TOP 10 food travel destinations
CAROLINA COASTAL
CUISINE DISHES
Murrells
Inlet
Second
Avenue
Pier
Restaurant
CRACKER CRUSTED SCAMP Grouper,
Carolina Gold risotto timbale, fresh
oyster stew, butter poached onions
and leeks and parsley froth
CAW CAW CREEK pastured pork
chop, stone ground grit soufflé, field
asparagus, brandy demiglace
Chef
Casey
Blake of
Drunken
Jacks
Myrtle Beach, SC
T
here’s been a revolution in
cooking in the last decade or
so in the Myrtle Beach area.
Many professional chefs are putting
a more modern spin on traditional
Lowcountry dishes.
“Carolina Coastal” is how this culinary genre is often described. It’s
rooted in using a wide array of locally
and regionally fished, grown and
produced foods. Chefs use local ingredients like Carolina rice, stone-ground
grits, shrimp, blue crab, grouper and
country ham in traditional recipes
handed down from the local Gullah
community and rich cultural history.
The South Carolina Hospitality
Alliance has created a “fresh on the
menu’’ designation for restaurants. To
qualify, a least 25 percent of the ingredients have to be locally grown.
56 FOOD TRAVELER | SUMMER 2013
While restaurants up and down
The Grand Strand prepare this cuisine,
one of the most interesting spots to
experience it is Murrells Inlet, seafood
capital of South Carolina, 25 minutes’
drive south of central Myrtle Beach.
Once you have sampled the best
in coastal cuisine, it’s time to see the
sights. There are two things that you
have to see when you come to the
Grand Strand: the beach, and Calvin’s
Gilmore’s Carolina Opry.
The first variety show in Myrtle
Beach—and still the jewel in its crown.
The New York Times say