Charleston Restaurant Week

Charleston Restaurant Week is in full swing.  On Wednesday, a friend and I tried one of the city’s newer restaurants, The Grocery.  This is another eatery dedicated to serving fresh, locally sourced products.  It has a rather bare bones decor, which suits the building that houses it as well as its name. We selected J. Christopher 2009 Pinot Noir from Willamette Valley to enjoy with dinner.  It is a blended Pinot with dominant black cherry flavors and not too fruity – an ideal food wine.

For the first course, I started with Fried Oysters, attractively served on oyster shells with a “devilled egg sauce” and homemade bread and butter pickles.  So good I would have liked a second order!  For the entree, I chose the Braised Lamb Shoulder.  It was richly flavored, melt in the mouth tender, and served with wilted greens.  Dessert was decadent.  We couldn’t resist a house specialty – churros served with 3 dipping sauces that included salted caramel, chili-orange chocolate, and vaniila sauce anglaise.  Added to that was the Banana Cream Trifle.  We ate everything – it was all too good to resist!  When was it that I was going to start trying to lose weight?

Dining is just too good in Charleston.  To any of my readers who live elsewhere, include a visit to Charleston in your future travel plans.  And for you locals, enjoy…and try The Grocery. 

Cheers!