Félix Chef Elizabeth Schultenover nails Parisian small plates (Charleston City Paper) Mar07

Félix Chef Elizabeth...

Front and center on their swanky website — well, right below the martini-quaffing frog GIF — Félix Cocktails et Cuisine declares its intent to serve “creative cocktails and small plates, all with the flare [sic] of today’s Paris.” Hardly a candle in the wind, Félix has...

Making culinary dreams come true in Charleston sometimes means being an itinerant chef (Charleston City Paper) Feb28

Making culinary drea...

In 2007, Los Angeles Chef Ludo Lefebvre introduced Ludo Bites, a series of temporary eateries that opened randomly across the city, lasted a few days or weeks, and then disappeared. Over the next decade, this trend spread, and a new term — as well as a culinary movement — was born. Pop-up...

With its unorthodox flavors, Tu can’t be pinned down (Charleston City Paper) Feb21

With its unorthodox ...

Let’s get real: Tu is cooler than me, and odds are it’s got one up on you. That’s okay though. As we all know, being seen with someone a little out of your league just improves your own mystique. And Tu is all that. Unabashedly hip, chic, and confounding, the menu reads...

Black Wood Smokehouse brings the smoke and the fire (Charleston City Paper) Feb06

Black Wood Smokehous...

Here is the equation. I’ll let you do the math. Strip mall + Barbecue Joint + West Ashley + Location that has changed hands more times than the Potato Head family = Cue Jaws theme song, right? But nope. It turns out this is some of that new math — the kind that doesn’t make any...

Purlieu is the French-inspired restaurant we’ve been waiting for (Charleston City Paper) Jan31

Purlieu is the Frenc...

Although I may not live long enough to see humanity achieve Star Trek-like teleportation abilities, a visit to John Zucker’s Purlieu is almost like living in the future. Beam yourself into the chic, tiny bistro, situated at the corners of President and Fishburne streets, and...

Warehouse continues to serve A+ bar eats under chef Jason Daly (Charleston City Paper) Jan17

Warehouse continues ...

Last August, shortly after appearing on Top Chef Charleston, Warehouse’s executive chef Emily Hahn announced that she would be leaving the popular bar to pursue a new project. Soon thereafter, Chef Jason Daly took over her post. Relocating from a remote island off of Maine, Daly...

Basic Kitchen serves up pleasing, mindful eats (Charleston City Paper) Jan03

Basic Kitchen serves...

In the common vernacular, to call anyone “basic” is pretty much an insult, indicating that one is an Uggs-wearing, pumpkin spice latte-loving simpleton content to try to keep up with the Kardashians. Although there’s house kombucha ($5), a smattering of smoothies and juices...

At NICO Oysters + Seafood, stick to the the fruits de mer (Charleston City Paper) Dec20

At NICO Oysters + Se...

Last January, roughly six months after leaving his near decade-long post at Fish, Chef Nico Romo announced he would be launching his own venture in the spring. Spring turned to summer and the “Coming soon!” sign continued to tease — if not torment — anyone driving down Coleman...

Wood & Grain is pizza heavy, but it’s the seafood that shines (Charleston City Paper) Dec13

Wood & Grain is...

Whoever first said ‘location, location, location’ probably didn’t have Wood & Grain in mind. Formerly the site of a nail spa in a strip mall off Shelmore, the restaurant has been strikingly transformed into a chic, sophisticated space. Set two doors down from sister...

What Ink N Ivy lacks in charming decor, it makes up for in solid bar fare (Charleston City Paper) Nov29

What Ink N Ivy lacks...

Having heard such foreboding utterances as “it’s like Ed Hardy threw up in there,” I must say I was quite relieved by my own first venture into Ink N Ivy. Where I had feared a schizophrenic, technicolor tattoo hallucination, the open space is surprisingly low-key, with high...

Southern Roots Smokehouse in Park Circle lacks the heat to compete (Charleston City Paper) Nov22

Southern Roots Smoke...

The restaurant business is very, very difficult. It demands the right combination of location, ownership, and staff, not to mention menu, ambiance, and dozens of other intangibles. Although it’s hard to put a finger on the exact elements that will lead to success, sometimes it’s...

Mt. Pleasant’s Grace & Grit delivers heavenly decadence (Charleston City Paper) Nov15

Mt. Pleasant’s...

G is for grace, grit, gastronomy, gluttony, and girth. Set in the Holiday Inn Express and Suites on Wingo Way in Mt. Pleasant, Grace & Grit provides a beautiful, airy space with a menu that promises to bring all these “G” words into your life, at least potentially. At its...

The Shellmore offers simple pleasures very slowly (Charleston City Paper) Oct25

The Shellmore offers...

Enter I’On Village and you’ll note The Shellmore Eatery and Wine Bar has an immediate upper hand. The glass-front entrance sits on a charming tree-lined lane. Once inside, there are high tin ceilings, polished tile floors, and wooden Parisienne chairs, lending to an ambience that is at once...

Kairos Greek Kitchen is what fast-casual should be (Charleston City Paper) Oct11

Kairos Greek Kitchen...

In his Dish article for City Paper, Chef John Ondo — former chef-owner of Italian restaurant Lana — explained that he left fine dining to try something less stressful in the fast casual world. Enter Kairos Greek Kitchen, which I kind of wish they’d named Pan, God of Shepherds, Hunters...

Edmund’s Oast remains superlative thanks to Chef Bob Cook (Charleston City Paper) Sep27

Edmund’s Oast ...

Less than 48-hours after Artisan Meat Share shuttered, Chef Bob Cook took the helm as executive chef at Edmund’s Oast, and Charleston exhaled in shared relief. Almost immediately, Chef Cook started tinkering with the establishment’s “gastropub” menu, nixing the beloved...

Pho Saigon brings solid Vietnamese food to James Island (Charleston City Paper) Sep20

Pho Saigon brings so...

Blame it on the rain, but the four, gray years I spent in Seattle inspired lingering obsessions with vibrant rubber boots, authentic Russian banyas, and steaming bowls of Vietnamese pho. Granted, the weather here is not always conducive to piping hot soup, but with winter on its way, folks on...

450’s generous servings make it a shoo-in for Sullivan’s success (Charleston City Paper) Sep13

450’s generous...

Filling in a notable dough/sauce/cheese gap in the Sullivan’s Island dining scene, The 450 Pizza Joint offers a casual, Italian-focused option in the former Taco Mamacita’s location. After triumphing over the nightmare that is parking on Middle Street, The 450 welcomes you with a...

1Kept’s menu is like a Top 40 list of twenty-teen hits (Charleston City Paper) Aug23

1Kept’s menu i...

Maybe it’s me, but 1Kept sounds like the name of a boy band, which somehow makes sense, as something about the restaurant reminds me of one. Occupying the space previously filled by Barony Tavern in the Renaissance Hotel, it’s hip, yet polished. There’s black silverware and...

Goulette plays it safe with a salad and duck fat frites formula (Charleston City Paper) Aug16

Goulette plays it sa...

While dining at Goulette, there is a consistent sense of being at the home of a gracious host, more than a stranger in a city restaurant. My first visit was on a slow Saturday night. When I inquired with the friendly, entertaining server as to ‘must tries,’ after a pause, he...

Coastal Crust offers creative offerings in a rowdy outdoor setting (Charleston City Paper) Aug02

Coastal Crust offers...

Originally just a food truck, Coastal Crust has set up permanent residence. Tucked behind Vintage Coffee & Cafe off Coleman Boulevard in Mt. Pleasant, there’s ample outdoor seating, a campfire smell in the air, and a boisterous playground vibe. If you’re looking for a place...