Gin, vermouth and Campari. The Negroni is deceptively simple. Joy Richard, a bartender at Mash, thinks the Negroni has become a classic because it's complex in flavor and well balanced. "It's plays to a lot of different flavors," she says. "And it's pleasing to the palate."
You could opt for the margarita on tap at Pancito & Lefty and that wouldn't be a bad thing at all. Made with fresh macerated fruit and Partida tequila, it's a prime example of a perfect summertime drink.
Iced coffee is a staple of Charleston summers. Too hot for a steaming cup of Joe, the summer swelter calls for a lighter, cooler caffeinated option.
Served in a julep cup with pebbled ice and garnished with herbs and flowers, the Chartreuse Colada is a perfect pairing with the 90-degree heat we've been having.
Cannon Distillery in West Ashley's Avondale neighborhood hasn't been around long. It opened last fall and has three products, all of them vodka. The Grit Vodka is an 80-proof spirit made from corn grown by Geechie Boy on Edisto Island.
Don't think about ordering a pitcher of sangria at Barsa. The fruity red wine concoction is made by the glass, and it's worth the extra care they take.
Rose season has taken a little longer to get here than usual, but this week the temperatures look to be rising into the 70s again. Spring weather pairs great with pink wine, but when it comes to packing up for the beach or pool, my favorite portable option is Wolffer No. 139 (there's also a …
Brewers Brian Bogstad and Ben Mayer love their community at Rusty Bull Brewing so much that they left it up to their fans to decide from what favorite cereal they should make a beer. The winner in the social media poll was Cap'n Crunch's Peanut Butter Crunch, a challenging choice to say the least.
Sometimes you just want to pretend you're a tourist in your own town and settle in at the Thoroughbred Club, one of downtown's most luxurious spots located in the lobby of the Charleston Place hotel. I did that just last week in the midst of Bridge Run chaos when our narrow streets were pack…
With the proliferation of all-day breakfast joints comes the breakfast martini, a phenomenon encountered at both Dap's and Millers All Day.
Kelly Chu is an international gelato ambassador. She collaborates with local chefs customizes Cirsea ice cream flavors for them (can you say WildFlour and Cirsea ice cream sandwich?). And she's been making ice cream for her Chinese restaurant Red Orchids in West Ashley for more than a decade…
When beer guys talk, they'll sometimes drop the word "sessionable," referring to a beer that is easy to drink, usually not too hoppy, not too bitter, and not too high in alcohol.
Ordinary and FIG co-owner Adam Nemirow traveled to Britain last year and says he encountered gin and Seedlip everywhere. Gin goes without saying, but Seedlip was something he'd never seen before. Seedlip is a distilled nonalcoholic water that comes in two versions. As Nemirow says, "One tast…
There's a new beer on draft at Husk, and it's a riff on rice and peas (aka Hoppin' John) made with koji, the ancient Asian fungus that's the starter for making soy sauce, miso and other fermented sources of umami.
A North Charleston craft beer business expects to create 15 jobs under its previously announced plan to relocate to the city's bustling Park Circle area.
Each year, the Charleston Wine + Food Festival hosts a cocktail competition and invites local bartenders to battle it out for the opportunity to have the signature drink of the festival.
The Dewberry is gorgeous. From the gleaming brass bar to the perfect spheres of ice that bob in frothy drinks, everything is elegant and simple. Behind the bar in The Living Room, the bartenders wear white dinner coats and slick their hair stylishly to the side.
Cold-brewed contraptions lead to clever cocktails at 1Kept, a bar and restaurant located within the Renaissance Hotel on Wentworth Street in downtown Charleston. Pay attention as you sit at the bar, and you'll see a collection of wooden apparatuses that look like something Igor would use for…
You shouldn’t be surprised to see a cocktail from Proof in this column since it’s my favorite bar in downtown Charleston. I love the bartenders, the vibe, the free jazz on Monday nights, the boiled peanuts and the salty Marcona almonds. The cocktails are good, too, and probably the main reas…
The perfect time to enjoy The Watch is at sunset, particularly during the colder months. If you do it right, you can watch the sky around the ornate steeple of the Grace Cathedral turn from seductive pink to orange over the bartender’s shoulder as he mixes you a cocktail.
I intended to drink a mocktail, it being a new year and all, but the beet margarita at Basic Kitchen seemed a good compromise. General manager Kelly Holmes describes it as the epitome of the philosophy of Basic Kitchen, which serves clean, veggie-heavy food. Instead of chicken wings, you get…
The Spectator Hotel's bar, despite being only two-years-old, feels old — but not old in a bad way. Old in a moneyed way. As if someone’s rich grandmother had been collecting expensive pieces of furniture and knick-knacks her entire jet-setting life and set about creating a room to quietly ex…
In the midst of last week’s snowstorm, the crud was creeping up on me. A scratchy throat and incessant cough signaled that the sniffles were soon to come. So when local restaurants started posting pictures of hot toddies on Instagram, I decided to brave the icy sidewalks to investigate this …
The Getaway pays homage to Latin culture with a menu of tropical treats, from Chef Emily Hahn’s spicy chicken empanadas to a steamy bowl of Chilean fish stew. The cocktails created by owner and bartender Genevieve Mashburn pull from Latin America with ingredients like yerba mate, Paranubes r…
Best of 2017 - The Warthog
Hardscoop
Local Holiday Cocktail: The Poinsettia
Seasonal Cocktail: French Master 75
Apple Harvest Julep
Twisted Cypress Pumpkin Ale
Gingerbread Martini
Craft Beer: Oh My Darlyn!
Island Coastal Lager
Limited Release: Virgil Kaine Electric Owl
Cocktail: The Warthog
Cocktail: Humble Bee
Canned, local, organic beer
Bottled Cocktails: The Bar at Husk
Cocktail: The Tickler
Sparkling Wine Cocktail: The Sun & Moon Flufftail
Cocktail: Industry Sour
Commissioned beer: Up Sh*m Creek by Revelry Brewing
Cocktail: Summer Breeze
I can’t shake the critic’s instinct that it’s silly to endorse a dish which might not be available tomorrow. I kind of miss taking chances, though. In other words: No promises. But here are my greatest hits from the first week of the dining ban.
Euro Foods is new to Old Towne Road, but not to West Ashley. It previously had a 13-year run on Ashley River Road, where it operated exclusively as a grocery store. Now the space bearing the Euro Foods name is split almost exactly in half, with a brightly lit retail section to the right and a counter-service café to the left.
Since launching the South Carolina Chef Ambassador program, the state has put approximately $360,000 into the culinary initiative. Less clear, at least according to data provided by sponsors S.C. Department of Agriculture and S.C. Department of Parks, Recreation & Tourism, is what eaters here and elsewhere have gotten out of it.
Community Table is decidedly not fine dining: The servers are dressed in blue jeans, and James Taylor keeps cropping up on the background music mix.
Prior to 2020, each restaurant was theoretically eligible for 15 stars, since it was graded in three separate categories: Food, service and atmosphere. But no longer.
What really characterizes the food in this alluringly gold-walled lounge is not the ingredients which the Wangs puts into it, but the feeling you get out of it.
Malagon is making exceptional food, but its owners don’t want you or me to know it.
For the most part, the food at Tradd's in downtown Charleston is just mildly bad.
It’s a critic’s job to accurately describe a restaurant so potential patrons can knowledgeably decide if they want to go there. Readers can do as they choose with the accompanying opinions.
The massive Folly Beach restaurant, which measures three dining rooms and 6,500 square feet in all, has good intentions that spawn nothing but disappointment.
Melfi’s is the third restaurant that Brooks Reitz and Tim Mink have opened on the short strand of Upper King Street bounded by Congress and Sumter streets
I can’t shake the critic’s instinct that it’s silly to endorse a dish which might not be available tomorrow. I kind of miss taking chances, though. In other words: No promises. But here are my greatest hits from the first week of the dining ban.
Answering readers' food questions
My guess is you’re more concerned by reports that restaurant workers are facing record levels of food insecurity, as well as an uncertain financial forecast (and thank you for heeding that concern at a time when the need for all charitable giving is so great.) Fortunately, several organizations share your priorities.
Q: It is my understanding that in calculating the tip, the amount to be used is based on the pre-tax total. Staff does not need to be tipped for taxes collected, especially in high tax areas (New York, Charleston, San Francisco). What, in your opinion, is correct?
Q: Where can I find authentic Peking duck in Charleston area? I asked Red Orchid if they could do special order and was told, “No, too time consuming to be profitable.”
Charleston's newest restaurants
Sarah Reuter and Marshall Tyers, a couple engaged to be married, had trouble finding a Charleston-area café where they could eat and drink well while playing board games.
Other than its location, Temelini said Pane e Vino is “exactly the same” as when it was located on Warren Street. Its staff and menu are unchanged, although Temelini now plans to make regular appearances in the kitchen.
Three years after shutting down its slaughterhouse in Ravenel, Burbage Meats is back in business in West Ashley.
In addition to cocktails, Little Palm is also serving light dishes such as corn-and-butterbean salad, crudo and curried popcorn.
Spotlighting artisan food producers
Exploring what locals eat throughout a day
"Today was an exciting day because I actually had two meetings face-to-face and not via Zoom."
I woke up, got myself ready and quickly realized I was out of coffee (trust me, the irony here is not lost on me).
"When I got to the boat, I ate two bags of Gillespie's spicy Cajun peanuts before going sailing."
Since the start of the year, GrowFood Carolina has posted pictures of strawberries, radishes and oyster mushrooms to its Instagram account. But the most instructive image for amateur photographers entering the local food hub’s photo contest might be one of a single squash.
Vaccinated back-of-house employees at Butcher & Bee last week were given the go-ahead to work without face coverings if they choose. Vaccinated front-of-house employees will soon receive the same offer.
Here's how the pandemic may have changed the face of dining out.
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