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Antonia L

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Coastal Carolina (or even Georgia) foodie town?

by Antonia L » Wed Apr 04, 2012 1:40 pm

I'm looking for suggestions on a town within a days' drive in either one of the Carolinas or Georgia that boasts
1) a beach, and
2) awesome restaurants.

Any suggestions? I am in summer vacation fantasyland in my brain, and would like to do a long weekend somewhere we could drive to in less than a day. Ideas appreciated.
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Brad Keeton

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Re: Coastal Carolina (or even Georgia) foodie town?

by Brad Keeton » Wed Apr 04, 2012 3:16 pm

Savannah, GA - fantastic restaurants, great city, and beaches within a 15 minute drive (Tybee Island and others). I had family that lived here for a few years and we visited quite often, and can make some recommendations.

Pawleys Island, SC (personal favorite of mine) - some great low-country restaurants, and probably my favorite beaches in the Carolinas. There are excellent rental properties and resorts very close to the water for good prices. Think a less-developed Hilton Head. Just spent a week there a few years ago and can make specific recommendations. Others on the forum also have good recommendations there.

Charleston, SC - I've never been to the beaches there, but with the exception of maybe a few places like Asheville, NC or Atlanta, it has the best resaurants in the Carolinas and Georgia.

Hilton Head, SC
Outer Banks, NC
Wrightsville Beach, NC
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Re: Coastal Carolina (or even Georgia) foodie town?

by Brad Keeton » Wed Apr 04, 2012 3:18 pm

I should add that a perfect trip (we did it a few years ago) would be to leave Louisville early on day 1 and arrive in Asheville, NC around mid-day. See the sights, have a great meal, spend the night, and drive on to Pawleys Island the next day. Rinse and repeat on your return journey.
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Jeff T

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Re: Coastal Carolina (or even Georgia) foodie town?

by Jeff T » Wed Apr 04, 2012 8:46 pm

You might want to check out Edisto Island. No hotels, very quite with several house/condo rentals. Its a trip back in time, isolated and undisturbed. About 2 hrs south of Charleston. Good solid seafood joints, nothing fancy.
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Re: Coastal Carolina (or even Georgia) foodie town?

by Madeline M » Thu Apr 05, 2012 8:50 am

Savannah is a good spot. It's also like an hour drive over to Hilton Head if you wanted to check some stuff out over there. Charleston has some good stuff going on and the down town area can be a lot of fun at night, even if you aren't there to drink and party. Agree on the stop in Asheville...so many good places!
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Rick Boman

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Re: Coastal Carolina (or even Georgia) foodie town?

by Rick Boman » Thu Apr 05, 2012 3:58 pm

I leave for Hilton Head/Savannah Area tommorow and will be back after Spring Break, I will let you know what I find.
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Re: Coastal Carolina (or even Georgia) foodie town?

by Antonia L » Fri Apr 06, 2012 9:40 am

Thanks so much for all the great ideas - these posts have given us some good directions to go in. I really like the Asheville idea, Brad. I can see myself coming back for specific recommendations once we narrow things down. And I'll be interested in your post-travel report, Rick.
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Re: Coastal Carolina (or even Georgia) foodie town?

by Brad Keeton » Fri Apr 06, 2012 12:59 pm

Antonia L wrote:Thanks so much for all the great ideas - these posts have given us some good directions to go in. I really like the Asheville idea, Brad. I can see myself coming back for specific recommendations once we narrow things down. And I'll be interested in your post-travel report, Rick.


We're actually taking off to Asheville on Tuesday for a few days, so I'll be able to provide some more up-to-date recommendations in a week. I'm particularly excited for Curate (http://www.curatetapasbar.com/#/welcome). The pedigree of the chef, Katie Button, is quite impressive - a 7 month stage under Ferran Adria at elBulli, working under Jose Andres at MiniBar and Bazaar, and a stint at Jean George in New York. Also really looking forward to The Admiral (http://theadmiralnc.com/).

Asheville's dining scene is seriously impressive.
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Carol C

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Re: Coastal Carolina (or even Georgia) foodie town?

by Carol C » Fri Apr 06, 2012 8:55 pm

Brad,
We are going to Asheville Sunday, the 15th, for a few days. Would love to hear about your experiences next week. I've printed out all the older posts on Asheville but look forward to updates. We are staying in the downtown area. Have a wonderful time and look forward to hearing about your visit. Thanks.
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Re: Coastal Carolina (or even Georgia) foodie town?

by Brad Keeton » Mon Apr 09, 2012 9:51 am

Carol C wrote:Brad,
We are going to Asheville Sunday, the 15th, for a few days. Would love to hear about your experiences next week. I've printed out all the older posts on Asheville but look forward to updates. We are staying in the downtown area. Have a wonderful time and look forward to hearing about your visit. Thanks.


Great. I'll definitely report on our trip. We get back on the 14th, but I'll do a few mini-posts as we go.
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Re: Coastal Carolina (or even Georgia) foodie town?

by Brad Keeton » Mon Apr 16, 2012 2:58 pm

Whoops, Carol, I forgot to do the mini-posts. I hope you catch this in time to be of help.

We had dinners at Rezaz (Biltmore Village - http://www.rezaz.com/), The Admiral (a few miles outside of downtown - theadmiralnc.com/), Table (downtown - tableasheville.com/), and Curate (downtown - www.curatetapasbar.com/). All were outstanding. It's really hard to pick out of the four, but the The Admiral is unlike anything in Louisville, and Curate was one of the better tapas places I've ever been, so I think those would be my top recommendations. If you're in Biltmore Village, definitely try Rezaz. I'd recommend reservations in advance at all of them, but definitely at The Admiral and Curate.

The only breakfast we had out was at Corner Kitchen in Biltmore Village (http://www.thecornerkitchen.com/), and I highly recommend it. For drinks, go for wine or beer at the Battery Park Book Exchange and Champagne Bar (www.batteryparkbookexchange.com) and cocktails at Sazerac (website not working, but downtown at 29 Broadway - head up to the rooftop deck).
"I don't eat vegans. They're too bony."
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Rick Boman

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Re: Coastal Carolina (or even Georgia) foodie town?

by Rick Boman » Mon Apr 16, 2012 3:48 pm

We just got back from Hilton Head, SC on Sunday.

We had Easter Lunch at Paula Deen's "Lady and Son's"- This wasn't my choice, this was my mother's pick. It was really good country food, but at $25.00 a person for a buffet, there were alot of better values. It also felt like we were fleeced because when we made reservations a month ago, the buffet price was $18 a person.

We also tried Back In The Day Cafe in Savannah. Their cupcakes were magnificent, as well as the bistro style ciabatta sandwiches. Kind of expensive though.

In Hilton Head we ate at Hudson's at the docks, seafood. Very good, but typical coastal seafood place, but the She Crab Soup was outstanding, the local oysters were fresh, and sweet, and the homemade hushpuppies were like crack.

My favorite meal of the whole trip was after the Magnolia Plantation tour in Charleston. We went in town to the Hominy Grill. They offer "lowcountry" fare. The are a very trendy, bistro style place. I had sauteed chicken livers with creamy ountry ham gravy, crowder peas and rice and fried grit cakes. The livers were plump, juicy and had a good crisp breading on them, the crowder peas were served kinda like hoppin' jon. It was amazing. The grit cakes were creamy and fried to perfection.

All-in-all I was more impressed with the Hominy Grill for quality, service and price point than any other place we ate at.
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Carol C

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Re: Coastal Carolina (or even Georgia) foodie town?

by Carol C » Mon Apr 16, 2012 8:12 pm

Brad,
Thank you so much for the info. Not too late, we just got here last night. Last night we ate at Cucina24 which is downtown where we are staying. Everything was excellent and we were able to eat light which is what we wanted after the drive. Tonight we had a great meal at Tupelo Honey in honor of friends, Steve and Becky P!!! We are going to Curate tomorr
ow. it has been highly recommended by everyone over here as has Table. Bob loves beer and we have been to some great beer places (mostly local). Will give a full report when we get back. Asheville is a fabulous city for food and drink--we are already looking forward tot coming back! Again, thanks for the info Brad.
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Re: Coastal Carolina (or even Georgia) foodie town?

by Brad Keeton » Tue Apr 17, 2012 2:56 pm

Carol C wrote:Brad,
Thank you so much for the info. Not too late, we just got here last night. Last night we ate at Cucina24 which is downtown where we are staying. Everything was excellent and we were able to eat light which is what we wanted after the drive. Tonight we had a great meal at Tupelo Honey in honor of friends, Steve and Becky P!!! We are going to Curate tomorr
ow. it has been highly recommended by everyone over here as has Table. Bob loves beer and we have been to some great beer places (mostly local). Will give a full report when we get back. Asheville is a fabulous city for food and drink--we are already looking forward tot coming back! Again, thanks for the info Brad.


Great to hear. Another suggestion - ramps are in full harvest in that area right now (Asheville and the surrounding areas are known for ramps), and most restaurants are serving specials with them. Get whatever is offered, and if Curate still has the grilled ramps special when you're there, give it a try. Also, get the sangria (red wine) - it's made tableside and was crazy good.
"I don't eat vegans. They're too bony."
-Alton Brown
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Re: Coastal Carolina (or even Georgia) foodie town?

by Ken B » Mon Jun 11, 2012 3:52 pm

Coming to this thread pretty late, probably too late. I have never been to Charleston. I have no idea how close it is to the beach (I suppose I could google it. . .).

But it has this (on my short list of places I hope to eat at someday):

http://www.huskrestaurant.com/about/
The Wine Market
1200 Bardstown Road, Louisville, KY
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