FOOD AND DRINK
Pretty soon after you arrive in the city, you will be told about the Charleston 15. Neither a sports team nor a listing of must-see historic sites, it is, rather, the number of pounds visitors can expect to gain in weight after indulging in the city’s famous nouvelle Lowcountry cuisine.
One of the restaurants that put Charleston on the gastronomic map is Husk (huskrestaurant.com). Known for its wood-fire cooking, it was the first of four branches to open in the South and is rated by Diners Club as one of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants.
Hotel eateries give serious competition to standalone restaurants when it comes to fine dining – two outstanding examples are Hotel Bennett’s Gabrielle (hotelbennett.com) and Belmond Charleston Place’s Charleston Grill (charlestongrill.com), which has the best wine list I’ve seen in the South.
For fresh seafood, try the Darling Oyster Bar (thedarling.com), where you will find the Charleston staple shrimp and grits – which you have to try at least once and to which you may become addicted – and 167 Raw (167raw.com), a tiny, casual seafood restaurant that serves lobster rolls, oysters, fish tacos and ceviche.
For cocktails, there’s the bar at the Spectator Hotel (thespectatorhotel.com), where Allen Lancaster mixes impressive concoctions; Felix (felixchs.com) on King Street, where the speciality is Felix Tonique, made with cognac; or the Dewberry Hotel (thedewberrycharleston.com), home to the world’s best Old Fashioned – well, that’s my take, and I tried a few just to be sure.
Lastly, the greatest contributor to the Charleston 15 has to be Rodney Scott’s BBQ (rodneyscottsbbq.com), which serves the best ribs south of the Mason-Dixon line.