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Taste of Charleston

October 25, 2013

This year, I was fortunate enough to be asked to be a blogger correspondent for the Southern Living Taste of Charleston on behalf of Delta Faucet. In exchange for them paying for my ticket, the cost of transportation, and giving me 2 Delta Touch2o faucets, all I had to do was show up, eat a bunch of delicious food, and then tell you guys all about it. So, here goes.

Pre-Event: Welcome Dinner at Circa 1886

Saturday night before the event, I was invited to a welcome dinner at Circa 1886. This was great because I got to meet the other blogger correspondents, people from Delta and Southern Living (including Southern Living Test Kitchen Editor Norman King), and I got a free dinner at an amazing restaurant. Here are some pictures:

Candied Bacon Slider

Crab spring roll

Prix fixe menu at Circa 1886.

Rice flour plantation roll with orange-infused butter

Shot of Shrimp and Grits soup with organic white truffle oil.

Rice paper-wrapped romaine heart salad with spicy pecan dressing & mini cornbread muffin…have I mentioned how much I hate rice paper? It freaks me out.

Pan-seared organic chicken with hoppin’ John risotto, grilled asparagus, and a truffle and chive demi glace.

Pineapple upside down cake with caramel sauce and vanilla ice cream

The Main Event: The Southern Living Taste of Charleston 2013

Lily and I arrived hungry and only a little hungover bright and early Saturday afternoon. We were prepared to feast, and feast we did. Enjoy!

Such a beautiful drive into Boone Hall Plantation.

Taste of Charleston!

So Many People

Gouda macaroni and cheese with Cheerwine glazed short ribs from Mosaic.

Cornmeal and maple bacon waffle and crispy fried chicken slider from Mosaic.

Ground filet and pork belly sliders with herb whipped goat cheese and pickled red onions on sweet yeast roll from Graze

Pulled pork and collared green mac and cheese from Graze, aka my favorite thing ever.

Chicken pot pie fritter from The Sanctuary at Kiawah.

Tomato Pie from Carpentier’s Wine & Dine. Probably my least favorite thing we got.

BBQ Pork Sundae with cole slaw, baked beans, and BBQ pork. from the Culinary Institute. Not the best, but also not the worst.

Norman King “The Way To Fry” Fried Green Tomato Demo

Norman frying up some green tomatoes

The finished product: Fried Green Tomato Po’boys with pepper jelly sauce and citrus-ginger aioli.

Selfies, because we’re narcissists.

The waiter’s race

Ice carving

Lobster, applewood smoked cheddar cheese, and creamed corn chowder with a buttermilk biscuit from Halls Chophouse (actually the best thing we had at Taste of Charleston).

Basically, it was so much fun, I ate way too much (Seriously, Halls, you should definitely put that chowder on the menu if it isn’t already), and I’m so fortunate to have had Delta Faucet as a sponsor for this event. I can’t wait to go back next year! Thanks so much!

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Charleston, SC Restaurant Reviews

Cru Café

August 16, 2013

Cru is in a little historic house off of Market Street downtown Charleston. The house is really cute, but when you come in the front door, they only have one room for seating, so they have as many tables and chairs shoved in there as possible. If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to eat when crammed into a tiny space with a bunch of strangers, sitting so close that you can’t help but overhear everything that everyone is saying in the whole restaurant, then Cru is definitely the place for you.

Basically this. Minus the dog.

But enough about the atmosphere, let’s move on to the food. We got some bread before our appetizers, which was very good. I would’ve liked it a if they’d toasted it a bit, but it was still good.

Yup. Looks like bread.

We started with the fried green tomatoes with smoked pork belly and feta cheese ($10.50). Phenomenal. Seriously, probably the best FGT I’ve ever had. And the smoked pork belly was out of this world. Seriously, I’d go back just for these puppies.

That smoked pork belly might actually be ambrosia.

We also got the pecan fried brie with fig compote and local honey ($10.25). I managed to get one bite of it before he demolished it all. That one bite was quite tasty, and judging from the way he “forgot” to share, he really enjoyed it as well.

Ben ate it so fast I didn't get a picture. Picture courtesy of Loo on Urbanspoon.

He ate it so fast I didn’t get a picture. Picture courtesy of Loo on Urbanspoon.

For my entree, I got the center cut Tuna steak, medium rare ($28). I thought it was good (not great), but that was probably my own fault. Everyone says you should get it rare, but I’m one of those weird people who like it more on the “well-done” side. I got it medium rare because the waiter insisted that any higher is blasphemy. I think I would’ve loved it had I gotten it cooked the way I wanted it to. The lady at the table next to us loved hers though, so I guess it’s just a matter of personal preference.

It looks so good, though.

The person I was with got the BBQ Berkshire Pork Osso Bucco with Mepkin Oyster Mushrooms and Haricot Vert, Mash Potato, Smoked Tomato Demi ($23.95). It was really delicious. The pork literally fell off the bone and the mashed potato tasted homemade. He loved it and he had enough to take home extras.

Pork shoulder never looked so good.

We also ordered some sides to split. The first was Cru’s famous four cheese macaroni ($8.50). Made with orecchiette, cheddar, pepper jack, fontina, and mozzarella. It was killer. Really, really good.

Cheesy goodness.

The only thing we were disappointed with during the whole meal was the truffle parmesan fries ($6). Shoestring fries with truffle and parmesan were just not on par with the rest of the meal. Something about the shoestring fries felt cheap, definitely not worth $6.

They neglect to tell you that they bring you a mountain-sized portion of fries.

If you haven’t been to Cru Cafe yet, I highly recommend you go. I for one, can’t wait to go back.

Photo courtesy of Dilwyne Designs

Cru Cafe
18 Pinckney St
Charleston, SC 29401
(843) 534-2434