Opinionated About Dining

McCrady's is the Best Restaurant Nobody Knows About

   

If I told you that in the unsuspecting city of Charleston, South Carolina, you could find a chef with talent that is on par with the Grant Achatz's and Wylie Dufresne's of the world, you would probably tell me I am making that up. But I assure you that it's true. Sean Brock, all of 29 years old, is not only one of America's great chefs, but surely the least well known considering the size of his talent. Working out of a historic tavern that has been located on this site since 1788, Brock and a kitchen staff of 5 turn out 17 course extravaganzas involving every contemporary and cutting edge culinary technique known to mankind.

The tavern that houses McCrady's is the most unlikely setting for contemporary cuisine Mrs. P and I have come across yet. Based on the look and feel of the place, it would be more in keeping for the kitchen to send out dishes like turtle soup and roasted racks of lamb with stuffed potatoes rather than a soup of local corn that is laced with vaudovan and lamb served with sous vide broccoli stems. But much to our astonishment, Chef Brock kept pounding our table with one unique creation after another until we were ready to bust.   

                                                                                           

Rest of U.S. Formal & Casual Dining

                                       San Francisco

Manresa - Chef David Kinch is an ambitious man. A veteran of NYC’s Quilted Giraffe, as well as a number of Europe’s finest kitchens, he has joined Thomas Keller and Grant Achatz in the club of American chefs who serve large, multicourse tasting menus. When I visited his Los Gatos restaurant in September, he plied us with 18 courses, and I've heard that they have gone as high as 25. The eclectic cuisine ranges from a perfect mackerel flown in from Japan served sushi style to a twice-cooked foie gras in a quince consommé, watercress “soup” with Iranian caviar, and various meats slowly braised or prepared sous vide. Manresa reminds of New York's Blue Hill at Stone Barns. Worth the 55-mile trip down from San Francisco and a much easier reservation to get than The French Laundry. This is a restaurant worth watching. The volume of courses pushes this score up a notch. A-

David Kinch's Watercress Vichyssoise with Iranian Osetra Caviar