CHARLESTON EATS

And a from-scratch baker's opinion on Dolly Parton's Duncan Hines collab...

Well, well, well… if it isn’t Thursday knockin’ on our doors. Friday eve, y’all!

There’s a cool new feature on Substack (for ALL subscribers) called Notes. It’s like a Substack-based twitter (as they say), without all the noise! Anywho, we’re on it, so go check it out! (Of course Anthony’s first note had a typo, so he deleted it immediately).

If you’re in the Charleston, SC, area or looking to travel there this Summer, you’re in luck, because your girl, Elizabeth Karmel, is sharing her favorite haunts this week!

A TASTE OF CHARLESTON, SC

This water view of the Arthur Ravenel Jr. bridge is an iconic symbol of Charleston, SC, and is a highlight of an early evening sail.

EK: The great thing about moving to Charleston is that it’s a major tourist destination. With that, it’s easy to be a tourist for a day or two without leaving home. And, a coast away, LA is much the same way. 

AU: It sure is! Hard to believe that Josh and I moved to LA almost 6 years ago! We lost a little “tourist time” during the pandemic (when everything was shut down), but we haven’t even discovered a fraction of what LA has to offer…

EK: And, it goes without saying that Charleston is a fabulous food town. There is so much great food to experience; especially fresh seafood which is very high on my list. As much as I love cooking, I also love eating out and seeing what other people are cooking at every level—the sophisticated and the simple—they are all good eats.

This weekend, I had out-of-town company, so I both cooked and ate out a lot! It was a beautiful Spring weekend with sunny, breezy Summer weather. We saw some sights and ate, and ate again. The theme of the weekend was “oysters and shrimp.” I think I ate oysters and shrimp at every meal. They are so good this time of year that they aren’t to be missed!

We don’t have the space in this newsletter to write about everything we ate and visited, so I narrowed it down to my three favorites.

If you are visiting the Charleston area, here are three places that will please anyone looking for local food with an emphasis on seafood. [Note: The food was so good and the restaurant lights were dim so in most cases, I’ve borrowed better photos from the restaurant’s Instagram accounts.]

The Obstinate Daughter on Sullivan’s Island is a housed in a building that feels like a beach house. It’s casual and chic just like the food. Photographs courtesy of Obstinate Daughter.

The Obstinate Daughter

This is my go-to restaurant in the Charleston area. It’s on Sullivan’s Island and offers everything from raw oysters and local seafood to pizza, pastas and duck confit.

It’s an eclectic menu that could spell disaster in some places, but here every dish is done well. It’s a great place to go with a group because there’s something that will appeal and delight even the pickiest eater.

The first thing that I order every time I go is The Obstinate Flatbread which is served with a butterbean puree. It is so good that it inspired me to create my own version which I call Butterbean Hummus.

Oysters from Ladies Island estuary, courtesy of Obstinate Daughter.

We started with a dozen raw oysters and the flatbread. These oysters are from Ladies Island estuary in Beaufort and exclusively sold at the Obstinate Daughter. The Oysters are grown in the clean crisp waters of South Carolina and they have a briny, smooth, clean flavor.

Next course was their seasonal Royal Red Shrimp specialty. These Royal Reds are grilled and served with an herb compound butter, shrimp broth, and garlic bread. They were hot and tasty!

And since The Obstinate Daughter has some of the best pizza I’ve ever eaten, we ended the meal with The Rutledge. The pizzas all have great names like “Miss Carolina” which is basically a Margarita with the addition of green tomatoes and “Weird Fishes” for their anchovy pie. Rutledge is a well-known name in South Carolina so maybe it was someone’s favorite white pizza as it is mine with ricotta, Italian sausage, red onions, greens, provolone and mozzarella cheese. But you can’t go wrong with any of their six signature pies.

See Wee Restaurant

The See Wee Restaurant in Awendaw, South Carolina, has been in business for 24 years. And it’s the kind of place, IYKYK.

Fried Green Tomatoes, Bacon and Grilled Shrimp Po’Boy with Fried Okra at the See Wee Restaurant

EK: This is a country restaurant that is slightly dilapidated on the outside, but buffed to a shine on the inside and what I mean by that is it’s clean—yes—but it’s the food that shines here. It’s decidedly country, lots of seafood, some low country specialties, and everything is fresh and delicious.

We went for an early lunch on Friday and I ordered off the board to take advantage of the daily specials. They had a special Po’Boy that was fried green tomatoes, bacon and grilled shrimp rubbed with lots of Old Bay. To say it was delicious was an understatement. The fried green tomatoes were juicy and tangy with a crisp exterior, the bacon was fried in a deep fryer leaving it curly with no limp/uncooked edges and the local shrimp were highly seasoned with Old Bay and black pepper making sure you tasted the herbs and spices in every bite.

There was a choice of about ten sides and I chose my favorite, fried okra. If you love it, you love it and I do! In this day and age, it’s rare to find okra battered and fried in-house. Usually it’s prepared and fried from frozen, even in the best country joints, but today was my lucky day, and it was made from scratch. The sliced okra was very lightly battered and fried crisp and was absolutely delicious.

This was the table that we sat in. I love that the pantry is exposed to the dining room—it’s like going to someone’s house to eat and most of the customers are regulars. Photograph courtesy of See Wee.

EK: My favorite thing about lunch was finding out from our waitress that everyone on staff helps in the kitchen. For example, our waitress makes the sauces every day. And other staff members make all the desserts. We sampled an absolutely sublime coconut cake with a light and silky, ethereal icing. When I asked what made the icing so light and not-too-sweet, the woman who made it, came up and took her happy praise, but—no surprise—wouldn’t divulge her secret. Now, I have an excuse to go back and see if I can figure it out myself!

The Ordinary

On Saturday we had a lazy afternoon and a wonderful horse drawn carriage tour of historic Charleston. It was a beautiful day, sunny and breezy. After the tour we had a snack of some raw oysters and lazily enjoyed the weather on top of the roof at Henry’s.

Henry’s is located right off the Charleston City Market and feels like something you would find in New Orleans. There are six different venues on 4-5 floors, all decorated differently and offer slightly different experiences. The roof deck on the top floor is the most relaxed and gives the best view of the city. Established in 1932, Henry’s is the oldest continuous restaurant in Charleston and the state of South Carolina so it’s both a place to relax and a bit of history.

Chef Mike Lata prepares fish and shellfish at The Ordinary with the perfect combination of balanced but big flavors, finesse and fun. Photographs courtesy of The Ordinary.

We meandered about and walked to The Ordinary restaurant for dinner. This restaurant is absolutely spectacular. The chef, Mike Lata, has turned an old bank into an extraordinary restaurant. This 1920s bank is home to an upscale seafood restaurant with the casual vibe of an oyster house. The bank’s sky-high ceilings, large open windows and tall bar are echoed in the three-tier seafood towers.

Everything is fabulous at The Ordinary where seafood is celebrated and Oysters are King. This is THE place to go if you love oysters.

I ran into Mike when we checked in at the hostess stand, and he recommended the smoked oysters. I don’t know how I missed them on previous visits, but I’ll never miss them again!

They are served DIY on a plate with the cold-smoked oysters and their liquor in a bowl garnished with scallions, a stack of warm Old Bay crackers, a glass bottle of hot sauce with a medicine-dropper, and a small dish of crème fraîche. I placed the oyster on the cracker and added a dollop of crème fraîche and a couple of drops of hot sauce. I gingerly placed the whole cracker in my mouth and it was one of the best bites I’ve ever had.

Another chef recommendation was the local Tarvin ‘peel and eat’ shrimp, and in his words, “they are peel and eat shrimp, but we prepare them really well…” and so they were!

The Crispy Oyster Slider wins my vote for best slider in America!

But IMO the real reason to visit The Ordinary is the Crispy Oyster Slider. The perfect fried oyster is nestled between a warm yeasty house-made sesame-seed topped Hawaiian bun with a tiny bit of lettuce and a delicious slather of nuoc cham and Fresno mayo. Yumm!

AU: Well, I am just gonna bookmark this whole newsletter, because sis, we’re recreating this weekend when I come to visit you!! What a great list of spots!!

THE GOODS

Dolly Parton’s Southern-Style Coconut Cake

EK: I come from a long line of scratch bakers specializing in coconut cakes and pies. Anyone who has ever made one knows that it takes love, patience, low humidity and a solid afternoon to make a Southern coconut cake with a “boiled” white icing. That is why, after rave reviews, I decided that I had to try Dolly Parton’s Southern Style Coconut Cake (and Creamy Buttercream).

AU: I have to confess I feel like a traitor to Miss Dolly. I have yet to try her cake line with Duncan Hines, but I did name my first-born frenchie Jolene, so I guess I’m okay in the Dolly Love department.

So spill the tea… how was it?!?