanks to the efforts of our local shrimpers and fishermen, Charleston area restaurants are able to offer the freshest and finest in innovative seafood dishes, serving up their own versions of a wide range of menu items, including shrimp and grits, flounder, oysters and Breech Inlet clams. However, the meal, though delicious, isn’t complete without the right wine.

by Timmons Pettigrew

Finding craft beer is becoming less of a problem in the Lowcountry. Breweries and bars have been doing their part, but it’s time for the retail corner of the beer-buying triangle to get a little TLC. Though beer is a social beverage, you can’t discount the beauty of a fresh pour in the comfort of your home, with or without your rowdy friends. This is where your local bottle shop comes in.

Holistic Soul Food

From Calhoun, take Meeting Street toward North Chuck and turn left at Burris Liquors onto Reid. Just about 100 feet further on your right, you’ll find the most amazing feel-good eatery in Charleston. Lauded by Oprah Winfrey, Travel + Leisure, Southern Living and local newspapers and magazines, there are many reasons to dine at Alluette’s Cafe. What brought us was the shrimp – specifically Magwood shrimp.

As a 30-year industry veteran, former assistant director at the School of Culinary Arts in Denver and graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, chef Fred Neuville has been the founding chef and partner with some of Charleston’s favorite restaurants. Neuville has received several coveted industry awards from the American Culinary Federation, the Southern Bridal Show, the Celebrity Pro/ Am competitions and the Western Regional Conference and has been featured in national publications such as Bon Appetit and National Geographic Traveler. Ready to fuse his passion for food and family, Neuville opened Fat Hen (Lowcountry French) with his wife Joan and family in 2007 as an outpost for culinary delights and domestic enjoyment.

Stephen grew up in Weymouth, Mass., and earned a business marketing degree at Roger Williams University in Rhode Island. He moved to Charleston in 2002 and helped open the original Tristan. After it closed, he bartended at Carolina’s before moving on to Peninsula Grill. His hobbies include planning his wedding, watching football, playing golf and enjoying the great food and wine Charleston has to offer.

Based on the number of jokes that start out with a line about someone or something walking into a bar, you could deduce with reasonable certainty that drinking establishments are rife with comedy. After years of bartending, I can personally attest that there is some merit to that theory. As alcohol is consumed and inhibitions vanish into the night, behavior changes and people tend to get clumsy. This can create funny situations, but do bars and comedy really go together all that well?

With Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s arriving in quick succession, one after the other, the holidays are always the most interesting and usually the most fun time of the year. Food, friends and family abound, and parties are the order of the day – and night.

The magical lore and mystical legends about herbs are almost as compelling as their unique flavors and scents. You’ll notice a collection of herbs growing among the feathery ferns and bright flowers in window boxes along just about every street in downtown Charleston. 

A short drive down Highway 17 South, in West Ashley, you’ll find The Glass Onion. Under its signage, “Soulful Food” appears in small letters. Soulful is exactly what you will get, but don’t expect the experience to be as diminutive as the lettering.

The Taste of Charleston has been a staple event in the Holy City every fall for the last 30 years. Hosted by the Charleston Restaurant Association, it was established in 1980 to showcase local restaurants and raise money for local charities. It has been held in several locations throughout the area, from Middleton Gardens to Brittlebank Park, but for more than a decade its home has been historic Boone Hall Plantation in Mount Pleasant.

With the cooler weather upon us and pigskin weekends here, this Sweet Potato Maple Bacon Bisque is the perfect comfort food to watch your favorite team score. This is a family favorite that we enjoy every Halloween.