Charleston: Husk

We took a cab into Charleston, like responsible adults. We deliberately left early so we would have time to have a drink at the Bar at Husk which is actually a separate structure. The space wasn't huge: the downstairs was just big enough for the bar and its stools, plus the staircase. Upstairs was more spacious with comfy cherry red leather chairs. I got the Blinker which had rye, grapefruit, a squeeze of lemon, and topped with St. Germaine. I think we all agreed my was the best, though Josh got a Negroni, which he liked very much.

The bread they serve is warm, soft, and with a touch of honey. They go fast.

The kitchen started off by gifting us the foie gras, because EJ from Woodfire had been there earlier that day for Kevin Gillespie's bachelor party and mentioned we were coming. It helps to hang out with chefs. The foie was delicious. Dots of a decadent peach puree littered the plate. The wheat waffle went well with the richness of the Tennessee-raised foie. It was delicious. And I forgot to get a picture.

We ate the meal sharing the whole time at a pretty good pace with a maximum of two dishes in the table at one time. Following up the foie were chicken skins, breaded and fried and served wth a hot sauce-honey mixture. To me, thus was the least successful dish we had, though Josh explained to me how it was a play on the way that pork rinds are traditionally served and that the dish was, in fact, genius. Oh well. I found the chicken pieces to be bland, not even that juicy or fatty. And the breaded not needed. The hot sauce's sweetness settled to the bottom of the sauce bowl so it wasn't til the end that we really got the sauce right.

Next up was the chilled sweet corn soup topped with local blue crab, smoked jalapenos, and Texas olive oil. It was delicious. The sweet clean taste of corn has really impressed me all summer. While the crab was good, I didn't think the dish needed it, or else maybe some jumbo lump would have been nicer. (A gecko just ran by me on the deck!)

Along with the soup came the rice middlins', which are the broken pieces of rice that rice plantation owners gave to their workers. Husk makes them into a lush risotto and served them with chanterelles, a slow poached egg, and roasted garlic mushroom broth. This dish was probably my favorite. The complexity flavors of the broth, the richness of the egg, the softness of the rice... A wonderful dish.

When you break open the poached egg and mix it in, it gets into one luxurious, unctuous mess.

From there, we moved on to entrees. The first to arrive was a cornmeal dusted North Carolina catfish that may have changed Josh's life. It was very tasty, the thick filet with the lightest touch of cornmeal and perfect seasoning. Its accompanying Anson Mills tomato grits (tomato water is used as the liquid in the grits) and fried cabbage (skillet fried) were delicious as well.

Next was a confit pork shoulder topped with shaved BBQ, smoky black-eyed peas and butter beans, braised greens, and a sweet pepper jus. The pork shoulder was divine. They smoke it for 36 hours and it ends up tender and unctuous. The shaved BBQ was OK -- there was too much unmelty fat for me. The field peas were wonderful. The collards were good, but a little sweet and with no heat. I like mine better.

It's a dark picture, but I was hoping to capture the tender, unctuous fattiness (fat good!) of the pork shoulder.

Lastly we had the lamb leg terrine with red pepper farro. The terrine is layers of lamb leg meat and pork. When it comes, it tastes good, but you would be hard pressed to know what kind of meat it was. The forcemeat part of it tasted just like mortadella. The farro was okay, but too much red pepper. Not for me.

I remember being not too impressed with this succotash. It tasted too heavily of smoke and pork for my taste. Traditional, I suppose, but I was hoping for something fresher.

The Anson Mills grits with cheddar were wonderful. I'm not one for the crispy tasty crust on top, but this was really super awesome. Nom!

For dessert, among other things,we got a barrel-aged Manhattan. I was definitely expecting something rich and smooth. Instead, it was rather thin both in taste and consistency. I felt like it was all Old Overholt and not balanced.

After that, I needed some coffee. They serve it in cute little individual coffee presses.

We got an oatmeal pie, which kept getting comments as being a chess pie. I dont know what a chess pie is, but it reminded me of a pecan pie without the pecans.

We also got a buttersotch pudding which was more of a custard and made with Dewars. Definitely tasty.

All in all, a fine meal. We caught a cab back home.