TRAVEL FEATURE
CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA UP CLOSE & PERSONAL
SOUTHERN COMFORT
CUISINE FROM THE SOUTH’S FINEST CHEFS
THE BREAD OF LIFE
BLACK BEAR BREAD CO. UPS THE GAME FROM BROOKLYN TO GRAYTON BEACH, FLORIDA
EMERIL’S COASTAL ITALIAN A RECIPE FOR SUCCESS
April 2018
THE FOODIE COUPLE at PEAT & PEARLS in PENSACOLA, FLORIDA
CHEF JAMES BRISCIONE & BROOKE PARKHURST TALK OYSTERS, SCOTCH & COMING HOME
CULINARY ISSUE
SWIMWEAR + LIFESTYLE
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Linda Miller belongs to the Who’s Who in Luxury Real Estate, the most elite and comprehensive luxury real estate network in the world. It comprises a hand-selected group with properties in more than 70 countries that collectively sells over $300 billion in real estate annually showcased on the top portal for luxury properties online, LuxuryRealEstate.com. Luxury Real Estate has been named an industry leader by Forbes, The Webby Awards, Web Marketing Association, Maggie Awards, ADDY Awards, the Inc. 5000 List, and more. The Board of Regents is an exclusive network of the world’s most elite luxury real estate professionals and has a global collection of the finest real estate brokers in the world. With an exclusive membership of more than 500 firms with 130,000 professionals in more than 65 countries, it collectively sells over $200 BILLION in real estate annually, with an average sale of $2,450,000. In addition to the benefits provided by Who’s Who in Luxury Real Estate membership, Regents have access to elite tools and resources to command international business. The digital footprint for Regents is unparalleled, with prime placement for every agent and luxury listing on LuxuryRealEstate.com, as well as Regents.com.
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Real Estate Broker in Rosemary BeachÂŽ ROSEMARY BEACHÂŽ is a registered trademark owned by Rosemary Beach Holdings, LLC and is used with permission pursuant to a license from Rosemary Beach Holdings, LLC.
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Linda Miller is the Broker of Rosemary Beach Realty, which topped Florida’s Scenic Highway 30A market in 2016 with $250 million in sales in a single office. With 19 years of sales experience, she has been the number one agent since 2015 with over $180 million in sales, and since 2016 has sold $135 million YTD on 30A. Miller brokered the largest sale ever on 30A, a Gulf-front home in Rosemary Beach for $12.5 million, and was the area’s number-one agent in listings in 2016. Linda Miller has generated over $432 million in career sales with an average of $2,340,000 per sale. LindaMillerLuxury.com
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Board of Regents is a global collection of the finest real estate brokers in the world. With an exclusive membership of more than 500 firms with 130,000 professionals in more than 65 countries, it collectively sells over $200 BILLION in real estate annually, with an average sale of $2,450,000. ROSEMARY BEACH® is a registered trademark owned by Rosemary Beach Holdings, LLC and is used with permission pursuant to a license from Rosemary Beach Holdings, LLC.
In this issue On the Cover
Brooke Parkhurst and James Briscione have authored three cookbooks, hosted shows on the Food Network, and traveled the world. Briscione also serves as director of culinary research at the
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IN KENTUCKY, BOURBON IS A WAY OF LIFE. TAKE A LOOK INSIDE THE WILD TURKEY BRAND WITH ITS FATHER-SON TEAM OF DISTILLERS, AND DON’T MISS YOUR CHANCE TO SIP AND SAVOR ALL THE DELICIOUS MOMENTS ALONG THE OFFICIAL BOURBON TRAIL.
Institute of Culinary Education. Last Photo courtesy of Proof on Main
November, the Pensacola, Florida, natives became the celebrity guests at Peat & Pearls, a celebration of Scotch and oysters. Parkhurst and Briscione recently announced they will partner with Great Southern
FEATURE 28 Pretty and Gritty: In Old Florida, the Lowly Oyster Comes Out of Its Shell
C’EST LA VIE CURATED COLLECTION: SET THE TABLE 90 SAVEUR 95
BON APPÉTIT! 37
96 An Insider’s Take on Sonoma County
38 Harvesting Good Health
106 For the Love of Wine and Love
42 Breaking Bread
112 Wine in Rocky Mountain Country
48 FIG Leads the Charleston Food Scene
118 The Napa Valley of the South
54 Southern Baking and Blogging with
124 From Water to Wine: Seeing Red Wine Fest
62 Recipe for a Master Chef: Emeril’s Coastal Italian
VOYAGER 129
Wardrobe courtesy of Kiki Risa
68 Coastal Food with New Urban Soul
130 Goin’ Wild Turkey: Strutting Down
(dress), BHLDN (jewelry), and
72 Long Live the Island Life: Tommy Bahama
Restaurants, Studer Properties, and Jean Pierre N’Dione to open Angelena’s, a new Italian restaurant, in downtown Pensacola this fall. Photo by Steven Gray Venue: Old Hickory Whiskey Bar Hair by Dawn Hamil Makeup by Yvette Nation
Gent’s Formal Wear (tuxedo) Flowers by Fiore
PUBLISHED BY
Elisabeth and Butter
the Bourbon Trail
78 Soupçon Bowl: Keep It Simple, Chef
138 North Carolina’s Queen City: Charlotte Is Ready for Its Close-up
80 The King of Southern Comfort: Remembering Pat Conroy
LA SCÈNE 148
84 Southern Comfort: Recipes with Good Taste
AU REVOIR! 151
TheIdeaBoutique.com info@theideaboutique.com V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 13
CREATIVE TEAM FOUNDER / EDITOR-IN-CHIEF LISA MARIE BURWELL Lisa@VIEmagazine.com
FOUNDER / PUBLISHER GERALD BURWELL Gerald@VIEmagazine.com
EDITORIAL MANAGING EDITOR JORDAN STAGGS Jordan@VIEmagazine.com
CHIEF COPY EDITOR MARGARET STEVENSON CONTRIBUTING WRITERS VIRGINIE BOONE, COURTNEY DRAKE-MCDONOUGH, ANTHEA GERRIE, ILONA K AUREMSZKY PAGE LEGGETT, TORI PHELPS, SUZANNE POLL AK, NICHOL AS S. RACHEOTES SARAH MURPHY ROBERTSON, ADAM ROTHSCHILD, COLLEEN SACHS, BOYCE UPHOLT, LUCY YOUNG
ART AND PHOTOGRAPHY ART DIRECTOR TRACEY THOMAS Tracey@VIEmagazine.com
GRAPHIC DESIGNERS OLIVIA PIERCE HANNAH VERMILLION LUCY YOUNG
CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS BODRUMSURF, ROMAN CHO, JUSTIN DRISCOLL, SEAN M. FLYNN, JACK GARDNER, STEVEN GRAY MICHAEL HOUSEWRIGHT, BRENNA KNEISS, CARLO PIERONI , ROMONA ROBBINS, PETER TAYLOR, ERIC WOLFINGER ALISSA ARYN PHOTOGRAPHY, COLORBOX PHOTOGRAPHERS, KREG HOLT PHOTOGRAPHY, NAT & CODY, SHUTTERSTOCK
ADVERTISING, SALES, AND MARKETING DIGITAL MARKETING DIRECTOR MEGHN HILL BRANCH OFFICE MANAGER – IRELAND SHARON DUANE ASSISTANT TO THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF ABIGAIL RYAN BRAND AMBASSADOR LISA MARIE BURWELL Lisa@VIEmagazine.com
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VIE is a registered trademark. All contents herein are Copyright © 2008–2018 Cornerstone Marketing and Advertising, Incorporated (Publisher). All rights reserved. No part of this periodical may be reproduced without written permission from the Publisher. VIE is a lifestyle magazine and is published twelve times annually on a monthly schedule. The opinions herein are not necessarily those of the Publisher. The Publisher and its advertisers will not be held responsible for any errors found in this publication. The Publisher is not liable for the accuracy of statements made by its advertisers. Ads that appear in this publication are not intended as offers where prohibited by state law. The Publisher is not responsible for photography or artwork submitted by freelance or outside contributors. The Publisher reserves the right to publish any letter addressed to the editor or the Publisher. VIE is a paid publication. Subscription rates: Printed magazine – One-year $29.95; Two-year $54.95. Subscriptions can be purchased online at www.VIEmagazine.com.
14 | APR IL 2018
Editor’s Note
GATHERING ROUND THE TABLE A Recipe for Good Food and Conversation
E
veryone loves a great meal, especially when it’s shared with others. Lively conversation, laughter, and camaraderie are essential ingredients (a good Malbec doesn’t hurt, either) when breaking bread with friends and family. February 15, 2013 was one such night that I remember fondly. All the stars aligned for VIE’s Sea + Farm + Table dinner. It was a magical evening that I still reminisce about, and it is just one example of how lasting memories and bonds are formed when extensive preparation and effort are given to the celebration of life.
The theme was a rustic Southern family harvest-style dinner. With impassioned ingenuity and determined effort, the unassuming equestrian building at Arnett’s Gulfside Farm and Stables in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida, was transformed into a space with a magical ambience and a beautifully appointed harvest table set for forty.
gorgeous coffee-table cookbooks on store bookshelves and online. Amazing new restaurants pepper the country, which, as of 2016, is a direct correlation to America spending more money on eating out than on eating in. And if traveling to Italy, France, Greece, and Spain for a little cultural awakening wasn’t enough, the latest craze for destination travel with culinary school vacations has definitely upped the ante. So it comes as no surprise to me that our annual Culinary Issue is one of VIE’s most popular every year. In this issue, we have a number of stories on the best-of-the-best restaurants and chefs around the Southeast. It seems no one appreciates good food more than a real Southerner. Create memories and celebrate life absolutely every chance you get. Even with all its challenges, life is precious, so taking time to stop and enjoy all the goodness that it brings is a blessing!
Chef Phil McDonald prepared the exquisite menu from a pop-up kitchen. The Dread Clampitt trio serenaded guests who delighted in French 75 cocktails served with Apalachicola oysters, sweet potato puree on toast, and Alligator Point clams. Among the lively and enjoyable people that evening were many from the food and wine industries, including celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse and his wife, Alden, and Bryan and Cindy Krutz, owners of Napa Valley–based Krutz Family Cellars, who donated the wine that night.
To Life!
Food is hot. I mean … our society has an insatiable hunger for everything food related. And our quest for it seems to grow exponentially. There is always an abundance of
—Lisa Marie Founder/Editor-In-Chief
Above left: (Back row) Jim Accola, Gerald Burwell, Mike Ragsdale, and Bryan and Cindy Krutz. (Front row) Suzy Accola, Lisa Burwell, and Angela Ragsdale Above right: Chef Phil McDonald and celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse both celebrated new restaurant openings in 2017—Black Bear Bread Co. and Emeril’s Coastal Italian, respectively. Left: Sea + Farm + Table event guests enjoying a feast prepared by Phil McDonald and team Photos by Carlo Pieroni
V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 19
The Creatives
We collaborate with talented photographers, writers, and other creatives on a regular basis, and we’re continually inspired by how they pour their hearts and souls into their crafts. Follow these creatives on social media and don’t forget to check out our account, @viemagazine.
District. It’s hard to believe that a fried bologna sandwich changed my life, but that sandwich is just a microcosm of the kind of magic I experience every time I return to the restaurant. It’s comfort food elevated to an art form.
BROOKE PARKHURST Food Network Personality, Author, and Wine Director at Angelena’s
FOR THIS ISSUE, WE ASKED THE CREATIVES: WHAT’S ONE OF THE BEST MEALS YOU EVER HAD, AND WHAT MADE IT SPECIAL?
T.S. STRICKLAND
@angelenaspensacola
Aside from New York, Rome is my city. I fell in love with la Città Eterna when I was studying the language and literature at a university on the left bank of the Tiber. More importantly, this was my first taste of real food—nothing fancy, just pristine, local ingredients prepared with skill and love. Flavio al Velavevodetto embodies everything I love about la cucina romana. The restaurant grows its own vegetables in northern Lazio and raises its own herds and flocks. I love sitting with James in the back room (we get to stare at ancient amphorae while sipping glasses of chilled Valdobbiadene Prosecco!) and digging into the most classic of Roman food, fried fiori di zucca (zucchini flowers) and pasta alla gricia. It’s all simple, but it’s food to feed the soul.
Event Director, Peat & Pearls PeatandPearls.com
At age seventeen, I spent three weeks in Japan. I was also in the trough of a severe depression. I was wandering through Osaka one day, feeling dejected, when I smelled something wonderful. The scent led me to a tiny corner restaurant where an enormous Japanese man stirred a him-sized pot. There was no dining room in the place, just a chalkboard with one entry: chicken curry. I ordered a plateful, and it brought me back to life. The meal taught me how food can not only delight our senses but also renew our hope. To this day, I am devoted to curry.
STEVEN GRAY Photographer, “Pretty and Gritty” CameraandFlask.com
Few meals have come close to inspiring the childlike joy I felt the first time I ate at Turkey and the Wolf in New Orleans’ Lower Garden
FLAVIO AL VELAVEVODETTO EMBODIES EVERYTHING I LOVE ABOUT LA CUCINA ROMANA. THE RESTAURANT GROWS ITS OWN VEGETABLES IN NORTHERN LAZIO AND RAISES ITS OWN HERDS AND FLOCKS.
COLLEEN SACHS Writer, “Breaking Bread” @colleensachs
As a food writer, I have had wonderful meals in many restaurants, but one of the most memorable was at a home in the beautiful village of Limeuil in France’s Dordogne. My first Sunday there, I visited the medieval Church of Saint Catherine, where the parishioners (mostly British expats) invited me to a harvest celebration. The table featured an array of mouthwatering charcuterie, lovely French cheese, freshly baked bread, homemade jams—and plenty of wine. There was also British fare such as shepherd’s pie, toad-in-the-hole, pork pie, bread-and-butter pudding, and a variety of curries, including chicken tikka masala (sometimes called Britain’s real national dish). It was a cool, blue-sky day filled with good food and warm hospitality. I made new friends and gained a perspective of the area that led me off the beaten path. V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 21
La conversation
CHATTERBOX WE LOVE TO COMMUNICATE AND INTERACT WITH OUR READERS! AND WE LOVE IT EVEN MORE WHEN THEY PROUDLY SHARE THEIR STORIES AND POSE WITH VIE FOR A CLOSE-UP! THAT’S WHAT IT’S ALL ABOUT: SHARING, LOVING, AND BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS. WE THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH AND WE APPRECIATE YOU! Nikki Lane
Every group has to have that cool girl: the one who doesn’t give a damn about what others think—or at least she doesn’t seem to. She’s got that effortlessly flawless look and an attitude that’s enviable in its apathy. Nikki Lane, a high school dropout from Greenville, South Carolina, who became a fashion designer before embarking on her career as a country rock star, takes that role in this lineup of artists to watch. With three albums under her belt, Lane’s sound has been called a blend of “potent lyrics, unbridled blues guitars, and vintage ’60s country-pop swagger.” Her 2017 album Highway Queen was the result of what Lane says is “the first time in my career where I decided how things were going to go; I was willing to take the heat.” We can’t wait to see what’s next for this glam country outlaw.
The Krickets
Country melds with bluegrass and what the lovely ladies of the Krickets call “swamp folk” for this band based in quaint Port Saint Joe, Florida. Again, this band is not the traditional country sound and prefers to fall under the Americana label, but the Deep South influences come through in the gospelesque harmonies and with instruments such as the banjo, mandolin, and fiddle playing major roles. The foursome of Melissa Bowman, Emily Stuckey, Lauren Spring, and Katrina Kolb came together to do a cancer benefit event in honor of mutual friend Cristina “Cricket” Russell. In memory of their friend, some of the proceeds from the sale of their first album, Spanish Moss Sirens, were given to the Cricket Fund Beyond Diagnosis to provide health services to women in need. The band is currently at work on its second album, so keep an eye out!
WITH THREE ALBUMS UNDER HER BELT, LANE’S SOUND HAS BEEN CALLED A BLEND OF “POTENT LYRICS, UNBRIDLED BLUES GUITARS, AND VINTAGE ’60S COUNTRY-POP SWAGGER.”
Photo by Eden Tyler
Photo by Joe Alonso
St. Paul and the Broken Bones
Photo by David McClister
Powerhouse vocalist Paul Janeway might not be strictly “country,” but there’s no denying the Southern influence on the music produced by this six-piece soul band based in Birmingham, Alabama. Janeway, guitarist Jesse Phillips, bassist Browan Lollar, drummer Andrew Lee, keyboard player Al Gamble, and trumpeter Allen Branstetter released St. Paul’s first EP, Greetings from St. Paul and the Broken Bones, in 2012. Their extensive touring has included performances on the stages of CBS This Morning Saturday, the Glastonbury Festival, the Rolling Stones’ Zip Code tour, Celtic Connections festival, and more. Now the band is on the road again, with a performance scheduled on the sunny coast of Northwest Florida on March 24 as part of Visit Panama City Beach’s UNwineD craft beer, spirits, and wine festival. St. Paul and the Broken Bones will perform Saturday during the Grand Tasting Afternoon at Aaron Bessant Park. Tickets are on sale now at VisitPanamaCityBeach.com.
@ashleylongshoreart I LOVE my painting in the beautiful offices at @viemagazine!!!! It’s heavenly. #ashleylongshore #popart
@thekrickets Giant thank you to VIE for including us on their list for “The New Country Music.” Fun fact: Ben Tanner produced both the Krickets and St. Paul’s debut albums. Cool coincidence we’re listed together on the same page—or that we’re on any list that includes them for that matter! @seanmflynn Photo from shoot with @ashcambanjo we did at Antelope Canyon. Been waiting a long time to share this photo! One of my faves. Click link in bio to read Ashley’s cover article for @viemagazine.
@hitsongwriterhouseconcerts Big thanks to @viemagazine for the shout out to Hit Songwriter House Concerts in their March issue! Go to www.hitsongwriterhouseconcerts.com to learn more about how to host your very own Hit Songwriter House Concert!
LET’S TALK!
@The Carriage Thanks so much for the love, VIE magazine. We think Florence, Alabama, is pretty great, and we’re glad you do too! Check out what they have to say about the Shoals, The Carriage, and Florence Wine Fest 2018! Visit Florence, AL.
@ashcambanjo So excited to be the cover girl for @viemagazine’s March issue! I loved every minute of wearing this vintage couture @chanelofficial dress borrowed from the lovely @janeseymour. Photo by @seanmflynn
Send VIE your comments and photos on our social media channels or by e-mailing us at info@viemagazine.com. We’d love to hear your thoughts. They could end up in the next La conversation!
VIEmagazine.com
V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 23
A Family Legacy
Curating Spaces and Places Since 1976
The Pride of a Master Craftsman When old-world craft meets new-world technology, an unprecedented level of quality is birthed. At E.F. San Juan, the quality and long-term function of our woodwork are the keys to creating elements that will transform a house into a dream home. efs a nj u a n.c o m
Pretty & Gr In OLD FLORIDA, the LOWLY OYSTER COMES OUT of Its SHELL
By A D A M R O T H S C H I L D Photography by S T E V E N G R AY
On a brisk, bright Sunday afternoon, several hundred people milled about the grounds of the Barkley House, a nineteenth-century estate located on the waterfront in the colonial-era seaport of Pensacola.
28 | APR IL 2018
Peat & Pearls celebrity guests Brooke Parkhurst and James Briscione— TV personalities, culinary instructors, and authors of Just Married and Cooking, The Great Cook, and The Flavor Matrix—at Old Hickory Whiskey Bar in Pensacola, Florida
ritty
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hey sipped Scotch, slurped oysters, and puffed on handmade cigars prepared by the tobacco rollers who had set up shop on the lawn. Peat & Pearls was in full swing. This two-day celebration of Scotch and regional farm-raised oysters, sponsored by Glenfiddich and VIE magazine, featured a walkabout tasting event and a VIP dinner with Food Network celebrity chef James Briscione and his wife and business partner, Brooke Parkhurst. The posh affair, which resembled something between an old Southern garden party and a Low-Country oyster roast, was just one part of Foo Foo Fest, a twoweek cavalcade of culinary and artistic delights that takes place here each November. The festival—and Peat & Pearls—are evidence of a more significant transition that has rocked this sleepy port town in recent years, taking it from a bastion of Old Florida to a beacon of the New South.
Hard Times in Old Florida Perched at the westernmost end of the Sunshine State, Pensacola has long been known for its sugarwhite sands, turquoise waters, and little else. The beaches of Santa Rosa Island—just over the bay from downtown—are a veritable mecca for tourists from throughout the Southeast. The rest of the city, though, has remained solidly Old Florida.
V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 29
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onsider East Pensacola Heights, located just over the bayou from downtown. It was here, in 2015, that archaeologists uncovered the remains of the first European multiyear settlement in America, the colony founded in 1559 by Spanish conquistador Don Tristan de Luna. Among the finds were bushels and bushels of spent oyster shells, a favorite among protein-starved settlers. The local appetite for shellfish hasn’t waned in the intervening centuries. Case in point: just a few blocks from the Luna site is the Marina Oyster Barn. The landmark restaurant has stood on the shore of Bayou Texar since the 1960s. Ever since, residents have bellied up to the bar to order fried mullet, hush puppies, and shellfish by the plateful. At one time, most of the oysters served here were local, hauled from the bay just a stone’s throw away. That hasn’t been the case for quite some time now. It’s a familiar story. Overharvesting and natural and manmade disasters over the past ten years or so have taken their toll on wild reefs, and the region’s traditional oystermen have suffered as a consequence.
“THIS CONCEPT is GOING to MARRY the TWO THINGS WE LOVE MOST, THE CLASSIC CUISINE of ITALY and THE CULINARY TRADITIONS of THE GULF COAST.” New aquaculture techniques, however, have fostered a renaissance. A new breed of oysterman is preserving working waterfronts, restoring coastal environments, and reviving regional varietals of oysters that, in many cases, haven’t been seen in decades.
Changing Tastes in the New South Around here, Pensacola Bay Oyster Co. deserves credit for bringing local oysters back to the table. Owner Don McMahon, a career insurance executive, started the company in 2016 to revive the historic East Bay fishery. The company harvested its first crop last year—to much fanfare—and will be harvesting a second this spring. Thanks to McMahon, local oysters are once again on the menu at the Oyster Barn, as well as at fine dining establishments in the city’s burgeoning urban core. These days, that core is beginning to look less like Old Florida and more like the New South. If you want a better glimpse of this newer Pensacola, just look to James Briscione. The young chef grew up just down the road from the Oyster Barn, on a bluff overlooking the bay where McMahon now tends his crop.
Great Southern Restaurants recently announced that Briscione will be executive chef and Parkhurst will be wine director at Angelena’s, a new Italian eatery coming to downtown Pensacola in September 2018. 30 | APR IL 2018
In the years since he left home, Briscione has become an accomplished chef, an author, and a Food Network personality. As director of culinary research for the Institute of Culinary Education in New York City, he’s been at the forefront of innovation in the food world. Now, he and wife Brooke Parkhurst—also a Pensacola native and the other half of their brand, The Couple’s Kitchen—are bringing all that experience back to
Half Shell, Full Circle “Oyster culture on the Gulf Coast has always bothered me,” admits Briscione. “It was an embarrassment of riches that led to oysters being undervalued. I feel like that attitude is coming full circle. Now, as oyster farms are popping up all over the Gulf Coast, there is a newfound appreciation for the effort, time, and passion that go into getting these oysters to our table.” This appreciation was on full display at Peat & Pearls, which benefited the oyster shell recycling program run by Keep Pensacola Beautiful. T.S. Strickland, an adman turned oyster evangelist, conceived and organized the event. Pensacola, where they plan to open a new restaurant this year called Angelena’s. “This concept is going to marry the two things we love most,” Briscione says, “the classic cuisine of Italy and the culinary traditions of the Gulf Coast.”
“The boutique oyster movement has made oysters ‘sexy’ again,” Strickland says. “Oysters are a very humble species. They’re filter feeders, and they embody the characteristics of their environment in the same way grapes do.”
The project—a partnership with restaurateur Collier Merrill and developers Quint and Rishy Studer—will be located just one block off Palafox Street, the city’s main commercial artery, which has seen hundreds of millions of dollars in investment over the last few years. The restaurant will be adjacent to a brand-new $55 million retail and residential development called Southtowne, also owned by the Studers. This sort of investment—and the optimism it inspires—were enough to persuade the duo to give up the Big Apple and cast their lot in with their hometown. “Pensacola has evolved from a ‘beach-first’ city into a cultural destination,” says Parkhurst. “We really think what has occurred in our hometown is nothing short of a renaissance.” This renaissance has as much to do with food as it does steel and concrete—and oysters are as good an indicator of this shift as any.
“That OYSTER will TASTE COMPLETELY DIFFERENT from ONE PLACE to THE OTHER, BASED on THE ENVIRONMENT in WHICH it WAS GROWN and THE PEOPLE WHO RAISED it.”
Whereas wine aficionados have long talked about “terroir”—a term that denotes the way climate, soil, and husbandry impact flavor—it is now common to hear oyster connoisseurs rhapsodizing about “merroir,” the marine equivalent. “The same species of oyster grows from Miami to Maine,” Strickland says, “but that oyster will taste completely different from one place to the other, based on the environment in which it was grown and the people who raised it.” Briscione and Parkhurst—whose new book, The Flavor Matrix, is all about the science of flavor—agree. “Slurping a freshly shucked oyster truly allows you to taste the waters it came from,” Briscione says.
In addition to the Peat & Pearls oyster and Scotch tastings and VIP dinner, the weekend of events included a Pearl Roundtable featuring Susan Campbell Jewelry, decor from Fiore florist, HatchMark Studio, and Vintage Loft Rentals, a lounge by Cigar Factory Pensacola, and delicious sweets from Bluejay’s Bakery. V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 31
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eat & Pearls featured Scotch tastings by Glenfiddich, cocktails by Pensacola’s Old Hickory Whiskey Bar, and oysters from more than a dozen Gulf Coast farms. Each oyster producer was paired with a local chef, who was responsible for creating one cooked and one raw preparation. The format allowed guests to meet and mingle with the farmers, hear their stories, and ask them questions. It was a profoundly educational—as well as delicious—experience.
“OUR WHISKEY, WITH its COMBINATION of SWEETNESS and LIGHT SPICE, REALLY PAIRS NICELY with THE SWEETNESS of A LOT of OYSTERS and IS COMPLEMENTED by THEIR BRININESS.”
The event culminated the following evening with a lavish five-course dinner prepared by Briscione and guest chef Frank Taylor of Pensacola’s Global Grill. The dinner, presented by SOHO Events and Rentals, featured a guided oyster tasting by seafood guru Chris Nelson of Alabama’s Bon Secour Fisheries.
A Natural Pairing Allan Roth, a national brand ambassador for Glenfiddich who attended the event, said whiskey and oysters were a natural pairing—though perhaps a novel one for American consumers.
Peat & Pearls 2017 was a beautiful success, thanks to sponsors including Lee House, Glenfiddich, Old Hickory Whiskey Bar, and more. Oyster farmers from Panacea Oyster Co-Op, Point aux Pins, Pensacola Bay Oyster Co., Oyster Mom, and Coden Beach Oyster Co. partnered with chefs Irv Miller (Jackson’s Steakhouse), Gregg McCarthy (Grand Marlin), Drew Dzejak (Alys Beach), Frank Taylor (Global Grill), Dan Causgrove (Seaworthy), and Dan Dunn (Hilton Pensacola Beach Gulf Front) for the tasting event. For the VIP dinner, New York City–based chef James Briscione was joined by chef Frank Taylor. 32 | APR IL 2018
Tony and Katie Garrett of Old Hickory Whiskey Bar with James Briscione and Brooke Parkhurst
Chefs Frank Taylor and James Briscione
Collier Merrill of Great Southern Restaurants
“Scotland has a tremendous amount of coastline relative to its size,” Roth says, “and so the people there are no stranger to oysters. Our whiskey, with its combination of sweetness and light spice, really pairs nicely with the sweetness of a lot of oysters and is complemented by their brininess.” Beyond this, Roth said he saw a natural affinity between his company's values and those of the new class of oyster farmers cropping up along America's coasts.
Kim Corley and Irv Miller
“We’ve been making Glenfiddich for 130 years now, and our company has been maintained by the same family all along,” Roth expounds. “I think the fact that a lot of oyster farms are run by families as well gives them the same benefits we have. We have this incredible independence that allows us to create single malt in a way that it hadn’t been produced before and to explore flavor combinations that hadn’t been explored previously.” In the same way, Gulf Coast oyster farmers are pushing the boundaries of their craft. One of these producers, Panacea Oyster Co-Op, raises shellfish in the pristine waters of Oyster Bay near Apalachicola, Florida. That tiny fishing village, just a few hours east of Pensacola, once supplied 10 percent of all oysters consumed in the United States. In the last decade, oil spills, water wars, and drought have all but destroyed the wild reefs there.
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Rob Olin, CEO of the co-op, hopes his company can replace some of what was lost. To do so, he’s taking a page from the playbook of luxury brands like Glenfiddich. “Glenfiddich is not just a Scotch,” Olin says. “It’s a work of art created through generations of development and innovation. It’s the same thing with our oysters. This is a new era for us. We’re experiencing quantum leaps in innovation in how we can elevate the production and quality of this product, from spawning to nursing to rotating to actual harvest.” The result is a whole new world for luxury consumers. “The diversity of oysters at Peat & Pearls was something I was really excited about,” says Roth. “As a whiskey drinker, I’m always thrilled to try new types of whiskey, and that applies equally to oysters.” Strickland says he hopes to see even more farms represented at the next Peat & Pearls, to be held this fall in Pensacola. “We want to keep elevating the conversation around Gulf oysters,” he says. “They deserve more respect, not just because they’re delicious and fascinating, but because they are important. Oysters are a keystone species, and our entire coastal environment depends on them. If we can get people invested in the story of oysters, we can get them invested in the story of our environment; and if we
can convince them to value oysters as more than a commodity, we have a shot at doing some good.”
For more information about Peat & Pearls 2018, visit PeatandPearls.com. Learn more about James Briscione and Brooke Parkhurst at TheCouplesKitchen.com and keep an eye out for their new restaurant, Angelena’s, coming to downtown Pensacola this year.
Peat & Pearls will return to Pensacola’s Foo Foo Fest for 2018. Keep an eye out at PeatandPearls.com for schedule and ticket information.
Consistently Delicious since 1995! www.cafethirtya.com
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Bon appétit! THE ESSENCE OF LIFE
Book your table or learn more at SorghumandSalt.com. Photo courtesy of Sorghum and Salt
New on the Charleston, South Carolina, food scene, Sorghum and Salt is an “upbeat eatery” that opened in 2017 and has quickly risen through the ranks of local foodie favorites. Chef Tres Jackson (who is also the owner) puts passion into every dish he creates, focusing on seasonal, locally sourced ingredients. Stop by to try specialties such as Carolina Gold rice risotto, lamb biscuits, and Jackson’s famous beet crémeux dessert!
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H A R V E S T I N G
G O O D
38 | APR IL 2018
FOR MANY BUSY AMERICANS, THE IDEA OF EATING A FRESH AND
RACHEL DRORI: We currently ship to 95 percent
HEALTHY MEAL EVERY DAY OF THE WEEK CAN SEEM LAUGHABLE
of the continental US and are working hard to cover more ground. One of our primary goals is to make clean, organic eating accessible to as many people as possible, regardless of how far the nearest farmer’s market is or how skimpy local supermarket shelves may be. Expanding our delivery zone is essential to making that goal a reality.
AT BEST AND EXHAUSTING AT WORST. IN A WORLD WHERE THE CONVENIENCE OF FAST FOOD OR TAKEOUT IS OFTEN MORE APPEALING THAN PREPARING FOOD AT HOME, NEW YORK CITY– BASED BRAND DAILY HARVEST IS COMING TO THE RESCUE!
VIE : HOW DOES DAILY HARVEST DELIVERY WORK? In the words of its founder, Rachel Drori, “Daily Harvest exists to make clean, plant-based foods more accessible to everyone, no matter where they live or how busy their day might be.” Drori found that in balancing her work and home lives, she had little time or desire to cook nutrient-rich foods that she really wanted to eat. Her brand was born from that need, and Daily Harvest now offers weekly and monthly box subscriptions with a variety of products including smoothies, power bowls, soups, and even lattes. All meals arrive right at your door, conveniently packaged and frozen for optimal freshness and easy prep. VIE got together with Drori to learn more about Daily Harvest and its mission to make healthy, delicious meals accessible to everyone.
VIE : WHAT AREAS ARE CURRENTLY RECEIVING DAILY HARVEST SHIPMENTS?
RD: We offer weekly or monthly deliveries with six, nine, twelve, or twenty-four Daily Harvest cups inside and the ability to skip a week at any time with no penalty or hidden charge. Customers have the option to choose cups individually or select a curated box, like our best-sellers or a limited-edition curation from brands that we love, such as Well+Good and The Zoe Report.
VIE : WHICH PRODUCTS SEEM TO BE THE FAVORITES OF YOUR CONSUMERS? RD: Cold Brew + Almond and Mint + Cacao smoothies are two customer favorites. Getting a healthy breakfast and your morning coffee in one cup feels like the ultimate breakfast hack, and it’s totally delicious. Our Cauliflower Rice + Pesto Harvest Bowl is also pretty popular. It’s great on its own as a snack, but it can also be topped with a fried egg, grilled chicken, or seared fish for a hearty, healthy lunch or dinner. Our recipes are crafted to accommodate a broad array of tastes, whether you’ve got a sweet tooth or prefer savory, spiced dishes. Some are created to spotlight a particular ingredient, while others, like our Carrot + Chia smoothie, are healthy riffs on craveable, less-healthy comfort foods. Regardless of flavor, though, they’re all plant-based, gluten-free, and ready to eat in five minutes max.
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BY DELIVERING STRAIGHT TO CUSTOMERS’ HOMES, WE’RE ABLE TO PROVIDE NUTRIENT-RICH, ORGANIC PRODUCE TO THOSE WHO MAY NOT LIVE NEAR A GREENMARKET.
VIE : WHAT OTHER COMPANIES HAVE YOU WORKED WITH TO CREATE NEW PRODUCTS OR SERVICES?
VIE : WHICH PRODUCT IS YOUR PERSONAL FAVORITE AND WHY?
RD: Collaborating with other wellness-focused brands allows us to show how Daily Harvest can be applied to different lifestyles or tastes, whether it’s a curated box for nonstop lifestyles with The Zoe Report or comfort food-y recipes with Well+Good. We recently partnered with New York–based vegan restaurant by CHLOE for a limited-edition smoothie in celebration of Valentine’s Day; the Dragon Fruit + Lychee smoothie was available in by CHLOE stores and Daily Harvest boxes. It was the first time we had done anything like that, and I don’t think it’ll be the last.
RD: I’m obsessed with our new collection of lattes. They’re full of botanicals and
VIE : ANYTHING ELSE COMING UP FOR 2018 THAT YOU’D
functional ingredients—they’re warming, mood-boosting heaven. Plus, I used to make a golden milk latte every morning, which took a ton of time (and turned my countertop yellow from freshly grated turmeric), so it’s been a game changer for me personally.
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VIE : WHY DO YOU THINK THIS TYPE OF AT-HOME SERVICE IS NECESSARY OR HELPFUL FOR LIFESTYLES TODAY?
Meal subscriptions from Daily Harvest can include a variety of smoothies, power bowls, soups, lattes, and more. The brand’s founder, Rachel Drori (top left), has made it her mission to help Americans eat better at home and on the go. Photos courtesy of Daily Harvest 40 | APR IL 2018
RD: Most convenience foods are not healthy, and most healthy foods are not convenient. People want healthier food options without having to disrupt or compromise their daily routines or jump through a dozen hoops to prep and cook meals. Daily Harvest offers a solution by working with frozen foods, which provide superior nutrition and don’t spoil in the way that fresh produce does. And by delivering straight to customers’ homes, we’re able to provide nutrient-rich, organic produce to those who may not live near a greenmarket or a supermarket that stocks high-quality fruits and vegetables. All Daily Harvest recipes take just one step and no more than five minutes to prepare. They’re all designed to give customers back the time they’d otherwise spend cooking, allowing them to do more of what they want to be doing and focus on what’s important to them.
RD: Right now, we’re focused on ramping up research and development, fine-tuning existing recipes, and creating new ones. Guaranteeing a flawless experience as we scale up is also a top priority for us. And without revealing too much, I can say that we’ve got our eye on cities across the US and are working to bring the Daily Harvest brand to life.
VIE : ANY MORE ADVICE FOR CUSTOMERS ON THE GO? RD: Don’t fear your freezer! Frozen produce is more nutrient rich and less prone to spoilage than “fresh” ingredients from the supermarket, which are picked before they’re ripe and spend weeks in transit. TV dinners gave frozen foods a bad rap, and we’re on a mission to remedy that. DAILY-HARVEST.COM
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With interiors by Libby Baker inspired by the cafés of Brooklyn, New York, and modern Top: Photo description. branding created by I Photo description. Will Design for Food, Photo description. Inc., Black Bear feels Photo description. like an description. urban oasis just a Photo half mile from the beach. Photo description. Photo by Jack credit. Gardner Photographer
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Breaking By C O L L E E N S A C H S
B
read is elemental. Little more than flour, yeast, and water are combined to create a food that has been a staple for tens of thousands of years. Over time, methods and ingredients have been developed to help make bread faster and to make it last longer. But the best bread still comes from good-quality, simple ingredients using time-tested methods. That is precisely the bread found at Black Bear Bread Co., the brainchild of business partners chef Phillip McDonald and restaurateur Dave Rauschkolb. The all-day café is located in a tiny cottage in Grayton Beach, Florida, with the wholesale bakery production facility just a few steps away.
Black Bear’s genesis took a circuitous route. After years of working in restaurants along the Northwest Florida coast and operating Table Five Private Chef + Catering, McDonald found he wanted more. He traveled to San Francisco and New York, where he learned from Gary Danko and Jean-Georges Vongerichten. He stayed in New York for a year “working with amazing professionals,” he says. “The fast pace taught me to cook with intuition.” It was in Florida that Rauschkolb first got to know McDonald. Both men are from the Florida Panhandle, and both love surfing. In addition to surfing together, Rauschkolb and McDonald got to know each other when Table Five was hired for an event at Seaside. Rauschkolb was
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Left: Black Bear Bread Co. is located in the Shops of Grayton in Grayton Beach, Florida. Photo by Jack Gardner Below: The avocado tartine is a favorite menu staple. Photo by Alissa Aryn Photography
impressed with what he saw and tasted, saying “when you see someone with that talent you gravitate toward them.”
Opposite: Stop in daily for a hearty grain bowl with poached eggs (breakfast only), a banana or smoked salmon tartine, and homemade biscuits or croissants. Previous page: Head baker Debbie Swenerton and chef Phil McDonald work daily to create a menu of delicious homemade breads, pastries, lunch items, and more. Photos by Alissa Aryn Photography 44 | APR IL 2018
R
auschkolb was building on his successful Seaside restaurant, Bud & Alley’s. Recognizing a desire in the area for high-quality Mexican food, he opened Taco Bar in 2001. That was followed by Pizza Bar in 2006. He asked McDonald to move back to Florida from New York to “work with me at Pizza Bar, and maybe open a restaurant together.”
McDonald accepted the offer, where he started to experiment with bread making. “I wanted to make bread the right way, naturally leavened,” McDonald explains. He made his own yeast starter and began making bread for the restaurant. “I made fifty to sixty loaves that were horrible—but they kept getting better.” Breads at Black Bear are made with the starter (affectionately named Blob) that was born at Pizza Bar three years ago. Rauschkolb was winding up Bud & Alley’s Catering in what is now the Black Bear production location. He and McDonald started planning the bakery, and head baker Debbie Swenerton became part of the team, lending techniques she developed in her more than thirty years of baking. Selling the bread at a farmer’s market was a big success, and the Black Bear Bread Co. started taking shape.
The original plan was to open the café in the same building as the wholesale bakery, but Rauschkolb recognized that they wouldn’t have much more seating than the current location. While buying milk and eggs at a nearby shop, he noticed that a building was newly available right beside the production location, and moved quickly to procure the space. “Talk about planets aligning,” Rauschkolb says with a laugh, “did you know we opened the day of the eclipse?” The name was inspired by local black bears—yes, actual bears in Northwest Florida—diving into the waste bins outside the building, looking for the portion of yeast starter that was dumped at the end of each day and leaving their footprints behind. Jake Meyer of I Will Design for Food, Inc., featured a lone black bear in the company’s logo and other branding. Rauschkolb found the building for the
Each loaf of bread is simple perfection: a deep brown crusty exterior and a soft yet chewy center that has the tangy taste and aroma that only comes through a three-day fermentation. café in the same neighborhood as the wholesale bakery. McDonald started shaping the menu, inspired by places such as Tartine Manufactory in San Francisco and the all-day cafés he found in New York. McDonald says, “Nothing is left to chance; I even curate the music.” From the gold lettering on the door to the honeycomb tile accents and the weathered wood floor, Black Bear looks as if it has been around for decades, even though it is less than a year old. Its heavy marbletop tables have iron bases with feet that look like bear paws. The cozy seating area is graced by a large photo of a bear on a sofa taken by Lee Crum. The interior design by Libby Baker of Baker Design Co. in Santa Rosa Beach evokes a comforting and old-fashioned feel, making the café a gathering place where people can catch up with friends, have a meeting, or just relax. Tony Vallee helped with the interior architecture, and McDonald’s wife, Madra, handles the public relations for the business. Both Rauschkolb and McDonald felt strongly that Black Bear should be a place where people can get good bread. Early in the day, shelves behind the counter are piled with rustic loaves. By the end of the day, those loaves are gone. Each loaf of bread is simple perfection: a deep brown crusty exterior and a soft yet chewy center that has the tangy taste and aroma that only comes through a three-day fermentation. On any given day, you may find country sourdough, multigrain sourdough, fruit-and-nut sourdough, olive sourdough, miche, and baguette. The café menu is centered around the bread. McDonald’s philosophy is “to make simple, clean, fun food from scratch, using seasonal offerings.” Jams, aiolis, and crème fraîche are made in-house. The roast beef for sandwiches is locally raised and grass fed. V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 45
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He says the banana tartine was “an experiment that tasted great.” Steel-cut oatmeal and granola are classic breakfast options, each accompanied by fresh fruit and complementary toppings. Breakfast sandwiches start with biscuits or croissants and can be enjoyed with butter and house-made jam, or add cheese, eggs, bacon, or ham.
o
ne of the most basic menu items (also McDonald’s favorite) is the sardine lunch. The meal, served on a board, is a tin of sardines, a pickled egg, sea salt butter, lemon, Calabrian chili, and slices of sourdough bread. What makes the dish unique is that each of its components is good enough to stand alone, and they are a delight when enjoyed together.
A lunch that has been a wonderful choice over the chilly winter is the braised field peas. Cooked into a hearty soup flavored with Parmesan rinds, the peas are accented with lemon confit and topped with sourdough croutons and a perfectly poached egg.
Above: The banana tartine includes whipped ricotta, local honey, sea salt, mint, chili, and pecans on fresh homemade sourdough toast. Right: Black Bear proudly serves coffee from Stumptown Coffee Roasters, a Portland-based brand that’s packed with flavor. Opposite: Dave Rauschkolb, Debbie Swenerton, and Phil McDonald with one of the café’s central art pieces, a photo of a real bear on a sofa taken by Lee Crum. Photos by Alissa Aryn Photography 46 | APR IL 2018
Tartines are among the most popular fare at Black Bear. These beautiful openfaced sandwiches make a filling breakfast or lunch. The avocado tartine is spread thick with ripe avocado and studded with house-made pickles (cauliflower one afternoon, carrots on another). Za’atar is sprinkled on top. McDonald smiles as he explains, “The sumac in the za’atar is what gives you the mouthwatering feel.” He says the banana tartine was “an experiment that tasted great.” It includes whipped ricotta, local honey, sea salt, mint, chili, and pecans on sourdough. A smoked salmon tartine served on multigrain bread features radishes and preserved lemon. It is bright, fresh, and colorful. A sandwich of Italian cured meats is served on soft homemade focaccia. With mortadella and coppa, a green olive salsa verde, Provolone, and radicchio, this sandwich balances salt and unctuousness into something crave-worthy. Be sure to check the specials board before ordering. Frequently there are salads made from what is in season. On weekends, you are likely to find shakshouka seasoned with spicy harissa and topped with feta, fresh herbs, and eggs. Of course, sourdough is served alongside for dipping into the brilliant red sauce.
Available pastries du jour are in full view at the Black Bear counter. They go quickly (particularly on weekends). The cheese Danish are tender and buttery, with just a bit of sweetness to go with the tangy cheese filling. The kouigns amann are made of laminated dough that creates the texture of a croissant and have a crackly exterior of caramelized sugar. They are chewy and tender at once, and so very buttery and sweet. Flaky croissants, enormous cinnamon rolls, scones, and bagels all make appearances. And, of course, sweet, cream-filled bear claw pastries are offered. The best accompaniment to one of Black Bear’s pastries is a cup of coffee from Portland-based Stumptown Coffee Roasters. A simple Americano is wonderful, while the mocha has a bold chocolate flavor from Woodblock Chocolate, without the cloying sweetness found in many mochas. Other options include cold brew from Stumptown, along with bottled water, kombucha tea, and Mexican Coke. Beer and wine are also offered.
Black Bear has been a great success, so much so that Rauschkolb has purchased the building next door, and it is being readied for expansion of the café. Asked about the phenomenal popularity of Black Bear, Rauschkolb describes it as thrilling. McDonald says, “It’s been humbling and overwhelming.” He goes on to say, “The time I spent in New York hardened me so that I was no longer scared to go out on my own, and my time at Pizza Bar with Dave gave me the tools to do the high volume we are doing.” Rauschkolb says, “Phil has a talent for flavors and is constantly studying. He has an amazing capacity for food and the world of food. It was a no-brainer to open a place with him.” They make a synergistic team. A respected restaurateur, Rauschkolb deals with the creative aspect of the café, while McDonald creates the menus and is the principal operations manager. It is fortunate for Grayton Beach that Rauschkolb and McDonald took the routes they did.
B L A C K B E A R B R E A D C O .C O M Colleen Sachs loves food and traveling around the world, and has been writing about both for twenty-five years. She lives with her spouse and a multitude of pets in Santa Rosa Beach and Pensacola, Florida.
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leads the charleston food scene
By Tori Phelps Photography courtesy of FIG
f you’ve experienced the maddening pang of too many dining options and too little time during a trip to Charleston, South Carolina, you can thank Mike Lata and Adam Nemirow. The duo behind the iconic restaurant FIG intended only to launch a new eatery fifteen years ago, but they ended up starting a movement of simple ingredients given simple preparations, sourced almost entirely from local farms, fields, and seas.
FIG owners/founders Adam Nemirow and chef Mike Lata
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It sounds, well, simple. But the concept was a Low-Country revolution that triggered a long list of imitators. Thank goodness. Because today, a region once dismissed by the culinary elite has become a mecca of award-winning restaurants that attracts diners and chefs from around the globe. Many say it all started with FIG.
For James Beard Award–winning chef Lata, FIG represents a life he always wanted but didn’t initially believe was an option. He knew early on that the kitchen was his happy place, learning the value of garden-grown produce at the knee of his Polish American grandmother and internalizing the care she took in picking everything that appeared on her family’s plates. Those were the days before cooking was considered an admirable life goal, and the Massachusetts native caved to pressure to pick a “real” career. He enrolled at UMass Amherst as a broadcast journalism major. He couldn’t shake the cooking bug, though, and skipped class one day to attend a lecture by legendary chef Julia Child. When she waxed poetic about how food had changed her life and voiced a belief in its power to unite families and communities, Lata realized he was wasting his time pursuing anything else. “I quit school that day,” he says. Lata threw himself into restaurant gigs in places like Boston, New Orleans, and Atlanta, working his way up the ladder with every stop. Eventually, he was recruited to run a local food program at Anson, a longtime Charleston restaurant. When Adam Nemirow joined the Anson team a couple of years later as the manager, the two hit it off immediately and realized their shared vision was more than the basis for a great friendship. It was the basis for a new kind of restaurant. Nemirow, who was raised mostly in New England, was the front-of-house pro that completed Lata’s back-of-house expertise. Armed with an MBA from hospitality powerhouse Johnson & Wales, Nemirow came to Charleston because it “was the obvious choice” for restaurant-focused hospitality. The duo agreed to make all decisions together, but their specific skill sets meant Lata could concentrate on the menus while Nemirow put together an outstanding beverage program, trained staff, and tended to a million other not-so-glamorous details. Inside FIG’s unassuming building at the corner of Meeting and Hasell Streets, business was somewhat "meh" in the couple of years following its 2003 debut. Feedback was positive, but the restaurant hadn't really struck a chord yet. And then FIG got a visit from powerful New York Times food editor R. W. Apple Jr. Lata and Nemirow knew he was a reviewer, but they admit that they were too busy with the day-to-day slog to investigate. So, they did what they always do: they sent out a great meal. When Apple’s glowing piece appeared shortly afterward, their lives changed forever. “We went from an up-and-down business to sold-out for six weeks straight,” Lata says. “That was our coming-out party.” Apple, who had sampled pretty much every dish on the menu during his visit, was hooked by Lata’s clean, unfussy preparations. Like many chefs, Lata cooks with “taste memory,” and his is firmly anchored in the abundance of his grandmother’s garden. His minimalistic style speaks to the fact that he considers himself more craftsman than innovator, preferring to connect with diners through their memories of fresh, delicious food than to shock them with a “What is that?” dish.
t helps that he and Nemirow are adamant about sourcing so much of their menu items locally. Far more than just produce, local suppliers contribute everything from sweeteners to heirloom grains—and the list keeps growing. Lata estimates that 80–95 percent of their food, depending on the season, comes from within a couple hundred miles of Charleston. It's a shocking percentage until you consider that Charleston is surrounded by water (seafood) and the area outside its city limits is mainly rural (everything else). To help keep those numbers high, FIG’s menu changes daily. The owners’ commitment to working almost exclusively with local purveyors means Lata has had to develop a system of creative flexibility to use whatever they’ve grown or caught that day. Collards, for example, might appear as a baby collard salad when they’re tender and young, giving way a week or two later to a sauté-and-braise treatment. And FIG’s Nine Vegetable Salad? It’s always on the menu, but the chances of finding the same nine veggies on the plate two days in a row are slim. If it sounds like a lot of work, that’s because it is. Lata doesn’t pretend otherwise, and he warns up-andcomers that a successful career in the kitchen demands an uncompromising work ethic. “I don’t require it in our restaurants, but if you’re not working from 9 a.m. until 1 or 2 a.m. in your twenties, you’re missing a lot,” he says. “You have to see the product come in, develop relationships with the growers, producers, and fishermen, and hand-hold the product all the way through to service. Until you understand the discipline involved in those things, you can’t be a great chef, regardless of your talent.”
Opposite: Chef Lata’s homemade gnocchi might just be the best you’ve ever had. Left: Fresh, locally sourced ingredients are the cornerstones of the restaurant’s menu. V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 51
The pair is confident that diners in their city are up for the challenge. The fact that their customers are willing to try almost anything makes Charleston chefs the envy of their peers.
ut food is only one part of the equation at FIG. Nemirow’s management means that guests are guided through their experience by well-trained servers and sip from a nationally lauded beverage program. This one-two punch has led to uncommon success for the longtime partners, first with FIG and then with The Ordinary, an upscale King Street oyster hall that earned a James Beard nomination for Best New Restaurant when it debuted five years ago. Lata and Nemirow’s enviable partnership is kind of like a good marriage; they’ve learned how to pull together, how to communicate, and even how to fight. Tackling the restaurant business without the other seems unimaginable to them both. “It’s having someone to bounce ideas off of,” Lata explains of the benefits. “You can lean on the other person, and you’re there for them, too.”
In addition to a robust dinner menu Monday through Saturday, FIG also has a mouthwatering array of small plates, wine and cheese, desserts, coffee, and craft cocktails.
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Being in sync is essential when catering to a clientele that’s very sophisticated— and getting more so by the day. Even when they intentionally buck trends, like when Nemirow stacked their wine list with nontraditional varietals to push guests to sample something new, the pair is confident that diners in their city are up for the challenge. The fact that their customers are willing to try almost anything makes Charleston chefs the envy of their peers, Lata says. That’s one reason Lata wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. He calls Charleston “the greatest place in the world to be a cook,” thanks to unparalleled resources and a regional palate that’s identifiable, which is rare in the US. The city’s revitalized food culture, helped along quite nicely by FIG, doesn’t hurt either.
FIG has been around for fifteen years now, but it continues to remain both commercially popular and critically acclaimed. The secret to that bit of culinary magic, Lata and Nemirow believe, is a combination of hard work and luck. When they opened their doors, there weren’t many places like it. And by the time competitors joined them, FIG was . . . FIG. It’s an ongoing effort to remain worthy of the hype—harder, perhaps, than raising the bar in the first place. But the owners agree that pressure to perform at the top of their game is a good thing. “We can’t sweep anything under the rug,” Nemirow says. “We owe our best not only to the guests but to the staff who joined the restaurant because of what FIG is.” And what is FIG? It’s a simple neighborhood restaurant, claim Lata and Nemirow, handily downplaying its awards and cult-like following. The truth is that it’s both unpretentious and astoundingly good, thanks in large part to a menu that’s agile yet never trendy. “People are always going to be happy with the highest-quality, freshest ingredients,” Nemirow says. “That will never change.”
EatAtFIG.com Tori Phelps has been a writer and editor for nearly twenty years. A publishing industry veteran and longtime VIE collaborator, Phelps lives with three kids, two cats, and one husband in Charleston, South Carolina.
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Southern Baking and Blogging with
ELISABETH AND BUT TER
By LUCY YOUNG Photography courtesy of ELISABETH AND BUTTER 54 | APR IL 2018
Eat Cake for Breakfast. —Kate Spade
If Kate Spade says so—and Elisabeth and Butter is doing the baking—count us in! We are stepping into the kitchen of Elisabeth Epperson Farris, creator of the Elisabeth and Butter brand, to get a taste of her business in the baking and blogging worlds. Born and raised in Montgomery, Alabama, Farris got her start making messes and creating in the kitchen with her mother and two sisters. With the freedom to experiment and explore, Elisabeth fell in love with baking and decorating cookies at an early age. Her culinary curiosity and determination have led not only to following recipes to make delicious confections, but also to creating her own by finding inspiration from resources such as cookbooks, magazines, and baking blogs. Coming up with a new recipe is no easy feat. Farris explains, “If I want to make a delicious apple pie recipe to introduce on my blog, I have to take it one step at a time, working first to perfect the crust. I look at a variety of recipes and compare ingredients, sometimes combining recipes until I find exactly what I’m looking for. This can take weeks, but I love the process and learn so much from my failures and triumphs.” Her creations look picture perfect and taste divine, but Farris makes sure that her recipes are easy enough for beginning bakers to feel confident. Farris admits, “Baking can be very intimidating, so I love to share my self-taught tips to help others find the joy in baking that I have.” Farris’s passion for baking developed into a small business selling sugary works of art when she was in high school. It continued to grow during her time at Auburn University through word of mouth and her Instagram account (@elisabethandbutter). This platform created the perfect space for Farris to share her creations with family, friends, and potential clients. Postgraduation, Farris made a move to Charleston, where she decided to take her brand to
Elisabeth and Butter teamed up with Draper James to create the sweetest summertime spread, featuring Elisabeth’s mini blackberry cobblers. Photo by Colorbox Photographers Left: Elisabeth is wearing the Rosie Ruffle Top by Draper James. Photo by Colorbox Photographers
“BAKING CAN BE VERY INTIMIDATING, SO I LOVE TO SHARE MY SELFTAUGHT TIPS TO HELP OTHERS FIND THE JOY IN BAKING THAT I HAVE.” the next level by launching a blog that would allow her to share more detailed accounts of her recipes and baking collaborations. Partnering with other bloggers and brands has proved to be a fantastic experience for Farris and a great success for Elisabeth and Butter. Farris worked with Julia Engel of Gal Meets Glam as that blog’s first cooking contributor in 2017. She has also worked with Mud Pie, Southern Living, Country Living, James Farmer, Southern Weddings magazine, and, most recently, Draper James (Reese Witherspoon’s lifestyle brand). Farris has made several appearances on the Draper James blog, wearing beautiful outfits from Witherspoon’s clothing line and sharing recipes for all occasions. Sounds like the perfect ingredients for a stylish Southern duo! With so much experience in the kitchen and a myriad of recipes under her belt, is it possible for Farris to narrow down an all-time favorite dessert? Actually, yes! “My favorite go-to recipe is my mom’s carrot cake with cream cheese frosting,” she says. “It is the perfect cake for every holiday and has always
been my family’s favorite! The cake is moist every time, and even those who don’t like carrot cake are guaranteed to like this one.” Luckily for her readers, Farris has shared this all-star recipe on her blog, so anyone can try it! Through Elisabeth and Butter, Farris has traveled all over the map, but since getting married in October of 2017, she and her new husband call the area along Scenic Highway 30-A in Northwest Florida their home. “It has truly been a dream living here!” she says. “The beach has always been my favorite place to visit, so I was most looking forward to doing everyday life here and starting our marriage in such a wonderful place.” As Farris settles into married life at the beach, she continues to grow her blog and set exciting new goals, including writing her cookbook and eventually having her own baking show on the Food Network. For now, she is happy and content to bake by the beach and share what she loves with her hungry audience online.
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Yields three eight-inch layers of moist coconut cake with fresh blackberries and coconut cream cheese frosting
INGREDIENTS: For the cake: 1 1/2 cups salted butter (three sticks), softened 2 1/4 cups sugar 4 egg whites, room temperature 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 1 teaspoon coconut extract 3 cups all-purpose flour 1/4 teaspoon baking soda 2 3/4 teaspoons baking powder 1 1/2 cups whole milk, room temperature For the frosting: 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened 1 1/2 sticks salted butter, softened 1 teaspoon coconut extract 5 cups confectioners’ sugar Shredded coconut Fresh blackberries
D I RECT IO NS: For the cake: 1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour three eight-inch cake pans using shortening and flour. 2. In a mixing bowl fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar together for two minutes. The butter will be light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. 3. Add egg whites, vanilla, and coconut extract, and beat for one minute (not longer, or your egg whites will change the consistency of the batter).
4. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and baking powder. 5. Add about one third of the flour to the butter mixture and beat until incorporated, then scrape down the sides of the bowl. 6. Add about half of the milk to the batter and beat until incorporated, then scrape down the sides of the bowl. 7. Continue adding flour and milk alternately, ending with the flour mixture. Do not overmix. 8. Divide the batter into the three greased pans and bake for twenty to thirty minutes or until lightly browned and a test toothpick comes out clean. 9. Cool in pans for ten minutes and then turn out onto a cooling rack; leave until completely cooled. For the frosting: 1. In a mixing bowl, beat the softened cream cheese and butter on medium-high speed for about three minutes until light and fluffy. Add coconut extract and mix until combined. 2. Slowly add the confectioners’ sugar with the mixer on low until it is combined, then turn the mixer up and beat for one minute until smooth and fluffy. 3. Frost the cake layers, adding some fresh blackberries in between. Frost around the sides and top of the cake, cover with fresh shredded coconut, and top with blackberries.
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Yields twelve to sixteen brownies D I RECT IO NS: IN G R EDI EN TS : 2 cups sugar 2/3 cup cocoa powder 1 cup all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1 cup (two sticks) salted butter, melted then cooled 4 large eggs 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 1 cup chocolate chips (I used dark chocolate, but semisweet is great, too!) 5 1/2 ounces Kraft caramels (about 20 squares) 1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk Maldon sea salt for sprinkling
1. Preheat oven to 350°F and place a layer of parchment paper in a nine-by-thirteen-inch baking pan, covering the bottom and sides. 2. In a mixing bowl fitted with a paddle attachment, combine the sugar, cocoa powder, flour, salt, and baking powder. Add the eggs and vanilla extract and mix on medium speed for one to two minutes until completely combined. Pour in the cooled melted butter and mix for one minute until smooth. Stir in the chocolate chips. Pour the batter into the lined baking pan and spread out using a spatula. 3. In a microwave-safe bowl or glass measuring cup, put the unwrapped caramels and sweetened condensed
milk together and microwave in 30-second intervals, stirring between each one, until mixture is completely smooth. Once smooth, drizzle about half* of the caramel on the brownie batter and swirl together using a knife. I drag my knife down the batter and then across, so the swirls go both ways. 4. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until a test toothpick comes out clean. Sprinkle sea salt on top as soon as the brownies come out of the oven. Allow to cool completely before slicing. *I save the other half of the caramel to drizzle on ice cream and a warm brownie. Store in the refrigerator and warm in the microwave to melt again.
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FROM ELISABETH AND BUTTER
1. Grease and flour your cake pan(s) using shortening and all-purpose flour. Using your hands, rub the shortening all over the pan, making sure to cover every corner. (If you don’t want your hands to get greasy, use a plastic sandwich bag or a piece of wax paper to spread the shortening.) Next, sprinkle a couple of tablespoons of flour into the pan and spread it around to cover all the surfaces; pour the excess into the next greased pan. This process makes for easy removal of the finished cake and no broken layers. 2. Let your cake cool in the pan for about ten minutes, then gently remove it and place it on a cooling rack. 3. Never frost a warm cake! I have learned this the hard way—most of the time, if not always, it will end in a disaster. 4. For layer cakes, wrap layers in plastic wrap and place in the freezer for a few hours (or even weeks, depending on when you need the cake). This makes the layers much sturdier and easier to stack and frost. 5. Using a sharp serrated knife, shave off the top of the cake if it isn’t flat. 60 | APR IL 2018
NEVER FROST A WARM CAKE! I HAVE LEARNED THIS THE HARD WAY— MOST OF THE TIME, IF NOT ALWAYS, IT WILL END IN A DISASTER. 6. If you’re planning to transport your cake, use a plastic or cardboard cake board that is about two inches wider than your actual cake. Place a small amount of buttercream in the center of your board or cake stand to act as glue; this will keep the cake in place and avoid any sliding. 7. Use a turntable and place your cake board on top of it. 8. Place your first layer flat on the board. Add a large dollop of buttercream to the center of the layer, and spread it around using an offset spatula. Repeat for the second layer. 9. For the top layer, place the cake upside down, so the bottom is at the top. This will ensure a flat surface on the top of the cake. 10. Crumb coat your cake to avoid any crumbs in your pretty icing. To do this, use a cake smoother to spread a thin layer of frosting over the entire cake. Then place the cake in the refrigerator until the frosting has completely hardened.
11. Using the turntable again, spread a thicker layer of buttercream over the entire cake. Turn your turntable while frosting your cake to ensure that it is even. 12. If you’re going for a naked or seminaked cake, use an icing scraper to crumb coat and don’t add the second layer of icing. 13. To create a rustic look, use an offset spatula to create waves or texture in the icing. To keep it perfectly smooth, use the icing scraper. 14. To create a border, use a piping bag fitted with a large star tip. Cut a small amount off the bottom of your piping bag and place the tip in it, making sure the hole is large enough for the star tip but not so big that the star tip will fall through it. 15. If you plan on transporting your finished cake, store it in the refrigerator until it’s time to go. It will transport better if the frosting is cool! Serve at room temperature.
COASTAL C U LT U R E A R T S A N D E N T E R T A I N M E N T E V E N T S A T G R A N D B O U L E VA R D
FOOD
BALLET 2 0 1 8
E V E RY SAT U R D AY, 9A M – 1P M GRA ND BO UL E VARD FA RMERS’ MARK E T
JA N UA RY 1 2 – 1 5 30A SONGWRITERS FESTIVAL benefiting The Cultural Arts Alliance of Walton County
T HUR S – S U N , JA N UA RY 1 8 – 2 8
ARTS
MUSIC
C A L E N D A R
O F
OCTOBER 31 H A LLO WE E N O N TH E B O O LE VA R D
official Art Week South Walton event produced by the Cultural Arts Alliance
M AY 1 6 – 2 0 N O RTH WE ST F LO R IDA TH E ATR E F E STIVA L official Art Week South Walton event produced by Emerald Coast Theatre Company
presented by Emerald Coast Theatre Company at 560 Upstairs
benefiting Dog-Harmony
WA G TH E F LA G
FE B R UA RY 8
E V E RY T H U R S D AY, M AY 3 1 – A U G U S T 2
MY FURRY VALENTINE
TH E ATR E TH U R SDAY S presented by Emerald Coast Theatre Company
T HUR S – S U N , FEBRUARY 15 – MARCH 4
J U NE 2 3
“ S Y LV I A ” PE RF O RMANC E
B A LLE T AT TWILIG H T
presented by Emerald Coast Theatre Company at 560 Upstairs
presented by Northwest Florida Ballet
PURSES WITH A PURPOSE benefiting Shelter House
MA R C H 29
DOGGIE EGGSTR AVAGANZ A benefiting Dog-Harmony
AUGUST 30 DO G DAY S O F SU M M E R benefiting Dog-Harmony
NOVEMBER 20 H O LIDAY O P E N H O U S E & WA LK- A B O U T
NOVEMBER 20 – DECEMBER 25 F E STIVA L O F TR E E S benefiting more than a dozen local charities
NOVEMBER 24 – DECEMBER 15 PHOTOS WITH SANTA CLAUS Saturdays in Grand Park
NOVEMBER 24 – DECEMBER 15 HORSE-DRAWN CARRIAGE RIDES Fridays and Saturdays in Grand Park
presented by Sinfonia Gulf Coast
SOUTH WALTON BEACHES WINE & FO OD F E S T I VAL
BEST OF THE EMERALD COAST
CINCO DE MAYO CELEBRATION WITH CANTINA LAREDO
CO A STA L WH ITE C H R I S T M A S H O LIDAY LIG H TS
SIN F O N IA SWIN G S O N TH E B O U LE VA R D
OCTOBER 20
MAY 5
NOVEMBER 17 – J A NU A RY 1 , 2 0 19
S E PT E M B E R 2 9
A P R IL 26 – 2 9
benefiting Destin Charity Wine Auction Foundation
E V E N T S
A RTSQ U E ST F IN E A RTS F E STIVA L
M AY 2 4
MA R C H 23 – 2 4
THEATRE
M AY 1 2 – 1 3
“THE AMISH PROJECT” PE RFORMANC E
benefiting Dog-Harmony
FAS H I O N
benefiting Junior League of the Emerald Coast
A Howard Group I Merchants Retail Partners Development
These events are presented as part of the Coastal Culture Calendar of Events made possible by the Grand Boulevard Arts & Entertainment Program.
OCTOBER 25 B A R KTO B E R F E ST benefiting Dog-Harmony
GRANDBOULEVARD. C OM/ E V E NTS
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The latest restaurant from renowned chef Emeril Lagasse, Emeril’s Coastal Italian, opened at Grand Boulevard in Miramar Beach, Florida, in 2017. Photo by Romona Robbins Opposite: Emeril and EJ Lagasse in the kitchen at Emeril’s Coastal Italian Photo courtesy of Emeril’s 62 | APR IL 2018
Recipe for a
MASTER
CHEF A Passion for People Is the Secret Ingredient BY S A R A H M U R P H Y R O B E R T S O N
The man needs no introduction. Arguably one of the most recognizable names in the world and a true legend in the culinary field, Emeril Lagasse is also a longtime resident of South Walton, Florida. He and his wife, Alden, live in the community of Sandestin with their teenagers, Meril and EJ, and the family is deftly folded into this area as bona fide locals.
With her keen eye for detail, Alden Lagasse had a clear vision for the restaurant’s interior design. She collaborated with architect Geoff Chick and her cousin, Susan Lovelace of Lovelace Interiors, to create the look. Together with a talented team, they worked out every finish and design decision. Lovelace explains, “The entire experience was unforgettable. It was a challenge, but that made it inspiring and fun.” The result is an ambience complementing the coastal menu by using spectacular local art, soft beachy hues, and modern touches. The restaurant that serves impeccably tasting dishes also has the impeccable taste befitting the Lovelace and Lagasse names.
For many years, the Lagasses knew they wanted to open a restaurant here in South Walton. The appeal of having a property so close to home was, of course, a big motivation. But it was Emeril’s trip to the Amalfi Coast in southern Italy that ultimately inspired the cuisine of Emeril’s Coastal Italian, which opened last year in Miramar Beach. “While shooting my Amazon show, Eat the World with Emeril Lagasse, it became apparent how many similarities there were between their fishing communities and the Emerald Coast,” Emeril shares. Located in Grand Boulevard at Sandestin, Emeril’s Coastal Italian is just the amenity this beach community needed. The restaurant exemplifies sophistication without an ounce of intimidation. Everything is made in-house, from pasta doughs to gelatos, stocks, sauces, and soups. For Emeril Lagasse, being meticulous and starting with quality are vital to making good food. V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 63
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ccess to fresh local ingredients, such as glorious sun-grown Florida produce and the diverse seafood species of the Gulf of Mexico, certainly informed the menu, but it is the talented people behind those plates that are Emeril’s secret recipe to success. “It really starts with having a great team,” he notes. “Every morning at 5:00 or 5:30 a.m., our chef de cuisine, Frank Szymanski, is on the phone with the fishermen. We’re buying right from the boat, and by 10:00 a.m. it is already at our door.”
Above: Jennifer Carter and Alden Lagasse; Alden, Emeril’s wife, created the interior design of the restaurant in partnership with Susan Lovelace of Lovelace Interiors. Photo by Romona Robbins Right: With architecture by Geoff Chick and Associates, decor by Lovelace Interiors, and large-scale artwork by Landon Lott, Alden’s vision for the restaurant interior came to life beautifully. Opposite: The seafood doesn’t get much fresher than at Emeril’s Coastal Italian, where the team works with local fishermen and markets daily. Photos courtesy of Emeril’s
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T H E I R C R E W D I N N E R S H AV E R ANGED FROM TR ADITIONAL JERK CHICKEN WITH RICE AND B E A N S P R E PA R E D B Y A R I S I N G COOK OF JAMAIC AN DESCENT T O T H E M O U T H WAT E R I N G M U F F U L E T TA S A N D E X P E R T LY SE A SONED ROA S T BEEF AND G R AV Y O F T H E I R S O U S C H E F, CHRIS MONGOGNA . You see, when you talk to Emeril, it is immediately evident that he’s as proud and passionate about his staff as he is about the art of cooking. From his lead chefs to the entire kitchen crew and the front-ofhouse managers, he lists off their contributions and attributes like a proud parent. “Take Logan for example,” Emeril muses, “Several times a week, he goes down to the Gulf to bring a couple gallons of seawater into work.” This salt water is then used in a water bath to essentially flavor the restaurant’s whole-roasted fish dish. But look beyond Chef ’s detailing of this culinary technique; the hustle of his young cook is what’s not lost on him. Here’s yet another example of how he takes the time to recognize the efforts of his crew and illustrate his investment in them: staff dinners. They are necessary nightly fuel at a busy restaurant, but often they lack inspiration. Not so at Emeril’s Coastal Italian.
The team’s collaborations echo the passion they have for food and perfecting their craft. Lagasse divulged that their crew dinners have ranged from traditional jerk chicken with rice and beans prepared by a rising cook of Jamaican descent to the mouthwatering muffulettas and expertly seasoned roast beef and gravy of their sous chef, Chris Mongogna. Emeril’s fifteen-year-old son, EJ, has become a regular in the Miramar restaurant. EJ quite literally grew up in the business, working both the front and the back of the house, but lately, he’s made a definite detour into the kitchen. His dad frequently measures out sage advice: “I tell him to be serious about it and just keep learning something new every day.” Emeril is grateful for the mentoring his son is getting at the restaurant and for the opportunities EJ is receiving at a young age. “He’s even gotten the chance to learn from chefs like Éric Ripert and José Andrés, and boy, that is a really special gift,” he emphasizes. Emeril was EJ’s age when the cooking bug hit. He, too, was fortunate to learn the importance of teachers and advisers. He was encouraged to read books like The Magic of Thinking Big (and bam, aren’t we all glad he did?) and also to find himself a good mentor. Along the way, he was guided by chef greats, including Alice Waters, Paul Prudhomme, and Larry Forgione, and he never forgot what those people meant to his career.
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Left: A fun treat for birthdays (or any day) is the fresh cotton candy, and each serving at Emeril’s Coastal Italian comes with sparklers for an extra-special touch! Below: The bar at the restaurant offers an impressive selection of specialty cocktails, fantastic wines, local craft beers, and more. Photos by Romona Robbins
n fact, Emeril established the Emeril Lagasse Foundation in 2002 with that specific goal in mind: to mentor young people in the culinary arts. His foundation has distributed more than eight million dollars in grants to children’s charities, including the local Northwest Florida nonprofit Food For Thought Outreach. Supported by a $125,000 grant from the Emeril Lagasse Foundation, Food For Thought launched Full Circle Kitchen classes in the late summer of 2017 so that high school students could learn fundamental cooking skills from local chefs and restaurateurs. The grant will support capital needs, operating expenses, and programming costs associated with their newly constructed teaching kitchen. The Lagasses’ legacy for paying it forward continues. On his Emmy-winning Amazon show, it is easy to see how much Emeril himself still enjoys learning. He savors the care taken to harvest and produce quality ingredients, and he shows reverence and respect for the traditions and stories he has been entrusted to narrate. During that Amalfi Coast episode, he reflects with fellow chef Nancy Silverton on how cooking is essentially in his blood. Whether encouraging his young son to soak up knowledge working in a kitchen or leading philanthropic mentoring efforts, Emeril is using his passion for teaching and feeding people, mind, body, and soul.
EMERIL’S COASTAL ITALIAN IS LOCATED AT 435 GRAND BOULEVARD IN MIRAMAR BEACH AND IS OPEN SEVEN DAYS A WEEK FOR LUNCH AND DINNER. EMERILSRESTAURANTS.COM As a writer and editor, Sarah Murphy Robertson spends her days sharing stories and weaving words together. She has a BA from Ohio University (go Bobcats!) and after graduation moved to Atlanta where she met her favorite human—her husband, Derek. In 2006 they were thrilled to welcome their son, Reid, who immediately became tied for favorite human. Seven years ago their trio relocated to Santa Rosa Beach where they’ve loved every salty, sandy minute of being 30-A locals. 66 | APR IL 2018
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68 | APR IL 2018
C OA S TA L F O O D with
By B O Y C E U P H O L T
P h ot os b y K R E G H O L T P H O T O G R A P H Y
They might not know it, but many people around the world have become familiar with classic Florida Panhandle architecture. That’s because the town of Seaside is now a global icon of good design and has many faithful imitators. Classic Florida beachside construction has influenced the standard look of New Urbanism. V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 69
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T
he food of the region, though, is less well known. Sure, everyone eats seafood stews and fresh oysters—but fish throats? Or swamp cabbage? Even some locals overlook these classic Panhandle delicacies. Then again, before developer Robert Davis conceived of Seaside, its now-famous home styles seemed to be fading too.
Opening page and right: Chef Jim Shirley of Great Southern Café in Seaside, Florida, plates a delicious meal at the James Beard House in New York City on January 24, 2018. Below: Dishes served at the Taste of Seaside event included a Great Southern favorite, fried green tomatoes, with a twist—kimchi to top them off.
Chef Jim Shirley’s recent splash in New York City could help change the reputation of these forgotten foods. On January 24, Shirley and staff from his Seaside-area restaurants prepared a five-course “Taste of Seaside” dinner at the James Beard House. The facility is owned by the James Beard Foundation, one of the premier culinary organizations in the world. An invitation to cook there—or perform, as the foundation puts it—is considered recognition of excellence. (This was Shirley’s fifth time cooking at the house, though his first as the sole headliner.) For his performance, Shirley aimed to show off the depth of Gulf Coast cuisine—and its endless possibilities.
Shirley’s playfulness as a chef is revealed in his trademark shrimp-and-grits recipe, which he served at the dinner. He stumbled upon the recipe while visiting his daughter in Italy; unable to purchase grits or bacon, he went with the local equivalents—polenta cakes and pancetta. Another hit in New York was his cioppino, a fish stew. “Blue crabs and local tomatoes—that makes an incredible broth,” Shirley says. From “Ol’ Florida mullet,” as Shirley calls the familiar Panhandle fish, the chef conjured a smoky dip that was served atop house-made crackers. The dish reveals the importance of knowing your ingredients: because mullet is a bottom-feeder, it often tastes muddy. “From most places, it tastes terrible,” Shirley explains. “But you can go through the state and see where they have those clean white sands.” Those sands produce a much cleaner tasting fish. “Good smoked mullet dip is just a Gulf classic,” Shirley says. Grouper throats perhaps best represent the more esoteric Gulf food traditions. Long eaten by fishermen, this is a delicacy unknown by even locals who have a slightly more distant relationship to the sea. Shirley compares the throats to the dark meat of a chicken, more richly flavored than the rest of the fish. He served them in a gougère (a high-class cheese-puff pastry, in other words) topped with local pickles.
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Shirley’s playfulness as a chef is revealed in his trademark shrimp-and-grits recipe, which he served at the dinner.
Shirley knows he opened the eyes of attendees at the James Beard event. “I’m pretty sure they had not seen kimchi made of swamp cabbage,” he says, using the colloquial name for sabal palms. The hearts of new sabal fronds have a cabbage-like texture. The son of a Navy pilot, Shirley was born in Pensacola, Florida, where he was exposed to the cultural gumbo that marks Gulf Coast food history: local Native American roots and influences from the Spanish and French empires, as well as from African chefs. The Navy influence also meant Shirley grew up eating food from across the Pacific Rim. When he opened his first restaurant, Madison’s Diner, in Pensacola in 1995, Shirley struggled to buy local produce from farmers. “I couldn’t get them to grow anything besides squash and zucchini,” he says, “even if I gave them the seeds.”
Over time, through mutual connections, Shirley struck up a good relationship and shared a vision with Robert Davis, the founder and developer of Seaside. The town was more amenable to his explorations, given its emphasis on building sustainable, locally rooted communities. In 2006, the chef opened his first restaurant in the area, the Great Southern Café. Since then, Shirley has opened three more restaurants in and around Seaside.
Above: Chefs Andrew Dahl, Tim Plowick, and Sandor Zombori of Great Southern Café and Michael Mix and Ben Steeno of The Bay joined Shirley to prepare the meal at the James Beard House.
Shirley says it was a bit of a scramble to prepare for the James Beard event, which was not confirmed until November. But, hoping for such an opportunity, he had planned ahead by canning and preserving local produce. In late January, his local Seaside purveyors packed coolers and wrapped them in tape—pieces of the Panhandle were heading north to the big city. One can imagine that, as the world comes to know these coastal food traditions, it won’t be the last such journey.
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LONG LIVE THE ISLAND LIFE
25 Years of Good Food, Fashion, and Friends JORDAN STAGGS Photography courtesy of TOMMY BAHAMA By
There are cookbooks, and then there are well-designed coffee-table cookbooks that do a lot more than list a collection of recipes—they embody a lifestyle. Longtime island lifestyle purveyor Tommy Bahama presents just such a book: Flavors of the Southern Coast, a treat for collectors and kitchen experts alike. Flavors of the Southern Coast is the second in a series celebrating regional cultures and cuisines. 72 | APR IL 2018
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o create the book, Tommy Bahama’s executive vice president of restaurants, Rob Goldberg, and director of culinary, Don Donley, partnered with renowned chef and cookbook author Rick Rodgers. The celebrated region? The United States’ seafood-rich coastline along the Gulf of Mexico. The book features one hundred recipes, including Tommy Bahama restaurant and bar specialties and guest favorites, along with some of Rodgers’s own creations. Now readers can embrace the brand’s motto, “Long Live the Island Life,” and re-create dishes such as crab cakes with coconut crust, shrimp-and-sausage gumbo, pulled pork with blackberry brandy barbecue sauce, key lime pie with white chocolate topping, signature cocktails, and much more. Donley says his favorite dish, hands down, is the shrimp and grits. “We really wanted to showcase the wonderful food from and around the Gulf Coast,” he says. “The ingredients make this cookbook stand out. Since this is where I grew up, I feel this is an outstanding representation of the culture.” Between recipes, Flavors of the Southern Coast shares cultural anecdotes, cooking tips, and stories of culinary influencers hailing from the area, making it more of a lifestyle guide than an average cookbook.
“We really wanted to showcase the wonderful food from and around the Gulf.” “Gathering around with friends and family to enjoy great food, wine, and cocktails has been a cornerstone of the Tommy Bahama experience,” says Goldberg. In that spirit, Tommy Bahama Restaurant and Bar at Grand Boulevard at Sandestin in Miramar Beach, Florida, hosted a VIP dinner celebration last fall. Goldberg and Donley joined a table of special guests as restaurant general manager Mario Mardones and executive chef Jimmy Frantz presented a fabulous tasting menu of dishes featured in the book. Sandestin is ensconced in the region that Flavors of the Southern Coast embodies, and, with its year-round tourism and local patrons, is one of the top producers of all eighteen Tommy Bahama Restaurant and Bar locations. V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 73
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“While each Tommy Bahama restaurant is individual, radiating its own sense of ‘paradise,’ Flavors of the Southern Coast embraces our affinity for celebrating relaxed living along the Gulf,” continues Goldberg. “We invite everyone to join us in the kitchen to create satisfying dishes that will deliver simple steps to easy living.” Tommy Bahama’s first cookbook in the series, Flavors of Aloha, is a similar take on Hawaiian cuisine and culture. Both books are available for purchase at the brand’s retailers and online at TommyBahama.com. This year, Tommy Bahama celebrates a quarter century of “fashion, food, and friends,” as it recognizes the anniversary of the brand’s launch in 1993 (the first restaurant and bar followed in ’96). Since its inception, the lifestyle brand has promoted “Living the Island Life” through its sportswear collections for men and women, eighteen full-service restaurant and bar concepts around the world, and a home collection of furniture, bedding, rugs, and accessories. It now has a robust 160 retail locations worldwide and an online shopping site, truly offering the vacation-inspired lifestyle to everyone.
Live the Island Life when you visit T O M M Y B A H A M A . C O M .
Bon appĂŠtit!
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By Nicholas S. Racheotes If you read this piece’s title too hastily, you might be thinking that what follows is about the annual carnage fest that marks the end of the NFL’s season. No, this is about carnivores, herbivores, and omnivores—in other words, us. We, who think we can afford it, are in a unique competition. We love boasting about having eaten at the latest and best place in town. We could have been raised in a home where the ingredients were the purest. The captains of the kitchen may have employed recipes and cooking strategies that were tried and true. Yet, come time for social gatherings, we fall for the lines every time. I’m sure you’ve heard something like this: “Sasha, the chef, is a former KGB agent who defected. He studied at the feet of the top culinary masters in Paris. You simply must go to his restaurant. It’s like nothing you’ve ever experienced.” Foolishly, you take the advice because you don’t want to appear behind the times. The place turns out to be so tiny a hole in the wall, wedged between abandoned warehouses in so frightening a section of the city that even your GPS doesn’t want to send you there. You go in, and it’s so cold and dark that you use the solitary candle burning in the middle of the table to warm your hands and to locate the minute dishes. There’s no menu. You eat what Sasha feels like preparing that evening. As for his studying at the feet of a genius, the sauce on the Lego-sized piece of meat passing for veal smells like Vicks and tastes like Desenex. This proves that Sasha studied at the athlete’s foot of the maestro. Me, I keep it simple. Once upon a dine, on old Cape Cod, an angel fell from heaven and made muffins so luscious that I gladly invested in a new wardrobe to
ILLUSTRATION BY LUCY YOUNG
accommodate what they added to my waistline. Unfortunately, there have been other occasions when whoever was manning the grill should have been simmering on it. Suffice it to say that he or she would have been better off reading Quo Vadis than preparing quahogs. ALL RIGHT, I CONFESS TO BEING A DINER (PRONOUNCED “DYE-NAH”) PERSON. SHOW ME A SPOT JUST OFF THE HIGHWAY AND NOT AMONG ABANDONED WAREHOUSES—A PL ACE WHERE THE SMELL OF BACON, COOKED TO THE PROPER CRISPINESS, IS SO STRONG THAT EVEN THE GPS IS SALIVATING. All right, I confess to being a diner (pronounced “dye-nah”) person. Show me a spot just off the highway and not among abandoned warehouses—a place where the smell of bacon, cooked to the proper crispiness, is so strong that even the GPS is salivating. A joint where the tables are so close together you can hear the elderly gentlemen beside you explaining to one another how they would do a much better job of running the country than whoever is governing at the time. A well-lit room where you can hear the Greek kitchen staff shouting at one another, where cooks learn their craft at Yaya’s knee or the back of her hand. Where the meat lover’s omelet is made with four eggs, ham, bacon, and sausage (linguiça or loukániko), the hash browns are liberally onion flavored, and the side of pancakes is so thick and fluffy that a pillow-top mattress would be jealous. Now, I can only imagine what my gastronaut friends are thinking: “What do you have, some sort of death wish, eating like that?” No. When I stand before my maker, whenever that may be, I want to have enjoyed a meal hardy enough to sustain me on the road to paradise. I want to be able to greet the Deity with a burp and excuse myself. Then, I’ll ask, “So, any good dinahs up here?” And I already know the answer: “Your table is right over there, close to the kitchen so you can eavesdrop on the Greeks.”
Nick Racheotes is a product of Boston public schools, Brandeis University, and Boston College, from which he holds a PhD in history. Since he retired from teaching at Framingham State University, Nick and his wife, Pat, divide their time between Boston, Cape Cod, and the Western world.
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Bon appĂŠtit!
The King of Southern Comfort Remembering PAT C O N ROY By Suzanne Pollak No one epitomizes Southern comfort more than master storyteller and food lover Pat Conroy. He is known to many as the best-selling author of titles that include The Prince of Tides and The Great Santini; to my family, Pat was a friend and comforter with a heart the size of South Carolina, someone we came to love for his sense of humor and humanity. Pat was also my partner in crime when we coauthored The Pat Conroy Cookbook: Recipes and Stories of My Life, which was published in 2004.
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at and I began our cookbook in 1994 after we were introduced by a mutual friend. He entered my kitchen, a man bigger than life and full of joy and (I found out later) carrying a gun. What is it like to have a man like Pat Conroy hanging out in your kitchen twice a week for a year, and then off and on for the next ten? More fun than you can possibly imagine! While we made beef stock, fried squash blossoms, and baked gooseberry pies, he regaled me with animated stories as only a gifted storyteller such as Pat Conroy could, acting out his tales for emphasis. I was captivated as he described Barbra Streisand’s call about making The Prince of Tides into a movie, insisting she sing “The Way We Were” over the telephone to prove her authenticity. While frying flounder, Pat proceeded to sing me his version of Barbra singing the tune. In another story, local activist Wilson Lane “Tootie Fruity” Bourke sprang to life in the body of Pat. He mimicked the man who single-handedly integrated Beaufort, South Carolina, directed traffic, and led virtually all parades—including one for the Ku Klux Klan, who didn’t know what to make of him. One time, Pat removed a life-sized portrait of me from the dining room wall, and when my young children asked what he was doing with it, he answered, “Dancing with your mother.” On Christmas Eve one year, Pat and I made squash tortellini with my daughter, Caroline. When Caroline’s twin brother, Charles, complained, “Tortellini again?” Pat described a dinner of canned dog food his mother once served his father, helping my children appreciate the bounty in front of them. There was one afternoon when Pat drove up to our house and saw my eldest son, Pete, sitting in the yard, unraveling countless knots of fishing line. Pat took one look and declared to Pete, “Right there is why I do not fish.” He shot hoops with the boys in the driveway and had Pete demonstrate his left-handed
pitch, bringing quiet confidence to my son with his approval. Pat and I watched from the window as my youngest son, Christopher, buried his school of goldfish in the garden in small raisin-box coffins while reading the funeral service from the Book of Common Prayer. Right then, Pat declared our book must have a chapter on dying. He predicted that all the shrimp in South Carolina would shake in their shells the day he died because he envisioned buckets of pickled shrimp served at his funeral.
Above: Caroline Pollak, Pat Conroy, and Suzanne Pollak
Our friendship grew as we worked together and discussed our distinct childhoods, impacted by our fathers’ careers (his military, mine CIA). Pat attended eleven schools as a kid, while I attended twelve. It was Marion O’Neill, Pat’s psychologist and my close friend, who introduced the two of us. I later realized that she might have had an ulterior motive. During this time, Pat was walking around with a gun (his brother, Tom, had committed suicide three months earlier), and Marion had Pat drive an hour and a half from his home on Fripp Island to her office on Hilton Head twice a week for sessions. She wanted Pat’s time filled with activity. What better way to accomplish that than by starting a huge project that combined three of his passions: writing, cooking, and eating? Marion arranged our introductory dinner in May of that year, the same week Jackie Kennedy Onassis died. Marion, Peter (my husband), and my youngest child, Christopher, sat in the dining room at the Brays Island Main House. Christopher, at the time a fourth grader, told Pat he had just written a book and V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 81
Bon appétit! found that the hardest part was sewing it together. Christopher asked Pat how he sewed all his books. Pat treated the boy’s question seriously, and then explained that sewing wasn’t half as difficult as cutting down trees and making enough paper. I next invited Pat to dinner at my house and, when he arrived early, I put him to work. Here’s what he said about that evening in the introduction to our book: When I walked into Suzanne Williamson Pollak’s kitchen in Hilton Head Island several years ago, she was fixing supper. She had her hands full and could not shake hands, but looked up, smiled, and said, “Hey, Pat. Why don’t you make the pasta?” On the counter was a mound of flour with three broken eggs set in its well. I had never made fresh pasta in my life, but I made it that night as Suzanne gave me directions from the stove. The directions were clear and easy to follow. We have been cooking together ever since. She is more fun to cook with than anyone I have ever met except my passel of fine and comely wives. Suzanne and I are both dedicated amateurs, but we can cook our little fannies off. We collect recipes and cookbooks, and both of us believe that the cooking of food is one of the most delightful activities a human being can do during the course of a lifetime. There is joy in the preparation of food that we share and try to spread around to those we love. Now we will try to spread the source of this joy to you. Suzanne is the great workhorse and beauty behind the recipes in this book. I provide the hot air and sense of story.
out. We sat in their opulent, chocolate-brown, ovalshaped dining room, one floor up from the barren kitchen, feasting on sole quenelles, white asparagus, venison loin, and chocolate soufflés. One chapter Pat planned to write, but never did, was “The Best Meal I Ever Had in a Hospital Came from an IV.” This is the number one reason I will love Pat Conroy forever and will be grateful until my dying day for what he did for my eldest son when he had spinal cancer. Pete was in the hospital in Savannah before his transfer to Memorial Sloan Kettering in New York for the six months between Thanksgiving and Easter that year. When Pete was in intensive care with a MRSA infection, we thought he was going to die. Early on in the ordeal, I left a message for Pat asking if he would please call Pete and say something to make him smile. Pat proceeded to call every single day for six months. I have no idea what he said in those conversations with my son, but the minute nineteen-year-old Pete answered the ringing phone next to his hospital bed, I knew it was Pat, because Pete always started laughing. I am convinced that what Pat had to say over those 180 or so phone calls was just as important as the radiation and medicine in saving my son’s life. I miss our cooking days together, Pat.
“We collect recipes and cookbooks, and both of us believe that the cooking of food is one of the most delightful activities a human being can do during the course of a lifetime.”
Within that year, Pat was editing Beach Music while living in the Surrey Hotel in New York City, and he decided that it would be a good idea for us to cook dinner for his agent, Julian Bach. I called Mr. Bach to find out his favorite meal, but the agent asked for more time to consider the question. The following day, he called with two menus. The plan was for Pat and me to cook in the Bach family’s elegant Upper East Side townhouse, 82 | APR IL 2018
but where in New York City was I to find Mr. Bach’s requested wild venison? Here’s where things got a little tricky. I brought a deer that had been dressed, but not wrapped well enough. I walked through the Savannah and LaGuardia Airports carrying my white plastic garbage bag filled with ice and meat, leaving a trail of venison blood and somehow managing
not to get arrested. Pat feigned sickness and left me to manage cooking in Julian Bach’s basement kitchen. I was convinced that Mr. and Mrs. Bach had never entered the room, and Pat roared with laughter because he knew it had to be true. Though the couple’s knives could not cut softened butter and their tin pots didn’t sit evenly on the stovetop, it all worked
Suzanne Pollak, a mentor and lecturer in the fields of home, hearth, and hospitality, is the founder of the Charleston Academy of Domestic Pursuits. She is the coauthor of Entertaining for Dummies, The Pat Conroy Cookbook, and The Charleston Academy of Domestic Pursuits: A Handbook of Etiquette with Recipes. Born into a diplomatic family, Pollak was raised in Africa, where her parents hosted multiple parties every week. Her South Carolina homes have been featured in the Wall Street Journal “Mansion” section and Town & Country magazine.
Bon appétit!
SOUTHERN
COMFORT RECIPES WITH GOOD TASTE It wouldn’t be a Culinary Issue without some mouthwatering dishes for our readers to try at home! We’ve partnered with some of the American South’s best chefs to bring you an inspired salad, two delectable entrées, and refreshing libations. Now we’re cooking!
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BARBECUED HEAD-ON SHRIMP By Chef David Bishop, Bud & Alley’s Waterfront Restaurant Seaside, Florida On the Southern coast along the Gulf of Mexico, shrimp is pretty much king. This barbecued take on it will add spice to any meal. Serves one
INGREDIENTS 1 tablespoon all-purpose seasoning, such as Everglades seasoning 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper 1 tablespoon celery salt 1 tablespoon vegetable oil 1/4 cup sliced andouille sausage 6 large shrimp, peeled, head and tail left on 2 cloves garlic, sliced 1 sprig fresh rosemary 1 cup white wine 3 ounces unsalted butter, cut into small pieces Grilled bread* for serving
PREPARATION BARBECUE SEASONING
Mix the all-purpose seasoning, cayenne pepper, and celery salt in an airtight container. SHRIMP
Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the vegetable oil, sausage, and shrimp. Cook for one minute, and then turn the shrimp over and continue cooking. Add the garlic and rosemary sprig and cook for another minute. Pour in the wine to deglaze, and then add the butter and a half teaspoon of the barbecue seasoning. Reduce the heat to medium and swirl the pan to incorporate the butter. Taste and add a half teaspoon more of the seasoning, if needed. (Reserve the remaining seasoning in an airtight container for another use.) Transfer the shrimp and sausage to a serving bowl and garnish with a slice of grilled Tuscan-style bread. *Bud & Alley’s proudly serves naturally leavened artisanal sourdough bread from Black Bear Bread Co.
MEDITERRANEAN MULE By Emeril’s Coastal Italian Miramar Beach, Florida Emeril’s Coastal Italian combines the rich and diverse tradition of Italian cuisine with the bountiful variety of local fresh ingredients, and its cocktail menu is no exception. Serves one.
INGREDIENTS 2 ounces Figenza Mediterranean Fig Flavored Vodka (or any fig vodka) 1 ounce simple syrup
1/2 ounce each lemon and lime juice 2 raspberries 4–5 mint leaves Fever Tree Ginger Beer Fig slice for garnish (optional)
PREPARATION Muddle the raspberries, mint, and simple syrup in a shaker, and then add fig vodka, juices, and ice. Shake and pour (don’t strain) into a copper mug. Top with more ice and ginger beer. Garnish with mint top and a fig slice (if in season).
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Bon appĂŠtit!
GRILLED MILK-FED VEAL CHOP WITH ROASTED BRUSSELS SPROUTS AND PANCETTA By Chef Derek Langford, Firefly Panama City Beach, Florida The traditional chop concept gets a twist with this tender and succulent veal chop recipe. Serves two
INGREDIENTS 4 double-cut milk-fed veal chops 2 pounds brussels sprouts, bottom ends trimmed and cut in half Pecan halves 1 lemon, juiced 1 teaspoon olive oil 1/4 pound pancetta, cut into lardons Salt and pepper Winter or summer truffles Veal demi-glace or au jus 2 cups red wine 2 tablespoons butter 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
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PREPARATION VEAL
Season the veal chops with salt and pepper the night before to impart more flavor to the meat. On the day you cook them, fire up the grill to medium-high heat. Grill chops for about four minutes on each side for medium rare. BRUSSELS SPROUTS
In a sautĂŠ pan over medium heat, add your olive oil. Let the oil get hot but not to the smoking point. Add the pancetta and render it until crispy. Remove the pancetta from the pan and drain half the fat out of the pan. Add the brussels sprouts and pecans to the pan and place in a 350-degree oven to cook until tender. Finish with lemon juice and add the pancetta back to the pan. Toss with salt and pepper to taste. VEAL DEMI
Use fresh veal stock if you can; if not, use your favorite veal demi base. Add the red wine and reduce by half, and finish it with a touch of red wine vinegar and butter. To plate, place an even amount of brussels sprouts on each plate and place two veal chops on top. Brush the demi sauce on each veal chop. With a mandolin, shave the truffles thinly over the veal and serve.
ROASTED BEET SALAD WITH ORANGE VINAIGRETTE By CafĂŠ Thirty-A Santa Rosa Beach, Florida Leave the traditional salad ingredients behind and get the party started with this delicious and colorful starter. Serves eight
INGREDIENTS 2 1/2 cups pecans 3/4 cup bourbon or rum 1/2 cup sugar 1/4 cup brown sugar 3 ounces honey 8 whole fresh beets 3 sprigs fresh rosemary 2–3 ounces fresh ginger 1 cup red wine vinegar 3 1/2 cups water 1 1/2 cups sugar 4 ounces blood orange puree 1 ounce lemon juice 1 1/2 cups Dijon mustard 2 cups olive oil 1 head napa cabbage, julienned 1 head radicchio, julienned Crumbled blue cheese to taste Salt and pepper to taste
PREPARATION CANDIED PECANS
Place bourbon (or rum), 1/2 cup sugar, 1/4 cup brown sugar, and 1 ounce of honey into a saucepan. Burn off alcohol and dissolve sugars until clear. Toss 2 cups of pecans in liquid. Spread pecans onto a sheet pan and roast in the oven at 350 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes.
BLOOD ORANGE VINAIGRETTE
Place blood orange puree, 1 1/2 cups of water, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, and 2 ounces honey in a blender. Add salt and pepper to taste and puree. Slowly add 2 cups olive oil until well blended. SLAW
BEETS
Toss napa cabbage, radicchio, crumbled blue cheese, and 1/2 cup pecans together with enough blood orange vinaigrette to lightly dress the greens.
Place beets, rosemary, ginger, red wine vinegar, 2 cups of water, and 1 1/2 cups sugar in a roasting pan. Cover and place in 350-degree oven for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Drain beets, set aside to cool, and then peel.
Assemble the salad by placing a mound of slaw on each plate. Top with sliced beets and garnish with a little more crumbled blue cheese, pecans, and blood orange vinaigrette.
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There’s no denying that food is an important part of just about every culture around the globe. Special meals, holidays, and traditions are shared and revered for generations. A table is a place where people enjoy good food, tell stories, learn things, and become closer to one another. Consider this C’est la VIE collection a metaphorical table where we can all gather ’round, learn something new, and enjoy a buffet of beautiful products and experiences!
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Wine about It
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Top of the Glass
BILIA Coffee Cup and Plate $38.50 AUD – casaecucina.com.au
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Cutting Edge
Shun Hikari Seven-Piece Knife Block Set $1,200 – williams-sonoma.com
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Saveur WINE AROUND THE WORLD
The modifier genius is often an overstatement, but that is certainly not the case when it comes to the Château de Chambord and its vast surrounding estate in Chambord, Loir-et-Cher, France. Designed for King Francis I by Domenico da Cortona with engineer Pierre Nepveu, the sixteenth-century behemoth is recognized as one of the world’s greatest examples of French Renaissance architecture. In honor of its five hundredth anniversary this year, the château has launched a program through which patrons can adopt a vine in the Chambord vineyard, which comprises three varietals hand-selected by the king five centuries ago—Romorantin, Pinot Noir, and Gamay.
Learn more about the castle, tours, and how to adopt a vine at Chambord.org.
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AN INSIDER’S TAKE ON
BY VIRGINIE BOONE 96 | APR IL 2018
DISCERNING TRAVELERS, COUPLES, AND VINO ENTHUSIASTS SEEKING TO VISIT AMERICA’S MOST EXCITING FOOD AND WINE DESTINATION RIGHT NOW NEED LOOK NO FURTHER THAN SONOMA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA. NAPA VALLEY’S LESSER-KNOWN RIVAL HAS EVERYTHING TO OFFER TRAVELERS IN SEARCH OF FOOD, WINES, AND BEAUTIFUL SCENERY, ALL WITHIN A LAYERING OF UNDERSTATED LUXURY. From the scalable mountaintops to the wild blue Pacific Ocean, the gorgeous surroundings keep people coming back to Sonoma—many even decide to make it home. They settle here to grow not only grapes, but also tomatoes, olives, mushrooms, fresh oysters, goats (for cheese), and much more. The climate is decisively Mediterranean and mild—sunny, clear days with temperatures in the seventies the norm much of the year. A handful of microclimates rule the day, though, as any good grape grower, winemaker, or chef will tell you. Some areas might drip in fog all summer long, while others absorb high heat. The diversity of terrain and terroir informs everything else. At fifteen hundred square miles in area, the county is easy to maneuver and has fifty miles of coastline to enjoy. Sonoma and Healdsburg are good hubs, with central plazas filled with shops, restaurants, bars, and tasting rooms. Healdsburg is also an excellent place to see and enjoy the 110-mile Russian River, which meanders its way west to the ocean at Jenner.
Sunset over a Sonoma County vineyard near Cloverdale, California Right: Many area wineries offer dining and other experiences, such as this dinner overlooking the landscape at Jordan Vineyard and Winery. Photo courtesy of Jordan Vineyard and Winery V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 97
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ppropriately, wine is everywhere, a testament to Sonoma’s ability to do it all, from cool, coastal chardonnays and pinot noirs to historic old-vine zinfandels and structured, elegant cabernet sauvignons. Where there’s good wine, good food follows (or is it the other way around?), and any visit should center mightily on this happy marriage. Below and opposite: The guest house at Blue Rock Vineyard, run by owner and proprietor Kenny Khan (center), is the perfect home base for your Sonoma County tour. Stays at this exclusive property are available through Inspirato luxury vacation homes. Search for “Vintner’s Cottage” at Inspirato. com to book. Photos by Michael Housewright
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A fine base for exploring the area, Blue Rock Vineyard’s guesthouse in Alexander Valley is ten minutes north of the town of Healdsburg. Tucked away in an oasis-like nook, Blue Rock grows bordeaux varieties like cabernet sauvignon on forty-six acres of rolling hillsides adorned with centuriesold olive trees. Blue Rock’s vines are farmed sustainably—a common theme in Sonoma County—and visited by wild turkeys, boars, and other wildlife. The guest accommodations are luxuriously cozy and old-world chic,
with a central indoor kitchen and outdoor brick oven the dual focus. Lucky guests will be cooked a meal by the proprietor himself, Kenny Kahn, who grew up on a farm in Tennessee and is a gourmet chef by avocation. From Blue Rock, head into the tiny town of Geyserville, where some of the best Neapolitan-style pizza and pasta in Northern California awaits at Diavola, a popular meeting spot housed within a historic landmark building. Salumi and sausage are cured and made in-house as well. Nearly next door is Geyserville Gun Club Bar and Lounge, a neighborhood favorite for drinks and oysters that maintains an old-school jukebox and periodically hosts live bands. Another must for food is Catelli’s, which dates back to the 1930s and is currently run by third-generation siblings. Handmade ravioli and seasonal carbonara are the main draws, while Nonnie’s minestrone stays true to the founder’s recipe.
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good spot for provisions is Jimtown Store, a landmark country store, deli counter, and unique gift shack that has long given life to the area. Boxed lunches may be ordered ahead for picnics and other outings or enjoyed on-site. Look for the red 1955 Ford truck out front. Jimtown Store is a good before-or-after stop on the way to the soon-to-open Silver Oak Winery, a showcase for its Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. Surrounded by 113 acres of vines, the tasting room is modeled after Big Sur’s beautiful Post Ranch Inn and will provide an immersive bird’s-eye view of the property and an insider’s look at the winemaking process. Find a more intimate experience at tiny Garden Creek, a husband-and-wife operation on the eastern benchlands of Alexander Valley along Geysers Road. First planted in the 1960s with red bordeaux varieties, it also has scheurebe and a handful of Rhône-style whites, such as grenache blanc. The couple’s flagship proprietary blend is called Tesserae. Given plenty of time in the bottle, it illustrates the commitment to making old-world, slowed-down wines. On the other end of the Alexander Valley appellation, closer to Healdsburg, lies Jordan Winery, where a cornucopia of culinary and vinous experiences awaits. Jordan was founded in the early 1970s by Tom and Sally Jordan and is now run by their son,
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John. Winemaker Rob Davis has been making the elegant, food-centered wines—a cabernet sauvignon and a chardonnay—since nearly the beginning. Experiences by appointment run the gamut from intimately guided library tastings to far-reaching threehour tours across the property, including a hands-on exploration of the winery’s vast gardens. As you head into Healdsburg, the food options explode. Chalkboard is a don’t-miss for happy hour. There you’ll find cocktails centered around many of the fresh ingredients grown at the restaurant’s sister property, Chalk Hill Winery Estate. Many of those ingredients make it to Chalkboard’s array of well-considered small menu items that drip in culinary creativity.
Pete Seghesio. Located on the ground floor of the same building as the mighty Single Thread (which we’ll get to), Journeyman is a butcher shop and salumeria with a tasting bar. The meat comes from family-run farms, and the animals live outside in the fresh air. Meanwhile, world-renowned Single Thread is a restaurant and inn built around its culinary farms, the vision of chef Kyle Connaughton and his farmer wife, Katina. The inn contains five suites, and the Japanese-inspired restaurant has already garnered two Michelin stars. Bookings must occur ahead of time via a ticketing system, the better to enjoy the eleven-course tasting menu. DaVero Farms’ motto is “Grow what belongs here. Be patient.” It has sangiovese and sagrantino grapes on its Biodynamic property along Westside Road and groves of olive trees imported from Tuscany. Walk-in tastings are allowed, but make the time for a sense of place terroir tasting or farm tour, where you can take a more comprehensive dive into growing things.
EXPERIENCES BY APPOINTMENT RUN THE GAMUT FROM INTIMATELY GUIDED LIBRARY TASTINGS TO FAR-REACHING THREE-HOUR TOURS ACROSS THE PROPERTY, INCLUDING A HANDS-ON EXPLORATION OF THE WINERY’S VAST GARDENS. Down the street is the Brass Rabbit, an intimate space with a supper-club vibe that’s open for lunch and dinner; it has a menu of hearty fare and more great cocktails. Drinks-first destinations include Duke’s, a classic watering hole that shouldn’t be missed. A truly in-the-know dinner spot is Valette, run by Healdsburg local Dustin Valette with the help of his brother. Don’t be surprised if every other table (and every seat at the bar) is taken by hungry winemakers and their friends. Great morning fare abounds at Downtown Bakery & Creamery, which first opened in Healdsburg in 1987, well before the town had become such a hot spot for tourists. The sticky buns are the stuff of local legend. The place for savory cured meats is Journeyman Meat Co., the second act of Italian American wine scion
Left: The Jordan Winery Chateau’s dining options wouldn’t be complete without the perfect wine pairings! Opposite right: The Winery Chateau Photos courtesy of Jordan Vineyard and Winery Opposite left: Park yourself at the bar at Duke’s Spirited Cocktails for a departure from wine tastings— although they do have a great selection of wines. Photo by Nat & Cody V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 101
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Above: Since 2016, Single Thread Farm has brought exquisite wines, fine dining, and exceptional accommodations to its guests. Photo courtesy of Single Thread Opposite: Katina and Kyle Connaughton, head farmer and chef, respectively, at Single Thread with farm dog Murray Photo by Roman Cho 102 | APR IL 2018
ore in-depth fun awaits at Relish Culinary Adventures, where classes like the Snout-to-Tail Pork Butchering Workshop are not unusual. If it’s wood-fired cooking you’re looking to master, indulge in one of Mugnaini’s three-day culinary getaways for a chance to make a bevy of delicious dishes in an open-hearth pizza oven. The experience is hosted and taught by Andrea Mugnaini herself at her Alexander Valley farmhouse. If time doesn’t allow for that, do a three-hour demo class at the showroom/production facility in town. Those interested in bike rentals for forays into the Alexander, Dry Creek, or Russian River Valleys should look into Spoke Folk Cyclery in Healdsburg, which rents a range of bicycles, including tandems and child trailers by the hour, day, or week. The bikes will come in handy for exploring pretty Westside Road along the Russian River. Start the day in Healdsburg and plan for a stop at Arista Winery, which offers sit-down, guided Taste of Terroir experiences by appointment. Guests are treated to tastings of unique wines and a plate featuring seasonal produce from the on-site gardens.
Photo by Eric Wolfinger
Rochioli Vineyards and Winery is another must; this historic family property along the Russian River grows and produces chardonnay, pinot noir, and old-vine sauvignon blanc and is open daily. Keep riding along for a visit to Gary Farrell Winery; its hillside tasting room reveals stunning views of the sprawling valley below. Guided tastings may be booked for the terrace, the salon, or a series of private rooms. Ditch the bike and come back later for a spa treatment and dinner at the luxurious Farmhouse Inn tucked along River Road. The wine-centric restaurant is among the most lauded in Sonoma County, and the winemaker dinners are standouts. More casual (but just as delicious) is Backyard, located in the nearby tiny town of Forestville. It offers lunch and dinner, as well as weekend brunch. The dishes focus on seasonal, sustainable ingredients that are plucked, caught, and raised locally. Fresh pies are best procured farther down the road along Highway 116 between Forestville and Graton at Kozlowski Farms. A third-generation family business, it all started with Gravenstein apples, the local variety that so defined the area before pinot noir and chardonnay. When in the area, it’s imperative to make time for a stop at Iron Horse Vineyards, another long-standing family business devoted to producing world-class sparkling wines from estate-grown grapes. Reservations are required, but visits are relaxed, usually conducted from the family’s casual redwood barn overlooking the cool-climate vineyards.
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eep heading south, and the highway will eventually lead to the charming town of Sebastopol. There, within a shopping and dining complex known as the Barlow, lies Spirit Works Distillery, a husband-and-wife grain-to-glass distillery that makes gin (including a sloe gin and a barrel-aged gin), vodka, and whiskey. The tasting room is the place to sample, and tours of how it’s all done are conducted Friday through Sunday at 5:00 p.m. and include a tasting. Before or after, consider getting ice cream at Screamin’ Mimi’s, which makes everything in-house. Flavors change daily with seasonality in mind, but Mimi’s Mud, made with espresso ice cream cookies, chocolate, and homemade fudge, is the perennial bestseller. Greater Sebastopol is also a good base from which to rent canoes for jaunts along the Russian River. From its headquarters under a stand of redwood trees, Burke’s Canoe Trips operates typically between May and October, offering both canoes and kayaks for a day out on the river.
THERE, WITHIN A SHOPPING AND DINING COMPLEX KNOWN AS THE BARLOW, LIES SPIRIT WORKS DISTILLERY, A HUSBAND-ANDWIFE GRAIN-TO-GLASS DISTILLERY THAT MAKES GIN (INCLUDING A SLOE GIN AND A BARREL-AGED GIN), VODKA, AND WHISKEY. Off the boat, a short car ride to Petaluma leads to lots of cheese makers and places to visit. Find a full list at Cheesetrail.org. Achadinha Cheese Company makes goat cheese and offers a ninety-minute tour of its ranch, cheese-making classes, and tastings. Reservations are a must. No trip to Sonoma County would be complete without at least one foray to the coast. Take Highway 1 west of Petaluma and drive north to Jenner, where the Russian River meets the mighty Pacific Ocean. 104 | APR IL 2018
The appropriately named River’s End, whose website is found at ILoveSunsets.com, is the perfect place to while away the late afternoon at the Redwood Bar with fresh oysters and a martini in hand.
BOOK YOUR STAY AT BLUEROCKVINEYARD.COM AND START YOUR INSIDER’S TOUR OF SONOMA COUNTY SOON! Virginie Boone, a longtime resident of Sonoma County, reviews and writes about the wines of Napa and Sonoma for Wine Enthusiast Media. She began her writing career with Lonely Planet travel guides, writing guides to the American South, South America, Northern California, and the Loire Valley, which led in a roundabout and perfectly sensible way to California-focused wine coverage for the Press Democrat, Savor magazine, Sonoma magazine, and others. She is a regular panelist and speaker on wine topics in California and beyond.
Left: Executive chef Todd Knoll of Jordan Winery picks fresh produce from the garden on the property. Photo courtesy of Jordan Vineyard and Winery Opposite: The stylish kitchen at Single Thread Farm Photo courtesy of Single Thread
Kitty Taylor, Broker, GRI, CRS, CIPS Catherine Ryland, Broker Associate “Grayton Girl Team” Selling Grayton and Beach Properties along 30A. 850.231.2886 | 850.585.5334 133 Defuniak Street, Grayton Beach, FL 32459 www.graytoncoastproperties.com
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Right: Domaine de Cromey is a picturesque winery and château located in the scenic heart of Burgundy, France. Opposite: The property’s owners, Dennis Sherman and Eleanor “Ellie” Garvin, moved to Europe from the US in 1983, and now they (along with Haggis, the wonder dog) welcome guests to Domaine de Cromey for extended stays and wine tours of the region.
for the love of
BY ANTHEA GERRIE PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF DOMAINE DE CROMEY
They fell in love with food, each other, and France—in roughly that order—and now Dennis Sherman and Ellie Garvin are the king and queen of Burgundy. At least they are to the Americans they entertain at their château, Domaine de Cromey, as they take visitors on an insider’s tour through some of the most prized and exquisite vineyards in France.
t
o understand what this means, you have to experience the thrill of slipping past the crowds worshipping at the entrance of Le Montrachet, possibly France’s most photographed vineyard, into the hallowed vines which lie beyond the golden gate. While tourists take in the famous stone arch, Dennis goes one step farther; he hops over the wall and sets a selection of bottles with “Montrachet” on their labels on a wall among the vines where others fear to tread. Crystal flutes come out, and guests sip the divine, buttery Chardonnay while learning what separates the village wine grown at the base of the hill from the premiers crus farther up the slope and the holy grail—the grand cru at the top, known simply as Montrachet. They learn about sales tactics harnessed by places like Puligny, who thought cheaper wine
would sell better if they added the word Montrachet to the name of their village—a sneaky trick that is also behind how the charming hamlets of VosneRomanée, Gevrey-Chambertin, and Aloxe-Corton got their now equally famous names. V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 107
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Opposite top: The grounds of Domaine de Cromey might inspire guests to do as the owners did—stay in Burgundy for good.
Below and opposite bottom: Ellie and Dennis are both accomplished chefs, and family-style meals at their Burgundy château are an essential part of any stay.
emystifying the wines of Burgundy and introducing aficionados to the cellars where they can be tasted is the essence of the outings Dennis organizes from Domaine de Cromey. This small château is practically perfect, offering six spacious suites, a fabulous French provincial dining room dominated by an old wine press, a chill lounge equipped with comfy sofas where afterdinner digestifs and chocolates are served, and an outdoor pool and terrace set in a beautiful park. Ellie and Dennis are now honorary Burgundians, but they first met when they were in their twenties and both working at Les Survivants, a French restaurant in Annapolis, Maryland. “Ellie saw I was clearly out of my depth trying to make a hollandaise sauce!” laughs Dennis, who became his supervisor’s husband and commis chef in the years that followed. In 1983, the
pair headed for France with the idea of apprenticing under great chefs but instead found themselves picking grapes and cooking crepes to survive. They discovered their forte cooking picnic lunches for hot-air ballooners and catering for barge travelers before they went to Burgundy for the first time in 1986. The couple knew they had found their spiritual home. There would, however, be decades of traveling and catering barge trips through France before they and their Floridabased partners, David and Brenda Miley, decided to buy a château from which they could run land-based adventures alongside their wine-importing business. Ellie’s cuisine, which has strong Mediterranean notes, is the perfect antidote to the usual rich cuisine of the region. You can’t go to Burgundy and not at least taste escargots, boeuf bourguignon, oeufs en meurette (eggs coddled in red wine), and the aperitif cheese puffs known as gougères, all best sampled in the rustic local village restaurants.
I N 1983, T HE PA IR H E A D E D FOR F RA NCE W IT H T H E ID E A OF A P P RE NT I C IN G UN D E R GRE AT CHE F S BUT IN ST E A D FOU ND T HE M SE LV E S P IC K I NG GRA P E S A N D CO O K IN G CRE P E S TO S URV IV E . Best of all, given the ease of reaching Burgundy by high-speed rail from Paris and London, Ellie and Dennis can provide vehicles and an English-speaking driver-guide to show off the best of the sights, with Dennis offering introductions to vignerons who don’t usually open their cellar doors to visitors. As a wine dealer, he serves fine Burgundies from lesser-known appellations offering exceptional value—Montagny, Rully, Pernand-Vergelesses, and others—with every château meal, so a visit is educational as well as enjoyable. Any visit to Domaine de Cromey will include at least one full day touring the villages of the Côte
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d’Or and its ancient capital, Beaune. While the Saturday food market is always a big attraction in this buzzy little town, its great glory is the ancient hospice with its mosaic roof. Now a home for senior citizens, it served as a hospital for centuries, and the red-curtained beds arranged around the walls are still preserved. The building transforms into a banquet hall once a year when wines from its own production, as well as elsewhere in Burgundy, are auctioned by the barrel for charity; a ticket to the VIP lunch is not to be missed if you can bag one through Dennis and Ellie. A trip along the equally important wine route of the Côte de Nuits is most efficiently combined with an exploration of beautiful Dijon, the largest town in Burgundy, which demands most of a day. It offers stunning architecture in the Palace of the Dukes of Burgundy (whose Musée des Beaux-Arts houses a fabulous art collection), the Hôtel de Vogüé, and La Maison des Cariatides, where it’s possible to dine in visual splendor. But many visitors never get beyond the charming old streets and wonderful covered market of Les Halles, where they inevitably shop for picturesque jars of the local mustard, the city’s most famous product (there’s a Maille factory boutique fielding exotic flavors).
“WE CA M E TO F RA NCE WI T H NOT HI NG A ND M A DE OU R L IVE S HE RE , A LWAYS ON T HE QUE ST FOR FOOD A ND WI NE , BU T WI T HOU T S E L L I NG OU R SOU L S TO A RE STAU RA NT. ”
Much lesser known is Autun, a historic town with some magnificent Roman ruins and strong links with the French Resistance. Over one of many glasses of Burgundy at the château, a friend of Dennis’s specializing in Resistance lore told us of the valiant efforts to free France that went on in the wild hills of the Morvan, which we had spotted as we approached Autun. The region’s rather far-flung Resistance Museum at Saint-Brisson is undoubtedly worth visiting if time permits. But leaving the comforts of the château to do more than visit Burgundy’s ancient towns and vendors of the fine wine that brought you there in the first place is a bit of an effort. The temptation is to stay home, perhaps learn a dish or two from Ellie over a cooking demonstration in her wonderful kitchen, and just enjoy. While it’s sad to leave, there’s some comfort to be taken in the fact that at least one American couple is living the dream. “We came to France with nothing and made our lives here, always on the quest for food and wine, but without selling our souls to a restaurant,” says Dennis. “Learning the subtleties of Burgundy and sharing its wines and culture with our friends from the USA at Domaine de Cromey is the culmination of that dream we dared to dream more than thirty years ago.”
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burgundy touring tips While Domaine de Cromey offers a bespoke experience priced according to needs, expect to spend around $1,500 per person for three nights at the château with half board (stay includes breakfast and one other meal daily), transfers from Le Creusot, and excursions—less if touring on a self-drive basis and not requiring a guide. Travel to Burgundy from London or Paris via rail to Le Creusot; fares and train schedules can be found at Voyages-SNCF.com. More information about house party dates can be found at DomainedeCromey.com.
Anthea Gerrie is based in the UK but travels the world in search of stories. Her special interests are architecture and design, culture, food, and drink, as well as the best places to visit in the world’s great playgrounds. She is a regular contributor to the Daily Mail, the Independent, and Blueprint.
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Warm days, cool nights, and high altitude contribute to the high quality of grapes grown in the Grand Valley region in western Colorado.
112 | APR IL 2018
Wine in ROCKY M OU N TA IN COU N TRY
by COURTNEY DRAKE-MCDONOUGH
The secret’s out about Colorado’s wine scene. Its varietals, grown on some of thehighest vineyards in the world and exposed to more than three hundred days of warm sunshine, cool nights, low humidity, and mountain runoff, are winning awards internationally. At the roots of many of those wineries are the couples who run them. With a business that ebbs and flows depending on weather and trends, these couples are combining long hours of living and working together, pouring their passion into each bottle.
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cott and Sherrie Hamilton had already worked together for thirteen years in other industries. For the next phase of their lives, they knew they wanted to own a business jointly while living in a rural area with a warm climate. "We looked at peach orchards and fruit stands but really liked the vineyard lifestyle," says Scott. They opened Red Fox Cellars in the Grand Valley area of western Colorado with a view of the Grand Mesa and Mount Garfield.
Below: Michael Hasler and Carolee Corey of Decadent Saint Winery with their daughter, Isabel. Photo courtesy Decadent Saint Winery
The Hamiltons have been married more than thirtyfour years and say working together comes naturally for them. That doesn’t mean they never experience issues, though. “We have always argued, from the day we met,” says Scott, “and sometimes we can get pretty heated, but we always seem to settle down and meet in the middle.” After working together for so long, Scott and Sherrie feel the advantages greatly outweigh the disadvantages. “We both offer each other constructive criticism, and there is a huge trust factor because we’re both working toward the same goals,” he says.
Michael Hasler and his wife, Carolee Corey, of Decadent Saint Winery, never planned to work together, but a Christmas party set them on that path. As a winemaker during his youth in Australia, Michael was trying to figure out what to do with his new life in Colorado after he married Carolee, who had a childcare business. Michael received rave reviews for his spiced chocolate mulled wine at a holiday party, and afterward texted Carolee to say he wanted to go into the wine business—which led to creating a line of wine-based cocktail mixers. Carolee saved her husband’s text to remember that moment. “It’s one of those fun things when you set an intention,” she says. That intention became a successful business. As demand and sales increased, Carolee decided she would sell her company to join her husband in running Decadent Saint.
“We both offer each other constructive criticism, and there is a huge trust factor because we’re both working toward the same goals.” For Billie and Bob Witham, owning a winery wasn’t the business they had initially wanted to go into together. In the late 1990s, they bought land in Grand Junction with the intention of building a gated patio home community for seniors. They abandoned the idea, but that night, they shared a lackluster bottle of wine, which sparked the desire to learn more about the winemaking business. The land once 114 | APR IL 2018
say wearing multiple hats goes with the territory, as does the need to remain flexible. “Our business is constantly evolving,” says Doug. “Maybe someday it will be constant, but so far, it’s not, and we each do what needs to be done when it needs to be done.” Living and working together can make it difficult, if not impossible, to create a division between the two. “It’s twenty-four seven,” says Carolee. “I think that’s normal for entrepreneurs. You find a way of relating to each other that doesn’t just involve numbers or the next iteration of our marketing material.”
“If we don’t take the time to put deposits into our marriage, we might end up with a successful business but without our marriage.” The winemaking business rarely takes a break, especially when there is a tasting room providing a year-round source of income. These couples often work seven days a week. “It takes planning, planning, planning,” says Scott, who gets away with his wife for a weekend three or four times per year. “If we don’t take the time to put deposits into our marriage, we might end up with a successful business but without our marriage,” says Carolee. Her husband agrees. “It’s a matter of having our hallowed time,” says Michael. “It’s important to give yourself gaps with each other and by yourself.”
meant for patio homes became the land upon which they started a vineyard and Two Rivers Winery and Chateau, their guest house/event center.
Working long hours together for a common goal has enabled these illustrious couples to learn things about each other they might not have otherwise. “We’ve gained increased respect for each other’s professional capabilities—something often not seen if you don’t work together in a business setting,” says Doug. “We
Below: Two Rivers Winery, owned by Billie and Bob Witham, also includes a conference and events center and a wine country inn. Photo courtesy of Two Rivers Winery
Each of these couples divvies up job responsibilities by their strengths and areas of interest. In many cases, the men handle winemaking, and the women manage the business activities. However, in the case of Nancy Janes and her husband, John Behrs, owners of Whitewater Hill Vineyards, those roles are reversed. “Nancy got the winemaker job,” says John. “She’s more outgoing, too, so it was natural for her to do more sales and tasting room duties.” Nancy agrees, adding, “John does more of the technical roles that are more suited to his personality and skills.” The couple, who have been married for twenty-six years, have their own winery but also supply grapes to many of the wineries in the region. For other couples in the business, roles change depending on the need. Doug and Karen Kingman run Kingman Estates Winery in an industrial neighborhood in Denver, using grapes from the Western Slope. While they have their areas of specialty, they V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 115
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have an opportunity to share the joys and frustrations of striving to make a business successful, and in doing so have come to rely on each other more than ever before.” “Life working with my spouse has been both easier and more challenging than I ever imagined,” says Billie Witham. She credits her husband’s knowledge, leadership, and patience for making working together easier but adds that because they are so immersed and invested in the success of their business, they have to remind each other to step back and enjoy their accomplishments. One of the dangers of living and working together is taking each other for granted. “Remember that you love each other and say it every day,” Doug advises. “Be prepared to walk away from the business if it becomes more important than your relationship.” “Some days are better than others,” agrees Scott. “There’s no trick that I know of—running a small business is tough duty, but it sure helps when you’re doing something you like.”
Photo courtesy of Two Rivers Winery
Denver native Courtney Drake-McDonough is a writer and editor specializing in arts, culture, and travel. She enjoys traveling to unlikely destinations that make people ask, “Why would you want to go there?” She enjoys responding, “That’s exactly what I’m going to go find out.”
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Photo courtesy of McPherson Cellars
118 | APR IL 2018
S out T
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BY ILONA KAUREMSZKY
Sweep away the thin layer of dust that lies over the pancake-flat land in the South Plains region of Texas, and at first glance, the area appears to hold few riches. There’s nary a soul to be seen on the country roads near the town of Lubbock except for the occasional flying critter gliding in the updrafts in the sweltering West Texas heat.
Try and seek out a pheasant, a favorite fowl that graces ridges in the Texas Panhandle. Then, park the car at Pheasant Ridge Winery.
an easy twenty-minute drive will uncork another discovery that some locals have dubbed the Napa Valley of the South.
On the outskirts of town, Pheasant Ridge Winery’s vinifera rows spread out along the lands of what is arguably the oldest civilization in North America, tracing back twelve thousand years. Tourists now flock to the nearby Lubbock Lake National Historic Landmark to see art installations depicting the prehistoric woolly mammoths that used to stomp these grounds, while hikers explore the grass-fringed trails of the High Plains. From here,
Pioneering Texas winemaker Bobby Cox of Pheasant Ridge, one of the oldest wineries in Texas, is as big and bold as his top-selling wines. In 1986, Cox produced the first Texas red wine to receive a gold medal at the prestigious San Francisco International Wine Competition. It was a wine history changer. Settling in front of his no-nonsense bar, he says, “I find it difficult to talk about wine without having a glass—would y’all like one?”
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s he stands sandwiched between the flags of France and Texas, Cox opens a bottle of his Old Vine Dry Chenin Blanc from 2015. The wines produced at Pheasant Ridge are from some of the oldest vinifera grapevines in Texas: they were planted on fifteen acres in 1978. At the time, it was the largest exclusively vinifera vineyard in the Lone Star State. The rest, as they say, is history. “It was the first white wine I made at Pheasant Ridge, and I am happy to do so once again in recognition of the quality of this noble grape of France,” Cox says. He smirks and opens another bottle, his cabernet sauvignon, which lassoed a silver medal at the San Francisco International Wine Competition. “It was recognized as a library wine,” says the vintner whose passion is purely evident in the quality of his wines—you can practically taste it the second you inhale the fruity notes of his top-selling vintages. In Lubbock, the sky seems bigger, and the sun is hotter, yet the dusty, dry terrain is the backbone of many award-winning wines. Nearly 90 percent of Texas’s wine grapes are produced in the High Plains region, thanks to warm days, cool nights, low humidity, and shallow sandy ground. They say magic happens in this soil.
NEARLY 90 PERCENT OF TEXAS’S WINE GRAPES ARE PRODUCED IN THE HIGH PLAINS REGION, THANKS TO WARM DAYS, COOL NIGHTS, LOW HUMIDITY, AND SHALLOW SANDY GROUND. THEY SAY MAGIC HAPPENS IN THIS SOIL. Geographically the area lies in the Llano Estacado, which is home to one of the largest mesas in North America. It’s also home to the High Plains Wine and Vine Trail, a seventy-five- to one-hundred-mile loop that starts in Lubbock and gives visitors a chance to tour six wineries with daily tastings and tours. Cox, like the rest of the local vintners, is no wine snob. He declares in his thick Southern drawl, “We don’t fuss around here.” Rival Napa may have its noblesse wines, but here, West Texas’s down-to-earth mantra sweeps across the plains. All the destinations on the High Plains Wine and Vine Trail are within thirty minutes of the fossil yard at the Lubbock Lake Landmark site. A ten-minute drive to downtown Lubbock and you’ll find a local husband-and-wife team that has created two separate wine experiences.
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Duck into McPherson Cellars, located in a retrofitted Coca-Cola bottling plant, and don’t be surprised if winemaker Kim McPherson is on-site for a wine tasting. “You’ll often find me here,” he says as the wine glasses hit the counter. McPherson grew up in the wine business. His father, Clinton “Doc” McPherson, was a chemistry professor at Texas Tech University who is hailed as one of the fathers of the modern Texas wine industry for his winemaking prowess. Kim’s wife, Sylvia, has La Diosa Cellars just across the street from McPherson Cellars. La Diosa is like a cross between a set for a movie about Frida Kahlo and a hacienda laden with eclectic artwork, ceramic mosaics, and airy nooks for quiet conversations. On the first Sunday of every month, the cellar, which is also a Spanish bistro, turns into a musical jazzbrunch haven. Most days, it’s the ideal pit stop to sit back, relax, order some spicy dishes, and sip on sangria made from Kim’s zinfandel batch.
Left and opposite: Most people don’t think of Texas as a wine destination, but vintners such as those at McPherson Cellars are proving that the Lone Star State is a great place to raise a glass. Photos courtesy of McPherson Cellars
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EVEN THE FALL HARVEST IN FULL SWING DOESN’T DISRUPT THE COMPLIMENTARY WINE TOURS; VISITORS INCH PAST THE BARRELS AND SIDLE UP TO A SHINY STAINLESS STEEL TANK FOR A TASTE.
n a lazy, hazy afternoon, downtown Lubbock looks like tumbleweeds could roll across the broad thoroughfare any second. That's a sign for another wine stop. Position your GPS for the final leg, which is either a seventeen-minute or a twelve-minute drive from La Diosa. (We decided on the quicker route, which would leave more sipping time on the other end!) Off East 130th Street, a stunning neutral-toned facade shimmers like a mirage. There on the outskirts of Lubbock, in the middle of cotton country, stands the big daddy of the tour: Llano Estacado Winery. The largest, best-selling premium winery in Texas, Llano Estacado (Spanish for “staked plain”) has been in business since 1976 and recently underwent a renovation. Even the fall harvest in full swing doesn’t disrupt the complimentary wine tours; visitors inch past the barrels and sidle up to a shiny stainless steel tank for a taste. In a good old-fashioned Lubbock way, winemaker Jason Centanni opens the spigot to a freshly pressed tempranillo and asks, “Ready to drink some raw wine?” 122 | APR IL 2018
That’s the fun of wine in Texas: it’s raw and unexpected. Take the drive down a dusty road to one of the premium wine regions in the United States and discover new sights, meet colorful vintners and viticulturists, and enjoy the bold flavors of the Wild West—no regrets!
For more travel and wine details in Lubbock, head to VisitLubbock.org/Wine. Ilona Kauremszky is an award-winning travel journalist who has worked with leading publishers worldwide, including Fodor’s and Michelin, and with such publications as the Globe and Mail, the National Post, the Toronto Star, the Boston Herald, Canadian Geographic, ELLE, and more. When not writing, she collaborates on the digital TV channel mycompasstv.
Stops along the Texas High Plains Wine and Vine Trail include McPherson Cellars (pictured here), Bingham Family Vineyards and Winery, Caprock Winery, Newsom Vineyards, La Diosa Cellars, Llano Estacado Winery, and Pheasant Ridge Winery. Photos courtesy of McPherson Cellars
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WINE
FROM WATER TO
124 | APR IL 2018
SEEING RED WINE FEST IS BETTER THAN EVER By JORDAN STAGGS Photography courtesy of SEEING RED WINE FESTIVAL
W
ith top-of-the-line vineyards cropping up and wineries opening in unexpected places across the United States—for example, western Texas and Colorado, as you’ll read about in other stories in this issue of VIE—it’s no wonder that vino connoisseurs have a lot to celebrate. Festivals and wine-centric events have followed suit, bringing together thousands of experts, chefs, winemakers, and newbies alike to raise a glass to their favorite fruity beverage. One such event, the Seeing Red Wine Festival in Seaside, Florida, will hold its twenty-eighth annual shindig this year, just steps away from the pristine white sands and turquoise waters of the Gulf of Mexico. On the heels of the last Seeing Red Wine Festival, held November 9–12, 2017, this year’s event promises to uphold Seaside’s tradition of curating high-caliber yet laidback events that appeal to a wide audience. Last year, locals and vacationers alike—along with winemakers and chefs—enjoyed a special vintner’s dinner at Bud & Alley’s restaurant, the Gulf Coast to Table Dinner, the Grand Tasting in Central Square, and the Celebration of Bubbles champagne brunch at Great Southern Café. V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 125
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“OUR GOAL FOR THE EVENT IS TO BRING OUR GUESTS CLOSER TO GREAT WINES AND THE WINEMAKERS BEHIND THEM.” Headlining the Gulf Coast to Table Dinner was special guest chef Ryan Smith of Staplehouse in Atlanta; he and Seaside chef Jim Shirley of Great Southern Café partnered for this interactive cooking event, which was new to the festival for 2017. Vino selections from Kokomo Winery accompanied the chefs’ menu featuring local and regional ingredients—red snapper, cobia, pecans, and Olive & Sinclair chocolate, to name a few. “Our goal for the event is to bring our guests closer to great wines and the winemakers behind them,” says Kevin Boyle, Seaside events director. “We want the Seaside mentality—simple yet unforgettable— to drive the festival experience. We hope to make 2018 the best one yet!” Seeing Red, listed as one of the top ten can’t-miss fall wine festivals by Fodor’s Travel, features other colors as well. The Grand Tasting turns the iconic Central Square in Seaside into a vast array of vintner booths and tasting tables of reds, whites, and rosés aplenty for attendees to sip as they also enjoy live music and small bites from local chefs. A pop-up wine shop offers guests the opportunity to purchase their favorites from the day. As usual, a good time isn’t the only incentive for joining the festivities in Seaside. Proceeds from the Seeing Red Wine Festival benefit the Seaside School and the Seaside Institute. The festival is known to sell out, so be sure to check its website for news leading up to the event this November 8–11!
To learn more or to purchase tickets to the TwentyEighth Annual Seeing Red Wine Festival, visit SeeingRedWineFestival.com. For information about Seaside, go to SeasideFL.com.
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Photo by bodrumsurf / Shutterstock
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SEE THE WORLD
Who’s ready for an adventure this year? Make your 2018 unforgettable with a paragliding experience in Fethiye, a scenic holiday destination in southern Turkey. Thrill seekers can take the leap from the two-thousand-meter Mount Babadag (or from other, higher peaks!) and float high above forests, beaches, blue lagoons, and ancient ruins along what’s known as Turkey’s Turquoise Coast.
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Wild Turkey’s distilling team, master distiller Jimmy Russell (right) and his son, Eddie Photo courtesy of Wild Turkey
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Strutting Down the Bourbon Trail BY ANTHEA GERRIE “I remember when this was a drink for Southern gentlemen,” sighs Jimmy Russell as we sip our Wild Turkey on a promontory overlooking the Kentucky River. The sipping is the same, only different; I’m having my Wild Turkey 101 in an old-fashioned, the world’s favorite cocktail for three years straight, while Jimmy, the most celebrated living legend in whiskey, takes his bourbon neat, like a man. It’s a changed world in the nearly half century since Don Mclean crooned “them good ole boys were drinking whiskey and rye” in “American Pie.” They were singing “this’ll be the day that I die” because
white spirits like vodka, gin, and Bacardi rum were already rising up in 1971 when the song was published, kicking bourbon, Scotch, and rye out the door. It took decades of readjustment, legions of bartenders, and thousands of their new female clients to revive the fortunes of whiskey, but finally, its fortunes are back. The same, only different: “Bourbon is a lady’s drink now,” acknowledges eighty-two-year-old Jimmy, the oldest and longest-serving master distiller in the business, with just a touch of regret.
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Below: Visitors can see the process of firing barrels to create a smoky-flavored bourbon when they tour Wild Turkey’s facilities. Photo courtesy of Wild Turkey
t’s true the bourbon boom—and the even more frenzied rye revival—can be blamed on female cocktail drinkers propping up bars around the world, especially in the UK, where the Brits have driven sales of American whiskey to nearly $1.5 billion, making it the fastest-growing tipple in Britain. So much for gonzo Hunter S. Thompson, who featured Wild Turkey heavily in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. But gorgeous men also have to take their fair share of the blame. Actor Jon Hamm is said to have fueled an appetite for bourbon as Mad Men’s Don Draper, while Matthew McConaughey has done wonders for Wild Turkey since being appointed the creative director in 2016. You can also credit a ceaseless worldwide appetite for such classic American fare as burgers, wings, ribs, and Southern barbecue—a global mountain of spicy, sweet-basted meat calling out for sweetish, spicy whiskey as a perfect partner.
As a British cocktail-drinking woman, I now represent Wild Turkey’s prime customer, one reason I have been granted a rare audience with Jimmy and his son Eddie, himself a master distiller and the other half of the only father-and-son distilling partnership in the world. If you can call it a partnership rather than a prizefight, that is: “Jimmy won’t let us change a darn thing,” grumbles Eddie, the would-be modernizer whose career has depended on a lifetime of deference to his dad.
“I’d see the mixologists making these pretty drinks with tiny umbrellas in them. It was all about drinks with less substance behind them until influential young bartenders started looking at the history behind cocktails, going back, and making the sours, manhattans, and old-fashioneds, which were made with whiskey.” “I’m a hardhead who likes to distill the old-fashioned way,” admits Russell the elder, whose word goes when it comes to the mash—”We use more rye and barley and less corn than some others”—and the method for turning it into liquid gold. “We distill it at a lower proof, put it into the barrel at a lower proof, and put a heavy char on the barrel.” That is how he accounts for the distinctively rich and powerful taste that all the brand’s expressions share. “Other bourbons tend to be four, five, six years old; I prefer seven to twelve.” Eddie, who gets to make his own expressions, has pushed for older whiskeys and produced quite legendary superpremium drops like the Master’s Keep Decades, made from ten- to twenty-year-old bourbons, which marks his thirty-fifth anniversary at the distillery. It was ranked number three in Whisky Advocate’s top twenty whiskeys of 2017, so perhaps Eddie will get his way more often in the future. Jimmy just happened into the business where his father was working in maintenance and his mother in the office before Jimmy arrived in 1954. Eddie himself was a business graduate who never intended more than a summer job at the distillery: “I grew up wanting to get out of a small town to somewhere bigger like Nashville or Cincinnati. But after two or three weeks here, I realized this was home. There was such a family atmosphere; you knew everyone who worked here your whole life. It just felt comfortable.” After rolling barrels, stacking boxes, and dumping bottles out of cases, Jimmy bid for the relief operator position that no one wanted because of the unpredictable shifts. “I was involved in everything from the grinding of the grains to working in the fermenting room and yeast room as well as the distillery—jobs
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which did more to advance my career at Wild Turkey than anything else,” he says. “But I only went for it because it paid a little more!” It was not long before both Eddie and Jimmy were sent out across America on a rescue operation as the rise of vodka threatened to put whiskey makers out of business. While Jimmy went into the liquor stores to hand out samples, Eddie was more interested in what was happening in the bars. “I’d see the mixologists making these pretty drinks with tiny umbrellas in them,” he recalls. “It was all about drinks with less substance behind them until influential young bartenders started looking at the history behind cocktails, going back, and making the sours, manhattans, and old-fashioneds, which were made with whiskey.” The revival of these classic cocktails spawned a new phoenix—they were made with rye, Eddie discovered. “And though bartenders say it’s the best spirit for a mixed drink, youngsters are drinking it on the rocks. They like
that it’s spicier than bourbon—more peppery; and while we’re making more, much more, we just can’t keep up with the demand.” Today’s Wild Turkey distillery is modern, striking, and open to all, and it is fascinating to watch the mash bubbling away in huge tanks and learn how the spirit developing in the copper-hued column stills gets its toffee-like flavor, smoother and sweeter than even fine single malt Scotch. The answer is not coloring, but a well-charred barrel made by master coopers—visitors can meet one at Independent Stave and enjoy the drama of watching barrels rolled through open flames to produce the smoky lining that gives bourbon its distinctive quality.
Above: A mixologist at Proof on Main in downtown Louisville pours a flight of premium bourbons for tasting. Photo courtesy of 21c Museum Hotels
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Voyager After a barbecue, which gives attendees the chance to try their whiskey with ribs and brisket that were practically made to be washed down with it, we discover some more unusual ways to taste great bourbon. These include swilling it through scooped-out marrowbones at Proof on Main, the restaurant of the hip 21c Museum Hotel in Louisville—a town positively packed with whiskey bars. We enjoyed a superb old-fashioned at the Haymarket Whiskey Bar, which has the longest whiskey list in town, a fine sour at Proof (with not one, but three Luxardo cherries!), and despite a final manhattan as a nightcap, miraculously I woke up without a hangover. “It’s the stuff in the cola that used to be mixed with bourbon that gives you a headache,” says Eddie. “With all the vanilla and caramel flavors bourbon already has, you don’t need to add all that sugar.” It will be interesting to see how the brand develops now that a third generation of Russells is being let loose on the distillery; Eddie’s son Bruce, previously
a tour guide and brand ambassador, has also been bitten by the distilling bug and joins his father and grandfather at the Lawrenceburg plant this year. “He’ll be a great addition—he’s got Jimmy’s charisma and knows all the stories,” acknowledges Eddie, although he adds, a touch ruefully, “He was so excited when Jimmy gave him all the notes he had made over sixty years—in notebooks I didn’t even know existed!” But let no one dare imagine Jimmy is about to give up the fifteen-hour days that veteran distillers put in at Wild Turkey seven days a week, even in the face of the world’s most modern whiskey-making machinery. “I just enjoy what I do too much,” he explains. “The day it starts to feel like work, I’m gone.”
WildTurkeyBourbon.com Anthea Gerrie is based in the UK but travels the world in search of stories. Her special interests are architecture and design, culture, food, and drink, as well as the best places to visit in the world’s great playgrounds. She is a regular contributor to the Daily Mail, the Independent, and Blueprint.
Mint Julep • 2 ounces Wild Turkey Kentucky Straight Bourbon • 1/2 ounce sugar syrup • Handful of fresh mint Place mint into a glass or, ideally, a silver or pewter beaker, add crushed ice, then whiskey and sugar syrup. Stir well to mix, then cap with crushed ice and garnish with a large sprig of fresh mint.
Wild Turkey Cocktails Whiskey Sour
Old-Fashioned
• 2 ounces Wild Turkey Kentucky Straight Bourbon • 1/2 ounce lemon juice • 1/2 ounce sugar syrup • White of one egg • One Luxardo or maraschino cherry and one orange slice to garnish
• • • •
Place all ingredients except garnish in a cocktail shaker and shake without ice to emulsify. Add one big ice cube and shake again. Strain into a rocks glass and garnish with the cherry and an optional slice of orange.
2 ounces Wild Turkey 101 2 dashes Angostura bitters 1/2 ounce sugar syrup Thick slice of orange peel to garnish
Pour the sugar syrup, bitters, and half the whiskey into a rocks glass. In a mixing glass, add remaining whiskey and ice, stir, and strain over fresh ice. Garnish with orange peel, twisted over the glass to release the aromatic oil.
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A Trip Down the
Bourbon Trail Kentucky celebrates the heritage and tradition of its beloved bourbon with a full tour of distilleries along the Bourbon Trail. Find information on tour times, dates, and prices at KYBourbonTrail.com.
Photo courtesy of 21c Museum Hotels
Angel’s Envy
Four Roses
Maker’s Mark
In the heart of Louisville, this distillery finishes its bourbon in port wine barrels; tours by reservation only. 500 East Main Street, Louisville, KY 40202 AngelsEnvy.com
Dating back to 1910, this distillery boasts Spanish Mission–style architecture rarely seen in Kentucky. 1224 Bonds Mill Road, Lawrenceburg, KY 40342 FourRosesBourbon.com
Remote but worth seeking out for the lush setting and many specialty tours, including mixology sessions. 3350 Burks Spring Road, Loretto, Kentucky 40037 MakersMark.com
Heaven Hill
Wild Turkey
America’s largest independent, family-owned bourbon producer. 1311 Gilkey Run Road, Bardstown, KY 40004 BourbonHeritageCenter.com
Highly traditional distillery within a cathedrallike state-of-the-art visitor center overlooking the Kentucky River. 1417 Versailles Road, Lawrenceburg, Kentucky 40342 WildTurkeyBourbon.com
Bulleit This distillery, known for its high-rye-content bourbon, is also within Louisville city limits. 3860 Fitzgerald Road, Louisville, KY 40216 BulleitExperience.com
Evan Williams Kentucky’s first commercial distillery on Louisville’s historic Whiskey Row offers a high-tech, highly rated immersive tour. 528 West Main Street, Louisville, KY 40202 EvanWilliamsBourbonExperience.com 136 | APR IL 2018
Jim Beam Cooperage demos are among the many extras in a choice of tours. If time doesn’t allow for a drive to Clermont, a bourbon experience is also available at the Jim Beam Urban Stillhouse in Louisville. 26 Happy Hollow Road, Clermont, Kentucky 40110 JimBeam.com
Woodford Reserve Kentucky’s smallest distillery is also the oldest, tracing its origins back to 1797. Highly recommended for its gourmet tastings in a gorgeous rural setting. 7855 McCracken Pike, Versailles, Kentucky 40383 WoodfordReserve.com
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NOR TH C AROLINA’S
ueen City BY PAG E LEGG E T T
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CHARLOTTE IS READY FOR ITS CLOSE-UP If effort alone could translate into tourist numbers, Charlotte would rival Times Square as a major draw. The city tries hard to win people’s hearts. Really hard. Exhibit A: The organization created to promote uptown,* Charlotte Center City Partners, boasts on its website: “Charlotte Center City is the most vibrant urban center in the Southeast.” Bless their hearts. It’s not that Charlotte (named for Queen Charlotte of England, wife of King George III) doesn’t have valid reasons to boast. We do. But most of them come from economic-development hype and are related to the ideal environment we’d make for your corporate headquarters. But there’s more to Charlotte than being an excellent place to do business. The city is a lovely place to spend a weekend. Or a lifetime, as I have. Why? Let’s start with the food.
* Charlotte boosters are so relentlessly upbeat that they used to insist that everyone refer to “downtown” as “uptown.” Just when residents got used to that, they now want us to refer to it as “Center City." V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 139
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Above: For New York City–inspired slices in a funky vintage atmosphere, stop by Fuel Pizza in Plaza Midwood. Photo courtesy of Visit Charlotte Right: Chef-owner Clark Barlowe at Heirloom uses his training and travels to create a menu that features ingredients from North Carolina.
EAT If the way to a tourist’s heart is through the stomach, then you and Charlotte may soon be going steady. Landing a Johnson & Wales University ( JWU) campus in 2006 helped turn the Queen City into a legit foodie town. JWU grads are, or have been, in the kitchens of some of the city’s best eateries, such as the inconveniently located but worth finding Heirloom. (Chef-owner Clark Barlowe is also a forager. If there’s a dish with mushrooms on the menu, he likely picked them.)
Photo by Peter Taylor Right: Photo courtesy of Visit Charlotte
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There’s probably no one with a JWU degree in the kitchen at the takeout-only, cash-only Price’s Chicken Coop (an institution since 1962), but this place is the real deal. Your lunch—whether it’s chicken, fish, or shrimp—will be fried. And it will come with more fried things (french fries, hush puppies) plus coleslaw and a roll. When in the Southeast, order sweet tea.
Want your fried chicken in something other than a to-go box? Try the hipster meat-and-three hangout in artsy NoDa (short for North Davidson Street) called Haberdish, the sophisticated Carpe Diem in historic Elizabeth, and uptown’s soul food joint, Mert’s Heart and Soul. While uptown has dressed itself in neon and is giving you the hard sell, nearby neighborhoods are leaning back, taking a swig, and figuring you’ll find them sooner or later.
Your lunch—whether it’s chicken, fish, or shrimp—will be fried. And it will come with more fried things (french fries, hush puppies) plus coleslaw and a roll. When in the Southeast, order sweet tea. A few minutes’ drive from uptown is the effortlessly cool Plaza Midwood neighborhood, home to Soul Gastrolounge, a second-floor hideaway that doesn’t take reservations. Don’t worry about the wait. Dirty South Nachos (fried chicken skin with pimento cheese fondue) and shells and cheese (pasta shells stuffed with pork belly, baked with white American cheese, and topped with bacon-fat corn bread crumble) will be your reward. Just across Central Avenue is a cozy Irish gastropub, the Workman’s Friend. If there’s a wait (this place doesn’t take reservations either), have a drink at either the indoor
or the courtyard bar. I always order a Fine Thing, a concoction with prosecco, lavender honey, and fresh lemon juice served in a coupe. Too frou-frou? Try the Honey Badger, made with Cathead honeysuckle vodka, brown sugar pear preserves, and fresh lemon. The no-frills Comet Grill in an off-the-beaten-path shopping center in historic and high-end Dilworth serves hand-cut, skin-on fries and juicy burgers. (Order the classic with pimento cheese, bacon, and grilled onions.) Expect a party crowd on Fridays when the local kingpins, the Lenny Federal Band, hold court. In charming Elizabeth—home to a free trolley that runs from here to uptown—Customshop is a sexy spot with a continually evolving menu. One staple is the barbecued octopus with warm tomato chorizo vinaigrette. No matter what the house-made ice cream of the day is, get it. South End’s ramen shop, Futo Buta, is the ultimate hidden gem. It’s on the Lynx light rail line and not readily accessible by car, but the shoebox-sized shop is worth seeking out for their bodacious bowls of noodles and selection of sakes.
DRINK No hyperbole here—Charlotte’s craft beer scene is intense. Chris Goulet opened Birdsong Brewing Co. in NoDa, a revitalized former mill village officially known as Charlotte’s arts and entertainment district, in 2011. “There were only two breweries then,” he says. “Now, there are more than twenty in the city proper and more than forty when you include the suburbs. We’re all collegial, but with that many breweries, it’s a competitive scene. That’s good for beer drinkers because everyone has to care about quality. We’re all trying to one-up each other with the next great beer.” Birdsong uses “culinary-inspired recipes” in its brews, Goulet says. “Everything is unfiltered and unpasteurized. Our ingredients are local and sustainable. The jalapeños in our Jalapeño Pale Ale are sourced in Charlotte.”
Left: Charlotte’s craft beer scene is off the charts, with dozens of bars and working breweries offering locally made libations. GoodRoad CiderWorks is the area’s destination for artisanal ciders and meads. Photo courtesy of Visit Charlotte V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 141
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To get a taste of our craft beer culture, book a Brews Cruise. You’ll visit Birdsong, the Olde Mecklenburg Brewery (known as OMB, it has a full restaurant and a biergarten), Heist Brewery (a culinary experience even without the beer), and more. Or take the light rail. When the new line opens (probably by the time you read this), sixteen breweries will be accessible by mass transit. You won’t find craft beer at Plaza Midwood’s Thirsty Beaver Saloon. Instead, you’ll discover PBR in a can, a stellar jukebox, and probably a new friend at the bar. The cinderblock building was previously unassuming. But when developers moved into the area, the owner refused to sell, and now an apartment building engulfs it on three sides. You can’t miss it—it might be the most Instagrammable spot in Charlotte. Nowhere in town is an independent streak more evident than at this honky-tonk holdout.
I suggest you head downstairs to the Cellar, purportedly built as a speakeasy in the early 1900s. Let them mix you a cool cocktail or choose from one of nearly four hundred beers on the menu. The polar opposite of “the Beav” is the swanky Punch Room at uptown’s Ritz Carlton. This is the place to go for craft cocktails. The thirty-seven-seat spot feels like a private club. Wine bars worth your time include Petit Philippe (a tasting room in tree-lined Myers Park that offers handmade chocolates), Corkbuzz (an outpost of the flagship New York restaurant/wine bar), and Dilworth Tasting Room, which has one of the best patios—and cheese and charcuterie boards—in the city. If you’re uptown and pass a sports bar called Duckworth’s, mosey in. Go directly to the bar if you’re there to watch sports, but I suggest you head downstairs to the Cellar, purportedly built as a speakeasy in the early 1900s. Let them mix you a cool cocktail or choose from one of nearly four hundred beers on the menu. The Cellar is dark, mysterious, and just about perfect. 142 | APR IL 2018
LISTEN Speaking of mysterious, there’s a little-known spot (a favorite of mine) in the Blumenthal Performing Arts Center’s basement. The Stage Door Theater hosts intimate concerts, plays, and the monthly Jazz Room series. If you’re in town on a weekend when the Jazz Room is in session, get advance tickets for one of their soulful shows, which tend to sell out. Lonnie and Ocie Davis, husband-and-wife transplants from New Orleans, started the Jazz Room series. They could move to a larger venue and still have sell-out crowds, but they like the intimacy of the black-box space. “The city is really starting to make a name for itself musically,” Lonnie says. “The Charlotte jazz scene is growing quickly, with more and more venues offering live music to our expanding audiences. Charlotte has momentum and is positioning itself to become a true destination for music in the Southeast.”
Left: The Punch Room bar at the Ritz Carlton is a sophisticated alternative for signature cocktails and more. Photo courtesy of Ritz Carlton Opposite: The Punch Room’s ALLCLT Punch includes all local ingredients: Doc Porter’s Gin, lemon, homemade lavender-basil syrup, and Lavenderade—a lemon-lavender kombucha from Lenny Boy Brewing Co. Photo by Justin Driscoll Opposite: Jason Isbell performs at Ovens Auditorium, one of the city’s many venues for world-class concerts and theatrical productions. Photo courtesy of Visit Charlotte
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Voyager unless you count the Bank of America Corporate Center (and some do). Niki de Saint Phalle’s seventeen-foot-tall, mirrored glass Firebird sculpture may just be the city’s defining image. Take a selfie in front of it—everyone does.
SHOP The centerpiece of SouthPark the neighborhood is SouthPark the mall. It’s got Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom, Crate and Barrel and the Container Store, and the place to eat instead of the food court—the popular sushi/burger fusion (“burgushi”) restaurant, The Cowfish.
The Bechtler has given Charlotte what we’ve long craved: a symbol. Philly has the Rocky statue. Saint Louis has the Gateway Arch. Until recently, Charlotte was a city without an icon, unless you count the Bank of America Corporate Center. A couple of blocks away is Capitol, a women’s boutique with price tags that often contain a comma. But that’s to be expected when Gucci, Irene Neuwirth, and Balenciaga are represented. (It’s worth a visit just to see the interior courtyard with its two-story vertical garden designed by French botanist Patrick Blanc.)
Above: The Firebird by artist Niki de Saint Phalle is an iconic photo-op stop in downtown Charlotte. Opposite: Duke Mansion in Myers Park is a beautiful B and B for those seeking a home away from home during their visit. Photos courtesy of Visit Charlotte
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Colorful NoDa is only a couple of blocks long, has more murals per square foot than anywhere in town, and is home to two exceptional live music venues. The Evening Muse is a quiet listening room that brings indie and folk acts (like Stephen Kellogg and Holly Williams) to town and provides local talent with a stage and a mic. The Neighborhood Theatre, a 1945 movie theater turned into a music hall, has hosted acts such as Jason Isbell and Robert Earl Keen.
At Plaza Midwood’s eclectic Boris & Natasha, owner Hope Nicholls is a rock star. (Really. She’s the former lead singer for the Charlotte-based ’90s punk band Fetchin Bones.) I have a show-stopping ring, a fossilized fern frond set in sterling, that has been a conversation starter since I bought it from Nicholls five years ago. One of the lead actresses in Hamilton even stopped me outside the theater in New York to gush: “Tell me about that ring.”
At one end of uptown’s main drag, Tryon Street, is a cluster of cultural institutions, including the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art. The Bechtler has given Charlotte what we’ve long craved: a symbol. Philly has the Rocky statue. Saint Louis has the Gateway Arch. Until recently, Charlotte was a city without an icon,
Head to CLTCH and Moxie Mercantile in Plaza Midwood, Paper Skyscraper in Dilworth, and Ruby’s Gift in NoDa for more fabulous finds, locally made and otherwise.
STAY Home base for your Charlotte weekend will likely be uptown. Two luxury hotels opened in 2017: the sleek Kimpton Tryon Park (check out the rooftop bar) and The Ivey’s, a boutique hotel in a former department store. Don’t let uptown’s buttoned-up daytime persona fool you. It loosens its tie at night. Stumble into any of the bars along Tryon Street and experience the boisterous nightlife that helps attract record numbers of millennials to the city. For something more subdued, try a stay at the stately Duke Mansion, built by tobacco titan James B. Duke. The B and B is in the middle of Myers Park, arguably the city’s most beautiful neighborhood. The grounds are gorgeous and the rooms exquisite. Charlotte excels at tearing down history in the name of progress, but the Duke Mansion is staying put.
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SPORT The can-do city has made the most of its landlocked locale. We even built rapids! The U.S. National Whitewater Center, a 1,300-acre adventure center that’s an official U.S. Olympic Training Site, offers white-water rafting, kayaking, rock climbing, zip lines, mountain biking on a thirty-mile trail system, and, in warmer months, outdoor festivals and concerts. Charlotte is gaga for pro sports. And the city loves (or loathes, depending on who you ask) NASCAR, a sport that brings people, publicity, and moolah to the area. The Charlotte Motor Speedway (technically in Concord, North Carolina) is the site of the annual Coca-Cola 600 (May 27, 2018), an event that (depending on who you ask) you should definitely attend or totally avoid.
It may be our constant striving and overuse of hyperbole that people find endearing. Charlotte’s eager-to-please ethos certainly makes it a hospitable destination for visitors.
Above: In addition to sports venues for the Charlotte Hornets and the Carolina Panthers, the city also boasts Charlotte Motor Speedway, home of the NASCAR CocaCola 600 and other racing events. Top: The U.S. National Whitewater Center is not only a U.S. Olympic Training Site but also a public adventure center offering zip-lining, rafting, hiking, and more. Photos courtesy of Visit Charlotte
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North Carolina’s largest city longs to be one of the elites like Miami, Austin, or Dallas. Alas, we still need “North Carolina” behind our name to distinguish ourselves from Charleston, South Carolina, and Charlottesville, Virginia. No matter. It may be our constant striving and overuse of hyperbole that people find endearing. Charlotte’s eager-to-please ethos certainly makes it a hospitable destination for visitors.
LEARN MORE AND PLAN YOUR TRIP AT CHARLOTTESGOTALOT.COM. Charlotte native Page Leggett is a freelance writer and editor whose work appears regularly in the Charlotte Observer and other local and regional publications. She loves theater, music, movies, art, food, and travel.
UPTOWN CHARLOTTE
& ITS NEARBY NEIGHBORHOODS Uptown: It’s business time. Full-on corporate by day; lights up at night. Dilworth: Prestigious and historic (dates back to the 1890s), but without any trace of an attitude. Good shopping and eating, especially on the main drag, East Boulevard.
Elizabeth: Established in 1907, the historic district has gorgeous old homes, a variety of restos, and a progressive attitude.
NoDa: Short for North Davidson, the main street that leads to and runs through the area officially known as the Arts District. Tattoos, body piercings, and skateboards are welcome in this walkable area. Plaza Midwood: Dates back to the 1920s. Eclectic, easily walkable, trendy, funky shops, lively nightlife.
SouthEnd: The hotness of this ’hood (which has led to a boom in apartment and condo development) may soon run off the galleries, antique shops, and bodegas that have given the formerly industrial area its charm. Heavy concentration of breweries. SouthPark: High-end mall surrounded by high-end restaurants and high-end wine bars.
Models adorned in avantgarde styles by Nicole Paloma Original HandSewn Designs greeted partygoers upon entry to the extravagant tent at Grand Boulevard.
LA LUMIÈRE: A METROPOLITAN AFFAIR Hannah Martin, broker associate for the Premier Property Group in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida, held her fourth annual La Lumière fund-raiser at Grand Boulevard in Miramar Beach on February 10. The exciting evening included entertainment, dinner and drinks, and live and silent auctions with proceeds benefiting the Cultural Arts Alliance of Walton County, Special Olympics Florida – Walton County, and Westonwood Ranch. The annual La Lumière party, which also celebrates Martin’s birthday, has raised over $120,000 to date! Photography by Brenna Kneiss
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Julie Pike and Leslie Moland
Acrobatics by Aerial Dragons Stacy LaFleur
Dawn Hamil modeling a gown by Nicole Paloma
Jessica Fay and Amy Giles
Hannah Martin wearing a custom suit by Any Old Iron
Mr. Big and the Rhythm Sisters perform
Boomtown Burlesque performs
Erin Oden and Suzanne Walters
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SUBSCRIBE TODAY! ONE-YEAR FOR $29.95 V IE M A G A Z INE .C O M / S U B S C R IB E
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Au revoir!
Learn more or book a table at DorchesterCollection.com/Plaza-Athenee. Photo by Pierre Monetta
THE L AST WORD
Rocket Cocktail Shaker, £9,250 Shop now at Asprey.com.
Sometimes a few good drinks might make you see stars, but when you make them in this Rocket Cocktail Shaker from Asprey London, you’ll feel like you’re shooting for the stars instead. The sleek, cheeky design was influenced by the early twentieth century and is cast in hallmarked sterling silver and red enamel. The price tag might seem a bit astronomical, but we’re sure your cocktails will be out of this world! V I E MAGAZ INE . COM | 151
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Born in with an accent. Bourbon Barrel Reserve
pays tribute to American whiskey’s contribution to single malt Scotch and the American oak bourbon barrels that have shaped the flavor of Scotch whisky for generations. It is matured 14 years in bourbon heritage barrels and then finished in new American oak barrels from Kelvin Cooperage in Kentucky.
The resulting whisky combines the smooth, fruit-filled complexity of Speyside with the bold vanilla punch and caramel richness of Kentucky.
U.S. Exclusive
Certified Kosher
SKILLFULLY CRAFTED. ENJOY RESPONSIBLY. GLENFIDDICH.COM
GLENFIDDICH SINGLE MALT SCOTCH WHISKY, 43% ALC./VOL. ©2018 IMPORTED BY WILLIAM GRANT & SONS. NEW YORK, NY.
