Love Letter to John Mariani

Although I am extremely pleased that my adopted hometown of Greenville, SC has gotten some well deserved culinary press from John Mariani of Esquire magazine, he has failed epically by not mentioning some of the other restaurants in town that make the culinary scene here truly great.  These are the restaurants that prevent me from dying of boredom every time I think of going out to dinner, even if it means that I have to drive twenty minutes away from downtown to get a great meal.  I don’t want to cry foul play, as I’m sure he had a limited time to visit all of these restaurants, but there are definitely others worth mentioning if Greenville is getting national press, which it has.  Some even more deserving than others mentioned in the article. 

Greenville is a great place to be.  We have all the international businesses Mariani mentioned like BMW, Michelin, and General Electric.  All of which aided our local economy during the Great Recession.  We endured a little less pain than some of our other friends from around the state because of them.  The only other exception of this barely felt recession of course would be Charleston, which is always able to rely on its old Southern charm, and the constant national press it receives to keep it as one of the most beloved cities in the country for travelers.  It’s well deserved I might add, but that’s for another time.  Since I have lived in this town for almost six years now, I consider myself very well experienced when it comes to dining out here.  I have been an active part of the food community during my wine career and have seen most of these restaurants start from the ground up, growing and changing into what they are today.  I have my favorites, just as everyone else, so this is my opinion.  BUT, I am consumed by giving credit where credit is due and upon doing a bit more research, Mr. Mariani would have found some of these other gems as well. 

American Grocery Restaurant-Opened in 2007 by husband and wife team Joe Clarke and Darlene Mann-Clarke in the West End of Greenville, AGR focuses on seasonal American cuisine.  With Joe leading the kitchen and Darlene leading the floor and beverage program, they were one of the first restaurants to really focus on “farm to table” eating in town and their menus show it.  Touting one of the best cocktail menus in Greenville, a small well thought out wine list with small producers, and an ever-changing food menu with influences ranging from Spanish cuisine to the great American South.  Darlene’s cocktail creations change almost as often as the food menu, but the “Pig on the Porch” made with house-infused bacon bourbon, Bleinheim’s “Not So Hot” ginger ale, garnished with a pork rind stays on the cocktail menu year round.  The pig is king at American Grocery but offal has become one of the stars here also.  Favorites that can be seen on their menu from time to time include cured lamb belly, fried chicken livers with chow chow, different setups of sweetbreads and Joe’s now signature beef tongue.  Joe braises the beef tongue for hours until tender, then pulls the tongue apart almost as if it were pulled pork, forms it into little puck-sized cakes and then sears them on each side. My mother, who is often less adventurous in the food department, loved the beef tongue.  Together with lots of collaboration and experimentation Joe and Darlene are consistently pushing the envelope and have developed a very loud culinary voice in the process.  A voice that has been recognized by both Garden and Gun and Saveur magazines, and it’s one that deserves more local attention as well as national attention. 

Stella’s Southern Bistro-Opened in 2008 in the chain-driven town of Simpsonville by husband and wife team Jason and Julia Scholz, both formerly of the Maverick Southern Kitchens group in Charleston and Greenville, they too are using local artisans and purveyors presenting classic Lowcountry flair and high end Southern cuisine.  With Julia running the front of the house and Jason manning the back, this restaurant is one of the best in the Upstate.  Fine examples of the menu include the ever-popular classics such as shrimp and grits, crab cakes with Savannah red rice grit pirlau, fried green tomatoes and chow chow.  Other fine Southern selections include menu items like the giant Eden Farms pork chop with bourbon smoked peppercorns, barbecue greens, and Adluh Mills cheese grits.  They always have fantastic appetizer and entrée features for the evening, which often have fresh fish and usually some decadent pork or beef, in addition to the menu mainstays.  This is where Chef Scholz really gets to play.  For instance my first taste of beef deckle, an often forgotten and often underused cut of meat, was on a menu feature at Stella’s.  A bite of the deckle, with its tongue melting fat marbled throughout gave me one of those pure dopamine inducing culinary moments that I live for. At High Cotton Chef Scholz gained recognition from such publications as Bon Appétit, Southern Living, and the New York Times to name just a few.  We are proud to have them representing the restaurant community.  They are consistently turning out meals worthy of press here at Stella’s, especially worthy of Esquire’s attention.

Takosushi-Opened in 2007 by another husband and wife team on what could be considered downtown’s “Sushi Row” on Main Street, Shelby Stone and Linda Mayes from New Mexico partner with Kevin Goldsmith in this fusion restaurant.  It’s not typical to find both sushi and Southwestern items on the same menu, but you do at Takosushi.  This concept always has people scratching their heads before they eat here, but it works.  I don’t usually dine on sushi here in town, so I wouldn’t be the best candidate to speak on that subject, but I have eaten most everything on the Southwest side of the menu.  As for the sushi, many people come only for the sushi and not for the Southwestern items. Favorites of mine include: posole, a comforting concoction of red chile, pork, hominy served with all the fixings you could want; the gut busting chile rellenos; carne adovada anything; and the fried fish tacos with spicy Sriracha bok choy slaw.  If you really want to do it as a true New Mexican would, get your burrito with “Christmas” sauce, a delicious mix of their green and red chile sauces, which are made with Hatch chiles coming from none other than New Mexico.  This restaurant has become a Greenville favorite for many reasons.  

Coal Fired Bistro-Located off the lonelier side of Pelham Road, this restaurant originally opened in 2007.  Now under the powerhouse duo of Jason Callaway and Chef Anthony Gray (formerly of this past season of Top Chef), this restaurant has taken shape into what it should have been all along.  With their own farm now being cultivated, the two plan on using their produce for Coal Fired as well as their new venture Bacon Brothers Public House, slated to open by the end of this month.  I’ve always felt that the food at Coal Fired was substandard before Chef Gray took over the kitchen, but I will now gladly make this part of my dining out repertoire.  On a recent dining experience, my husband I enjoyed one of the best butcher plates I’ve had in recent memory.  The board had the beautiful artisanal raw milk cheeses of Thomasville, Georgia’s Sweet Grass Dairy as well as a dizzying array of house made charcuterie.  The cheeses featured were Camembert-style Green Hill, Asher Blue, Thomasville Tomme, and spicy house made salami Calabrese, Brasiola, pork county pate with pistachios, sour cherries, and veal sweetbreads, pork rilletes, and duck liver mousse with accompaniments of fig jam, gherkins, and local honey, all of which totally rocked my world.  House made pastas such as squid ink tagliatelle with shrimp and sauce puttanesca and gnocchi with lamb meatballs, olives, and “lambcetta”—a play on the delectable Italian bacon made from lamb belly instead of pork belly.  Chef Gray has an ambitious plan for both restaurants and it’s really exciting to see where else these two will go. 

The Owl-This new kid on the block just celebrated it’s first year anniversary of being in business and boy are we glad to have them.  Instead of just another Southern restaurant these guys and gals are serving up contemporary American cuisine in an old Pizza Hut located just minutes away from downtown along the wasteland of strip malls on Wade Hampton Boulevard, and just before the infamous Bob Jones University.  This restaurant crept onto the restaurant scene waving their culinary middle finger in the air.  In fact, just this week they hosted a food truck rally in peaceful protest to the latest ridiculous ruling that food trucks have to be 250 feet away from a brick and mortar restaurant as well as on private property, making it nearly impossible for these trucks to park anywhere.  The Owl, which is run by another husband and wife team Aaron and Justi Manter, offers an abbreviated yet very affordable global food menu, a well-priced wine list, and Portland-style cocktails.  Changing the menu almost weekly, the Owl goes a little way down the molecular gastronomy road without veering off course.  I loved the deconstructed Cuban sandwich they did with pickled onions, gherkins, pork rilletes, grilled bread, and a melty mix of mayonnaise and Swiss cheese, and a brush of whole grain mustard. They are rebellious and daring at the Owl and that’s why we like them. 

High Cotton-The New Southern restaurant opened in the spring of 2007 by Maverick Southern Kitchens, the folks who brought us the Charleston restaurant of the same name.  Located in the heart of downtown just across from Falls Park, High Cotton is one of the most expansive and impressive restaurants in town boasting an outstanding view of the Reedy River.  With both Chef Jason Scholz and Chef Anthony Gray as alums, the kitchen is now under the helm of Chef Greg McPhee, formerly of the nationally adored restaurant Husk in Charleston, SC.  On a recent night out, I was able to sample some of the new menu items. Standouts included the oyster gratin, a take on the Oysters Rockefeller with Benton’s bacon, onion confit, creamed spinach and smoked hollandaise—surprisingly light for a dish that can be so heavy.  Other selections the group enjoyed were the butcher’s plate with a boiled peanut country pate, roasted brussel sprouts and cauliflower, and seared scallops with pea risotto and a small spring salad.  We are glad to have Chef McPhee and have full confidence that he will find his own culinary footing here in Greenville.

The biggest thing in all of this for me is that I believe in what these restaurants are doing here.  I also agree that we can be the culinary juggernaut that our Coastal sister has become.  I challenge and strongly encourage Mr. Mariani to come back and give these restaurants a try, and he will see what else our little town has to offer—even if it means venturing away from Main Street.