byteme55's Profile
101 Top Foods In Charleston
A friend who lives in Chas. sent this to me. I see so many wanting info about Charleston, I thought I would pass it along..........but to quote a friend of mine concerning Chas., "its all good!"
http://www.charlestoncitypaper.com/charleston/101-things-to-savor-slurp-and-suck-down-in-chucktown/Content?oid=3566191
where can I buy good stone ground grits?
I have been buying Lake Side grits lately. They are produced in an old mill in Rutherfordton N.C. and are sold at Reids, Food Lion and, I think, Publix. They are yellow grits and take a 4 to 1 ratio of water; other grits take a 3 to 1 ratio. If not good stone ground grits, they sure taste like they are.
Help in Augusta
La Cantina (not mexican)- out towards Clarks Hill Lake; really good Horno Steaks (cooked in large, very hot woodfired clay oven);
Crumbs- American / new south; good atmos. bluegrass on friday and jazz on saturday; I like the wine list. Good bar.
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La Cantina Restaurant
1750 Garrett Rd, Clarks Hill, SC 29821
The Basil Pot in Columbia S.C.
One of my wife's favorite restaurants was The Basil Pot, which is now closed. I am trying to find a copy of their cookbook. Any suggestions?
Bring On the Bloody Mary Recipes
A Bloody Mary (BM) at a bar is a beautiful thing. It covers all bases and the only common thread seems to be tomato product. The variations go from time of day to meal selection to types of ingredients. I am looking for good recipes. Got any?
byteme55
What's Your Favorite Domestic Beer and Why?
Terrapin Rye Pale Ale from Athens Brewing Co. (Georgia). Hops have sweet aroma and add noted flavor but not heavy or "tarry" or sticky; a light, sweet affect. Great aroma; great balance. If found on tap, exceptionally good nose. Adding rye gives it a more blended / balanced flavor and eliminates some of the noted graininess of some beers. The rye adds a good direction for flavor. A terrific beer that has plenty of flavor but is not too heavy.
Bleak prospects : Good food in the mountains of NC?
I recently visited Limones in Asheville. I really liked it. Surprisingly good seafood. Early Girl is good too, esp. breakfast.
Southern food recs in Asheville, NC
We live approx. midway bet. Chas and Asheville. For years when we wanted a special meal / weekend, we head to Chas....but Chas seems to be resting on their laurels (and unjustifyably pricey). We have been getting much more interesting, creative, and better prepped meals in Ashev.. The culinary skills gathering in the city are evident. The infrastructure of locally grown and prepared foods (especially the meat) is unique and is providing an experience that cannot be easily duplicated elsewhere.
Also Ashev. breweries and music scene = way cool. The city has a great vibe and everyone is so friendly. We are often in WNC to visit family and leaving a day early to hit Ashev. makes the trip much more fun.
Southern food recs in Asheville, NC
Went to Limones Thurs, 6/19/08. Good menu. Spoke to waiter and was informed seafood fresh, straight from Charleston. Opened with Civiche; fresh, timed right and really good. For the mains I got Horseradish-Potato crusted Seabass, wife got assorted seafoods. Both really good, perfectly cooked and obviously fresh. To point- the scallops were fresh and a lesson in perfect scallop searing. The Meyer Lemon cooked shrimp were delish and were cooked spot on. They also has a crab tamal that was totally unique and very flavorful. My seabass was tasty and cooked perfectly. Good desert menu also. Wines unique and good. Waiter knowledgeable and very helpful.
What I found to place them above most (Charleston included) was the freshness and the ability to cook seafood perfectly.
Not outstanding traits you would normally expect in the NC mountains.
Augusta Georgia
Hot Foods by Calvin- on the upper end of Broad St (near the Augusta National, toward downtown). It's the hardcore real deal.
Augusta Eats During the Masters
1- French Market Grille- Surrey Center or toward Jones Creek (there are 2 of them)-
IMHO, overall best in Augusta.
2- La Maison (very near Downtown)
3- Carolina BBQ (New Ellenton, SC (near Aiken- hardcore S.C. styled BBQ)
4- Villa Europa- German, Italian- good bar, unpretentious, killer deserts
5- La Cantina- Out a ways, make reservations, small, hard to find, great steak
6- Malias- Downtown Aiken- really good, small, make reservations
7- Cuzine- Downtown Aiken- Sharp new southern / fusion food.
Bourdain in South Carolina
I would have liked to have had some high end food featured also. Charleston is not all country cooking.
Good Eats in Augusta, GA
The demise of Cafe DuTeau is a sad loss. Been going there since it was Cafe Natural. Have not explored the dining scene in the Evans area; any suggestions?
Dinner in Augusta GA
Lots of chains. As far as recommendations, La Cantina (not mexican); near Clarks Hill. Call first. Hard to find.
Please help my friend in Statesboro/Savannah
This is the norm in practically all of the south. I do a lot of on-line ordering, learn recipes that adapt to local produce, have ferreted out local farmers (organic, free range eggs/poultry, butter, cheeses and country hams) and make food forays to Charleston and Atlanta.
Bat Cave, N.C.
Is the Caro-Mi still open? Outside of Columbus on the banks of the Pacolet.
Maggie Valley/Waynesville, NC
In Waynesville, a hard to find place with dinner only (arrive at set hour) place is the Heath Lodge. Well worth finding. Call ahead, get directions and instructions. Reservations a must. A truly off-the-beaten-path, very unique place with really good food.
Aiken, SC restaurants
Carolina BBQ is good (very similar to the famous Sweatmans and an excellent example of S.C. Q style), Malia's (downtown Aiken, reservations), Davors (downtown Aiken, in the alley, tapas+), Cuizine (downtown Aiken; www.cuizinerestaurant.com), French Maket Grille (Surry Center, Augusta Ga.; www.frenchmarketaugusta.com)
Camping advice...PLEASE!!!!!
I am assuming 2 coolers (one for food, one for drink)
1 large decent pot w/ lid (I like 12 qt)
Boiled shrimp, bagged, packed in cooler w/ container of sauce
Chopped or pulled bbq in bag in cooler (straight up or sandwiches)
whole cooked turkey breast (I like mine smoked) broken up, in bag in cooler (ham too)
crab legs (get the good ones)
sandwich stuff (pimento cheese, pb&j, sliced meats, etc)
steaks (grill top for fire can be oven rack)
one pot meals (pork loin cooked over sauerkraut and apples, crab legs with fresh asparagus steamed, low country boil, fish stew)
apples (or other fruits-mangos yum) / dried fruits / cheeses / boiled eggs w/ mustard and hot peppers / summer sausage / breads / yogurt with whatever (I like dry o.f. rolled oats) = no-cook breakfast! Hot summer camping, I take a large container of premade coffee, keep in cooler and drink it chilled.
Death of a good Restaurant
Went to one of our standard favorite restaurants recently. Unusually empty parking lot (it was always packed). All new faces; altered menu, tiny portions of flavorless greasy dried aging food. Will never go back. This has happened more times than I care to remember and it has happened to several of the iconic long-term standard bearers of good dining in our area.
Typically you have a good restaurant that has been around for years. Owners choose to move on; place in hands of offspring (or sold to new owners) who are victims of bad Restaurant Management Training. Changes are made- cheaper things, corners cut. Linens disappear, food begins sucking. Business drops off inspiring more cheapness and corner cuts. Results are a death spiral. Note to successful restaurants; to increase profits, RAISE PRICES!!!!!!!! People will pay for good food but nobody will pay for bad food. When I go into a restaurant and see the signs of terminal Restaurant Management Poisoning (smaller portions, aging food, food precooked and warmed til dishes are ordered, cut corners on ingredients and / or cooking techniques, consistently understaffed, institutional products, downscaling) it will not be very long before the doors are barred.
Note to Restaurant Management Training people- It is a RESTAURANT- not an accounting firm. People COME for the FOOD; not the money. Craptacular food = no customers.
Blowing Rock, NC: Twig's - why all the positive hoopla?
I have not tried Artisanal at Tynecastle but have tried several others in the area. I have found the high end restaurants universally.........disappointing. Two of my most disappointing restaurant experiences happened in Banner Elk. I say go for the mid to low level, predictable restaurants and you will be better off- BBQ joints, The Corner Palate and Daniel Boone Inn type stuff.
Good Eats in Augusta, GA
OK....Old School here.
French Market Grille- the best soft shell crabs I have had anywhere; fried in corn flour... and the Crab Chops a la Charles- made with applejack brandy- best she-crab soup this side of Charleston.....great marinated shrimp- fresh oysters (clamped shut and opened right before serving) on the half shell,and deserts to die for- and the blackened fish- the real deal, not shook on out of a can but burned on, black and hard.
Villa Europa- best German I have ate anywhere- Best Scallopini Picatta and a darn good Prime Rib also.....and the Prince Regent Cake; plus a great bar (the real deal liquors from around the world).
Kudo to Calverts and The Telfare Inn. Aiken also has some really good cutting edge food downtown (Cuzine, Malias, etc).....and do not forget La Cantina (not mexican) near Clarks Hill; best chunk of beef in S.C..
Knoxville Hounds - Fine Dining Recs.
The Knoxville area will offer plenty of regional foods if you are willing to ferret them out (delightful country hams, molasses, sorghums, pickled corn / beans, sourwood honey, apple butters, ramps, the small native creek trout with salmon-colored flesh, branch lettuce, etc.). Some of the near-by lakes even have salmon, musky and northern pike in them (Fontana). I read that someone is having success raising truffles in western NC. "The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook: Stories and Recipes for Southerners and Would-be Southerners" is an exceptional cookbook that has some good stuff about local dishes. I suspect that there are other cookbooks that are more mountain specific. Still when the desire for fine, world class dining overwhelms, the interstate that goes through downtown cuts through Ashville and ends in Charleston. Atlanta is also close enough for weekend get aways.
Beer Can Blunder !!
I like beer can chicken and cook it occasionally. Lately I have been wondering what actually goes on in the cooking process. It seems to me that the beer, considering it is covered by cold bird, the small amount of can surface facing the heat, the fact that the beer usually starts cold and the denseness of a solid liquid mass, does it really do much? I figure that the bird is only going to cook to 180 deg F anyway and little liquid would evaporate. I suspect that the beer / can keeps the heat from the cavity and forces the chicken to cook from the outside in, giving a nice crunchy skin and moist meat. If that is the case, many similar modifications that block cavity heat will work as well. That being said, I know I am overthinking this and should just enjoy what is. But does anyone think this is what happens?
Fayetteville NC
I plan to head to the Mash House Brewery again. Google website for menu. O.K. menu and award winning brews. Fayetteville is kinda basic. Chains and uniquely lit restaurants near mall area. Excellent 'Q (I have been told) near by in Dunn and Goldsboro.
Bostonhounds planning Charleston trip. Help!
If you don't mind riding approx. 1 hr. one way, Sweatmans BBQ outside of Holly Hill may be worth the trip. It is rustic and off the beaten track. Here is the review from Roadfood.
www.roadfood.com/Reviews/Writeup.aspx?ReviewID=350&RefID=350
Good Southern chains?
Fatz. Out of Spartanburg; like an Applebees but better and styled to southern regional (espec. s.c, n.c. and ga. coastal)...and one of the oldestl, S&S Cafeteria.
