If you’re a fan of James Beard Award nominated Chef Sean Brock’s innovative cooking, you won’t want to miss his online podcast interview with the folks from The Recipe Box tomorrow, September 10th at 8PM.

You can listen to the live, 1 hour interview on their podcast page here. The call in number for this show on Wednesday is (646) 378-1299. The Recipe Box will also be blogging about the interview itself here.

Sean Brock is the Executive Chef at McCrady’s Restaurant in Charleston, SC.

He also is the creator of a fascinating blog that chronicles his culinary experiences taking food from his Wadmalaw, SC farm to the table, as well as his work and experiments in molecular gastronomy on his site, Ping Island Strike.

In the meantime, here’s a few articles about and interviews with Sean Brock you might enjoy:

Here’s a slideshow which features McCrady’s Restaurant:

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

(Photo Credits: Chef Sean Brock of Ping Island Strike)

If you enjoyed this blog post about Southern food chef, Sean Brock, you might also enjoy this post: 8 Recipes from a James Beard Award Winner: Charleston, SC’s Robert Stehling.

With the recent news that restaurant chains Bennigans and Steak and Ale are declaring bankruptcy, a possible silver lining is starting to emerge from the dark clouds of the American casual dining scene; the rise of the local restaurant.

One surprising indicator of this potential trend is that local neighborhood restaurants overshadowed their often flashier, more famous counterparts at this year’s James Beard Awards.

Of course, Steak and Ale and Bennigans aren’t the only restaurant chains feeling the economic pinch.

The Cheesecake Factory recently posted disappointing quarterly earnings. Old Country Buffet, Baker’s Square, and Village Inn are other chain casualties of the downturn.

One of the main reasons cited for the Bennigans bankruptcy was that many customers perceived the chain as being generic with outdated menu offerings.

Bill Marvin, author of Restaurant Basics which looks at restaurants from the diners’ point of view described the chain as being, “…just one more place to eat.” according to this Newsweek article.

As Marvin says, “The thing that’s been missing in the hospitality business is hospitality.” His prescriptive for restaurants in this economy is to “provide a heartfelt experience…it’s about being a real honest place for hospitality, where people really care and you feel well served.”

Luckily, with an emphasis on personal service and their non-cookie cutter menu items, many good local restaurants are uniquely poised to take advantage of this post-Bennigans opportunity.

Often, smaller restaurants are much more open to using fresh, local ingredients that showcase regionally inspired flavors than their big chain counterparts. As a result, they are more likely to attract the kind of skilled chefs who have the talent to make the most of the advantages that come with being small but flexible.

Also, since they’re usually owned and managed by people from the areas they serve, local restaurants can more accurately gauge and predict their diners’ evolving tastes.

Local restaurants also increase the demand for area jobs and services that keep revenue circulating within the communities they serve, unlike revenues from many national restaurant chains, where much of the money often ends up going out of state to their distant corporate headquarters and bulk suppliers.

Best of all, every time diners eat such regional dishes as Charleston, SC’s shrimp and grits, Pennsylvania Dutch shoofly pie, and New Orleans crawfish etouffee they are in effect both celebrating and casting a vote for the vibrancy of regional American cuisine and the local restaurants that serve it.

Imagine yourself enjoying the myriad sensual pleasures of a truly stellar meal: the bold, imaginative dishes, each ingeniously presented, their flavors expertly intertwined…the visually captivating interior…the expert wine pairings…the attentive and sincere service…

So, where did you imagine yourself? Orangeburg, South Carolina, by any chance? I thought not.

But by the time you get done reading this, you will.

Like most, I was somewhat surprised to hear that a fine dining restaurant had opened in Orangeburg. Charleston’s substantial sphere of culinary influence notwithstanding, “O-burg” is pretty much off the expected path for gourmet experiences.

But even though the city is dismissed by some as “troubled” or past its prime, Orangeburg has much to recommend it: beautiful parks and gardens, interesting, varied architecture and neighborhoods, unique little shops, good barbecue, and a location on the highway between the state capitol and Charleston and not far from Interstate 95.

More importantly, it has residents who believe in its future, who want better for it, and are willing to put their money where their mouth is. One of those residents, Buck Ridge Plantation founder Michael Tourville, has brought together a group of experienced and highly talented professionals to create this world-class restaurant.

Judging by the look and feel of Four Moons, it seems that no detail was left to chance. From the moment you enter through the imposing wood & mirror doors, everything changes. Everything outside - heat, noise, and hurry - is traded for its mirror image within: a cool, restorative stillness and the whispers of falling water. The imaginative interior, designed in collaboration with architect Dan Sweeney of Stumphouse Design, is visually delightful yet relaxing - celestial, and almost dreamlike.

The restaurant manager and sommelier, Ryan Groeschel (formerly the general manager of Charleston’s famed Peninsula Grill) has trained and inspired his service staff to excellence, and has carefully built a firm, 500 label / 2400 bottle foundation for the confluence of fine wines and the visionary, whimsical, and sure-handed creations coming out of the kitchen of award-winning chefs Charles & Colleen Zeran.

After being welcomed by Mr. Groeschel, my dining companion and I were seated almost directly under one of the visual set-pieces of the room: a lambent red orb, looking like a dwarf star, set into a luminescent blue parabola. To my right, round ‘moon’ windows cast light onto the booths against the far wall, each separated by a glittery mesh curtain. At either end, circular banquettes with George Nelson-inspired chandeliers are swathed in an impression of Mombasa netting, an echo of Victorian elegance in this very modern interior.

The glass walled wine room to my left gave us all the encouragement we needed, and as an opening shot across our palates my dining companion and I chose crisp whites: for her, a tall, cool, and lightly effervescent Blanquette de Limoux and for me a Ca’ del Sarto Pinot Grigio.

I often find that whites are served too cold; they might be refreshing when nearly frosty, but so is Gatorade. Both of these wines arrived quickly and at the correct temperature to both refresh and to allow their nuances to emerge, no doubt the result of the sommelier’s careful attention. These were soon followed by an amuse consisting of one perfect wine-chilled shrimp on peppercress greens dappled with a tart and lively blackberry horseradish dressing. A nice way to energize the tastebuds for the meal to come.

Now about the food…

Often there are times when I read a restaurant menu and struggle to find something that sounds appealing enough to try. And then there are times such as this when a menu causes a very particular combination of anxiety/pain/despair from being forced to make choices when what I really want to do is eat every single thing on the menu because every single thing sounds unmissable. Tellingly, it took me almost 20 minutes of anguished, brow-furrowing deliberation just to order an appetizer.

In my defense, I should mention that there are four sections of appetizers on the Four Moons menu: Raw Bites (including a Lamb Carpaccio featuring capers and Point Reyes blue cheese ice cream); “Martinis” (including Chef Charles Zeran’s version of Shrimp & Grits, with Goat Cheese Roasted Garlic Polenta and Chipotle Mango Barbecue Sauce); Greens, Etc. (Including a Grilled Mississippi Quail with Baby Tatsoi Greens & Maple Scented Israeli Couscous); and Trios, which includes a dish called “Duck, Duck, Duck….Duck” that I can’t even describe here, as it causes me too much pain from wishing I’d ordered it, too. (Read the menu and you’ll understand.)

Our patient and well-informed server, Jason, was trying to be helpful, but his rhapsodic descriptions were only making things harder. In the end, I had to choose one of the “Martinis”, whimsically titled “Macaroni and Cheese”, that did indeed come in a martini glass and contained huge chunks of tender butter-poached lobster over sinfully creamy roasted garlic mascarpone orzo with a generous dollop of hackleback caviar on top. The dish was speckled with fresh chive and finished with a white truffle oil so gloriously fragrant that it perfumed the air like the world’s most expensive incense. Unless your grandmother was a witty and very talented avant garde chef, this was not, repeat, not your grandmother’s macaroni and cheese.

My companion chose the delicious and beautifully presented Beef Tataki from the Raw Bites section. It consisted of thinly sliced and exceedingly tender beef tenderloin wrapped around a tasty wakame seaweed salad and dressed with shichimi pepper, lime juice, and cilantro. The wavy white plate also cradled pickled ginger and a creme fraiche-like wasabi foam so luscious you could almost eat it for dessert.

The “Mains” section wasn’t any easier, with such choices as “Biscuits and Gravy” (Butter-poached lobster and pan seared sea scallops, sweet corn and asparagus maque choux in a lobster custard “gravy” served over a coconut lime biscuit) and a “Napoleon” of smoked paprika-rubbed beef filet, beef short rib, and masa cornbread (with red beans, pozole, tomatillo salsa, and a mole-scented beef jus), among other temptations.

After more painful deliberation, I chose the Australian lamb rack because I love lamb and I’m happy to see it coming into its own again on restaurant menus. These flavorful ribs were perfectly seasoned and well seared, while retaining the proper degree of pink tenderness within. The lamb was served with slow-roasted purple potatoes (delicately touched with horseradish so that the flavor of the potatoes remained primary), a delightful blue cheese mousse that perfectly complemented the lamb, and a silky spinach flan that ended in a pleasantly surprising spicy upnote. The plate was dotted with a raspberry apple ketchup that I would like to have a big squeeze bottle of in my refrigerator.

The Cabernet Sauvignon I paired with the lamb was big, bold, and very good - but to my taste just a little too aggressive for the finely balanced flavors of the lamb and its accompaniments.

My companion’s selection, the jaw-droppingly wonderful jumbo lump crab cakes, made me seriously rethink my habit of automatically disqualifying crab cakes as a menu choice, not because I dislike them (I love good crab cakes), but because there’s often nothing new to be experienced from the way they’re prepared at most fine restaurants. Not so here. These were an exquisite and almost quintessential expression of crab.

(I must take a moment here to express a former crab-related ambivalence: In researching the book I’m currently writing, I spent a lot of time on commercial crabbing boats unloading traps and sorting crabs. In the process, I came to respect ol’ Callinectes Sapidus, and even felt a bit sorry that these beautiful and interesting creatures had to give their lives by the bushel so that we could have our crab-based meals. Well, I’m sorry to say this, but them’s the breaks, fellas: if these crab cakes are the result, then into the pot you go!)

The accompanying passion fruit tartar sauce was a revelation, a sweetly mysterious fruit element that notched right into the salty sweetness of the crabmeat. The crabcakes were plated with a delicate and crispy tangle of yam “straw” and a finely balanced spicy vanilla yam puree. My companion’s knowledge of wine is considerable, and her choice for this dish, the 2007 Heron Chardonnay, was so spot-on that it should easily win her a place in the Wine Pairing Hall of Fame.

Dessert was the only (relatively) easy choice of the evening. We discovered that in our silent struggle, we were each trying to choose between the “RC Cola and a Moon Pie”
(Dark Chocolate Cake Layered with Graham Cracker and a Banana Marshmallow Mascarpone Cream, covered in Chocolate Ganache, and served with a miniature RC Cola Ice Cream Float) and “A Study in Peach” (Warm Peach Financier Cake with Peach Chutney, Peach Pizza with Oatmeal Cookie Crust, Peach Ice Cream and Blueberry Mint Toppings, Five Spice Peach Wonton, Chilled Peach Soup Shooter.) No problem there - one of each and some equitable sharing and we both had our “Moon Pie” and ate it, too.

As promised, The “Study…” was Pastry Chef Colleen Zeran’s thoughtful, fully-realized expression of the many aspects of the fruit. Each could stand alone, yet their proximities of flavor created something more, a symbiosis of textures and bright & dark spicings that revealed the familiar peach in unexpected ways. (If I had to pick just one part to have again, it would have to be the anise-scented Five Spice peach wontons . . . or the schnapps-spiked peach soup shooter…or …oh, never mind.)

The “RC Cola and a Moon Pie” was as much fun as promised: the super-sophisticated “pie” was appropriately rich and chocolatey, but also nicely textural in a way that all Moon Pies ought to be (but sadly never will unless the company starts using ganache and marscapone.) The scaled-down version of the classic RC cola float was just the right balance of creamy and fizzy. Very cool and very, very Southern.

After dessert, a simple and expertly prepared espresso was the coda that allowed us to linger just a bit longer in the afterglow of the meal and reflect on the experience. From the first moment, the entire service staff had displayed a high degree of competence and polish for a brand-new restaurant (or even an established one, for that matter.) The kitchen had shown dazzling skills and delightful creativity. And the environment was an absolute pleasure to be in.

Were there disappointments? Yes, HUGE disappointments: we were disappointed that the meal was over; disappointed that we couldn’t eat every dish on the menu; disappointed that we had to leave - and very disappointed that Orangeburg isn’t just a little bit closer to Charleston.

After we exited through those same mirrored doors, my companion and I were both struck by a peculiar sense of displacement that neither of us could identify. It wasn’t until the next day that I put my finger on it: while inside, we’d forgotten where we were, and subconsciously expected to walk out into the streets of a ‘food’ city like New Orleans or Charleston or San Francisco.

Still, with this year’s James Beard Awards, the field of play is expanding: creative chefs and cutting-edge restaurants in ’second cities’ and out-of-the-way places are receiving the acclaim they deserve. With nine DiRoNA Awards already under his belt from his previous kitchens, Chef Charles Zeran, along with the talented team at Four Moons will very likely make Orangeburg, SC a prominent new pin on the culinary map.

FYI: Take a right instead of a left after you enter Four Moons and you’ll find yourself in the Phases Moon Bar which has, hands down, the most appetite-arousing bar menu I’ve ever seen (how does ‘Truffle Fries with Parmigiano Reggiano Garlic Aoili for Dipping’ sound to you?) They also have an event/meeting room, a very well stocked wine & gourmet foods shop (don’t make the same mistake I made: buy at least two large jars of the amazing Lowcountry Pickled Garlic while you’re there), and a wine club with monthly events held at both the restaurant and at Buck Ridge Plantation.

Four Moons Restaurant
1145 Orangeburg Mall Circle
Orangeburg, SC 29115
Phone: 803.531.1984
Fax: 803.531.1985

Restaurant Hours: Dinner only - Tuesday through Saturday - 5:30 P.M. to 10:00 P.M.

Phases Moon Bar Hours: Drinks from 4:00 P.M. to 2:00 A.M; menu starting at 5:30 P.M.

Gourmet Shop Hours: Monday-Saturday 10am - 7pm

Directions to Four Moons can be found here.

Also, please join us tomorrow to find out what it’s like on the other side of the kitchen door in our interview with Chef Charles Zeran of Four Moons.

Chef Zeran will also be sharing his recipe for Day Boat Scallops With Sweet Spicy Chili Vinaigrette, Hot and Sour Pickled Mango, and Tobikko Ice.

You might also want to enjoy some of our Book Excerpts and Food Writing.

In a recently published article by the San Francisco Chronicle, executive food and wine editor Michael Bauer points out that many of the winning chefs of the 2008 James Beard Awards came from smaller neighborhood restaurants and modest cafes instead of the more famous, brand name restaurants of previous years.

As the article says…

“In New York, David Chang of the modest Momofuku and Momofuku Ssam Bar beat out competition from high-profile places such as the Modern and Gramercy Tavern.”

Anthony Bourdain is a huge fan of Momofuku Ssam Bar. As he says in an interview with Fodors:

I don’t think it’s possible to overpraise Momofuku Ssäm Bar. I think it’s one of the few cases where a place totally lives up to the hype. It’s that exciting. Call ahead and go for the Bo Ssäm, the whole pork butt. They also have a frisée salad with a spicy tripe stew underneath that’s just mind-blowing. That’s one of those places where you just go and eat as much as you can.

“Robert Stehling of the Hominy Grill in Charleston, S.C., won for his cafe that gives a gentle modern twist to Southern foods.”

(If you’d like to learn more about his win, as well as enjoy a recipe roundup featuring eight of his recipes, we recently blogged about it here.) You can also enjoy more of Stehling’s recipes here.

“Michelle Bernstein of Michy’s in Miami said in her acceptance speech that she was especially gratified for the win because her restaurant is located in a part of city better known for prostitutes than for dining.”

Alas, Michy’s doesn’t have a website, but there’s a great thread about it on eGullet here.

“Holly Smith of Cafe Juanita in Kirkland, Wash., won for her personal take on Northern Italian food in a suburb about 16 miles from Seattle.”

The Robb Report named Cafe Juanita one of the Best 57 Fine Dining Destination Restaurants in the USA.

What does it all mean? As Michael Bauer posits, “What all this says to me is that as a dining nation we’re growing up. Winning doesn’t necessarily mean glitzy surroundings, high-profile names and chic locations; it’s about how the people behind the stove translate their passion to diners.”

If Bauer’s right, that can only be good news for smaller local restaurants in second-tier cities like Charleston who choose to focus on the quality of their ingredients and the innovation of their menus instead of the finer points of their decor which are supposed to quietly complement rather than overshadow the dining experience itself.

Good news indeed.

The winners of the 2008 James Beard Awards have been announced. (You can see a full list of all the winners here.)

Because of the area’s bumper crop of great chefs, fine dining, and fresh ingredients, local congratulations go to Robert Stehling of Hominy Grill in Charleston, SC who has won in the Best Chef: Southeast category.

(You can see our list of all the JBA nominees here.)

Here’s eight of Stehling’s recipes in case you want to experience a taste of Lowcountry inspired goodness in your home kitchen:

• Robert Stehling’s Buttermilk Pie from The New York Times (also an exploration of the recipe from The Wednesday Chef)

• Robert Stehling’s Shrimp and Grits from Discover South Carolina

• Bacon-Roasted Turkey with Sweet-Onion Gravy from Food & Wine

• Grilled Portobello Mushroom and Barley Salad W/ Basil Puree from Big Oven

• Citrus-Pickled Shrimp from Food & Wine

• Robert Stehling’s Spinach Potato Cakes with Roasted Tomato Sauce from Cookie

• Shrimp Burgers from My Recipes.Com

• Avocado and Wehani Rice Salad from Astray Recipes

If you’d like to learn more about Charleston’s Hominy Grill and see the chef in action, click here to watch a brief clip from the Food Network.

The folks at Amazon.com have put together a complete list of all the cookbooks nominated for this year’s James Beard Cookbook Awards.

(Last year, Charleston natives Matt and Ted Lee were awarded Cookbook of the Year for The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook.)

Many fans of Southern cuisine will be happy to hear that James Villas’ The Glory of Southern Cooking and Jean Anderson’s A Love Affair with Southern Cooking: Recipes and Recollections were both nominated in the Americana Category.

The James Beard Foundation also maintains a list of Who’s Who in Food and Beverage in America, with new inductees added annually.

José Andrés, Bobby Flay, Dorie Greenspan, and Michael Pollan were all inducted last year.

Named one of the top 10 foodie towns by the editors of Travelocity, it should be no surprise that 3 Charleston chefs have been nominated for this year’s prestigious James Beard awards, according to the folks at Gastronomic Fight Club who announce the nominees every year.

Sean Brock of McCrady’s was nominated for the Rising Star Chef of the Year Award which honors chefs age 30 or younger whose impressive talent is “likely to have a significant impact on the industry in years to come”.

(By the way, check out Sean Brock’s blog, Ping Island Strike, for some insights into his cooking philosophy and methods.)

2 out of the 5 nominees for the Best Chefs in America Award/ Southeast Division work in Charleston. According to the James Beard Foundation, this award honors “chefs who have set new or consistent standards of excellence in their respective regions.” Congratulations go to Mike Lata of Fig and Robert Stehling of Hominy Grill for your nominations!

In 2007, Charleston’s Matt and Ted Lee won in the Cookbook of the Year category for The Lee Brothers Southern Cookbook.