Around Town

Around Town

Soaking in the sun.

/ Claire / 2 Comments

Sarby did arrive soon after my post on Friday, and we immediately hit the town for some Charleston fun. Somehow we ended up taking very few pictures (which, if you know Sarby and me, is very uncharacteristic of us when we get together). But in this town it’s hard to have your eyes behind the shutter all the time when there is so much scenery to take in and fun to be had, which is exactly what occurred.

Sullivan’s Island on a very hoppin’ Saturday.

This photo doesn’t really do justice to how many people were out soaking in the sun on Saturday. You can start to see the Sullivan’s lighthouse in the distance and the crowd farther down near Station 22, but I always tend to go where the crowds are fewer. Our area was just perfect, along with the sun, sand and company.

Our food expeditions were once again fruitful. Jamey cooked Greek burgers, which we topped off with feta and red peppers on Greek buns. (I don’t know where Jamey got these, but they were definitely a good low-carb option. Apologies for not taking pictures.) After a luxuriating day at the beach, we returned to a pork butt in the smoker – my favorite smoking option, of course – and polished off our meal with garden sours (oh, and you so know I documented this whole affair – future post to come!)

Great weekend once again? I think that’s a hearty yes. And this coming one is already something I greatly anticipate, but you’ll find out more about that come Friday.

I won!

/ Claire / 8 Comments

Something awesome happened to me last night: I happened to be playing around on Twitter, saw a freebie contest via Charlie Magazine, and Tweeted my answer. Lo and behold I won! Not just anything, either: Jamey and I will be attending the first Dining with Whiting dinner series at Tristan.

I mean, really. Could they have picked a better winner?

We probably won't be eating this, but doesn't it look delicious?

Jamey will return tomorrow with a review of our Tristan meal. Get excited, since you know we will be documenting this like we do – and Tweeting, and probably Facebooking. So why not just follow us all over the Internet?

Thanks, @readCHARLIE and @TristanDining! Can’t wait for tonight.

Husk Dining and Mom Visits

/ Claire / 5 Comments

Oftentimes, I find it difficult to round-up a weekend when there’s so much to say of what went down. But this weekend is in need of a recap, since it’s one of those that stands out in a year of already so much excellence.

Friday evening Mom got in, and we hung around the house before making our way over to Husk. Now, my excitement for Husk has been palpable through several posts now. When we arrived at the bar for drinks before dinner, I was positively giddy. There, we found ourselves seated in the rafters of an old but new building – one decorated to tease the eye, transporting the diner to the rusted ambiance of a southern farm.

It’s a shame that the meal itself was not exactly the meal of my Husk dreams. Perhaps it didn’t help that my expectations were beyond high, but then again I was expecting to be blown away from start to finish. Continue reading →

Anticipation

/ Claire / 3 Comments

Isn’t there a song called “Anticipation”? I think there is. I need to fish around for this before I can fully post, since now I have some song that has “anticipation” in the lead lyrics stuck in my head.

Oh, now I am really lame. The version I just was singing in my head wasn’t even the original by Carly Simon…

…it was the Mandy Moore cover.

I may not be able to redeem myself.

BUT! Back to the origin of this post, and the reason why anticipation is indeed building.

Yes, we’re still getting married; yes, it’s still many months away; yes, Jamey and I do plan to adopt a puppy, but not (sadly!) yet.

We are going to be dining at Husk Restaurant in approximately two and a half weeks!

If you’re familiar with the Charleston dining scene at all, you’ll know that James Beard award-winning chef Sean Brock opened Husk last fall. To our delight, it’s not only a block and a half from our house downtown, but it’s on our street.

The New York Times captures one of Brock’s tantalizing new dishes in a review of Husk today:

And his Carolina Gold rice was served as if it were risotto, creamy and toothsome at once, with local mushrooms and an egg from Sea Island (its yolk the brightest orange), surrounded by a broth flavored with ham hocks. The dish managed to evoke the marshy salinity of the air that rises off the flats of the Cooper River at low tide, as dogs run into the water below the Carolina Yacht Club. This was the promise of Husk revealed, local cooking at its best.

The review alone makes me want to reread The Prince of Tides.

Perhaps you can now understand why my anticipation is indeed peaked. My mom will be coming in to town for her birthday that weekend, and I can’t think of a better way for her to ring in another year of her “thirties” than to experience Husk.  We have been looking for an excuse to check out our new neighbor down the block, and this definitely seems like the right time to do so.

So, Mama: get ready for an all-out Top Chef dining experience. Can’t wait to spend your birthday with you!