One block up and one block over from my usual haunt at Old Village Post House Inn sits a rather diminutive looking cinder block building. The H&R Sweet Shop, open since 1945, shares the space with a hat shop. It's been on my list for several years- right in front of me, yet I never made …
So This Came in the Mail
So there's that. Huh. Just sayin'
What Dr. King Ate
Like many, I awoke today to the MLK Doodle on my Google search page. I took a few moments to reflect on the slain civil rights torch bearer, his contributions, his leadership, his sacrifice. I thought about the relations we share as Southerners, about the camaraderie I share with my team in the kitchen, the …
Why Mickey Bakst Matters (w/ Stuart Brioza)
"Gentlemen. When two separate evens occur simultaneously pertaining to the same object in inquiry we must always pay strict attention." "Give me a donut." Special Agent Dale Cooper, Twin Peaks I ran across an old Stuart Brioza menu. I was trying to put some sense of order to the man cave / office and found …
Continue reading "Why Mickey Bakst Matters (w/ Stuart Brioza)"
Hand Drawn Map of James Island
"In fetid darkness still to live and run-- And all for nothing it had ever done Except forget to go in fear perhaps. No one would know except for ancient maps That such a brook ran water.” Robert Frost Researching a history of James Island, I ran across this on the Charleston Museum site, that …
Lost Flavors Found
As originally published in Mt. Pleasant Magazine, 7/2015. Special thanks to my editor, @DeniseKJames. Posted by MPM 2 Comments Original photo by Heather Grilliot, additional photos courtesy author. Maniacal and seemingly half-crazed, Glenn Roberts bursts through the back kitchen door. “I’ve got to be across town in 15 minutes. Here,” he blurts, handing me a small …
How Huguenot is your Torte?
As I was digging around this week researching for my upcoming "Ghosts of Charleston Restaurants Past" project, I found myself digging through the City of Charleston Tour Guide Training Manual, compiled and edited by the Historic Charleston Foundation. Any would be tour guide wishing to be licensed by the City of Charleston is required to …
Charleston Market Cries
The Charleston Market sits on land conveyed to the City of Charleston in 1788 by Revolutionary War general Charles Cotesworth Pinckney in order to "lay out a street from the channel of the Cooper River to Meeting Street 100 feet broad, and in said street to establish a public market or markets for the purpose …
The Palmetto State & Joel Poinsett
Jadie from over at Boone Hall Farms stuck his head in the kitchen with one of the biggest, happiest poinsettias I'd ever seen. "Hey man," he says, "I brung ya some Christmas spirit!" This time of year, red or white poinsettias become ubiquitous. Tradition states that in 16th century Mexico, an impoverished girl named Maria was inspired by …
2016 SC Chef Ambassador
On Tuesday, I was called to the SC Governor's Mansion to be recognized as a 2016 SC Chef Ambassador.