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Saturday, March 3, 2012
CHSWFF: Sinful Soul
Food made with Love
Posted by Eric Doksa on Sat, Mar 3, 2012 at 11:33 AM
“I hope nobody ate breakfast,” were the initial words of food writer and City Paper contributor Jeff Allen on Friday morning as he addressed a group waiting to be schooled on Charleston’s Gullah and Soul food cuisine. The tour started at Marion Square where Jeff gave a brief overview of the area and the five restaurants on the agenda.
After a nice historical stroll through the neighborhood between King Street and St. Philip Street, the first stop was Dave’s Carryout. We could smell the fried food from about a block away. Everyone crammed into the small joint run by Sandra McCray and two family members. Small brown bags filled with fried shrimp, hush puppies, and tartar sauce were handed out to each guest. The shrimp was flavorful enough that it didn’t require any sauce.
Jeff then led the group over to one of Charleston’s best kept soul food secrets, Ernie’s. A nice spread was setup that consisted of cornbread, a gelatinous okra soup, and butterbeans so good you could hear everyone in the room hum “mmmm” in unison. Ernie’s doesn’t advertise, the bowl of butterbeans speaks for itself.
A shuttle then took everyone up to “The neck” of Charleston, which is basically the border of Charleston and North Charleston, where the sisters of Bertha’s Kitchen cooked up a crispy fried pork chop, cabbage, and rice.
At that point everyone was getting full and in need of a nap but two of the most important stops were still ahead, including the kitchen of a Charleston legend, Martha Lou.
Tables were setup outside and Martha Lou herself started carrying out trays of food that became part of a full-on buffet of rice, baked chicken, butterbeans, and mac n cheese. Word got out that Martha’s fried chicken is the best in town so she ended up bringing out a tray of that as well. It was agreed by everyone that Martha Lou was not messing around — this woman can cook.
Finally, the group was shuttled through some of the rough parts of Charleston on the way to Alluette’s holistic café for dessert. The good news was that Alluette uses almost all organic ingredients. We started off with a cup of decadent dark chocolate mousse followed by a plate of pound cake, bread pudding, and apple pie, which Jeff calls “the best apple pie I’ve ever had in my life.” I tend to agree.
After Alluette and Jeff made some closing comments the group applauded to the close of such a wonderful event. The stories about the rich soul food history that Jeff was able to share with everyone were truly amazing, and all of the food was cooked with pure love. The only thing that could make the event even better is a final stop at the battery where a spread of hammocks are lined up for an afternoon slumber.
Friday, March 5, 2010
Books for cooks
Posted by jimihatt on Fri, Mar 5, 2010 at 12:19 PM
We @ guerrilla cuisine just got in some super cool cookbooks
and we want you to be the first to get your hungry lil hands on one or even two of our first in a signature series.
Look for jimihatt at a wine + food party this weekend
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
What Kind of Cookie would Charleston be?
Posted by Stephanie Barna on Tue, May 12, 2009 at 12:14 PM
Last year, Circa 1886 held an ice cream flavor contest, and the winner’s flavor — Seersucker — was featured on the menu during the summer. To view video of last year's ice cream contest (full disclosure: I was one of the judges) visit the restaurant's YouTube channel .
This year, they’re looking for a cookie that embodies Charleston. Will it have boiled peanuts? What about grits? Perhaps some pralines and benne seeds.
f you’ve got a clever idea for a cookie, go to their website and make your suggestions. Or submit a video tagged CharlestonChristmasCookie on YouTube.
If you win, your cookie will be featured on the dessert menu in December and, more importantly, you’ll get a free dinner for four at Circa 1886.
Friday, May 8, 2009
J'Paulz gets a new head chef ... and it's a girl!
Posted by Stephanie Barna on Fri, May 8, 2009 at 9:17 AM
Showing a modest burst of progress, Charleston has gotten another female head chef.
J. Paul'z sous chef Tracy Little is sous no longer. Little has moved up after former head chef Daniel Caruso moved to Rochester, N.Y. with his new bride and took a position at a Wegman's Grocery Store restaurant called Tastings.
Little has been working at J. Paul'z for the past year and joins maybe three other head female chefs in our male-dominated culinary scene. With former positions at The Mustard Seed and Fat Hen, Little will be crafting a seasonal menu with tomato pie, pan-seared grouper, and truffle mac 'n' cheese. You go girl.
What's next, Charleston? Equal pay?!
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Charleston's Ciaran Duffy: Not Dead
Posted by Stephanie Barna on Wed, May 6, 2009 at 2:29 PM
At Monday night's James Beard Awards, Ciarán Duffy —Â former chef of Tristan — was memorialized in a slide show as being deceased. Trouble is, the dude ain't dead.
From Sean Brock twitter feed: "It was weird seeing 'in memory of' ciaran duffy, complete with a picture of him sitting outside tristan. spoke with ciaran after the awards"
As soon as it happened, Duffy says his phone started blowing up. Plenty of friends and colleagues were at the event to witness the confusing slide show and called him to find out if he was still alive.
Michael White was one of those friends. He said he couldn't believe it when he saw Duffy's picture. "I had just talked to him five days ago." White was at the awards with his friend Bob Waggoner, who reassured him that it must be a mistake. "I called him and I just kept hoping he would answer that cell phone, and he did."
After the ceremony, White says he ran into the Jeremy and Deanie Fox, the chefs from Ubuntu who cooked at Tristan with Aaron Deal during the Food & Wine Festival. They had no reason to think Duffy hadn't passed away, until White told them, no, he's fine. That was a mistake.
The next day, Duffy posted on his Facebook page: "It was announced late last night during the James Beard Awards Ceremony that I Died! Nothing could be further from the truth. With the exception of some residual IBS from my trip to China and a little ManScaping incident I feel great! That isn't to say there couldn't be something wrong, all that mountain dew cant be good for the body. But at the end of the day It was truly an honor just to be mentioned, Thanks JB."
According to Janie Schneider, the assistant to the director of promotions and special events, it was simply a dumb case of mistaken identity. Apparently, another Ciaran Duffy, who worked at Namibia Breweries, died of cancer last September.
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