Charlestonians love their meat, almost as much as they love their locally grown greens. This weekend, we salute you, oh meat lovers of the Holy City, with a round-up of all things turf, with a dash of surf and some veggies on the side.
For meat eaters at Tristan, Chef Nathan Whiting says the chocolate lamb ribs appetizer is a regular favorite. The lamb is hickory smoked for 10 hours and then drizzled with dark chocolate barbecue, chocolate chili barbecue, or chocolate barbecue sauce with pomegranate. Another favorite is the lamb in two preparations: loin and shoulder served with piquillo pepper and eggplant caponata.
Over at Coast, Chef David Pell is serving a grilled swordfish special with Spanish red rice, asparagus, saffron, and garlic roasted aioli. For the non-seafood lovers, Pell has a twelve-ounce ribeye steak that comes with okra and French fries.
Always a very special item is EVO Pizzeria’s Pork Trifecta, the ultimate meat lovers’ pizza with its own merch. The pizza is loaded up with house-smoked sausage, pepperoni, and bacon. If meat’s not your thing, a special pizza tonight comes topped with fresh and local broccoli sprouts and squash blossoms. It’s topped with walnut pesto, taleggio cheese, spring onions, house-made mozzarella, and parmigiano-reggiano. And for dessert, they’re serving bacon popsicles. It’s vanilla bean ice cream covered in dark chocolate and sprinkled with candied bacon. Oh. Yes.
At Monza, Chef Kevin Johnson is serving the last of the soft shell crabs, which are thrown into their wood-fired oven. They serve the dish with garlic, capers, cabbage, and butter. They’re also serving a squash blossom pizza with goat cheese, zucchini, and glazed onion sprouts.
Johnson wanted us to pass along some exciting news. Rev Foods (Monza, Closed for Business, and Taco Boy) is now curing its own bacon from pork supplied by Keegan-Filion Farms. A nice development for bacon lovers everywhere. Now get out there and eat up. Love Best of Charleston? Help the Charleston City Paper keep Best of Charleston going every year with a donation. Or sign up to become a member of the Charleston City Paper club.