Tonight's Episode: I'd Stick With the Pig if it Was Like THIS

With The Grocery, Chef Kevin Johnson's north King St eatery, Charleston has yet another example of a brilliant chef with a firm grasp of seasonal, fresh, local ingredients. This isn't news to anyone who remembers him from his days at the helm of Anson, but I must admit being shocked at how much I enjoyed his cooking.

For the space, Chef Johnson has renovated the old Altman Furniture store at the corner of King and Cannon. The space has been divided into more intimate areas, though it is a study in minimalist restraint. No embellishment to clutter the space. The entirety of the decoration consists of the original floor safe at the front door, and the canned and pickled produce made in house lining the wall. The effect is pleasant without being distracting.

For this trip, enjoying the benefit of the 3 for $30 Restaurant Week menu, The Girl and I have a couple of guests. First is her sorority sister and longtime friend The Birdwatcher. Second is new friend, and Los Angeles's own Foodess. She has left the Big City for some decompression and gluttony here in the Low Country, and we figured this was a good place to start.

The way the regular menu is set up needs a little mention. They have snacks which are best shared among everyone; bites which are more like small apps; tastes which are either large apps or small entrees; plates which are traditional entrees; and table....which are for the table. We split both the crispy pimento cheese bites (served on melted coke bottles) and a charred onion dip with kettle chips that has to be the best junk food ever.

The Birdwatcher started with a Shaved Squash Salad, with cherry tomatoes, pecorino, pine nuts, and crispy blossom. Overall a well-balanced, composed and light dish. Both The Girl and The Foodess went with the Ricotta-Herb gnocchi with wood roasted tomato and green olive fondue. Pleasant and fluffy pillows in a lightly acidic red sauce that hits on all the marks.

I went with the Three Little Pigs meat board. If you like meat, order this. If you don't like meat, stop reading this Blog........sooooo, ordered it yet?

The Foodess and I both went with the tagliatelle pasta for our mains. Perfectly cooked pasta with house-made pancetta, topped with pecorino and a spot-on soft farm egg. Though delicious, this dish could have used a touch of red pepper to offset the richness.

The Girl and The Birdwatcher settled in on the Grass Fed Beef Pot Roast with summer farro salad. This is a perfectly executed dish. The grilled okra is a star, and so is the Bar-B-jus, a great sauce for a fork-tender piece of meat.

The deserts were both tasty, Peach tarte tatin for me, s'mores with house-made marshmallow for The Girl. Nothing inspiring, but very delightful.

All four of us found the entire meal to be fantastic. The service was spot-on, the dishes were well conceived and executed, and the entire setting promotes sharing and conversation. This may soon become one of our favorite spots, and we are excited to come back for the regular menu.

The Scores:
Ambiance: 4/5
Food: 8.5/10
Service: 5/5
Value: 4/5
Overall: 21.5 out of 25. A very inviting space with sharable, high-quality dishes.

Tonight's Episode: 1886 Reasons to love the Guerrilla

  If you follow us on Twitter or Facebook (which you should), then it is no surprise to you how much I love Chef Marc Collins's cooking. The dishes he turns out at Circa 1886 are always elegant, thoughtful, and balanced, blending local fresh ingredients with high-end technique. Getting a chance to see him at work during a Guerrilla Cuisine dinner was a no brainer!

If you haven't heard of Guerrilla Cuisine yet, go back and check out our first dinner here. Okay, you're back? Pretty cool, huh? Well this dinner not only has a great chef, but a great location, The Property Owners Beach House at Dunes West, on the Isle of Palms. There is something about eating fantastic food while watching the ocean lap at your doorstep that I find rather inviting.

Joining the Girl and I are two of our friends, Florida transplants Wife Thrilla from Manilla and Husband the Jellyfish Kid (picked the wrong sea creature to wrestle with), and it is their first Guerrilla rodeo. The four of us, and 20 more of Charleston's coolest people, wander about before the dinner, conversing, and taking turns glancing at the microscopic kitchen they would be working in. Think of the kitchen at your average Extended Stay Suites. Eesh, glad Chef Marc is talented, I could barley make popcorn in that kitchen.

The cramped quarters in no way cut into the quality of the dishes presented. Starting off with a Scallop Ceviche with mango noodles, and raspberries. The clean, bright, super refreshing taste make this a perfect summer dish. The use of mango as noodles was both fun and beautiful.

The second dish was mildly controversial at our end of the table. A Blue Potato Vichyssoise with smoked salmon caviar, goat cheese mouse, prosciutto, and blue potato crisp. All four of us agree the grey color that it came out was a little odd. I, personally, would have played with that more, maybe finishing with some black sea salt. Some of the others found it off-putting. The Girl and I both enjoyed the dish, especially the interplay of the smoke on the caviar with the goat cheese.  Thrilla did not care for the fact it was a cold soup. I blame her lack of faith in cold soups on the schools, failing our children again.

For the third course out comes a Braised Chicken Thigh with Carolina Gold broken rice, chantrelle mushrooms, and a cherry coulis. This was the consensus best dish. The rice almost had a rice-pudding quality to it The bone-in chicken was succulent and paired with the cherry coulis it was beyond delicious. The best part, however, were the mushrooms. Heaven on a plate. If I was still having trouble convincing The Girl to like mushrooms, all I would need to do is give her these.

For the final meat dish, Chef Marc sends out a sous-vide tenderloin with hollandaise grits, and a red wine reduction. If you are not familiar with the sous-vide technique, it is a method that originated in Paris by which you cook food in vacuum sealed bags, in water, at a constant and lower-than-normal temperature. When done right you are able to perfectly season, and perfectly cook, the meat. Chef Marc does it right every time. The meat is tender and rich, with a beautiful mouthfeel. For me the grits are amazing, and we all know how much I hate them. The Girl doth protest that the grits are too rich, and need to be cut so they don't overpower the dish. We stare at each other, knowing the other is wrong. Luckily desert comes before it turns ugly.

And what a desert it is. Imagine banana pudding....as an ice cream sandwich.....the size of your face....with salted caramel.....and caramelized pop rocks (yes, the carbonated candy)....oh and there is a super-rich chocolate truffle, too. This may seem a simple dish, and since I suck at pastry it might be, but what it also happens to be is amazing. The entire table looks like a class of Fifth Graders as we eat our sandwiches. Bite, dip in caramel, dip in pop rocks, bite again. SOOOOO FUN!

Tonight's Episode: A Foodmantic Anniversary, eh?

It has been one year since The Girl and I wed. 12 months. 365 Days. I couldn't be happier. Life is fantastic when shared with someone you truly love. To celebrate, we hopped on a plane for Montreal, that bastion of French culture and food. For the meal marking our year together, we chose Garde Manger, the always packed restaurant of the host of TV's Chuck's Day Off. Chuck Hughes, the tattooed rock star chef whose French inspired seafood lead him to become the first Canadian to top Bobby Flay on Iron Chef America in Battle Lobster, has established himself as a front-line culinary star.

Located in the Old Town of Montreal, Garde Manger is not only difficult to get a reservation for, it is difficult to find. Everything begins to hum along nicely once you are in the door. The space is beautiful, hip, and vibrant. The staff is professional but clearly having fun. And by fun, I mean this is the most relaxed, accessible atmosphere of any fine-dining restaurant I've ever been in. There is a definite reflection of the chef's personality, with the music pumping loudly and with a genre-jumping schizophrenia. From Beach Boys to Foster the People to NWA, don't expect to come here for a quiet evening.

Before I get into what we had, let me show you a couple things we didn't have. The first is the seafood platter. Pretty damn impressive, no? The second is the Lobster Poutine ($19). Garde Manger has their menu on a chalkboard, reflecting the constantly changing dishes, but this is a standard. A take on the classic of fries, gravy, and cheese curds, made instead with a lobster gravy, topped with more lobster. Wish I had a bigger stomach to include it in our dinner.

Before the meal I had one of their specialty drinks. No, not the caesar which comes garnished with crab legs. I had a blueberry Manhattan that was refreshing and bright, and not too sweet.


Okay, enough with the teasing and on to our meals. After a half dozen oysters on the half shell (with the best mignonette I've ever had), I let our incredible server Maude talk me into the Jerk Crab ($29) (a Chef Hughes favorite). The heat level on these crabs is very high, but the jerk flavor is deep and resonant. The hard work and dirty hands are SOOOOO worth it.

For her starter, The Girl went with what may have been the dish of the night, the Salmon Tartare ($17). So light and bright, with beautiful citrus notes, cubed into larger pieces than I am used to in a tartare. The Girl attacked it with such relish that you would hardly know how much she hated fish a few scant years ago. In all honesty, both of us could have been happy just eating on this dish.

My main was delicious, though I found the plating somewhat hap-hazard. Skate wing lightly fried with a fennel salad ($28). Very light and buttery, a beautiful summer dish. If you have never had skate, it is very mild and reminiscent of sole, and accepts flavor beautifully.

The Girl's dish was NOT Lobster Risotto. That is what I thought it said. Turns out I'm short a few words of French. What it was: Rock Shrimp Risotto ($36). Turns out rock shrimp taste....just like lobster, lucky me. This was a decadent and rich dish, though Chef Hughes prefers his risotto a little more toothsome than we are used to. Still a fantastic dish, with beautifully layered flavors.

For desert we stayed away from the inspired, and went with the just plain yummy, a deep-fried Mars bar with ice cream. The State Fair inspired dish is warm, gooey, and satisfying in a whimsical manner.

After Maude cleared the table she took us into the open kitchen for a picture, capping the evening. I can not stress how much FUN we had, to go along with the fantastic food. My only complaint has to be the plating, which just didn't measure up to the quality of the ingredients, or the skill of the actual cooking. The Girl LOVED the dinner, and has agreed to stay with me another year. Guess I need to start planning the next anniversary meal right now.

The Scores:
Ambiance: 5/5 (as long as you love loud, very modern music)
Food: 9/10
Service: 5/5
Value: 3.5/5
Overall: 22.5 out of 25 A fantastic special occasion restaurant in the heart of Old Montreal

Tonight's Episode: Angel Oak Restaurant First Take

We were lucky enough to be invited to the Media Dinner for the new Angel Oak Restaurant, brainchild of Mississippi native and Culinary Institute of America graduate Jay Kees, and his lovely wife (and proud New Yorker) Nicole. Located just past Main Road on Hwy 17 South, the restaurant is in a charming house with a decor that highlights all the great things you can find in an attic, or on Craig's List. They will be focusing on local ingredients and blending New Southern with some Big City technique. During lunch they will feature a buffet for $8.95 (with tea). They will also be doing brunch (which we will be trying this coming week).

We started with a cocktail hour of three tastings. First was a cornbread muffin with bacon that had a great taste, and is normally served to order. Having sat a little it had become somewhat dry. Next was a sesame crusted tuna that was slightly spicy and tasty. The star, though, were the deviled eggs. I LOATHE deviled eggs, and The Girl isn't a fan either. These were so smooth and creamy, so incredibly mousse like.  The white of the egg was perfectly cooked. Superb!

To start the dinner we were given four appetizers. The first was delightful pork belly steam buns with pickled onion ($6). These are a must-order if available.

I really wanted to like the Port Wine Paté ($8), served with green tomato chow-chow, and those insanely good pickled onions. I desperately wanted to like it. The platting (on a slate dish) was fantastic, the accouterments were fantastic. I just couldn't get past the sweetness, and the way it plays off the gaminess of the liver. I ate half the dish trying to figure out just what I would change, and I am still lost.  

The house made Ricotta, with honey and toast, was delicious, a perfect example of joy in simplicity. 

The fourth app was Buffalo Fried Hickory Smoked Bacon ($6) with Blu Cheese. In this dish we find an example of the need to think through your menu for a large seating dinner. The flavor profile was there, with the heat of the buffalo sauce playing off the bacon beautifully, but with the dish sitting for a while before going out the breading became soggy, and the bacon became limp, leaving a dish muddled in mushiness. I would like to try it again as a made-to-order dish, because the flavors were there.

For my entree, I settled into the Country Fried Steak ($16) with herbed sawmill gravy, smashed potatoes, and I swapped my white corn on the cob (which was sweet and delicious) for The Girl's collards. The smashed potatoes were very good, and once I hit the collards with the house made pepper vinegar, they were fantastic. The steak itself was delicious, with beautiful flavor, but lacked salt to round it out.

The Girl went with the Buttermilk Fried Chicken ($17) with mac 'n cheese and the collards that I swapped out. The mac 'n cheese needed more salt in the water as well, but still had a great flavor. But then you turn to the five-spice honey drizzled chicken. The clouds part, the sun shines, the angels sing. THIS is the way fried chicken should taste. As I type this I am licking my fingers clean from the leftovers. The skin-PERFECT. The moistness-PERFECT. The portion-HUGE. This is the dish that will establish Angel Oak's reputation.

With dessert you must get coffee, the delicious, wonderful coffee with fresh cream. I went with the creme brûlée, while the girl chose the beignets, and both were solid renditions. Also available was the banana pudding served in delightful mason jars.

As with any new restaurant there are growing pains, and this is the first week of being open. The miscues I think are easily fixable, and Chef Jay spent time asking what worked and what didn't. The overall meal was actually very pleasing, and we are both excited to give brunch a shot. And to bring home some more of that chicken. Fresh ingredients show through on every dish!

The Scores:
Ambiance: 4.5/5
Food: 7.5/10
Service: 4/5
Value: 4/5
Overall: 20 out of 25 A real possibility of being THE fried chicken destination in Charleston!

Recipe: Bread & Butter Pickles

Many of us enjoy a home garden. There is just something special about growing your own food. If your as lucky as we are, and live in a very fertile area, then you are up to your ears in produce already. My most abundant crop? Cucumbers. Now while The Girl can eat them raw with a little pimento cheese, I prefer pickling. Here is a recent recipe that has proved to be a bid hit!

What you will need:
2.5 pounds pickling cucumbers (Fresh from the garden or market)
1 pound white or yellow onions, THIN sliced
1/4 cup pickling salt (Can substitute Kosher, but NEVER table salt)
1  1/4 cup white distilled vinegar (5% acidity)
1 cup apple cider vinegar (5% acidity)
2  1/4 cups sugar
1 Tbsp mustard seeds
1 Tbsp dried ground lemongrass
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (omit if heat adverse)
3/4 teaspoon celery seeds
1 cinnamon stick
1/2 teaspoon tumaric
Whole allspice
Whole cloves
Canning equipment

Method:
After cleaning the cucumbers, slice the ends off and discard. Slice the remainder into 1/4 inch thick slices and place in a large bowl. Add sliced onions and pickling salt, stir to ensure equal coverage. Cover the bowl with a clean dish towel, and fill with several inches of ice. Place in refrigerator to chill for 4 hours. Discard ice, rinse and drain twice.

If you are planning to store your pickles outside of the refrigerator for any length of time, you will need to sterilize your jars before canning, and heat the filled jars in a hot water bath after canning. If you are planning to eat the pickles right away and store them the whole time in the fridge, you can skip the water bath step. It's still a good idea to sterilize the jars first, you can do that by running them throughout the dishwasher, or place them in a 200 F oven for 10 minutes.  To sterilize the jars for canning, place empty jars on a metal rack in a large, 16-qt canning pot (jars must rest on the rack, not the bottom of the pot). Fill with warm water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to warm to keep jars hot and ready for canning. Remove with tongs or jar lifters one by one as you can the cucumbers.

In a 4 or 6 qt pot, place the vinegar, sugar, and all the spices. Bring to a boil. Once the sugar has dissolved, add the sliced cucumbers and onions. Bring to a boil again. As soon as the sugar vinegar solution begins to boil again, use a slotted spoon to start packing the hot jars with the cucumbers. First pack a jar to an inch from the rim with the vegetables, then pour hot vinegar sugar syrup over the vegetables to a half inch of the rim. Wipe rim clean with a paper towel. Place lid on jar and secure with screw band

If you are planning to store pickles outside of the fridge, process the filled jars in the hot water bath for 10 minutes. Water level must be at a least one inch above the top of the cans. Bring to a hard boil for 15 minutes. Remove from water and allow to cool to room temperature, which will take several hours. The jars should make a popping sound as their lids seal.

Best served chilled, and a meat-and-cheese board helps!