Hominy Grill revisited - Charleston

[Low Country Jon]

It had been about four years since my last visit to Hominy Grill. Like many locals, I had written the place off as overrated--not bad, but not worth the wait in line at peak lunch or brunch hours (they only accept dinner reservations).

Somewhere along the line, I think Hominy Grill changed. Or maybe I did. Or maybe both. Having explored the length, width, and breadth of the Charleston restaurant scene, I began to long for a place that explored the Lowcountry's unique culinary heritage beyond just your standard dishes of shrimp and grits and she crab soup. Where were the modern versions of the area's storied rice dishes, curries, tea punches, and chutneys? A quick scan through the antebellum cookbook "The Carolina Housewife" reveals just what a rich culinary heritiage is largely being ignored in the area's current restaurant scene.

The restaurant of my dreams, one that intensively mines this rich heritage using both creativity and exclusively local ingredients, doesn't exist yet and may never, but the current menu at the Hominy Grill certainly represents several steps in the right direction. In addition to the ever-present shrimp and grits and she crab soup, you'll find Lowcountry purloo and Country Captain. The specials menu the night of our visit also offered up chicken bog, shad roe and grits, and several local fish offerings including triggerfish, flounder, and snapper.

I had the she crab soup, the Country Captain (perhaps southern cuisine's most exotic dish--an Indian-inspired tomato curry chicken dish with almonds and raisins/currants dating back to the south's colonial sea trade), and the old school buttermilk pie. My wife had the soup special--curried squash and buttermilk; the benne crusted catfish with Geechee peanut sauce, okra, and fried grits; and the chocolate pudding. The peanut sauce seemed to be an homage to similar sauces popular in West African cuisine. I'm not sure if this is an actual recipe popular in Gullah-Geechee culture or a creative nod to the West African influence on this culture, and I wasn't able to get an answer as Chef Stehling had the night off. In any event, I liked it. In fact, everything was good, not perfect, but very good. If I had a complaint, it would be that there almost seemed to be too delicate a hand used on some of the dishes--I wanted the peanuts in the peanut sauce to pop more, the currants in the Country Captain sauce to explode with sweetness, the she crab soup to have a tiny bit more sherry bite. All these dishes were good, they just seemed like they could have stood to be kicked up a notch, to borrow one of Emeril's overused phrases. Anyway, it was a Monday night with the head chef absent and the end result was still very good. I also except the buttermilk pie from the kick-it-up-a-notch assessment--it was perfect, with the taste of a good lemon merringe pie and the texture of . . . I don't know what -- brownie, bread pudding, chess pie, something in-between? I can't quite put my finger on it, but it's terrific.

I give Hominy Grill a lot of credit for drilling down into the Lowcountry's historic foodways about two levels further than almost any other restaurant I can name (Virginia's on King is a quasi-exception despite its "corporate" feel) and using a lot of local ingredients in the process (I do wish they would use Carolina Gold rice rather than jasmine though). I definitely anticipate more visits in the near future. I had a hard time passing up the chicken bog and the shad roe was calling my name, too, as was the purloo.

Looking for a place downtown still frequented by locals? Looking for a place that actually explores the rich culinary heritiage of the Lowcountry? Despite the hype, Hominy Grill is the place. I'm glad we decided to give it another chance.

[mikeh]

We'll be in Charleston for the food festival this week and were thinking about lunch at Carolina's or Woodlands this Friday, but your post about Hominy Grill got me thinking. So...I've lived in the South practically all my life and have had my share of good home-style "meat and three" places (topped off by the amazing family style Mrs. Wilkes in Savannah). Do you think Hominy Grill would be worth a visit instead - would it add anything to my experiential dialogue or would it be a waste of a precious meal in Charleston given my upbringing in "these parts"?

[Low Country Jon]

To the extent that you can sample hard-to-find dishes like Country Captain, purloo, chicken bog, and shad roe, I think it's worth it. Granted, chicken bog is probably not so hard to find about 50 miles north of here, but there are just not a lot of Charleston restaurants that are this old school. Beyond this, their focus on local seafood is pretty impressive, especially this time of year. Homingy Grill is definitely several steps beyond your average meat-and-three. Be warned though, they only serve their brunch menu Saturday and Sunday, and the options then are much more limited.

Unrelated, but if you have a gap in your dinner schedule during your visit, you may want to consider the 100-mile menu option at Fish, a special they are running only during the festival. Here's a link where you can check out the menu: http://www.lowcountrylocalfirst.org/c...

[mikeh]

We were thinking of The Wreck for Friday dinner since we enjoyed it so much last year, but we definitely love the "support local" thing whenever possible. Some say the Asian influence at Fish is a bit heavy handed - do you have any opinions generally about that?

[Low Country Jon]

I've actually enjoyed the Asian spin Fish puts on many of their dishes. Their take on dim sum is especially good. At any rate, the 100 mile menu doesn't appear to have an Asian spin to it.