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.
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
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!
I’ve been working on something lately that’s required me to spend a lot of time on the Circa 1886 website. I’ve been reading reviews and perusing the menu and I want to go there so badly I can TASTE IT. Here’s hoping someone will go there with me, wink wink nudge nudge *coughlaurencough* Anywho, when I go, I’m going to go all out. I’m only upset I missed the restaurant week menu.
So this week’s quote is me dreaming of eating at Circa 1886, but it also holds true to any gourmet restaurant/meal situation, and really life in general.
“A gourmet meal without a glass of wine just seems tragic to me somehow.”
–Kathy Mattea
One too many glasses of wine, and you'll end up sitting on the floor like this, too.