"Surprise" Wedding Money

Bocci's: Charleston, SC
May 2010

A thought occurred to me recently: writing about all these fabulous restaurants might give the impression that Tom and I go out to eat all the time and that we're either loaded or really wasteful with our money. Let me assure you, neither one is the case. I guess eating out has just become sort of our hobby as a couple, and people spend money on hobbies like knitting and hiking, so why not for this? Plus, like the above description says, we've just been blessed. We're as careful with money as the next couple, and once in awhile we just find ourselves with a little extra to do something fun. Take this outing, for example. One day we found a Visa gift card that my boss and his wife had given us as a wedding present. Since we had already been married about 9 months at that point, it was a nice surprise...! We also had a coupon for Bocci's, a nice Italian place in downtown Charleston, so we decided we'd combine them and have a date night there sometime. Well, one Friday night we both came home at the end of a pretty crummy week and agreed that it was the perfect opportunity.

Appetizer: Artichoke Gorgonzola
Now, we've all seen stuffed mushrooms on an appetizer menu, but I don't know that stuffed artichokes are quite so common. I was on a big artichoke kick around that time, so we ordered these, and they were absolutely delicious. They're served on a bed of mixed greens and lightly drizzled with a sun-dried tomato vinaigrette. What a great combination: the artichokes were nice and juicy, the gorgonzola cheese was creamy and gooey, and the vinaigrette balanced it with just the right amount of acidity and sweetness. In fact, the vinaigrette was so good, we ate some of the greens too, even though they were probably just supposed to be there for presentation. (Hello, complimentary salad!)

Tom's Entree: Shrimp Tortellini
This item might sound like your basic, run-of-the-mill pasta dish, but don't be fooled: it has so much more personality than just cheese tortellini and shrimp tossed in alfredo sauce (not that there's anything wrong with that!). It also has prosciutto ham, black olives, artichokes, and tomatoes. The colors from these extra ingredients make this dish as visually appealing as it is delicious. I think the addition of some veggies also really helped to lighten up the whole thing. Don't get me wrong; the alfredo sauce was still rich and creamy, but it didn't feel heavy like other ones I've had. It was just a little thinner without sacrificing that unmistakable alfredo flavor. Tastes great and is possibly even just slightly better for your waistline? Two thumbs up in my book.

My Entree: Ravioli Arrabiata
This was hearty as all get-out. The ravioli is stuffed with spinach and, get this, walnuts. Intriguing, right? At first, I was afraid it might feel crunchy or lumpy in my mouth, but the ravioli was actually nice and smooth. It almost felt like the walnuts were ground into a paste; even though they weren't actually broken down that much, they were still really soft and wonderful. The sauce is a spicy marinara with Italian sausage and more spinach. And when they say "spicy," they mean it. Our server was nice enough to volunteer this information when I ordered it, and he added that the chef could tone it down if I preferred. Well, I preferred, as you might've guessed. And even then, the sauce was a little too spicy for me, mostly due to the sausage, I think. It was still delicious, though; the smoothness of the walnuts helped to counteract the heat a little bit...! In fact, maybe the spiciness helped, because it forced me to slow down and really enjoy the huge amount of flavor in each bite.

(I thought it was funny that Tom ordered the creamy, comforting dish and I ordered the hearty, spicy one; usually it's the other way around. But what's really funny is that we ended up switching plates about halfway through the meal. I guess the reversal in preferences was just too much for us to handle...!)

Something I always worry about when going to an Italian restaurant is the humongous portions, but one of the great things about Bocci's is that all of their pasta dishes come in two different sizes. And even with both of us ordering the smaller sizes, we each had a little bit left over to take home, so you could say we got to enjoy our impromptu date night again a few days later!

Staycation Dinner

A.W. Shucks: Charleston, SC
April 17, 2010

Pretty much everyone who lives in Charleston has at least heard of A.W. Shucks, even if they've never eaten there. Until our staycation, I was one of those people. I already explained the staycation to death in my last entry, but this is where we went for dinner that Saturday night.

Appetizer: Market Mix Sampler
This is ideal if you want to get the most bang for your buck; the sampler features three different appetizers for not much more than what you would pay for any other item on that section of the menu. And the trifecta is 1) buffalo shrimp: fried shrimp tossed with A.W. Shucks' own special hot sauce; 2) stuffed shrimp: butterfly shrimp stuffed with crab, wrapped in bacon, and deep-fried; and 3) good ol' fried green tomatoes...pretty self-explanatory. All three are delicious (and fried, which I'm just now realizing...oops), but I think my favorite might be the stuffed shrimp. The buffalo shrimp are good too, and if you're like me and don't like a lot of heat, they come with ranch sauce to help cool things down. Speaking of sauce, the fried green tomatoes come with a sweet and spicy Jamaican relish that lends a nice little kick. And I think there's cocktail sauce for the stuffed shrimp, but to be honest, I'm not entirely sure; they were so good by themselves, I probably didn't use sauce.

Tom's Entree: Steampot for One
If for no other reason, order this for the sheer fun of it. It's exactly what it sounds like: a big pot crammed full of seafood (mussels, oysters, shrimp, clams, and snow crab legs...phew), smoked sausage, new potatoes, and corn on the cob. Plus there's plenty of cocktail sauce and melted butter for dipping. You also get a bucket for your shells, along with every tool you might need for opening your shellfish. It's a lot of work, but you will not leave hungry, so roll up your sleeves and dig in! (Seriously, roll them up, or your shirt will be a soggy mess by the time you're done.) And once you get over how much of everything there is, it's nice to realize that this is actually a pretty smart selection for those who are watching what they eat, since everything is steamed and nothing in the pot is really all that fatty to begin with.

My Entree: Shuck's "Legendary" Casserole
This, on the other hand, is one of the more calorically robust items on the menu. But order it anyway, and go for a walk or something afterward. (We did the ghost tour after this meal.) I guess I usually don't think of seafood when I think of comfort food, but this dish has changed my thinking. Once again, it's a good variety of seafood (baby creek shrimp, scallops, and Carolina deviled crab), but this time it's smothered in a lobster cheese sauce and baked au gratin. Hello, indulgence! It's also served with the vegetable of the day and Carolina red rice (which I switched out for more veggies), but the casserole is clearly the star of the show. It's so rich and creamy and wonderful. A word of warning, though: Don't feel obligated to finish the whole thing in one sitting. The deliciousness of this casserole clouded my judgment and tricked me into eating long after I was full, which I regretted later that night when I got into bed and was too stuffed to roll over...! I get the feeling that if you took some home and warmed it up for lunch the next day, it'd still be pretty tasty.

Even if you don't order any of these items, I think you'll leave happy. There's a reason this place has become a Charleston institution for locals and tourists...or locals who are pretending to be tourists!

Staycation Brunch

Toast!: Charleston, SC

April 17, 2010

Tom and I were coming up on the two-year anniversary of our courtship. For our one-year, we drove to Savannah on a Saturday morning and spent the day there, so we thought it might be fun to take another day trip like that. (Our main reason for going there was to have lunch at The Lady & Sons, but we'll discuss that some other time...! And I will definitely write about it, because it was awesome.) Then we realized the town we were living in had a ton of fun things to do which we had never done! Charleston is a great city, but when you live there it's easy to miss opportunities to do fun things. So, in an attempt to make up for some of the ones we'd missed, we decided to have a "staycation" and spend all day Saturday downtown and even stay in a hotel in North Charleston that night. We took a carriage tour, visited the aquarium, and went on a ghost tour. We also had some terrific food, of course. We started the day with brunch at Toast, where the guy who brought our food out told us we had ordered the two best items on the menu. I'm not sure if he was just trying to further sell the food to us, but I think I believe him anyway.

Tom's Entree: Deluxe French Toast

Don't let the name fool you; this is so much more than just a big plate of French toast. Every element of this dish is special. It's hand-cut currant bread stuffed with your choice of cinnamon apples or peaches (if you order a double, you can get one of each, which is what Tom did), with apple or peach cider syrup. The bread is nice and thick, which means that it pretty much never gets soggy. The fruit inside is flavorful and also not soggy. The syrup also adds a little something extra special. I definitely would recommend this one to anyone with a sweet tooth. And apparently Tom and I are not alone in our appreciation; according to the menu, the Deluxe French Toast has also been heralded by the New York Times.

My Entree: Eggs Meeting Street

This is one of those entrees that sounds and tastes like it would be bad for your figure (and it probably is, in all honesty) but certainly doesn't feel like it. Very sneaky, this one...! They start with that southern staple, the fried green tomato, then top it with a crab cake and lay a poached egg on top of that, then finish it off with a nice Lowcountry remoulade sauce. The end result is a combination of flavors that are colorful but compatible, comforting but certainly not boring. The combination of textures is great too, with the crispy tomato and the soft crab cake and the egg that's almost like another sauce without being too messy. The whole thing was so light too; that's what I meant by it being sneaky! When I ordered it, I was afraid that it might make me feel a little gross or heavy later because of all the fried stuff and the remoulade; but I cleaned my plate, and all I felt afterward was satisfaction. I ordered the single, but you do have the option of doubling your fun. You also have a choice between home fries and grits. Not being much of a grits person, I went with the home fries, which were fabulous, as was the warm, crumbly buttermilk biscuit that came alongside.

What a great start to our staycation! Whether you're a tourist or a local, I think you'll appreciate the southern comfort of Toast. We also had a great dinner later that night, but like our visit to The Lady & Sons, that's a separate entry.