Eat Local on Vacation – Charleston, SC

In early December, my family spent a wonderful weekend in Charleston, South Carolina, a delightful culinary road trip that was a feast to our senses.

On Friday evening, after exploring the French Quarter neighborhood, we headed to Bowens Island Restaurant. Located in the marshlands, Bowens Island Restaurant serves the freshest seafood in Charleston. The oysters, shrimp, fish, and crabs that make up the menu are sourced from the river and creeks that surround the island. You can’t get more local than that! The highlight of the menu is all-you-can-eat oysters. Claiming a tray full of oysters involves a trip into the rickety, graffiti-covered basement where dinner is served by the resident oysterman, who shovels hot oysters out of a steaming vat and on to your waiting tray. Diners are offered buckets for tossing the oyster shells, which will then be recycled back into the underwater habitat for future generations of oysters.

The end of a good meal.

On Saturday morning, we toured Boone Hall Plantation, first built in 1681. Re-established as a working farm in 1996, the plantation now operates a U-Pick farm, and grows strawberries, peaches, tomatoes, eggplants, grapes, and blueberries.

The long, oak-lined drive leading to Boone Hall Plantation.

After touring the plantation house and property, we stopped by Boone Hall Farms for lunch. The market specializes in South Carolina produce, meats, and gourmet products. Items for sale include: tea from the Charleston Tea Plantation; Boone Hall produce, jams, and preserves; local seafood; and chicken from Ashley Farm.

That evening we headed to FIG for an early dinner. FIG (which stands for Food Is Good) is a local neighborhood restaurant in the heart of downtown Charleston. Mike Lata, the head chef, is self-taught, and is also the winner of the 2009 James Beard Award for Best Chef in the Southeast. The menu at FIG changes daily, and when we arrived that day’s menu was hot off the press. Ingredients are sourced locally; the result is a straightforward meal that pays homage to the Low country region. We started off with the Gem Lettuce appetizer, served with buttermilk-herb dressing, watermelon radish, and ricotta salata.

All of the entrees we ordered were outstanding. My husband had the Strube Ranch Wagyu Bistro steak with Beluga lentils, parsnip, hen-of-the-woods, and sauce bordelaise. I shared the Sauteed Atlantic Creole Fish with my mother-in-law, which came with caper’s inlet clams, butternut squash, and heirloom peppers, while hubby’s father ordered the Keegan Farms chicken with butternut squash farrotto, Sonja apple, and cippolini onions. Meanwhile, my daughter contentedly nibbled on a little bit of everything on the table. We all agreed that the ingredients complemented each other nicely, and were lovely seasonal dishes. FIG is definitely one of my favorite restaurants in Charleston!

That day's menu at FIG.

After a nice sleep, hubby and I took a break from the rest of the family to have coffee and croissants at Kudu Coffee House before heading back to Charlotte. Although I was sorely tempted by the local Charleston Tea Plantation display, I couldn’t pass up what turned out to be the best cappuccino I have ever had in the United States. (Yes, this locavore does have her non-local weaknesses, and coffee is at the top of the list!)

A selection of local tea from the Charleston Tea Plantation.

The coffee looks like artwork at Kudu Coffee House!

Heading into the winter doldrums, Charleston provides a great escape to slightly warmer weather, and a haven of restaurants that cook seasonally and locally!