There’s something about the air in Charleston that brings tourists back again and again.
It’s called cuisine.
With roots in time-honored Southern fare, a front-row seat on the ocean, myriad tourist-drawing events and attractions and proximity to shoals of well-heeled resort enclaves stretched from Hilton Head to Isle of Palms, something fine is always cooking there.
Last year, restaurants in the area netted 11 nominations for the James Beard Foundation restaurant and chef awards.
Charleston itself has a population of about 128,000 – less than a fifth of Charlotte’s – but fields at least a half-dozen culinary tours, from walking tours to Farmers Market tours to King Street tours to pub crawls.
A good time to sample some of that scene? Next week: Charleston Restaurant Week runs Jan. 6-17.
It’s a production of the Greater Charleston Restaurant Association, and about 140 participating Lowcountry eateries are featuring fixed-price lunch and dinner menus.
Geographically, these places are located downtown, Daniel Island, Isle of Palms/Wild Dunes, James Island/Folly Beach, Johns Island/Kiawah Island, Mount Pleasant, North Charleston, Sullivan’s Island, Summerville and West Ashley.
They range from the not-unexpected (Mellow Mushroom and Wild Wing Cafe are on the list, and both have locations in the Charlotte area) to wish-list experiences.
The Macintosh – whose Jeremiah Bacon is a three-time James Beard best-chef finalist – is offering three courses (starter, entree and dessert) for $40.
Some participants are relatively new. Others are long-established Charleston fixtures: Hyman’s Seafood, which is offering five courses for $25, opened as a clothing wholesaler in 1890 and switched to the restaurant business in the same location on Meeting Street in 1986.
Depending on the establishment, Restaurant Week fare can be simple or elegant – from Southern to seafood, Thai and Indian to barbecue.
Besides variety, consider value. The most expensive of the deals listed this week was three courses for $50. Many Restaurant Week packages were in the $25-$30 range.
The trick is to do your homework and make reservations quickly.
Go to the Restaurant Week web page and look at what places are in play. After a list of nine lunch-brunch-only offerings, the eateries are grouped geographically. Some list the number of courses and per-person price.
Each restaurant listing has tabs for making a reservation and linking to its website. Most also have a tab listing what the Restaurant Week offers are – subject to change, of course.
Keep in mind that Charleston is an easy interstate drive from Charlotte, and this is only the first event on the city’s 2016 food calendar. The GCRA’s 33rd annual Oyster Festival comes up Jan. 31 at Boone Hall Plantation, in Mount Pleasant.
John Bordsen: 704-358-5251
Want to go?
Details on Charleston Restaurant Week: www.charlestonrestaurantassociation.com/charleston-restaurant-week.
Charleston is a little over three hours south of Charlotte; take I-77 South to Columbia, then I-26 East to Charleston. The Meeting Street exit (221B) will put you right downtown.