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Retirement for OPFoodies

settling down near beautiful Charleston—a THE CLASSIC MINT JULEP Imagine ODDS-ON FAVORITE FOR noted foodie retirement destination. Just across the DERBY ENTERTAINING bridge, is Franke at Seaside, a life plan community where you won’t nd your typical “early bird special.” O THE ENTERTAINING ISSUE Executive chefs Frankie Scavullo and PARTY TIME Nick Hunter see that residents enjoy a WHETHER IT’S AN ELABORATE AFFAIR that involves freshly Southern-inspired menu with seasonal muddled juleps and guests with fancy hats or throwing steaks on the grill PLUS... farm-to-table ingredients. Franke doesn’t for a last-minute gathering of neighbors in the backyard, the month of > SOUTHERN SOMMELIERS UP THE ANTE serve a boring chicken sandwich. Residents savsavoror an May brings with it a host of excuses to entertain. There’s Cinco de Mayo, > VIVIAN HOWARD MEETS HER HERO Ashley Farms fried chicken breast with house-made the Kentucky Derby, Mother’s Day, the long Memorial Day weekend, > NOLA’S VIETNAMESE FARMERS MARKET pickles and pimento cheese on a brioche bun, with and graduations galore. Plus for those of us who live in the South, it’s the > SUGAR BAKESHOP IS SWEET ON HONEY house-cut fries. At Franke we elevate expectations. last call to savor cool evenings outdoors before the swelter of summer sets in, holding us hostage to air-conditioning for months on end. So what are you waiting for? Time to plan your menu, hit the farmers market, and

PHOTO BY SARAH JANE SANDERS frost the cake. Need some inspiration? Read on. 843.856.4700 Franke at Seaside FrankeAtSeaside.org a serious culinary choice

1500 Franke Dr. • Mt. Pleasant, SC 29464 THELOCALPALATE.COM / FEBRUARY 2015 41 CONCi ERGE ENTERTAINING ISSUE CONCi ERGE

EXPERT PICKS AROUND THE SOUTH Where to Travel the Globe, Glass by Glass By Lindsay Lambert Day it can be labeled even if the blend is When it comes to drinking, only 10 percent Pinot Blanc.” As for dessert, she the South spills over with offers a Rossa from Bricco Mondal- whiskey and bourbon. But ino called “Gaudio.” “It is from Piedmont, as the spotlight shines ever , has a slight effervescence and the aromas brighter on the region’s boom- of roses.” ing restaurant culture, South- restaurantaugust.com ern sommeliers and wine merchants are upping the ante WEATHERVANE RESTAURANT with more adventurous grape Chapel Hill, North Carolina juice. Here are eight restau- At Southern Season, which stocks more than rants around the South whose 5,000 , Elizabeth Cooper knows her wine offerings will make you grapes (see sidebar). “To keep the intimidation dizzy with delight (and not factor to a minimum [at the store’s restaurant, just because you won’t be able SOMMELIER Weathervane] I stick with a standard to stop sipping). MATT PRIDGEN selection, but focus on FROM UNDERBELLY producer quality and regional typicality,” she COLES 735 MAIN region in eastern produces some of the says. Recently, Cooper most wonderfully unusual wines in the world,” sourced Denis Tardieu Lexington, Kentucky MILLER UNION When selecting wines to add to his list at Coles, she says. “Sourced from a small, organic, and Côtes du Rhône. “Us- sommelier and General Manager Chris Hutchi- biodynamic seven-hectare plot, the Poulsard ing both biodynamic son uses “retail presence” to gauge his interest in a grape is pale, almost translucent in color. Light- UNDERBELLY best pairing wines at Etch is a red wine blend and organic methods, FEATURED SOMMELIER varietal. “Our wine list is a tool to draw people er in body than a , it offers bright, red Houston, Texas from Mallorca, a Spanish island producing great they only produce this Elizabeth Cooper is the wine buyer in the door, knowing they can’t get most of our fruit flavors with just a touch of smoke. Arbois At Underbelly, sommelier and General Manager wine.” Of the 2012 An/2 by Anima Negra, one spectacular Rhône and manager for the gourmet gro- wines in retail stores,” he says. “Often, the best AOC (Poulsard), Domaine de La Pinte 2011 Matt Pridgen mirrors Chef Chris Shepherd's Kemper offers, “It’s a blend of indigenous island blend. The wine, a blend cer Southern Season in Chapel wines—and the best stories—come from small is a spring favorite.” food philosophy (working directly with farmers, grapes: Callet, Mantonegre-Fogoneu, and . of Grenache, Syrah, and Hill, North Carolina. Cooper’s ca- production shops that don’t have large market- americangr.com ranchers, and fishermen in lieu of hiring outside Fermented in stainless steel and concrete, then Cinsault, is earthy and rich on the nose with reer began in restaurants, where ing budgets.” One such wine is August Kes- suppliers), by only buying wines from people aged in French and American , it’s medium- olive tapenade and lavender aromas.” she realized that her true passion seler “R” Kabinett. “It has the bright MILLER UNION who make, produce, and bottle it themselves. bodied with beautiful red fruit, violet overtones, southernseason.com was the beverage menu. Holding an acidity of Riesling, with just enough stone Atlanta, Georgia “Good food is grown by people who have pride and a bit of smokiness. It complements Deb’s Advanced Sommelier certification fruit characteristics for complexity and residual At this heavily-decorated Atlanta eatery, som- in what they make, and wine is the same way,” lamb, venison, and even pork entrées.” GOLD CUP WINE BAR from the Court of Master Somme- sweetness. It’s perfect with our Hamachi Sashi- melier and General Manager Neal McCarthy Pridgen says. A recent find is the 2006 Quinta etchrestaurant.com AT SALAMANDER RESORT liers, she did stints in distribution mi.” Coles also regularly features three different is so passionate about his selections that he’s Boavista “Terras de Tavares” from the Dão Middleburg, Virginia and supply, and has served as the on-draft wines. willing (and we dare say, excited) to wait an en- region of Portugal. “It’s a 50/50 blend of Jaen AUGUST With more than fifty wineries within an hour’s southeastern regional manager for coles735main.com tire year for a certain varietal to arrive. “It’s a (Mencia) and Touriga Nacional that comes from New Orleans, Louisiana drive, Salamander Resort & Spa is a haven for Fess Parker Wines, Smith Ma- Cru from Jean Foillard,” McCarthy organic vineyards and is aged in oak for three At August, sommelier Erin White’s recently East Coast oenophiles. And the resort’s res- drone, Truchard Vineyards, and AMERICAN GROCERY RESTAURANT explains of the awaited wine. “Specifically, I years, and then in bottle for another five years,” paired Peppered Oyster Tagliatelle with an taurant, Gold Cup Wine Bar, affords ample Au Bon Climat. She joined South- Greenville, South Carolina most like the Cuvée Corcelette Morgon 2014, he says. “The result is a complex wine full of red organic Xarel-lo and Riesling blend called opportunities for learning about special wines. ern Season in 2011 and is working Says Darlene Mann-Clarke, who plays somme- and fewer than 50 bottles make their way into fruit, herbs, and earth, with distinct minerality Terraprima, from Massif del Garraf in Last year, Wine Director Michael Foote expand- toward her Master Sommelier Cer- lier to husband Joe Clarke’s executive chef, “I’m Georgia.” Another of McCarthy’s unique picks from the granite soils.” Catalonia, Spain. “The small percentage of ed the list by adding South Australian winery tification. a staunch advocate for quality-driven, value- is the Bodegas Forjas del Salnes “Baston de la underbellyhouston.com Riesling cools off the pepper, while the bright Mollydooker’s 2013 Shiraz, “The Boxer,” a The first wine I ever had was... priced, small-production wines.” Take, for ex- Luna” from Rias Biaxas, a region in northwest- salinity of a wine from the coast pairs well with unique experience thanks to the winery’s focus Mogen David ample, the Edi Simcic 2010 from ern Spain known for its white Albariños. “You ETCH the briny oyster,” she says. Another interesting on Marquis Fruit Weight. “This is the percent- Goriska Brda, . “You’re missing out if hardly ever see red wines from Rias Biaxas,” he pick is Auxerrois from Alsace, France, made age of your palate that’s covered by the velvety The worst wine I ever had was... Nashville, Tennessee you’ve never had a Slovenian wine,” she says. says. “Of all the production there, only 10 per- At Nashville eatery Etch, Executive Chef Deb by Rolly-Gassman. “Auxerrois is silky-textured sensation of fruit, before you experience any of Mogen David “This classic Chardonnay has notes of cream, cent of wines are made from red grapes.” For a Paquette encourages sommelier Mark Kremper and has a touch of honeycomb when paired with the structural components of the wine,” says If I weren’t a sommelier, I’d be a… peach, citrus, and honey, with a lush mouth- sip exclusive to Miller Union, order the Bartolo to “play mad scientist.” Says Kremper, “Deb is our Shrimp Étouffée Dumplings,” White says. Foote. “A wine must have at least 65 percent fruit Librarian feel that will appeal to typical California Char- Mascarello Barolo 2010. known for her bold and complex flavors, which “It is often an overlooked varietal because in weight to be considered as Mollydooker.”

donnay wine drinkers.” As for reds, “The Jura millerunion.com NORTON ANNA ROUTH BARZIN; RIGHT CARY PHOTO LEFT: ANNA ROUTH BARZIN HEIDI GELDHAUSER; RIGHT: OPPOSITE LEFT: my wine list serves to complement. One of the Alsace, when a wine is blended with Pinot Blanc, salamanderresort.com

THELOCALPALATE.COM / MAY 2016 THELOCALPALATE.COM / MAY 2016 CONCi ERGE ENTERTAINING ISSUE

A PERSONAL ESSAY Entertaining and Empanadas BY VIVIAN HOWARD six years ago, my husband ben’s mom and sister read “Pueblo Garzon.” We naturally assumed were traveling around South America and sug- we had found the hotel’s entrance. Ten minutes gested we join them for a leg of the trip. At the down that well-worn dirt path, we all started time, I was obsessed with Francis Mallmann, to question out loud what we had been qui- an Argentine chef with the seasoned good looks etly wondering for some time. Was Francis and salty attitude of Anthony Bourdain, a rev- Mallmann a South American scam? Did Hotel erence for place and tradition like Sean Brock, Garzon even exist? For thirty more minutes we and the thoughtful, satisfying aesthetic of Anne drove in search of a house or a hotel or a sign Quatrano. He also liked big fires and big pieces of life while casting blame around for who had of meat— like my dad. Chef Mallmann was my gotten us into this debacle. Finally, we spotted South American dream. His cookbook, Seven a man walking with a horse—not a man we Fires, sat beside my bed, rode in my handbag, would have normally approached, but on this and sang me songs about the endless ways to night in the darkest place any of us had been on cook potatoes that year. I wanted to get close to Earth, he looked good. When most would have fussed to get a drink him…not in an intimate way, but in a tangible “Permiso Señor. Dónde está Hotel Garzon?” to every guest as fast as their muddler could research kind of way. “No Se.” muddle, Mallmann’s staff made one perfect Today, Francis Mallmann has I panicked, sure to my core that drink at a time. And because it’s nice to sit restaurants in Buenos Aires, Francis Mallmann would never in the shade when you’re eating outside, they Mendoza, and Miami, build a hotel an hour down built a table around the base of a tree. Rather but in 2010 his newest a dirt path without even than lighting fires all over the spacious court- venture was a small posting a sign letting yard, they waited to see where we chose to sit, hotel in a dusty vil- travelers know they and lit a fire in that spot. When they learned lage in Uruguay were headed in the I was a chef, they invited me into the kitchen called Garzon. I right direction. Still, to make the empanadas I had ordered at every had seen a write- I urged my mother- meal. And when Chef Mallmann had English- up about it in a in-law to keep going speaking business associates up the hill at his magazine, and because there had to home for dinner, he invited us too! even though it be something at the required a small end of this road. WE HAD NOTHING BUT A TWO collection of planes Ten minutes later, we MONTH-OLD RESERVATION AND to get us there from rounded a little curve and A CRYPTIC MAP PRINTED FROM our home in Deep Run, saw a squat building. Then THEIR WEBSITE TO SUGGEST North Carolina, I was hell- we saw another building, then a THAT GARZON EVEN EXISTED. bent on going. tiny town square, then lights and big The trip to Montevideo, Uruguay’s terra cotta pots full of succulents and cacti. The isolation of Garzon liberated us from capital, was uneventful, but our drive to Gar- Not an apparition—Hotel Garzon was real. We the pressure of excursions, tours, shopping, and zon was strained. For days, no one at the ho- would not die at the paws of coyotes and big liz- restaurant hopping. It freed me from my fear tel answered our phone calls or returned our ards in a remote part of Uruguay. We bounced of missing out, and in doing that I enjoyed the emails. We had nothing but a two-month-old with relieved laughter and pulled up to the food, the wine, and the people around me more reservation and a cryptic map printed from five-room inn. I stepped out of the car and rose than any vacation before or since. Mallmann their website to suggest that Garzon even face-to-face with none other than the man him- and the kind folks of Hotel Garzon entertained existed. It seemed like a strange way to run self, Francis Mallmann. with the ease of someone confident enough to a business to me, but I had faith in Francis. “May I take your bag? We’ve been expecting put a luxury five-room hotel at the end of very After about an hour in the car we passed dis- you.” long dirt road in rural Uruguay. That kind of creet signs for the chic resort town of Jose For the next four days, I felt like the lucky guest in confidence is worth traveling to see. Ignacio. The map showed it was close to our a chef’s gaucho-chic home. We met no formality or Vivian Howard is head chef and co-owner of turn-off, so for the next thirty minutes, the fuss. It made absolute sense that they wouldn’t an- Chef & the Farmer restaurant in her hometown four of us peered out into the dark Uruguay swer the phone, return email, or post a sign. They of Kinston, North Carolina, as well as a cookbook night for signs of our destination. Eventually were running a villa, not a hotel, curating a unique author. Read more about Howard, in Contribu-

we spotted a homemade looking placard that experience at the end of a very long dirt road. tors, on page 18. BY KRISTEN SOLECKI ILLUSTRATIONS

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COURTYARD LINDEN ROW CONCi ERGE ENTERTAINING ISSUE

NOTES FROM A FARM: VIETNAMESE FARMERS MARKET

roosters, ducks, and rab- BEYOND BEIGNETS Open for Weekend Brunch, bits, any of which, once BY ALLSTON MCCRADY Dinner & Late Night. selected for purchase, is Sushi : Wednesday - Saturday 5-10 plopped live into a bur- lap sack for customers to tote home and deal with RELAX, ENJOY, SHARE on their own terms (if you’re in the market for backyard chickens, this is the place). Occasionally, a rooster escapes, elicit- ing shouts and laughter as volunteers attempt to corner it for recapture. Not all who sell here have joined VEGGI (the cooperative is a separate entity from the mar- ket), but members reap the added benefits of VEGGI’s ever-growing VEGGI’s sound infrastructure and develop- client list and its nearby 3½-acre tract of ur- ment plan. VEGGI helps build greenhouses ban farmland. There is no joiners fee, only an in residents’ backyards, provides a shared agreed-upon small percentage of sales retained urban tract of raised beds for all-natural by the co-op to help maintain the plots, expand farming, advises its growers about safe the program, and deliver deliciously fresh pro- farming practices and clean water sources, duce to some of New Orleans’ most talented involves and educates local youth about the and conscientious chefs. whole food system, and delivers produce into VEGGI aims to jumpstart sustainable ag- the hands of loyal customers. riculture business opportunities for locals Customers like Alex Harrell, chef and own- he next time you hit New Or- For decades now, each Saturday morning, a herbs and veggies displayed at pavement level. ravaged by a number of recent blows. First er of Angeline in the French Quarter, who leans, carve an hour or two out of parking lot near Saigon Drive in New Orleans Elders wear traditional conical non la hats, pre- came Hurricane Katrina in 2005, which left features VEGGI’s eggplant, Thai chiles, aru- T your Saturday morning for a real, East transforms into what some jokingly call siding over a multitude of fresh produce: mints, Versailles underwater, wiping out the houses, gula, dandelion greens, Chinese cabbages, and non-touristy pilgrimage. Your destination: the “squat market,” which smacks of political lemongrass, scallions, watercress, basil, turmeric, vehicles, gardens, and infrastructure that flavored tofus (you’ll find the tofu lady at the the weekly Vietnamese farmers market in incorrectness but alludes to the many vendors daikon radishes, luffa the community had worked for thirty years market, too, marketing her extra-firm GMO- Versailles, a neighborhood just ten miles northeast comfortably squatting before their homegrown squash, pomelo (giant to establish. Then free soy tofu flavored of the Quarter, home to one of the most densely grapefruit), bitter mel- came an imposed with garlic, lemongrass, concentrated Vietnamese communities outside of on, purple yams, Thai neighborhood and chili peppers; per Vietnam. eggplant. Some locals landfill, a deposi- Harrell, it’s the best Rise early (the market opens at 6 am and winds brave the early hour to tory for post-Ka- tofu he’s ever eaten). down by 8:30 am). Head east on Interstate 10, then hit the market, but now trina debris with Or Chef Nathaniel onto Chef Menteur Highway, where industrial ca- they no longer need to. potentially adverse Zimet of Bouch- nals reflect the pale salmon-pink glow of the rising A nonprofit Vietnam- effects on local erie who incorporates sun, in stark contrast to the sprawling grey land- ese farmers cooperative waterways. Finally VEGGI’s Thai roselle scape still rebounding from Hurricane Katrina’s called VEGGI delivers and disastrously, flowers, jade gourds, LIVE MUSIC devastation. Bypass a cement factory, a collision produce, herbs, and tofu straight to area kitchens came the BP Oil loofah squash, and 7 days a week junkyard, a “gentleman’s club” (ahem), and an (for that matter, locals can sign up for the CSA). Spill, crippling the Asian mustard greens endless procession of starkly silhouetted telephone So you don’t necessarily need to come here in shrimping and fishing industry upon which into his cuisine. Or Chef Martha Wiggins of poles marching toward the horizon. Abruptly, person, but you’d miss out on a cool experience. many Vietnamese relied for income. Sylvain who raves about VEGGI’s pristine and 462 King Street signs shift language: Dong Phuong, Pho Bang, Non-Vietnamese are greatly outnumbered, After so many threats to the community’s beautiful mesclun greens mix used in her daily Charleston, SC 29403 Bien Nho. Take a hard left on Alcee Fortier Bou- but welcome. The poultry seller, for example, well-being, it seemed logical to turn to the market salads, including baby mustards, tat- 843.724.7400 levard, and you’re there. Just look for the dense is a Caucasian father-son duo from just across very land itself for sustenance, just as elders soi, mizuna, and oak leaves. republicreign.com cluster of parked cars and follow the sound of the border in Mississippi. They rise very early had done since they fled communist Vietnam With VEGGI in place, good things are

crowing roosters. each week to load up their cages with hens, PHOTOS BY CHRIS GRANGER in the 1970s, but with the added boost of sprouting in New Orleans East. FOLLOW US ON

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RECIPE: THE BEE’S KNEES FROM SUGAR BAKESHOP IN “We like to relax on our upper piazza and look over at the roof of Sugar to watch the bees busily flying in and out of their hive.”—Bill Bowick CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA

With a bee hive on the roof of their bakery, 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 7. Divide batter evenly between prepared pans. Sugar proprietors Bill Bowick and David 2. Grease sides of two 9-inch cake pans with 8. Place in oven, and bake until just golden Bouffard tap their own supply of honey for butter. Adding a wax paper cut-out to the bottom and middle bounces back when pressed lightly, their popular cake made with the sweet stuff. insures the cake will turn out of the pan easily. approximately 18 minutes. Let cool for 15 minutes. LOVE EAT The architects-turned-bakers live next door 3. Place sugar and butter in bowl of stand mixer 9. Turn cakes out of pans. ç to their sugar cube of a shop in a Charleston with paddle attachment and cream for 3 minutes 10. Using bread knife, slice each layer horizontally. single home they renovated themselves. on medium-high. Scrape down sides of bowl using 11. Place first layer on cake plate, and cover a rubber spatula to incorporate all ingredients. top with icing using palate knife. Stack next layer t t 1234 CAKE (1 CUP BUTTER, 2 CUPS SUGAR, 4. Meanwhile, sift flour, salt, and baking powder. on top and cover with icing. Continue until all four 3 CUPS FLOUR, 4 EGGS) Set aside. layers are stacked. Put just enough icing between 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature 5. Add eggs to butter mixture one at a time, layers to barely cover and stack. 2 cups sugar stirring and scraping down sides between 12. Coat outside of cake with thin layer of icing, and 3 cups flour additions. Add vanilla. Mix only enough to place in refrigerator for 20 minutes for icing to set. 1 teaspoon salt incorporate eggs. 13. Remove from refrigerator, and coat smoothly BEST PEOPLE 1 tablespoon baking powder 6. Add dry ingredients to mixer in thirds, with remaining icing. To get ribbed effect, 4 large eggs alternating with milk. Mix to place on cake turntable (or a lazy Susan if you 2 teaspoons vanilla incorporate ingredients between have one). Start in the middle of the top of the ‰ 1 cup milk additions, but do not overmix. cake, and using your icing knife, drag in a spiral Honey Buttercream Icing (recipe on page 116) pattern as you slowly turn the cake until you work your way to edge and sides down to bottom.

Yield: about 20 servings

TASTINGS, PHOTO BY CHRISTOPHER SHANE MAY 26–29 WINE DINNERS NOWFE.COM Join Uϧ & EXPERIENCES Visit

he New Orleans Wine & Food Experience is one of the premiere events in the Big Easy, showcasingT what the city does best. Come and enjoy food and wine pairings from over 75 Louisiana chefs with 1,000 vintages from 175 wineries around the world. *FOR CAKE FROSTING TIPS, SEE CULINARY CLASS, PAGES 102-103.

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