[Above: Cornbread-stuffed Quail, Johnnycakes, Soft-poached eggs with Hollandaise at HUSK]
If you’re ever in Charleston, South Carolina and you’re looking for a bite to eat, head to the corner of King and Queen and take your pick from three highly-touted restaurants, two of which I can vouch for being terrific. [The other, 82 Queen, was raved about by others in our group].
They serve up classic southern fare at Poogan’s Porch, including the softest, most pillowy biscuits mankind has ever seen served with a delicious apple honey butter. I had the Shrimp and Grits, they were absolutely spot-on.
Right next door to Poogan’s Porch is HUSK where Beard-award winning chef Sean Brock is doing some great things. First: The bar. It’s separate from the restaurant, in the alley between HUSK and Poogan’s Porch. They serve up serious craft cocktails [a sip of their Monkey Gland was quite nice] and local brews. Definitely worth a stop even if you’re not eating. Go up to the second floor and take a load off in the classy, red-leather decked, AC-blasted lounge area.
The restaurant itself is down-home but a little dressed up. The biscuits and gravy are a great starter, and my above pictured brunch was amazing. And they serve house-made pork butter with their rolls. It’s a little salty, but quite tasty.
After brunch, our wonderful waiter brought us each a small digestif of Txakoli (pronounced sha-co-LEE). I can’t remember ever having it before, or even hearing of the grape. Apparently it’s a specialty in the Spanish Basque country, and it’s exactly the kind of white wine I like – light, refreshing, citrusy, zippy, acidic. It smelled like Cava and went down like Vinho Verde. I made a point to track some down when I got back.
On Monday, I stopped by Solo Vino on Cathedral Hill [easily the best shop in town if you’re looking to track down a Spanish wine]. Not only did they have 3 different Txakolis but 2 or 3 Txakoli Roses.
Make sure to hit up Solo Vino this week for their Spring Wine Sale – all bottles 20% off through Saturday. I got the 2009 Amaztoi Txakolina [$15.99 on sale, $19.99 usually] and it’s a wonderful sip. It’s a very pale shade of straw, slightly fizzy with a nose full of minerals and even a kind of wheat-like quality. The sip has tingly acidity all over the place with some pears, more herbs and a dry, minerally finish. It just screams summer wine – try it with seafood or, probably best, all by itself in the 90-degree heat. Now if I could only track down some of that.