Chef Robert Stehling, Hominy Grill, Charleston, SC, South Carolina, Where to eat in Charleston, Lowcountry cooking, Best Lowcountry Restaurants, Chefs Recs, Chefs Feed, Where Chefs Eat, Recommendations, Go Where The Pros Go, Eat Where The Chefs Eat, Pro Recommendations, Cakes, Shrimp, Seafood, Rice

What To Eat

Shrimp are the crown jewels of the Lowcountry seafood and we feature them pretty prominently on our menu. We do a shrimp and grits, but we also do different creoles and étouffées. We do a rice dish called a Shrimp Bog.

Of course, rice is an important part of the cuisine. There are some traditions of using curry that kind of snuck in with Charleston being a seaport. Chicken is a big part of our menu. We have a fried chicken program which is popular, although that’s not particularly Lowcountry. For our meat program, we buy a lot of products from Heritage, such as ribs and sausages, which we cure and smoke.

Lowcountry Cooking

Lowcountry is a subset of Southern food. The Charleston region has had a traditional rice culture here. Rice was a kind of cash crop and was the basis of the cuisine. It’s different from Southern food in that there’s an African influence prevalent in the cuisine.

Heirloom & Heritage

There has been a big movement in heirloom and traditional local products: peas and grains, corn, and heirloom tomatoes. Before Anson Mills came on the scene bringing back heirloom rice, people were just using Uncle Ben’s. It was an early sign that the game was going to change and a lot more emphasis was going to be put on products. Glenn came a long and has such a great enthusiasm for all those grains and those lost ways. It provided a great basis for other products to be rediscovered.

That led to pasture-raised beef and Ossabaw Island hogs. Emile DeFelice of Caw Caw Creek Farm raised Ossabaw Island pigs which are genetically related to Iberian pigs that were shipwrecked here. They have a darker meat and taste richer than most heirloom pork. They are also denser and more fatty.

Local Gifts

I would buy Carolina Gold Rice. We buy from Anson Mills, which is technically in Columbia, but you can also buy it from Carolina Plantation. It’s a regional specialty and it’s historically connected to here. It’s really important economically and culturally. It was the only rice culture in the United Stated in the colonies until they started growing it in Louisiana and Texas.

You could also take home a sweet grass basket, which is a traditional, local craft. You can buy them from little old ladies sitting on the sidewalk.

Lowcountry recipes

- Okra Beignets

- Chicken Purloo

- Sesame Crusted Catfish

- Buttermilk Pie

Chef’s Charleston Guide

Find | Bakeries

Sugar Bakeshop

Their baked goods are nice and really simple, and definitely not commercial tasting. There’s a really handmade aspect to it. Their caramel cake is probably the best one around. It’s a light layered cake with a caramel icing on it, really intense and sugary.

59 Cannon Street, Charleston, SC 29403

T: 843.579.2891 | www.sugarbake.com

Eat | Restaurants

Xiao Bao Biscuit (XBB)

It’s a new hip Asian place and it’s fun. It’s really different than anything else in Charleston. After slinging bacon all day, I just want something vegetable and something that doesn’t look like Southern food. I like to get the cabbage pancake with shredded cabbage and carrots. They char it nicely in the bottom of the pan and send it out to you really hot.

224 Rutledge Avenue, Charleston, SC 29401

T: 843.743.3880 | xiaobaobiscuit.com

EVO Pizzeria

It’s handmade pizzas and salads -- farm-to-table that’s not gimmicky. The kind of food they do is simple, straightforward and really showcases the products they get. There’s the pistachio pesto pizza and the Pork Trifecta, which has three kinds of pork, bacon and sausage and ham. It’s really tasty stuff.

224 Rutledge Avenue, Charleston, SC 29401

T: 843.743.3880 | xiaobaobiscuit.com

Bowens Island Restaurant

It’s on the water and features local seafood, shrimp, oysters and fish. They are oyster oriented and famous for their oyster roast. It’s a very traditional gathering kind of meal.

1870 Bowens Island Road, Charleston, SC 29412

T: 843.795.2757 | www.bowensislandrestaurant.com

The Wreck of the Richard & Charlene

It’s on the water and features local seafood and shrimp. A good part of what they do is fried shrimp and red rice and coleslaw. They have paper tablecloths, you get a menu, you circle what you want on the menu and give it to the waitress. They bring you boiled peanuts and beer out a big ice bin full of iced cold beers. You sit here and look out at the creek and watch the sunset. It’s just a great experience with traditional southern Lowcountry food.

106 Haddrell Street, Mt Pleasant, SC 29464

T: 843.884.0052 | www.wreckrc.com

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