Travel Dining: Charleston, SC

I've been dying to get back to Charleston for ages. It seems every time you turnaround you hear about all the ridiculously good eats people like Sean Brock and Mike Lata are dishing out in Charleston, so I orchestrated a family trip up recently to see (and taste) for myself.

With just 125K people and small town charm to spare, you wouldn't expect to have such an abundance of choices at all price ranges, but Charleston in fact has an enviable roster of world class restaurants. After much researching, I selected Husk (natch!), The Ordinary, Hominy Grill and Xiao Bao Biscuit.

Husk

Husk generates more buzz for Charleston than any other spot. Sean Brock is a chef's chef, and you always hear about his hyper local approach. I worried that with such high expectations, it wouldn't live up to the hype, but thankfully I was wrong. The setting is elegant, and the service gracious. I especially liked that the server gave me the straight scoop when I asked whether the steak on the menu that night was a must-have or the option for the non-adventurous (it was the latter).

Crispy Pigs' Ears Lettuce Wraps at Husk

My favorite dish of the night turned out to be one we didn't order. They were kind enough to offer us a taste of the crispy pigs' ear lettuce wraps from that day's lunch menu, and they were the business. Imagine the best bacon you've ever had, and you'll get an idea of what Husk's crispy pigs' ears are like. Another favorite was the duck confit, which was full of rich, fatty flavor. It's a must order if you're lucky enough to spot it on the menu when you go.

Hominy Grill

Charleston is as genteel Southern as it gets, and Hominy Grill is the perfect choice for classic Southern dishes. Jalapeno hushpuppies, fried chicken and she-crab soup were exactly the type of regional cuisine you fantasize about when you think of Southern food. The meal was heavy for sure, but worth every crispy fried bite!

The Ordinary

Mike Lata's The Ordinary is an oyster house in an old bank. The space is grand and chic, perfect for a date night. It's Charleston's version of Atlanta's much heralded Optimist, and dare I say it? I think I prefer The Ordinary. Every single bite of food that passed my lips was heavenly. Now that's saying something because I'm not even that into seafood.

A selection of raw oysters were plump, briny little gems. Fried oyster sliders served on sweet little buns with a spicy slaw were perhaps the best I've ever had. The soft bread imparted an almost tropical flavor that balanced perfectly with the spicy and salty flavors of the slaw and lightly breaded oyster. I could eat a whole plate of just these.

Amberjack Schnitzel at The Ordinary

An amberjack schnitzel was also incredible. I've had seafood schnitzels before, and they were good, but this was remember it for years to come delicious. I especially loved the tangy lemony sauce and the just right crispness of the fish.

Xiao Bao Biscuit

Asian food in Charleston? Yes, I almost missed out on this hotspot because I was so dubious of it. Fortunately, we trusted Bon Appetit's raves and checked out this no reservations restaurant housed in an old gas station and found it to be hipster cool and surprisingly tasty. They offer a melange of Asian cuisines with dishes hailing from Japan, Thailand, China and Vietnam. The food is frequently fiery, to the extent that I couldn't eat as much as I might have liked of some dishes (yes, I'm a wuss).

Okonomiyaki at Xiao Bao Biscuit

The Japanese okonomiyaki ( a Japanese cabbage pancake) with egg and pork candy was a standout. It's sweet and savory elements were a nice foil to the heat of other items we ordered. The Mapo Wings were sticky sweet and hot and made with broad bean, chili and sichuan peppercorns. I'll take these over run of the mill buffalo wings any day!

Despite all of my research, every trip has its disappointments, but I can honestly say that every spot we dined at in Charleston was just as good, if not better than I'd hoped. We considered brunch at the Macintosh on our way out of town, but we were so full that we decided to wait for our next visit. That's saying something considering how good their menu looked. I cannot recommend these restaurants highly enough, and I'm already looking forward to future visits to this lovely culinary mecca!

Quick Bites: Canton House for Dim Sum

I love me some buns. Preferably of the barbecued pork variety. So it was with visions of char siu bao dancing in my head that I headed to Canton House on Buford Highway. We usually get dim sum at Hong Kong Harbor, which is super close by and does the trick but isn't on anyone's short list of the best dim sum in town. Little did I know that Canton House has a way bigger selection including a number of dishes I've never seen at a dim sum spot before.

I've been missing out all this time! I was settling for just shumai and char siu bao when I could have been indulging in litchi buns and something our waiter called little footballs that involved a gelatinous wrapping around a delectable porky interior. Everything we tried from the typical to the exotic was delish. Granted, the way we do dim sum is a bit carb intensive, but oh those fillings are hard to resist!

The food came fast and furious, and our hipster dim sum waiter was surprisingly friendly compared to the typical aloof dim sum service. Within an hour, we were stuffed silly and had only a $28 bill to show for it. So if you're craving dim sum, Canton House is definitely worth the hype. Just be sure to get there early. They were jam packed by the time we were leaving around 12:30 on a Sunday.

Canton House
4825 Buford Hwy NE  
Chamblee, GA 30341

Detroit Dining: We Came, We Celebrated, We Ate

Welcome back from the holidays, fair readers. It was a nice long break for me! A good chunk of my time off was spent in Michigan, land of cars, wolverines and my honey's family!

So I thought I'd kickoff off the new year with a quick round up of what went down in my hubby's hood.

The rather scary and snowy drive from Michigan back to Atlanta

It's hard to believe, but I've just entered the home stretch of my pregnancy (2 trimesters down, 1 to go!) I was lucky enough over the break to be feted by my mother-in-law and my hubby's family and friends up in Michigan. The Courthouse Grill was kitted out with Christmas decorations galore, and served up a lovely luncheon of chicken cherry salad, chicken primavera and my personal fave, chicken picatta. Good conversation, tasty eats and loads of adorable and generous gifts for Baby V...what's not to love? A huge thank you to everyone for the wonderful gifts and especially to my mother-in-law for putting on such an all around delightful event!

Little know fact (at least in our neck of the woods) - Dearborn, MI, is not only home to Ford Motor Company, but also to America's largest population of Arab Americans. That makes for some good middle eastern dining options. We dined at Al-Ameer Restaurant, which is tucked away in an unassuming strip mall. The ambiance was better than I expected. I was envisioning hole in the wall, but it was a pleasant and fairly traditional feeling dining room.


We have plenty of places in Atlanta to get hummus and falafal, but how many places serve lesser known options like arayes or sujuk? I loved the arayes' combination of textures and flavors, with crisp toasted bread housing crunchy pinenuts and garlicy lamb. Dipping it in a cool, sour yogurt, made it even better. Sujuk is a delectable combination of slightly spicy sausage cooked with tomatoes in a tart sauce. We used pita to scoop up every last bit of tomatoey goodness.


Fried eggplant and cauliflower, although not quite as exciting as I'd hoped for, still rounded out the meal nicely. Bizarrely, they come with a side of fries, so it was a Middle Eastern fried bonanza. Al Ameer is also known for their smoothies. We were keen to try an avocado based smoothie, but they were out so we opted for the recommended milk cocktail (milk, banana, honey, and ice), which was unfortunately pretty bland.


And last up on our dining out in Michigan tour was a stop at Ann Arbor's beloved Zingerman's Roadhouse, a kitschy and cozy upscale comfort food favorite. While we waited I enjoyed a root beer on tap, which is quite the treat when you're el prego. Then we were fortunate enough to get a freebie order of Sea Island Sweet Potato Fries (twice cooked and served with spicy mayo), which although simple, were crazy delicious. So soft and sweet and that sauce was to die for!

For my entree, I went for the fried chicken, and was unfortunately disappointed by that. It seemed a little overcooked and under-salted. Fortunately we also split an order of pimento Bacon Macaroni (Martelli pasta caramelized with applewood smoked bacon and our housemade Southern pimento cheese). At $18.50, it ain't cheap, but there was plenty for 3 of us to share, and it was just as ooey gooey decadent as you'd expect. Yum!

Add to that several impressive home-cooked meals (spaghetti and meatballs, honey glazed ham and roasted turkey...oh my!), and we were well fed indeed. Now on to those New Year's resolutions to cut down on the heavy food and sweets...sigh...

Toronto Dining: Okonomi House Restaurant

I've been awol from the blogosphere as of late due to a flurry of business and personal travel. Last week saw me in Atlanta, LA, NYC and Toronto! With all that travel comes all sorts of interesting dining.

I'd always heard Toronto had a culturally diverse dining scene so I set out in search of something unique and ethnic. In the Yorkville neighborhood I stumbled upon Okonomi House Restaurant. To most, Japanese food means sushi, hibachi, or maybe izakaya, but not so at Okonomi House.

"Okonomi" is Japanese for "favorite," and the favorite here is a stuffed pancake of sorts - Okonomiyaki. There are a variety of choices including bacon, seafood and veggies. I opted for the pork. It's an eggy pancake with crispy edges, a sweet barbecue-like sauce and a dollop of a mayo sauce.

One is is more than enough, and much like I do with traditional omelets, I ran out of steam before I was done. There's just something about all that egg that fills me up rather quickly. Not to say it wasn't good though - I enjoyed the unusual combination of flavors and left plenty full for less than $10 USD. If I had it again, I might ask them to go a little easier on the bbq sauce so I could distinguish the other ingredients more.

This strikes me like an interesting recipe to try at home, too. Quick dinner, eh? (yes, I'm getting into the Canuck spirit!) Lo and behold, I've found an entire site dedicated to the okonomiyaki. Get the recipe here.

The restaurant is also a perfect spot for a solo diner. In fact there were three others flying solo while I was there. I was bummed that I didn't get to try one of Toronto's more renowned spots like Black Hoof or Note Bene, but there's always next time...

Okonomi House Restaurant
23 Charles St W
Toronto, ON M4Y

Quick Bites: The Bazaar by Jose Andres

Not content to sit around while Mr. AT jaunted off to Italy, I headed last weekend to visit my beloved friends, Paul and James, for a weekend in my former hood - Los Angeles. I lived there for several years and now love to visit my dashing pals for great food and even better company.

No trip to LA is complete without a sceney night out. Fortunately Bazaar combines all of the glamour you hope for in a LA hotspot with top notch molecular gastronomy small plates from renowned chef, Jose Andres. The restaurant is huge, loud and oh so swanky. The bar area comes complete with fascinating portraits that change from fuddy duddy old men into their simian counterparts. You just can't stop staring!

I was at a tableful of oh so fabulous men, so I ceded all menu control. The food came fast and furious and was universally interesting and delectable. One of the drawbacks of molecular gastronomy is that tastiness is often sacrificed in favor of surprise. Andres manages to pull off both.

One stand out was the  Cotton Candy Fois Gras which is just as weird as it sounds. It appears to be cotton candy but biting into it reveals its rich, creamy center. Even better was the "not your everyday Caprésé." It looked normal enough, but the mozzarella turned out to be liquified, literally bursting in your mouth - a pleasant and delectable surprise!

Papas Canarias were more traditional but no less successful. These tender, wrinkled potatoes are covered in crystallized salt, which is nicely offset by a mojo verde dipping sauce. Surprisingly given their intense saltiness, these little taters aren't salted, rather, they absorb the salt from their boiling water.

But my favorite dish of all were the "Philly Cheese Steaks." They are of course not what they seem. Andres' take on the hearty classic uses air bread, which is essentially a light air filled bread akin to a roll without any filling. Injected into that is a gooey warm cheddar, and it's topped off with succulent Wagyu beef. Wow! I could eat a whole plate of these. It's love, really.

In the midst of all that deliciousness, I also managed to see Neil Patrick Harris. How's that for an LA night?

My only quibble is that Bazzar has a weird anti-knife agenda and everything has to be eaten with a spoon or a fork. Not always easy. They gave me one when I asked, but I find it odd that it's not standard there. Also a bummer was that our bill was split incorrectly, to my detriment. I realize that it's nice of them to even be willing to split the bill at all, but I'm not sure how the single girl at dinner ended up with the biggest share of a bill that was supposed to be evenly split. Oh well, it was well worth the extra dough.

Bazaar is both scene and substance, which is a rare find indeed! I'll be drifting off to sleep now dreaming of philly cheesesteaks....


The Bazaar by Jose Andres
SLS Hotel at Beverly Hills
465 S La Cienega Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90048
Phone: 310-246-5567