Local Eating in Charleston Part III

For the finale of my Local Eating in Charleston series, I would be remiss if I didn't post about restaurants in Charleston that put an emphasis on local produce and meat. And who better to talk to about that than jimihatt.

"It is ultimately our responsibility to trust our local farmers and insure that what we do ingest is just," he says of the recent egg recall debacle that sparked this post series. For example, "What's in a hot dog? Unless it's your butcher making that stuff, you shouldn't be eating it. The FDA allows a certain amount of road parts in your regular ballpark franks. They allow a certain amount of fecal matter and non pork or beef product. They're not willingly trying to sell us rat meat, but…"

By contrast, he cites Craig Diehl of Cypress restaurant, which is known for its house-made charcuterie, as are High Cotton and McCrady's, to name a few. "The charcuterie movement in Charleston has super taken off," says jimihatt. "You can go to Cypress bar and order off the menu their happy hour corn dog and it's amazing. He does it just like Hormel would make one, the same procedure except he knows exactly what's going in it."

Groups like Maverick Southern Kitchens (High Cotton, SNOB, The Old Village Post House), Rev Foods (Taco Boy, Poe's, Closed for Business, Monza), and the Hospitality Management Group (Cypress, Magnolia's, Blossom) have long been on the local foods bandwagon, ordering form South Carolina farms such as Mibek and Keegan-Filion Farms.

In addition, independent restaurants like Sesame Burgers and Beer, EVO Pizzeria, Triangle Bar & Char, Wild Olive, and many others have a focus on local ingredients, including grass-fed beef.

And we mustn't forget McCrady's. Beard Award winning chef Sean Brock has become synonymous with local food in charleston. "A lot of restaurants are now shining the local light," jimihatt says. "It's not that McCrady's is my favorite—it's that they're doing the most." Indeed, the same management group will open Husk, an all-local restaurant, in November of 2010. There will be no olive oil, no balsamic vinegar, no soy sauce—nothing that doesn't grow in the South.

jimihatt, who also works at McCrady's, needs no local introduction. Guerrilla Cuisine, the underground dining movement in Charleston, highlights not only local chefs and local food, but locals. Its community tables and exclusive, secretive ticketing methods encourage strangers to meet at each event.

jimihatt now has some land specifically intended to grow produce for GC events and has been doing seed-saving research in conjunction with McCrady's. "We may not be self-sustaining yet, but we want to feature as many local farms as possible."

"It's really good that we can group together and challenge each other to eat locally," he says. "It's all an experiment. We're cooking because people want to come and eat it! Otherwise what would we do with the squash as long as your leg?"

Good question.