R&K Insider: It’s time to go to Charleston
Launching the R&K Charleston city guide.
This post originally appeared on October 12, 2018 in R&K’s weekly newsletter. Read the archives and subscribe to the newsletter.
This is a happy Friday at R&K, because we just launched our Charleston city guide.
It’s a deep dive into the humid and historic port city full of food, hard liquor, and more food. The city draws scores of visitors year-round, and you should join them. We worked with some of the city’s finest writers, eaters, and experts, and we’re also excited about the photography (by our very own photo editor, Cengiz Yar) and the illustrations (by our superstar Daisy Dee).
Kicking it off, we have Kinsey Gidick with the essential primer on what to know before you visit: short-stay accommodation rules, liquor laws, and when to come if you want to get in on some of the city’s legendary oyster season.
We’re also very lucky to have food historian Robert F. Moss delivering a perfect history of Charleston, as told in 11 dishes, starting strong with pilau, including Hopping John, Madeira wine, Gullah foodways, and ending strong by dropping some local seafood wisdom: “If you see a fish with a name you don’t recognize on the nightly specials board—triggerfish, wreckfish, barrelfish, rudderfish, amberjack—you probably should order it.”
For the hungry and the history buffs, Allston McCrady curated a deeply informed walking tour through Charleston’s historic district, featuring boneyards, a handful of great bars, no small amount of cheese, peaceful gardens—and even some wildlife.
Naturally, we mention the famous FIG and Husk restaurants. (Book in advance!). But Jennifer Dienst makes the case for heading to a Dodge’s gas station for some casual but perfect fried chicken. You can tear into it in your car or while standing in your underwear at home in front of the kitchen sink.
And because this beautiful, beloved city can get busy AF, we also have Stephanie Burt sharing with us the best of Aiken, SC, an escape for Charlestonians since the Gilded Age and a place to spend a day if you like horses, cocktails, steak, and beautiful forests. (And who doesn’t?)
We’ll leave you with a reminder to check out our podcast The Trip, which we relaunched this month. Tune in again on Monday, when our host Nathan Thornburgh will bring another episode of drinking with an exceptional guest from some part of the world.
Have a great weekend.
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