Circa 1886 - Charleston Restaurant Review

Sometimes it seems like the amount of love restaurants in Charleston receive is directly related to their proximity to the Market. The further the tourists have to walk, the less likely the establishment is to get recognition it deserves. Now, I’m not saying Circa 1886 doesn’t get any respect - that’s certainly not the case, but I have noticed that it very rarely creeps into the “favorite Charleston restaurants” lists of local residents. I’m not sure if that is simply because not enough people have given it a chance or what, but I definitely think that needs to change.

Mercato - Charleston Restaurant Review

Don’t get me wrong, I love southern Italian cuisine. When I was a kid, it was pretty difficult to convince me to eat much else besides spaghetti, tortellini, or ravioli covered in marinara and parmesan. To this day, I still buy the industrial size jars of pasta sauce from Sam’s Club and go through them [...]

39 Rue de Jean - Charleston Restaurant Review

39 Rue de Jean has long been near the top of my list of Charleston-area restaurants I’ve been dying to go to, but haven’t yet had the opportunity. It’s frequently mentioned by locals and out-of-towners alike as one of the best restaurants in the city and possibly the best French restaurant in town. In addition, Rue de Jean is a part of the highly-regarded Holy City Hospitality family that also runs Coast (one of my personal favorites) and Virginia’s on King. Going into my meal, I couldn’t have had much higher expectations.

Al di La - West Ashley Restaurant Review

There are some restaurants that have the kind of sparkling word-of-mouth reputation that no marketing budget can buy. A favorite of local residents and critics alike, West Ashley’s Al di La is one of those restaurants. The tiny Northern Italian-style trattoria tucked in an indistinct strip of shops just off the Savannah Hwy. near Gene’s [...]

Lullaby of Broadway at McCrady’s

This past Sunday I had the opportunity to attend one of McCrady’s new “Sundays at McCrady’s” events which are mixing food with musical theater. Food highlights included a really outstanding popcorn soup with local shrimp, wonderfully tender beef with foraged mushrooms, and caramelized onion and brown butter risotto. While musical theater isn’t normally my cup [...]

Let the Right One In - Movie Review

As much as I love horror (even awesomely-bad horror), I’ve never really developed much of an affinity for vampire movies. Most of the time they are too cliched and ridiculous for even my forgiving tastes. Even so, I couldn’t resist checking out the unbelievably well-received Swedish vampire flick, Let the Right One In.
Set in 1982 [...]

My Winnipeg - Movie Review

I usually like quirky movies. Most of the time, when a film is a little too out there for my friends, I just get more excited to see it. That being said, there is still a point where my attention can be lost. Unfortunately, Guy Maddin’s My Winnipeg was one of those films that lost [...]

Religulous - Movie Review

Yes, I’m a registered Democrat, but that doesn’t mean that I’m automatically going to blindly praise whatever video propaganda is released by the world’s left-leaning documentarians. In fact, I rented Religulous, the controversial film from controversial liberal talking head Bill Maher, fully expecting to slam it for being mean spirited and one sided.
So, were my [...]

Coast - Charleston Restaurant Review

There are lots of locations in downtown Charleston that will draw plenty of tourists off the street as they saunter by, window shopping for overpriced clothes and stereotypical paintings of marshes. One address that doesn’t fit that description, despite its location just a block or so from Marion Square, is 39 John Street #D.
Coast, a [...]

Dining for a Good Cause

My friend Andre Guillet over at McCrady’s asked me to pass this information along. I think this is a very worthy cause, so I am happy to help spread the word.

About Nemaline Myopathy and the Foundation (from Andre’s e-mail):
As many of you know our family started A Foundation Building Strength, a 501(c) (3), to raise [...]