Weekly Specials CHS: April 26-May 2
King BBQ is back in action, Husk and Kultura partner with winemakers, the Co-op opens their downtown location, and Huriyali announces a new 'listening room style' patio concert series.
Two thumbs up for the Turkey & the Wolf takeover of Chubby Fish on Monday! My partner, Andrew, had been to Turkey & the Wolf’s counter joint in New Orleans and has been loving their cabbage salad from their cookbook, but this was my first time tasting Chef Mason Hereford’s food IRL.
I love Hereford’s deeply chill and unserious approach to cooking, which was fully on display in his ep of Iron Chef: Quest for an Iron Legend when he produced a dish that involved a squirt gun filled with Squirt, the soda. It seems like others appreciate his sometimes quirky but delicious food, too, as Turkey & the Wolf was named one of the top 13 most important restaurants of the decade by Food & Wine in 2019, alongside Charleston classics Husk and Rodney Scott’s BBQ.
It’s not every day that the *star dish* on the menu is vegetarian, and Turkey & the Wof’s collard green and slaw melt was really the showstopper of the menu to me: the collards were spicy but immediately offset by the creamy, tangy slaw. The Swiss cheese and rye bread were perfect complements to a sandwich that was just a lot more complex than I expected it to be.
I’m not sure whether to attribute this to the Turkey & Wolf folks or the Chubby Fish team, but they were very proactive with their pescatarian substitutions, which I really appreciated. I loved the mustard-y deviled eggs drizzled with hot sauce, and they offered to replace the original topping of chicken skins with potato chips.
If you’re curious about Turkey & the Wolf, consider cooking some of their recipes by purchasing their cookbook from Bookshop.org (or stop by their restaurant next time you’re in NOLA)!
This week’s specials:
Looking for last-minute plans tonight?
King BBQ was finally able to finish their rebuild and re-open today after the fire they experienced late last month, so show them some love tonight or sometime this week! Heads up that they’ve changed their opening hours: they’ll now be open Wednesdays through Sundays 11am-9pm (including happy hour each day from 4-5pm).
Friday, April 26th
Tonight’s the first night of the Little’s two-night takeover at Proof on King Street. The Little’s small plates menu will feature dishes like peaches with yogurt vinaigrette, tarragon, and pistachios, as well as smoked mussels on toast with aioli and gremolata. Follow @thelittle.chs on Instagram for more updates!
Saturday, April 27th
Brewery Bevi Bene’s Spring Fest is happening today, featuring five dollar pours of Maibock Bavarian lager, strawberry lemon hard kombucha, and food by One Oak Barbeque from 1-6pm. There will be a kid zone with face painting, as well as live music starting at 3pm!
From noon to 4pm, Highfalutin Coffee Roasters’ James Island location will be hosting a Harbor View Neighborhood Market. They’ll have local vendors, live music, beer and coffee. Of course, there will be food, too, but not a lot of deets on that yet! Follow them on Instagram @highfalutincoffee for more info.
Sunday, April 28th
Kultura is hosting a wine dinner in collaboration with Tarpon Cellars on April 28th with seatings at 5pm and 7:30pm. Tarpon Cellars has a big local presence because one of the founders lives here part-time! Book tickets for the first seating or second seating on Resy.
Husk is hosting the team from Tatomer Wines (a California-based company that specializes in dry Rieslings and Grüners) for a wine dinner on Sunday April 28th at 6pm. Looks like it’s sold out now, but you can set a Notify alert on Resy here.
Tuesday, April 30th
It’s the end of Power Hour as we know it…Today is the final Edmund’s Oast Brewing Co.’s Power Hour. It’s your last chance to get half off all dine-in food and drink from 4-5pm, because starting in May, they’ll have a new happy hour from 4-6pm, new menu items, and drink deals.
Wednesday, May 1st
Aswang Noodle Club does pop-up events at Kultura the first Wednesday of every month. It looks like this month, they’ll be featuring some clam dashi in their soups! 🍲 You can book tables on Resy, and this has been on my list for a while, so am hoping to go this month!
Know someone who might be interested in one of the happenings above this week? Share this newsletter with them!
Lil’ updates
There was a moment a few years ago when all of NYC became obsessed with the negroni spagliato and the spaghett…and I was not immune to that craze, for the record! That’s why I love that Little Jack’s Tavern has just announced their “spaghettini”: Aperol, fresh lemon, and a Miller High Life. 🍊
Vern’s also just highlighted a perfectly spring-themed cocktail on their socials: the ‘lucid dream’ is made with pisco, génépy (a French herbal liqueur), chartreuse, aloe (okay hydration!!!), basil, and “bubbles”. Now if only I could get a res to Vern’s in the next thirty days! No, seriously. Also, @LizzyRollins takes the most gorgeous pics, peep the ‘lucid dream’ in all of its golden hour glory below:
Sightsee, one of THE best coffee spots in Charleston, IMO, is moving to Hampton Park soon! Their current home on Line Street is extremely tiny, and I’m excited that this wonderfully community-centric shop needs and has some room to grow. Their last day in their Line Street location will be on Monday, May 27th, so stop by and enjoy the last days of their cutie lil spot! Will update when I know more about their opening date for their new space on Rutledge!
Farewell
Bodega Todo just announced that their last day of operation will be on May 2nd. But don’t worry, they’ll still be doing their food trucks, and running their other restaurants, including their breakfast spot, Daps, and sports restaurant, Cleats. Plus, they’ll be opening a new wine bar concept, Sonder, this fall, too!
New openings
It looks like the Co-op’s downtown location is opening at 81 Cannon Street tomorrow (Friday)! Starting tomorrow, they’ll have their standard menu of coffee, espresso, smoothies, breakfast, sandwiches and over 50 flavors of frosé (what?! How are there that many flavors?!) Every night at 5pm, they’ll serve their liquor and wine menu. It seems like they’re still working on their dinner menu for this location, but they’ll have West Coast-style smash burgers and fries on Friday & Saturday nights from 5-9pm for now.
Sometime next month, The Select is supposed to open on Meeting Street, in the same building as the Guild. It promises “chic French cuisine” and they’ve already posted a sample menu. Will share more deets once we have an opening date!
Coming up
On May 3rd, Huriyali’s downtown location on Huger Street is kicking off a “listening room style” concert series on their patio, led by Corey Campbell (@coco_campbell_)! There will be drinks and light bites from Huriyali, and artists John Brewster and Nick Poulin will be the first performers of the three-concert series. Get tickets for the entire series anytime on Eventbrite.
There’s a few events going on for Cinco de Mayo!
From noon-4pm, Executive Chef Damian Sandoval will be cooking up Mexican street food at Coterie.
From 1-4pm, the Moxy hotel is doing make-your-own margs with Espolòn Tequila🍹, plus they’ll have Hornitos Tequila Ranch Water buckets and taco specials.
🌮 Taco Boy will have live music, drink specials, and tacos (of course!), queso, and guac! Check out their Instagram post for more on their live music plans at each location.
The Charleston Place team just announced that D.C. burger joint Ghostburger will be popping up at their spot from May 23rd-May 26th. It looks like they usually serve veggie patties alongside their burger options, so I hope they’ll be bringing those here, too.
Sarah’s Dumps is a local Korean mandu (dumplings!) producer, and I’ve been dying to try her vegetable dumplings! She just announced that she’s planning a one-time class and dinner experience to celebrate AAPI Heritage month in May. The event will be on May 29th from 6-8pm somewhere in downtown CHS…I’ll share more when tickets are released, but you can also follow @sarahsdumps on Instagram for more details!
That’s a wrap!
Know of a restaurant- or food-related event coming up that you think should be included in an upcoming Weekly Special? DM me!
Planning on going to one of the events, bars or restaurants mentioned above in the next week? Leave a comment and let me know your plans! I’m nosy!
Wishing you a wonderful week ahead!