JUNE 2^nd, 2013 (345 KING STREET, CHARLESTON—Boone’s Bar). This summer, the best place in town to relax, grab a craft brew, and see a slew of live local musicians will be at BS/SS - Boone’s Showcase: Summer Series, organized in collaboration with Tyler Boone and John Barry.

Each Thursday evening throughout the summer, Boone and Barry, will invite some of their favorite local musicians and bands to spend an evening in front of the crowd at Boone’s Bar. Music begins at 9pm.

My mother made pimento cheese when I was just a boy and I remember it very well.  I started making the Pimento Cheese about 15-20 years ago.  The Jalapeno peppers give it a “kick”. This can be served with crackers, used in grilled cheese sandwiches, spread on celery, or added to cooked grits for “cheese grits” (yum!).

Vidalia onions are an edible hallmark of spring down here in the South. Vidalia onions are a sweet onion that hails from Vidalia, Georgia. Sweet onions with a less noble label are fortunately available throughout the year. They really make this tart sing, as the sweetness plays the most beautiful taste music against the salty back-notes of the bacon and lemmony earthiness of fresh thyme.

I love this Alsacienne-themed tart so much, I actually repeated it in Tart Love - Sassy, Savory and Sweet from its original home on the pages of Southern Farmers Market Cookbook. The only recipe I’ve ever repeated, it’s just that good and can be served warm, room temperature, or hot from the oven.  Bon appetit! 

Holly Herrick is a recipient of Le Grande Diplome in Cuisine and Pastry from Le Cordon Bleu, Paris, France. A professional food writer and restaurant critic, she is the author of five cookbooks, and is underway working on another. Visit her site and blog at www.hollyherrick.com.

131 E Ponce De Leon Avenue
Decatur  |  Georgia  |  404.687.0500
leonsfullservice.com 

Living in the culinary cosmos that is Charleston, it is not always easy to escape the orbit of her amazing dining experiences. When you do, however, break free of her gravitational pull, there are many gastronomic galaxies to explore …

It’s a rainy night in Georgia ... more specifically Decatur, Georgia. Damp and frustrated by the Atlanta traffic, we sprint into the shelter of this “gas station turned restaurant”. For those Charleston locals who think Fuel is cool (and it is!) LEONs takes this conversion concept to new levels. The bar and kitchen area - formerly the garage bays - has an English pub feel but the beverage focus is anything but... American bourbons, ryes and whiskey, local and international brews and an enticing seasonal house cocktail list. We opted for Bulleit Rye Manhattans up, something about the damp, chilly air inspiring our choice. While we waited for a friend to join, we also sample

One could argue that the establishment of a cuisine is based on two things: necessity and availability. But, beyond those foundation factors, cuisine is often shaped by influence. British colonialism brought Indian spices back to the United Kingdom and into indigenous dishes. Native Americans introduced Pilgrims to maize, turning corn into a staple, sustainable crop. And Julia Child brought classic French cooking techniques to American households when she penned The Joy of Cooking.

Eat This! has the ultimate cure for your Sweet Tooth.  In European history, the art of pastry was cultivated by artists who sold their pieces to the rich patrons who could afford lavish confections. The art of pastry is now a well-revered tradition and profession. Pastry not only includes items containing butter, eggs and flour; it encompasses the world of chocolate, pastries, cookies, cakes and confections.   Eat This! is delighted to bring you a taste into the Lowcountry’s art of pastry. Sweets to the sweet.

A friend of mine asked me where we went for dinner the night we hit Xiao Bao Biscuit. First he asked me to repeat the name of the restaurant because, well, let’s face it, it does have an unusual name.

Then he asked me to repeat where the restaurant was, because, well, let’s face it, up until a couple of years ago, there was nothing there on the corner of Spring and Rutledge. In fact, XBB’s digs used to be a gas station (the pump island is still in the parking lot).

Bartender  |  Owner
The Tin Roof  |  Lucky Puppy Food Truck
1117 Magnolia Road  |  Charleston
843.571.0775

It goes without saying that the food truck movement has firmly planted itself in the Charleston culinary landscape. They’ve achieved solidarity with the formation of their own coalition; the cuisines represented are varied offering a mass appeal and they have become a ubiquitous sight among Charleston festivals.

Server
McCrady’s Restaurant
2 Unity Alley | Charleston 
843.577.0025 | mccradysrestaurant.com

Vibrant blue oil paintings of the ocean jump from orange walls. Shark jaws hang from the ceiling in front of lemon colored cabinets. Michelle Seay’s original art covers surfaces throughout the house, interspersed with postcards, photos of her sons, and Buddhist imagery.

Dedication. Loyalty. Every day, just doing everything that I can for the customer.Yes, it’s about the food, but more importantly, it’s about the customer and giving them what they want.”

Making everything from scratch is a little uncommon in the average Folly Beach kitchen, but Anthony DiBernardo is convinced that four-year-old Rita’s Seaside Grille better serves the beachgoing public by taking the more difficult route of a “scratch kitchen” in a laid-back locale.  “Work hard, and eventually you will get what’s coming to you.

Before you read about the trials and tribulations of our state's brewing industry, we are happy to report that "The Pint Bill" passed the South Carolina General Assembly in late May! As of today, it awaits only the governor's signature, which it's expected to receive without any further drama. Cheers!

Remember “the good old days?” While they were good in a lot of ways, they were bad in others. Case in point: the local beer scene.

Rewind to 2006 and things are unrecognizable. Alcoholic liquids labeled “beer” could not be sold in South Carolina unless they clocked in under 6.25% ABV (alcohol by volume). This led to a choked selection, and therefore not much interest from a drinking populace that largely didn’t know better. Thankfully, an organization called Pop the Cap SC helped demolish that oppressive limit, allowing beer up to 17.5% ABV inside our borders.

Presenting four fantastic variations of the classy summer cocktail — the Sangria. Wine, fruit and spirits make the trifecta for a fruity and delicious libation. Perfect for entertaining.
Sip. Enjoy. Repeat.

Summer weekends involve iced water-melon, Lowcountry boils, grilled hot dogs and ice cold Sangria. Check out our From the Cellar (pg. 5) featuring four simple and delicious summer drinks for any patio party. Let us not forget the sides as we bring you Holly Herrick’s Vidalia Onion Tart and Granddaddy Lambert’s Grand Pimento Cheese .

CHARLESTON, SC – May 28, 2013—Two key members of the Coda del Pesce culinary team are announced for the beachfront all Italian seafood restaurant.

Rhett Elliott serves as the restaurant’s Chef de Cuisine. Chef de Cuisine Rhett Elliott. Raised by a father who ran a successful whole hog barbecue catering company in Camden, SC, Rhett Elliott learned early how to cook. As a young child, he would help his father at his establishment and saw the ins and outs of being a pitmaster. It comes as no surprise that he later attended school at the Western Culinary Institute in Portland, OR and then went straight into the business working for some of the top hotel based restaurants around. He spent three years as sous chef at Lamaire restaurant, a 5 diamond property located inside the famed Jefferson Hotel in Richmond, VA. He later moved to Duck, NC and spent a year as sous chef at The Left Bank in the Sanderling Inn, a 4 diamond restaurant. Soon after, he connected with Chef Vedrinski and worked at Sienna restaurant as chef de cuisine for a year and a half and then went to Trattoria Lucca for another year as chef de cuisine. A passionate fisherman, he looks forward to applying his love for seafood in his new role as chef de cuisine at Coda del Pesce.

A little bit of history was made on James Island for the underground kitchen movement Guerrilla Cuisine: it happened on a Wednesday. The illustrious Jimihatt and the rest of the club decided that Sunday wasn’t happening fast enough, so they took over the expansive complex that is the Brick House Kitchen. The guest of honor was Rita’s Seaside Grille executive chef Anthony DiBernardo, who won that honor after whipping Jimi’s team in a cook-off some time ago, and GC asked him to come on board for what Anthony called “a celebration of pork”, which turned out to be round four of a fantastic five-course spread.

Chef Anthony matched his excitement and minor trepidations about the challenge with unwavering confidence: “It’s the preparation, getting prepared for it, and not really thinking you’re going to be able to pull it off, and then coming away with it.”