A few weeks ago, Robbie and I headed up to Charleston to meet up with my parents for a fun little weekend getaway. I had wanted to go on a
Culinary Tour since I had given my dad a gift certificate for it last year for his birthday and a chilly winter weekend was the perfect time to do so!
We started the tour at
HoM on Upper King Street. After everyone had arrived, our tour guide gave us a quick introduction to the tour and we started with our first course: Calamari with sun dried tomato and goat cheese puree which was so delicious. Unfortunately the lighting in HoM is a little dark and I was so excited about starting the tour that I didn't get any pictures here. Our next course was their Dixie Flatbread which had pork confit, maple bacon, pimento cheese and caramelized onions. It was like all flavors of the South in one bite! We ended with the Fried Chicken BLT complete with a drizzle of honey. This was all just at our first stop and I was already starting to get a little full!
Next stop was
Prohibition just a few steps away. Our tour guide gave us a little insight what prohibition was like in Charleston and a little history of "Blind Tiger" establishments that would charge an admission fee to guests that wanted to "see the blind tiger" and they would be served alcoholic drinks while they were visiting.
Prohibition is well known for their cocktails of course we all wanted to try some! My mom and I tried the Itty Bitty which was made from Tito's Vodka, Cocchi Americano, lemon, honey, and basil and I would highly recommend! For our first course, we were served pork rinds with bleu cheese crumbles. These were definitely an interesting combination, and honestly not really my favorite because I'm not a huge fan of bleu cheese. Luckily, these were two things Robbie loved so he got mine. :)
Next up at Prohibition were coffee poached beets with pomegranates. Another interesting combination but since I love beets, this was actually really cool! Definitely two interesting options from here but I have to say that I think the drinks were my favorite- but I should mention, you do have to pay extra for these!
Third on our tour was one of the newest restaurants on Upper King,
Smoke BBQ. The owner (I believe his name was Roland?) came out and spoke to us about his business and how it has grown from a food truck inside of a Spam bus to this quaint little place on King Street. You could tell how passionate about barbecue he was and since I love barbecue I couldn't wait to try the food!
We were served a sampling of different items they have to offer including a barbecue sandwich, chicken wing, potato salad, cole slaw, and pickled veggies. It was all so good and I regretted getting so full at the previous stops because I wasn't able to eat everything on my plate like I wanted to! I would love to go back and get more another time I'm in town!
Last on the tour was Jeni's Ice Cream, my favorite for obvious reasons! If you know me, you know I have a major sweet tooth so I loved my Salted Peanut Butter ice cream with just a little drizzle of strawberry sauce, kind of like the PB&J Sundae! This was a great way to cap off the tour which was such a fun way to spend a cold Saturday with my parents! If you are still looking for last minute Valentine's ideas, a gift certificate to
Charleston Culinary Tours makes for a great gift and a fun afternoon- and if you aren't local, a great excuse to take a trip to Charleston!
Disclaimer: I was given a ticket to the tour in exchange for a review, but as always all opinions are all my own!
STAY IN TOUCH!