Food scene in Charleston, South Carolina is buzzing
The city has grown into a food lover’s paradise, with tradition and taste woven into every bite
Updated: 8:20 PM EDT May 13, 2024
FLAVOR DANCE TOGETHER IN THE WARM BREEZE. CHARLESTON HAS BECOME SOMEWHAT OF A FOOD HUB IN THE COUNTRY. PEOPLE TRAVEL HERE TO EAT THE CITY HAS GROWN INTO A FOOD LOVER’S PARADISE, WITH TRADITION AND TASTE WOVEN INTO EVERY BITE. THE GENTLE SWAY OF THE TIDES MEETING THE HANDS OF LOCALS. HERE, CATCHING WHAT YOU COOK IS MORE THAN JUST A PASTIME. IT’S A WAY OF LIFE. HAVING THAT CONNECTION WITH THE FOOD YOU’RE EATING LIKE IT FILLS YOUR HEART ALONG WITH YOUR BELLY. TIA CLARK IS A CHARLESTON NATIVE WHO RUNS CASUAL CRABBING WITH TIA. DEFINITELY A KEEPER. AFTER A HEALTH BATTLE, SHE FOUND HER LOVE FOR BEING BY THE WATER THANKS TO A FAMILY OUTING WE CALL IT BLUE CRABS. WE CAUGHT SHRIMP AND WE CAUGHT A FISH, AND THAT WAS THE FIRST DAY THAT I EVER CAUGHT AND COOKED WITH MY FOOD, AND IT MADE ME LOSE MY MIND. I MEAN, ABSOLUTELY LOSE MY MIND NOW TIA IS SHARING THAT LOVE FOR HER HOMETOWN AND THE OCEAN WITH TOURISTS WHO VISIT. THIS IS MY LOVE LETTER TO MY HOMETOWN BY ME HOSTING THIS EXPERIENCE AND FINDING MYSELF HERE NEXT TO THE WATER, I GET TO GUIDE PEOPLE THAT COME TO CHARLESTON AND MAKE SURE THAT THEY DO THINGS IMPORTANT FOR THIS CULTURE. THE EXPERIENCE TEACHES PEOPLE OF ALL AGES HOW TO CATCH BLUE CRABS FROM A DOCK NEAR THE HEART OF THE CITY. CRABS LIKE CHICKEN, SO WE HAVE CHICKEN AND BASKETS. NOTHING BEATS THE FEELING OF CATCHING YOUR FIRST CRAB. WE’RE GOING TO DO IT THE MORE TRADITIONAL WAY CALLED NECKING OR HANDLINING, WHICH IS YOU JUST PUT A PIECE OF CHICKEN ON A STRING, THROW IT OUT IN THE WATER. YEAH. CLARK LEFT HER JOB IN THE RESTAURANT INDUSTRY TO DO SOMETHING SHE LOVES, AND SHE’S NEVER LOOKED BACK. THIS IS MY OFFICE NOW. I HAD NO CONNECTION WITH THE FOOD THAT I WAS EATING MY WHOLE LIFE. AND IT REALLY JUST BROUGHT ME BACK. FROM NET TO BOILING POT, EACH CRAB TELLS A STORY OF THE SEA. I USED THE LOCALITY OF THE SOFT SHELL AND TIED IT IN WITH MY NEW ENGLAND ROOTS. SO? SO I TOOK A HOME STYLE BISCUIT AND I SMOTHERED IT. NOT WITH SAUSAGE GRAVY, BUT WITH NEW ENGLAND CLAM CHOWDER. A STORY THAT FINDS ITS WAY TO THE TABLES OF CHARLESTON’S MANY RESTAURANTS. CHEF MARCUS SHELL, THE DIRECTOR OF CULINARY AT UPTOWN HOSPITALITY GROUP, IS ORIGINALLY FROM NEW BEDFORD AND HAS TRANSPORTED CLASSIC NEW ENGLAND FLAVORS DOWN SOUTH. THERE ARE THINGS IN NEW ENGLAND THAT WE’RE KNOWN FOR, LIKE A CLAM BAKE. IS THERE ANYTHING COMPARABLE HERE IN CHARLESTON? CHARLESTON HAS LOW COUNTRY SEAFOOD BOILS, DEWEY SAUSAGE, CORN ON THE COB, POTATO, CLAMS, MUSSELS THAT TIMELESS LOW COUNTRY TRADITION, AND MORE HAVE DRAWN GENERATIONS TO THE SHORES OF BONES ISLAND, NEAR FOLLY BEACH. WE ARE PROBABLY MOST FAMOUS FOR OUR STEAMED WILD LOCAL OYSTERS. MOST NEW ENGLANDERS ARE PROBABLY NOT USED TO OPENING OYSTERS IN A CLUSTER OR DOING THEM LIKE A TRADITIONAL OYSTER ROAST THAT WE CALL DOWN HERE. HOPE HARBOR MANAGES BOWEN’S ISLAND RESTAURANT. SHE IS THE FOURTH GENERATION OF THIS FAMILY RUN BUSINESS. MY GREAT GRANDMOTHER BOUGHT THIS ISLAND BACK IN 1946 FOR AROUND $3,900, AND AT THE TIME SHE PURCHASED IT, IT DID NOT HAVE A CAUSEWAY, SO YOU HAD TO WAIT TILL IT WAS HIGH TIDE AND ROW OUT HERE IN A BOAT. YOU CAN STILL GET HERE BY BOAT, BUT THERE’S A ROAD NOW TO INCREDIBLE VIBE. YOU WALK UP, YOU JUST KNOW THAT THE FOOD IS GOING TO BE INCREDIBLE BEFORE YOU EVEN WALK INTO THE BUILDING. A FIRE DESTROYED THE BUILDING IN 2006, BUT THE RHYTHM OF LAUGHTER AND AROMA OF FRIED SEAFOOD CAME ROARING BACK, WINNING THE RESTAURANT A JAMES BEARD CLASSIC AWARD. THE VIBE IS KIND OF COASTAL, KIND OF FISH CAMP, KIND OF LIKE A FAMILY WITH FRIENDS AND FAMILY GATHERED AROUND THE TABLE. AND AS DAY TURNS TO DUSK, THERE’S ONLY ONE THING LEFT TO DO. I HONESTLY THINK THAT WE HAVE THE BEST SUNSET IN THE CHARLESTON AREA TO TOAST THOSE BEAUTIFUL VIEWS. CHEERS! THIS SOUTHERN SEAFOOD JOURNEY IS ONLY MISSING ONE THING THE NECTAR OR TABLE WINE OF THE SOUTH. IT’S REALLY GOOD. ANY GUESSES? A LOT OF PEOPLE CLAIM TO HAVE OWNED SWEET TEA IN THE SOUTH. TEA HAS BEEN A BIG PART OF SOUTH CAROLINA. THAT’S RIGHT, SWEET TEA. BUT THIS TIME IT TASTES LIKE YOUR GRANDMA’S SWEET TEA WITH A KICK. YES, AT FIREFLY DISTILLERY, THEY’RE MAKING SWEET TEA. VODKA. SCOTT KNEW IT ALONG WITH HIS PARTNER, HAVE RUN THE OPERATION SINCE 2005. WE CAME UP WITH THE WORLD’S FIRST SWEET TEA VODKA, WHICH WAS A BIG HIT. WE WENT FROM ONE STATE TO 50 STATES IN NINE MONTHS, INCLUDING NEW ENGLAND. YOU CAN GO TO MARTHA’S VINEYARD, YOU CAN GO TO CAPE COD, YOU CAN GO, I’M FOR SALE ON THIS AWESOME BARS. THE INGREDIENTS ARE SIMPLE. THERE ARE ONLY THREE. THIS IS OUR VODKA, TEA AND SUGAR. AND IT JUST TASTES LIKE SWEET TEA. ALONG SIDE THEIR SWEET TEA VODKA. FIREFLY MAKES MORE THAN 30 OTHER SPIRITS FROM WHISKEY TO FLAVORED MOONSHINE AND IN A VERY POPULAR LEMONADE VODKA BURSTING WITH FLAVOR FROM SIP TO BITE. THE FLAVORS OF CHARLESTON CELEBRATE TRADITION, INNOVATION AND COMMUNITY. COME BACK TO BOWEN’S ISLAND, EVERYONE. WELCOME TO LEAVE THEIR MARK AS WE’RE SEEING. ABSOLUTELY. YOU CAN WRITE YOUR NAME ON THE WALL. AND OF COURSE, WE LEFT OUR CHRONICLE SIGNATURE IN A DOORWAY IN THE MAIN RESTAURANT. WE HAD TO LEAVE OUR MARK AS WELL, PROOF THAT WE WERE THERE, PROOF THAT WE WERE AS WELL AS ALL THE VIDEOS. NOW YOU GOT TO GO CHECK IT OUT AND FI
Food scene in Charleston, South Carolina is buzzing
The city has grown into a food lover’s paradise, with tradition and taste woven into every bite
Updated: 8:20 PM EDT May 13, 2024
Charleston has become a food lover’s paradise. From catching what you cook with Tia Clark and her Casual Crabbing with Tia experience to taking in sunsets and eating low country boil with a beautiful sunset at Bowen’s Island Restaurant, there is something for everyone.”Having that connection with the food you’re eating, it fills your heart along with your belly,” says Clark, who teaches people of all ages to catch blue crabs from a dock near the heart of the city.”The vibe is very, kind of coastal kind of fish camp, kind of seafood shack and kind of like a family,” says Hope Barber, manager of Bowen’s Island Restaurant.New Bedford native Marcus Shell of Uptown Hospitality creates dishes melding New England and Southern flavors.Need something to wash down all the good eats? Sweet tea is the table wine of the south and Firefly distillery created sweet tea vodka, which tastes like your grandma’s sweet tea — with a kick!
Charleston has become a food lover’s paradise. From catching what you cook with Tia Clark and her Casual Crabbing with Tia experience to taking in sunsets and eating low country boil with a beautiful sunset at Bowen’s Island Restaurant, there is something for everyone.
“Having that connection with the food you’re eating, it fills your heart along with your belly,” says Clark, who teaches people of all ages to catch blue crabs from a dock near the heart of the city.
“The vibe is very, kind of coastal kind of fish camp, kind of seafood shack and kind of like a family,” says Hope Barber, manager of Bowen’s Island Restaurant.
New Bedford native Marcus Shell of Uptown Hospitality creates dishes melding New England and Southern flavors.
Need something to wash down all the good eats? Sweet tea is the table wine of the south and Firefly distillery created sweet tea vodka, which tastes like your grandma’s sweet tea — with a kick!
This article was originally published by a www.wcvb.com . Read the Original article here. .