My second ever official Charleston Wine + Food event was “Havana on Hutson,” hosted at Victor Social Club on Hutson Alley. VSC is part of the Holy City Hospitality Group, which also encompasses Vincent Chicco’s and Michael’s on the Alley (among others). Here’s the recap:

Havana on Hutson

I was really excited for this event because I love Cuban food, and I’ve yet to find any really solid Cuban food in Charleston (although I have found this amazing Peruvian place, which is about as close as I’ve come). We started off with strawberry mojitos (made with local Red Harbor Rum), which were tangy and sweet and fun.

There was also some great live Cuban music out in the alley way that was perfect for the ambience and the warm weather.

The food was also delicious and creative. There was a lobster ceviche served with a plantain chip, coffee-rubbed ribeye with chimichurri sauce, a mini arepa bite, and fried empanada balls.

On-site was Justin Buchanan, who spoke at Pecha Kucha (and told us that our founding fathers were basically all alcoholics), who’s also one of the founders of Red Harbor Rum (which is really smooth and easy to sip on, I highly recommend you pick up a bottle!). He’s super friendly and very passionate about rum. He also very kindly posed for a picture for me, even though I’m sure I creeped him out.

They also had the guys from Southern Smoke bring their airstream-trailer-turned-smoking-lounge by for the event, and even though I don’t smoke and have no idea how cigars work (something about don’t inhale, but I’m not Bill Clinton, so I don’t know how that works). But it made me feel pretty cool just sitting in there and pretending to smoke a cigar, which also shows how effective the marketing campaign for tobacco has been, which is terrifying, but I digress…

Overall the event was really fun, and makes me look forward to returning to Victor Social Club on a normal night.