If New York is the city that never sleeps, Charleston is the city that never not eats. How do I know? Because I had a baby. (Stay with me.) Over the past two months while I was out on maternity leave — miss me? — nine* new restaurants opened. Nine. Seriously, Holy Cityzens, take a breath. That pulled pork plate isn’t going anywhere. 

Of course, those were just the openings. In the course of my eight weeks out, at least seven new restaurants/mobile food concepts were announced. And this is to say nothing of the chef swaps, location shifts, and menu updates I’m finding in my inbox.

So, shall we thaw out some of those food news leftovers? First up, coffee. 

Former Starbucks baristas Sheri Johnson and Mike Berndt have ditched the split-tailed mermaid chain for their own java shop on wheels — Espresso-A-Go-Go. Calling themselves Sassyass Coffee, Johnson and Berndt plan to bring the caffeine to you, setting up their cart much like the Italian ice stands around town.

Johnson sent us an image of the as-yet-incomplete Espresso-A-Go-Go cart. He says, “You have to imagine an espresso machine, grinders, and two umbrellas in either end, as well as all the proper coffee shop bits and pieces like cups, sugars, etc. You also have to imagine two ridiculous baristas laughing and making impeccable drinks, because both of those things happen all day long.”

The baristas hope to hit the open road by mid-August. 

In chef-swap news, we hear Ms. Rose’s has a new exec and sous. Joe Wolfson has been hired as the new executive chef and Charles Walton takes over as his sous chef. Wolfson will be familiar to Smoke food truck fans. Prior to taking over the chef position at Ms. Rose’s, he owned the truck with Roland Feldman, who just opened Smoke BBQ on King Street. 

“I spent the last year and a half of my life working in my food truck, so right now I am just really excited to be back in a proper kitchen and have an outlet to express myself creatively,” Wolfson says in a press release from the restaurant.

Finally, in the best bit of vaguely-connected-to-food-news story of the week, Coolio is coming to The Alley. Yes, you read that right. On Fri. Sept 25, the grammy-award winner and author of my favorite cookbook, Cookin’ with Coolio, will perform. You’ll be able to bowl, eat a jalapeño cheddar dog, and listen to “Fantastic Voyage” all at once. If that’s not a gangsta’s paradise, we don’t know what is. 

Tickets to the concert are $25 and may be purchased at alleytickets.com. Doors open at 8 p.m., concert starts at 9 p.m.

*The nine restaurants include: Stereo 8, Chick’s Fry House, Screen Door, Smoke BBQ, Ruth’s Chris Steak House, Heritage, Accent on Wine, Republic Ice Cream, and Breizh Pan Crepes

Help keep the City Paper free.

No paywalls.
No newspaper subscription cost.
Free delivery at 800 locations from downtown to North Charleston to Johns Island to Summerville to Mount Pleasant.

Help support independent journalism by donating today.