As LCBF and I have now returned to unseasonably cold Berlin weather, it seems like a good time to reflect on our trip to unseasonably warm Charleston last week. As with our Savannah trip, we found some good (and some not-so-good) eats. At first, I just wanted to harvest this delicious looking swiss chard I spotted growing in flower boxes around the city. Urban foraging, y'all.
Ultimately, however, we decided to visit actual restaurants. Highlights and reviews after the jump.
The Good
Alluette's Cafe
80A Reid Street
Nestled next to an ABC package store (that's a liquor store for those of you not familiar with the South), this little cafe didn't look like much on the outside, but once we walked in we were soothed by the warm interior and the greeting we received from Alluette herself as well as our server. Both women chatted with us for a few minutes about where we were from and where we were headed in a way that made us feel like we had wandered into someone's kitchen and were offered a seat at the table. In a sense, this is exactly what we had done. The open kitchen layout allows for views of Alluette preparing your meal to order and the dining room is small and intimate with just a few tables inside and a few more outdoors. We arrived at an odd hour (around 3:00--a late lunch) and had the place nearly to ourselves.
Part of the restaurant's inspiration occurred when a battle with cancer caused Alluette Jones-Smalls to rethink the food we put into our bodies. An all-organic "Holistic Soul" food menu with vegetarian and vegan-friendly dishes reflects her commitment to using fresh, local ingredients. The blackboard listing the daily specials also proudly proclaims: "This is a no-pork cafe" and "Vegans welcome." Alluette's soul food features big flavors, a little heat, and surprising food combinations. You might not get exactly what you ordered (slaw instead of fries or shredded vegetables instead of sprouts), but you'll like what you're served. The cafe is a "slow food" movement adherent ("good food takes time," another sign reminds diners) and I'd been warned that I could expect to wait a good long time to eat, but we didn't find the wait to be excessive. The whole meal took maybe 30-40 minutes, from the time we sat down to the time we left. Not long at all, really.
Alluette's has recieved some good press lately from everything from local mags to the venerable Southern Living and O Magazine, and our food didn't disappoint. We started with cups of soup: Vegetarian Organic Lima Bean for me and Fish Stew for LCBF. The lima bean soup was excellent--creamy beans in a broth base with lots of rosemary and some red pepper flakes that gave the dish a nice bit of heat. LCBF reported that his stew was also terrific, "fishy in a pleasant way," he noted.
After our soups, I opted for the Hummus Sandwich: hummus, tomato, spinach, red onion, and shredded sweet vegetables on a whole grain bread with a mayo-type spread. The sandwich was very good as well. The bread was fantastic and the hummus had the same red pepper heat as the soup. It was a nice twist--soul food hummus instead of the bright lemon and earthy tahini Mediterranean variety. The shredded sweet vegetables were a nice surprise as well (the menu listed sprouts). They lended a bit of heft to the sandwich. LCBF had the Geechi Girl Burger--a Gullah-style sirloin burger, which he loved.
We were too full for dessert when we finished, but we decided to get a couple cookies to go (I like a little wandering food to nibble on while exploring a new town). I decided on a Ginger Cookie and LCBF opted for the Chocolate Chip. The ginger was fantastic. It tasted more like a soft gingerbread cookie than a gingersnap. The chocolate chip was good too, but not as much of a standout.
Bakehouse Bakery Cafe
160 East Bay Street
The Fun
Cupcake
433 King Street
When we saw this cupcake shop on King Street, I tried to walk by without stopping, really, I did. But then the light changed and, well, in I went. The cupcakes were topped with towers of icing that looked as if they had come from a soft serve machine. How could I resist? We settled on a pumpkin one to take home with us. The icing turned out to be cream cheese and the cupcake tasted like pumpkin bread--more muffin-y than cupcake-like. It was tasty, but our favorite cupcake is still the red velvet at Savannah's Back in the Day Bakery.
Robot Candy Co.
322 King Street
We made another impulse King Street stop at Robot Candy Co. I'm a sucker for inflatable dinosaurs (really! I own one!) and this shop has an enormous one in the window. Full of nostalgia candies in addition to contemporary sweets, the store smells like what being a kid felt like. We picked up some chocolate-covered animal crackers for dad who likes both chocolate and animal crackers. Win-win.
The Unremarkable
Eli's Table
129 Meeting Street
I really wanted to like Eli's Table with its lovely outdoor dining area and Vegetarian-friendly menu. This is a relatively new restaurant that just started serving dinner two weeks ago. One of the chefs, Brett McKee, a Charleston fixture, has been known to prepare and serve multiple-course vegan meals in a fine dining setting, so I had high hopes for this new place. The menu did indeed have a Vegetarian and Vegan section, as well as vegetarian salad selections, and I believe in supporting restaurants that actively cater to vegetarians and vegans with well-thought out options on the menu. I know that most restaurants can make "accommodations" when there isn't a menu item without meat, but I also know that this usually entails simply piling a bunch of side items on a plate, sometimes with pasta. I don't feel accommodated as much as barely tolerated--not quite the dining experience I'm looking for when I go out.
At any rate, I had a Baby Spinach Salad with fried goat cheese and warm balsamic vinaigrette to start, and for an entree ordered the Grilled Marinated Portabella Steak with braised greens, cannellini bean fricassee, and dried tomato confit.
The salad was fine, though the vinaigrette simply tasted like oil. The mushroom, however, was very good, nicely marinated and presented beautifully.
The braised greens were also good, but they were spinach--if I had known, I wouldn't have ordered the spinach salad to start. It was a bit much altogether. The cannellini beans, sadly, were dry and not very flavorful, which was a shame because a well done, creamy bean would have complemented the mushroom beautifully. It was a nice dish conceptually--vegan and not lacking in protein--but it could have been better executed. For dessert, LCBF and I split a berry cobbler topped with ice cream. It was huge! I was expecting a small slice of cobbler, but we received a very large portion.
We both made an effort, but didn't come close to finishing. The dessert was nice--lots of sweetly tart fruit under a granola-type crumble, but nothing extraordinary. When asked to describe his meal, LCBF gave a resounding "Meh." He said his Beef Carpaccio appetizer was excellent and the high point of the meal, but the Pan-Seared Snapper was an overdone disappointment. A restaurant in a coastal town should serve good seafood, he explained. It's hard to disagree with that.
Overall, I'd be willing to give the place another try after they've been open for dinner a while longer. They just have a few kinks to work out yet.
Gorgeous!
Ultimately, however, we decided to visit actual restaurants. Highlights and reviews after the jump.
The Good
Alluette's Cafe
80A Reid Street
LCBF retains his mystery identity
Nestled next to an ABC package store (that's a liquor store for those of you not familiar with the South), this little cafe didn't look like much on the outside, but once we walked in we were soothed by the warm interior and the greeting we received from Alluette herself as well as our server. Both women chatted with us for a few minutes about where we were from and where we were headed in a way that made us feel like we had wandered into someone's kitchen and were offered a seat at the table. In a sense, this is exactly what we had done. The open kitchen layout allows for views of Alluette preparing your meal to order and the dining room is small and intimate with just a few tables inside and a few more outdoors. We arrived at an odd hour (around 3:00--a late lunch) and had the place nearly to ourselves.
Part of the restaurant's inspiration occurred when a battle with cancer caused Alluette Jones-Smalls to rethink the food we put into our bodies. An all-organic "Holistic Soul" food menu with vegetarian and vegan-friendly dishes reflects her commitment to using fresh, local ingredients. The blackboard listing the daily specials also proudly proclaims: "This is a no-pork cafe" and "Vegans welcome." Alluette's soul food features big flavors, a little heat, and surprising food combinations. You might not get exactly what you ordered (slaw instead of fries or shredded vegetables instead of sprouts), but you'll like what you're served. The cafe is a "slow food" movement adherent ("good food takes time," another sign reminds diners) and I'd been warned that I could expect to wait a good long time to eat, but we didn't find the wait to be excessive. The whole meal took maybe 30-40 minutes, from the time we sat down to the time we left. Not long at all, really.
Alluette's has recieved some good press lately from everything from local mags to the venerable Southern Living and O Magazine, and our food didn't disappoint. We started with cups of soup: Vegetarian Organic Lima Bean for me and Fish Stew for LCBF. The lima bean soup was excellent--creamy beans in a broth base with lots of rosemary and some red pepper flakes that gave the dish a nice bit of heat. LCBF reported that his stew was also terrific, "fishy in a pleasant way," he noted.
We were too full for dessert when we finished, but we decided to get a couple cookies to go (I like a little wandering food to nibble on while exploring a new town). I decided on a Ginger Cookie and LCBF opted for the Chocolate Chip. The ginger was fantastic. It tasted more like a soft gingerbread cookie than a gingersnap. The chocolate chip was good too, but not as much of a standout.
Overall, Alluette's is well worth the trip. Stop in and stay awhile if you're in the area.
Bakehouse Bakery Cafe
160 East Bay Street
I've been eating a lot of wonderful cookies lately--from the lavender cookie at Back in the Day in Savannah to the Ginger cookie from Alluette's--but this was one amazing Snickerdoodle courtesy of Bakehouse Bakery and Coffeehouse. All the tempting baked goods here are preservative-free and made fresh daily onsite. The cookie was thick and moist with what can only be described as an inner layer of extra cinnamon sugary deliciousness. It was better than any cookie had the right to be.
The Fun
Cupcake
433 King Street
322 King Street
The Unremarkable
Eli's Table
129 Meeting Street
I really wanted to like Eli's Table with its lovely outdoor dining area and Vegetarian-friendly menu. This is a relatively new restaurant that just started serving dinner two weeks ago. One of the chefs, Brett McKee, a Charleston fixture, has been known to prepare and serve multiple-course vegan meals in a fine dining setting, so I had high hopes for this new place. The menu did indeed have a Vegetarian and Vegan section, as well as vegetarian salad selections, and I believe in supporting restaurants that actively cater to vegetarians and vegans with well-thought out options on the menu. I know that most restaurants can make "accommodations" when there isn't a menu item without meat, but I also know that this usually entails simply piling a bunch of side items on a plate, sometimes with pasta. I don't feel accommodated as much as barely tolerated--not quite the dining experience I'm looking for when I go out.
At any rate, I had a Baby Spinach Salad with fried goat cheese and warm balsamic vinaigrette to start, and for an entree ordered the Grilled Marinated Portabella Steak with braised greens, cannellini bean fricassee, and dried tomato confit.
Overall, I'd be willing to give the place another try after they've been open for dinner a while longer. They just have a few kinks to work out yet.
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