Ocean Front Cuisine - BLU on Folly Beach

Yesterday, my fiance and I spent the first of 3 days on our annual trip to Charleston, SC. We've kept this tradition going for the past 5 years, and would have missed this year had our good friends & neighbors not offered us the last few days of their pre-paid beach house rental, which they had to forgo. Thanks to them, our yearly tradition continues!

So, after settling-in, the next item on our list was figuring out where to go for dinner. As our time on the coast is a limited luxury we anxiously look forward to each year, good (local) fish was a prerequisite. We'd eaten at some of the popular local restaurants in years past - from the Crab Shack to Locklear's Beach City Grill on the fishing pier. Ready for something new, we were pleasantly surprised to stumble upon BLU - which serves fine, contemporary coastal cuisine and overlooks the beach.

When we arrived we were impressed with the ambiance of the restaurant, which is located in the lobby level of the Tides Hotel. The decor was modern, with a lot of small touches that played into the blue, watery theme - such as a moving wall of water behind the bar, and some really awesome light fixtures shaped like water droplets. The staff was very helpful, going as far as to give us the lowdown on how and where they get their locally sourced fish, meat, veggies, cheese, and other ingredients.

Even though it was dark out, we decided to sit outside on the large verandah overlooking the beach. While it was quite windy, we didn't mind - sea breezes are something we don't get a lot of in the foothills of western NC. In the spirit of beach trips, we started things off with a round of Mai Tais. While nothing compares to real Hawaiian Mai Tais, (obviously), these weren't half bad. A little orange to garnish, and we were set.

Salad
Next up was the 'Celebration of Beets' - a fabulously simple yet deep-rooted salad (sorry...bad pun) bursting with color, texture, and flavor - which consisted of a mixture of 3 different varieties of local, heirloom beets (including some lovely, golden-colored ones), roasted hazelnuts, local goat's milk ricotta, and local micro greens (sorry for the blurry picture):

All I cay say is - yum! At $9, it's not the least expensive salad you'll ever meet - but the quality of the ingredients and the flavor made it a luxurious little treat.

Main Course
Since the salad was surprisingly filling, I just ordered a tapas plate consisting of pan roasted red drum from Swimming Rock Farm, pork belly dumplings, and sweet corn puree, all in a port wine syrup. The fish was delicious, and the port wine syrup was incredible. I had never tasted pork belly dumplings before, and found them to be a bit chewy - but can't really say whether that's good or bad since I have nothing to compare them to. The flavor was nice, the texture was a little sticky (but I guess that's dumplings?) All in all, a great dish and one that I would recommend.

Griffe decided he wanted something a little more substantial and ordered an actual entree (although, in my opinion the quantity he received was only slightly more than my tapas plate - and nearly double the price!). He had the catch of the day, which on this particular Sunday happened to be hog-nosed snapper. The snapper was cooked with the skin intact, which was perfectly crisped while the fish remained light and flaky. His meal included various summer squashes, micro greens, some kind of potato hash, and a tasty pumpkin puree. Not a very thorough description but I didn't take notes...so bear with me. He seemed to enjoy it, and from the few bites I stole I have only positive things to say.

Dessert
As is our custom, Griffe and I decided to split one dessert - so we spent a few minutes debating just what that lucky confection was going to be. We had narrowed it down to the bread pudding made with Hendersonville, NC apples (a little taste of home in the low country!) and the 'Peanut Butter & Jelly' (a unique idea, and nothing like what you're thinking). As I had already eaten plenty of apple that day, I decided to go for the latter. Griffe either agreed or conceded - either way, he did it gracefully =) We were not disappointed. I think the picture speaks for itself (FYI - the peanut butter is in the ice-cream, the 'jelly' refers to the fresh berries, and the flourless chocolate cake is an added bonus!)

All in all, I give BLU a very positive review based on the quality of the service, the ingredients, the presentation, and of course taste. While the price is a little steep, there is enough variation in the menu to satisfy both your wallet and your belly, particularly if you eat from the appetizers/soups & salads/tapas menus and skip the entree altogether. I recommend this restaurant to anyone that appreciates good quality, sustainably sourced food, and doesn't mind a little ocean mist seasoning their plates and their faces while they dine. AF

The High Country Gets Local

Last week I had the privilege to participate in a local food summit organized by representatives of the Goodnight Family Sustainable Development Program at Appalachian State University. The High Country Local Food Summit, aptly named to include several Appalachian counties in northwestern NC, was billed as an event to "Build diverse community networks to grow the local food economy".

My boss, the Executive Director of the non-profit, rural economic development center, Foothills Connect, was on the agenda as a speaker that afternoon, so I came along to gain some real world, community organizing experience. My first impression of the conference site - a large building with an open floor plan, known as the Valle Crucis "Apple Barn" - was that I was standing in an old, mountain village community meeting center, and that any minute someone was going to whip out a fiddle, a banjo, and some spoons, and we'd all break out into folk dance (not that I would have minded). Needless to say, the only dancing that occurred took place in my imagination, but the rustic, hundred year old building certainly fit the occasion.

The lineup featured some prominent local food advocates, including the well-known environmental blogger, Tom Philpott of Grist.org (left) and esteemed speaker, author, farmer, and outspoken critic of the conventional agriculture system, Joel Salatin of Polyface Farm (below). And, of course, my super cool, globe-trotting, ex-corporate warrior/ peace corps/ military/ politican, teacher, and community organizing boss, Tim Will, who gave a great presentation on the work that our organization is doing to create jobs through agriculture within our 16% unemployment rate-stricken county.

With networking and collaboration a main focus of the event, much of the day was spent in group brainstorming activities, facilitated by Elaine Stover, a 'Human Ecologist' and director of greenschemes, a company that specializes in ecological planning and design. Gradually, a larger image of the issues facing the creation of a local food economy in the High Country began to take form - an independent entity comprised of all the small farmers, restaurants, food advocates, community organizations, and more that make up the growing web of people all working towards a common goal. This forum allowed me to share my knowledge and express my thoughts, along the way contributing my own experiences in building a local food system; what has worked for my organization, and what hasn't.

Mainly, however, I was in absolute awe of the grassroots movement that was converging all around me. At any given moment, someone in the room was being inspired by the words of someone else, recent acquaintances were banding together to form coalitions, initiatives, and business plans - and the High Country Local Food Movement transformed before my eyes from an abstract and disconnected mass of scattered locavores and activists, to an organized group of citizens, empowered by their commitment to a common goal.

Across the country, the same phenomenon is taking place in living rooms, schools, community centers, churches, and farms - a paradigm shift in the way we think about food. Many of them don't know where to begin or how to build the movement where they live; but they are stepping out and taking action, even if it might at first fail. As Joel Salatin so inspiringly noted, "the old adage that Anything that's worth doing is worth doing right... is WRONG! It should, instead, be "Anything that's worth doing is worth doing wrong. For it's in the doing that you develop the skill and self-confidence to eventually do it right." We'll have some setbacks, but we'll get there. And maybe celebrate with some folk dancing along the way.