My new Favorite Restaurant: Publico

 

Once upon a time, Neil and I ate out all the time.  We weren't parents then.  Yes, parenthood has a tendency to curtail a lot of that spontaneous eating out.  But needless to say, I'll take my baby girl over a good steak any day!  

You all may remember how long time culinary citizen Garibaldi's suddenly closed up shop.  I think with something like a whopping 24 hour notice to their employees. I know I was shocked when I heard.  Just a few months before, Neil had taken our daughter there for a daddy-daughter date night and made a fan out of her. Then, they were gone. 

If you have been paying attention, that building has been under construction lately.  Lots of activity over there and then the sign went up.  Publico. Hmmm!  What could it be? What will it be like?  What can we expect? 

Neil and I decided to head over there on New Year's Eve for lunch.  He had already stopped in one day last week for a beer and tried their bacon-wrapped jalapenos and was impressed. He told me about the menu, which I pulled up online and out the door we went.

Neil is in a happy place

Publico's menu features a large selection of specialty tacos with an emphasis on Asian flavors.  Example? How about a Bahn Mi taco: crisp pork belly, jalapeno, cucumber, carrot & daikon.  Or, what about a Pad Thai taco or Avocado Crunch? Wait, there's more!  How does a burger made from ground chuck, brisket and short rib grab you?  Of course, you may opt for a Carne Asada puffy taco (remember that episode of "Beat Bobby Flay"?) or a Korean influenced tostada?


Neil and I opted for their special, which is 5 tacos and 2 sides. Our plan was to share so we could get a good sampling of the menu.  

Isn't that beautiful?

We chose the Plum Chicken, Sambal Fish, Cilantro-Lime Shrimp, Classic Carnitos and Bahn Mi taco.  For sides, we chose the Mexican street corn and edamame.  Simply put, this food was awesome.  Man, I don't even know where to begin...

Plum Chicken Taco

 I think the Plum Chicken was my favorite. The chicken is nicely seasoned and the plum sauce gives it a little something extra, without adding too much sweetness. It's dressed with a bok choy slaw, the plum sauce and black beans.  

Sambal Fish Taco

Neil's vote goes to the Sambal Fish, which I am a fan of too.  The fish is tempura fried: nice and light. The sambal aioli is awesome and the pickled red onion and kim chi give this taco crunch and tang.  

Bahn Mi Taco

I liked the Bahn Mi a lot but think it may need a little more zip to it; perhaps just a little more of the red pepper aioli. But, I loved the crispy pork belly and crunchy vegetables. 

Classic Carnitos Taco

The Classic Carnitos was also high on our list.  Smoky, pulled pork with jalapeno, guac, pico...delicious.  My least favorite was the shrimp. I expected more flavor from the cilantro and lime but found it rather bland.  But, of course, I am a shrimp snob.  I would order this again, but think I'd add more chipotle crema to jack up the flavor.  

Cilantro Lime Shrimp Taco

The sides are notable too: the Mexican street corn is out of this world.  The corn was smoky, tender and spiced with chile and cheese. We are both big fans of edamame but Publico serves it with Ponzu sauce, which we had never had before.  You dip the pod in the ponzu and then pop the beans out of the pod, you know, the same way we eat boiled peanuts. I had just never thought of or seen anyone serve with ponzu.  I like it!

Ok, I know this post is long, but there's a lot to say!  Publico is just cool.  They took out the windows that overlook Greene Street and replaced them with roll up doors.  (Anyone remember Hannah Jane's?) The walls are clad in recovered wood, food is served on flat, stainless plates, like pizza pans. If you choose to sit at the bar that separates the dining room from the actual bar, note the purse hooks, A/C and USB outlets.

 Someone is quite talented at chalkboard penmanship.  I always marvel at that...how does someone not only write so artistically that big and with a stick of chalk?  We had the pleasure of having the owner, Mike, stop by our table and talk. He's new to Columbia and excited about being here.  He shared with us his experience in the restaurant business from Houston to Nashville and now here he is in Columbia. He's interested in local sourcing and creating a quality upscale casual environment. Matt was our server and he was fantastic: answered all my goofy questions without rolling his eyes (at least not in front of me!) and he really knew the menu. He and the bartender Lilly, both came by our table to check on us and we talked about the menu, their favorites, our favorites.  

The Carnage

We loved our experience at Publico and can't wait to go back.  In fact, we've already decided what we're going to try on our next trip.  Highly recommend that you check out this new addition to our culinary scene.  Mangia!

Black Bean Co. Comes to Columbia

The Black Bean Co. from Charleston has joined the Capital City ranks.  Before I even knew they were coming here, or were already here for that matter, I noticed their Folly Road location as we were headed for Folly Beach a few weeks ago.  And lo and behold, they are here and I got to check them out yesterday with my mom and dad.

If you haven't ever been to a Black Bean Co. or checked out their website, their concept (as I saw on the back of aT-shirt) is "Diet Food is Out, Energy Food is in."  The menu consists of breakfast and lunch offerings, mainly in the form of wraps and salads featuring local and/or organic and natural foods. You choose your protein to add to their creative and vast assortment of choices.  And, that's what really hit me today.  There are times that when lunch rolls around I just think about having some kind of a good sandwich.  But if you really think about it, there aren't many places anymore that offer any sandwiches of any interest. It's all the same:  turkey with some bacon, buffalo chicken, the same-ol-same-ol chicken salad, turkey with blah, blah, blah.  You won't have that problem at the Black Bean Co.

I ordered one of the "Pure Energy Wraps" entitled the Black and Blue. It is a gigantic wrap of white meat chicken, blue cheese, avocado, mixed greens, black beans, rice and the best condiment: fig balsamic vinaigrette.  All of the components were wonderful but that vinaigrette is fantastic and just ties it all together.  I do wish the avocado were a bit more plentiful however.

The Black and Blue

The Fig Balsamic Vinaigrette rock this wrap!

 My mom ordered the Thanksgiving Joy.  As many of you know from this post, my mom is the Thanksgiving turkey & dressing-a-holic to end all holics. This one is packed full of turkey, cranberry, sprouts, mixed greens and fresh mozz.  Dad opted for the Beach Burrito.  This wrap consists of chicken, mango salsa, mixed greens, black beans, rice, sprouts and guacamole.  Both mom and dad liked their choices very much. However, once my dad got a couple bites into the 2nd half of his wrap, the ingredients dwindled down to nothing but salsa, greens and rice.  Lots and lots of rice.  Mom and I encouraged him to take it to the counter and let the staff know, but my dad isn't a wave maker.

The Thanksgiving Joy

The Beach Burrito

 We all ordered our sandwiches as a combo (wrap, side, drink) because we learned from the lady taking our order that it is more economically sensible to order it that way, as a sandwich and drink are only a few cents less.  So, it's like getting a free side.  This makes me wonder why not just feature all the wraps with a side and drink for one price?  

Potato salad is kind of like pizza...there are 5.17M+ ways to make it.  The salad at Black Bean is a pretty classic preparation with hard boiled egg, chopped red onion and chopped celery.  I really thought my mom would reject it because she's not a raw onion fan at all.  But, she ate all of hers without complaint, so that says something.  I loved the flavor, but I'm not a hard boiled egg fan which means I'm constantly teasing through mine looking for the egg slivers.  Plus, you guys know how I feel about celery, right?  I forced myself to just plow through the celery, but I truly think celery is the vegetable from hell. Somehow someone managed to convince the rest of the population that EVERYBODY just loves that foul stalk of ickiness. Not so much.

So, here's the deal.  I really like this place. The choices (choose your protein) and all the fresh veggies are more than abundant.  The combinations they've come up with make for a vastly interesting array of sandwich and salad choices.  And, they have a kids menu that makes me smile.  One thing I'd offer to the management, if they wanted my opinion, is to offer the wrap in a half size.  They are enormous.  I  couldn't even think about eating my whole wrap.  

Yea!  No styrofoam!

I do love the fact the the Black Bean Co. is using paper to-go boxes, but consider this.  If I could just order a half-size wrap, no to-go container of any sort is necessary.  Just sayin'...

Cali's Cafe

The Main Street revival that so many of us have craved for years is finally beginning to happen.  Mast General Store is attracting retail shopping back to Main St.  Paradise Ice is cranking out the best ice cream known to man. Cantina 76 has opened a 2nd location there. It's starting. 

My dad had read about a little place just off the corner of Main and Taylor. He's been wanting to go check it out, so we headed that way.  At first glance, one might think opening a cafe right next to the Oliver Gospel Mission might be an odd location.  And frankly, if Main Street weren't finally coming back to life, I'd agree completely.  But, this location may work just fine.  Especially since they feature many vegetarian menu items and a large healthcare organization, owned by a health-conscious vegetarian, is renovating 3 buildings right around the corner on Main.

Cali's Cafe is probably the smallest restaurant I've ever been in!  It has 3 booths and a few stools at the window.  But its smallness creates a friendly, intimate environment.  Within 2 minutes of entering, we had been welcomed and introduced to the owner, her sister and her mom, who are all in the restaurant helping out.  I posed my age-old question about the chicken salad...you know the one..."Does the chicken salad have celery in it?"  Yes.  Yes it does.  However, the owner told me that she doesn't really care for it either so she chops it finely.  She sent me a sample of the cranberry chicken salad to try.  It was very tasty, but a little too sweet for me, so I chose to order one of the sandwiches.

I ordered the "Redwood." I really liked the flavors of this sandwich, especially the brie.  If you look closely, you can see the good ooziness of the cheese.  My one critique of the sandwich would be that the meat was a bit scant. Just one more slice of turkey and one of ham would have given the sandwich the "heft" to stand up to the bread and the horseradish.  Would I get this sandwich again?  Yes, but with my suggestions.  

The sandwich was accompanied by some pasta salad. I must be honest.  I got burned out on pasta salad at its advent...in the 80's. Yes, of course, I've had some pasta salads over all these years that have been pretty good, but for the most part, I'm over the whole pasta salad thing. Unfortunately, Cali's is serving exactly what I hate about pasta salad.  Pasta with some bell pepper, carrot, whatever, drowned in bottled Italian dressing.  Not a winner on any level.  I'd rather have any other side on the planet. Even just simple chips would do.  

As you can see from the photo, this all came served on a styrofoam 3-sectioned plate.  Styrofoam..well, I don't need to say much here.  But, if you're going to use a 3-sectioned plate, be it plastic or china, there should be something in that 3rd section.  Presenting a plate with an empty slot, well, it just screams "Something's missing!"  And that's because it is.  I mean, even just plopping a pickle there would solve this problem.  But, please,make it a good pickle. 

So, it may sound like I'm all critical and $%&t, but I'm really just telling it like it is.  And this is what it is...I like this little place. I like the wonderful, friendly and inviting family of women that run the place. I want them to succeed.  Thus, my comments and suggestions.  I hope you will check out Cali's Cafe.  If people keep them going they will do well when the Main Street explosion happens, which I think is on our near horizon. 

M.Grille

Michelle Wang seems to be unstoppable.  And I'm not complaining.  I've been a fan of her restaurants dating way back to the original Miyo's on S. Main St. Her newest restaurant, M.Grille, is open in the Vista.  Funny thing is that it's about one block from M.Vista. I knew before walking in there that this was a continuation of her fresh, healthy, "now" concept that is found at M.Fresh. As you enter, you're greeted with the similar clean, hip, sharp interior as M.Fresh.  The tables are all attractively set and busy chefs are working away behind the sushi bar. I love the look of the place, all the way down to the square plates on the tables.

I went with my mom and dad for lunch.  My dad opted for a salad topped with a grilled flounder filet.  It was very attractive and he was quite pleased with his choice. Mom went with the "Cobb" salad. She's a fan of any Cobb salad and is always eager to try new variations of the classic. Again, she was happy with her selection.  I chose the grilled sweet and sour chicken with pineapple. It was actually two thin chicken cutlets (which I prefer over big, thick chicken breasts) in a light sauce with diced pineapple over the top.  It was served with brown rice and steamed broccoli.  The chicken was awesome, but my broccoli was undercooked and completely unseasoned.  Personally, I think brown rice sucks. I know we all make ourselves eat it because it's good for us, but it's just a flavorless scoop of mush. I am a huge broccoli fan, but I like it cooked.  This was practically raw. And, as I've said before and am continually backed up here by the "Chopped" judges, food needs to be seasoned. With something. So, I pretty much just ate my chicken.

Complimentary Asian slaw for the table to share.  Nice touch.

 

Dad's salad with flounder

Mom's Asian cobb salad

My sweet and sour pineapple chicken

Overall, I like this place.  But, I have to tell you one thing that's been bugging the crud out of me ever since we went there last week. We had a very pleasant and accommodating waitress.  She was knowledgeable about the menu and asked if we'd ever been here before, any questions, etc.  We all ordered unsweet tea, as usual.  My mom asked her for some sweetener.  Her response was "Oh, all we have is natural sugar."  This prompted me to say "You don't have Splenda?" and she replied "We try to stay on the healthy side." 

First, sugar is natural.  Always.  It's like saying natural cotton.  All cotton is natural.  Second, when I was pregnant, I was told I could only use sugar (but in super moderation because pregnant women are at risk of gestational diabetes) or Splenda.  No Sweet 'n Low, no Equal, just Splenda.  Third, to what planet did these people go to have someone tell them that sugar is "healthy?" Sugar may be natural but that doesn't make it healthy.  For instance, for a diabetic person, sugar is most assuredly NOT healthy.  Not healthy for a Type 2 diabetic like the man sitting across the table from me (Dad).  

I love the concept of fresh and natural but I hate it whan any business that I'm patronizing trying to B.S. me.  For years my mom has ordered her food with no onions.  Countless times, it's arrived with onions, like the cook is trying to convince her that she's going to like them.  Well, what if onions cause her to break out in a rash?  If a person with a peanut allergy orders fried chicken, you can't deliberately cook it in peanut oil because you think they're exaggerating.  Same thing here.  I have a friend whose 2nd child is a juvenile diabetic.  If the kid wants to come your restaurant and drink tea, have some damn sweetener available that won't kill her.  It would be a shame for someone to go into a coma because you served them something "natural." And, maybe, just maybe there are people like me who just can't stand the sappy, syrupy nature of sugar and just prefer something else.  All I can say to the M.Group on this subject is go buy some stevia and quit telling people you only have sugar because you "tend to lean toward the healthy side."

 

Nickel and Dimed

I take great pleasure in recommending others, raving about their services and/or products and telling others how great it is.  I really do love that.  There's a restaurant (locally owned; my fave) that I've told you all about in the past and I've always been very favorable and enthusiastic about.  But, today, I'm not feeling so warm and fuzzy.  In fact, I'm pretty irritated.

My mom and I stopped in there for lunch today.  I ordered one of the specials, which was a turkey Philly.  Neil's a big fan of chicken Phillys, so I reasoned, it must be good with turkey too.  I asked the waitress what kind of peppers they use on the sandwich and she said "bell peppers."  I then asked if they had hot cherry peppers. 

She went to the kitchen and asked and I actually heard the answer "yes."  Ok, great.  I'd like the Philly but ask them to add some hot cherry peppers to the bell pepper please.  No problem.

It was a bit odd to me that the cherry peppers had been battered and fried.  What?  But, they were tasty this way, although I've never, ever seen them cooked this way.

For my side dish, I got fried green tomatoes, which come with a sauce.  Mine turned over and started filling up my sandwich basket.  I asked for an additional sidecar of the sauce. Turns out the sauce was pretty good dabbed on the sandwich.

So, it's all good.  Mom and I were both pleased with our lunch.  We had a really attentive and pleasant waitress.  Then we looked at the check.  They charged us $.50 for the cherry peppers and $.50 for the replacement dressing.  Are you freakin' kidding me?  

First, in the modern world of rip-off tea that we live in (see this post), it is inexcusably tacky and in poor taste for ANY restaurant to nickel & dime their customers on an extra piece of cheese, more salad dressing, adding onions to a burger, putting jalapenos on whatever I say to put them on, or whatever.  It was all I could do not to blow my stack over this check.  Let's break this down, shall we?

So, from this previous post, we know that a glass of iced tea costs (give or take) a whopping $.11 to make.  I don't have supplies on hand tonight to conduct one of my super-scientific studies, but I feel confident in these statements. 1) If salad dressing costs $.50/Tablespoon, we'd all be eating dry salad because we simply couldn't afford a bottle of dressing to keep in our fridges, and 2) $.50 worth of hot cherry peppers would easily fill up a shoebox, which as any idiot can surmise, is way too much for one, a dozen or even 45 Philly sandwiches. So, to the owners of "XXXX" restaurant in Cayce (names changed to protect the innocent), please explain the logic behind charging me for these miniscule additions to my lunch order.  

Other than petty, arbitrary and capricious upcharging that does nothing but piss off a previously happy-to-praise-and-rave-about-you customer?  Huh? Hell, if you need the dollar that bad, take it out of your insanely inflated tea revenue!

Not like all the others

I grew up with Greek people.  I've been lucky enough to experience Greek weddings, Greek funerals and feasts of the dead, Greek parties and Greek food.  Lots and lots of Greek food.  Most people around here will probably tell you that they like to eat Greek, but I bet you they will all cite the same cast of characters:  gyro, Greek salad, pizza and baklava.  These are all great dishes to be sure, but there is so much more to Greek cuisine.  

Ariana's is a new Greek restaurant in West Columbia, not far from the Botanical Garden entrance on 378.  

I'm not sure how long they've been open, but it hasn't been long.  I ventured in with my mom and a friend for lunch the other day.  They serve gyros, of course, but they also feature moussaka, pastichio, tandoori chicken, dolmades, and spanakopita.  But what's pleasantly different is that they also have tons of lamb dishes which is really hard to find anymore.  Back in the good old days, the Epicurean was THE place for lamb.  I remember lamb chops with mint, "lamb for lovers" and lamb chops "bandit style."  And these were real lamb chops too, not the miniscule "lamb-pops" that show up in our stores today.  Seriously, are they slaughtering these poor animals a week after they are born?  Well, Ariana's is serving lamb.  You can get souvlakia on a pita or as a platter, grilled lamb kabobs, and rarely seen items such as lamb with carrot, raisin & almonds, lamb stew and a spinach stew with lamb. And here is something my buddy The April Blake will relish:  there are 5 vegetarian dishes on this menu!

Side salad with a different vinaigrette

Dottie's lamb souvlaki plate with homemade tzaziki & Greek potatoes

I had spanakopita served with Greek potatoes

I also love the fact that their decor IS NOT the typical, tacky Greek restaurant decor.  It's bright, fresh and clean.  No weird marshmallow-like structures covering the ceiling, no Greek fishermen painted on the walls by someone's aspiring 3rd grader, no run-of-the-mill food service style chairs and hard plastic plates.  Ariana's uses modern place settings, cloth napkins and stylish furnishings.  However, I found it a bit odd that the table we had was not as long as the booth seats.  That was a little strange; hopefully something temporary. And, I must admit, I was duly impressed that the table is outfitted with a salt grinder full of lovely pink salt.  Very nice touch! 

The owner is on-site, the ingredients look and taste fresh, the menu is different and interesting and the prices are more than reasonable.  I hope this restaurant will enjoy long success here in Columbia.  For those of you who would like to venture out and expand your Greek food horizons, try them out.  Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of times that a big ol' Greek pizza is calling my name and I wouldn't change that at all. But it is certainly refreshing to see a restaurateur open up and spotlight some lesser known Greek dishes.  And he's doing it well. 

Lowcountry Backyard

Yeah, so everybody's heard of The Masters, right?  Even if you think golf is one of the most hypnotic, sleeper spectator sports of all time, you've heard of it.  Well, after the Masters comes The Heritage at Hilton Head.  Since I only became remotely interested in golf at the ripe old age of 31, it goes without saying that I've never been to The Heritage.  Until now.

My friend Kelley, had tickets but was unable to use them, so she offered them to me.  I thought, "Huh, I've always heard it's really fun.  Why shouldn't we go?"  So, I accepted her offer.  Good move on my part...not only did we have tickets to Saturday's play but we also had an invitation to a Hospitality Suite.  N.I.C.E.

After a fun day of wine, awesome pulled pork, cruising about the links and Harbour Town, running into friends from high school and watching said friends play the "dollar on the ground attached to fishing line" trick, it was time for us to head home.  But, first, we needed to fuel up.  And the car too.  I had consulted my buddy, Urbanspoon, and the website for The Heritage and came across a restaurant I wanted to seek out before leaving the island. The Lowcountry Backyard.

I am so glad we followed our noses.  First, this place is right off the traffic circle at Sea Pines, so it was a cinch to find. As their website tells you to come early, we were in good shape since around 4:30 we were looking for a substantial "snack" before our drive back home.  Like a couple of nerds, we were standing outside when they unlocked the door, with our Heritage tickets hanging from our shirts. To be exact, however, there was actually another couple there before us, so we didn't have to be the mega-geeks seated first!

Here's the low-down. We both flipped our lids over this little place.  It's a small dining room and a backyard dining area.  This day was chilly, so they didn't even bother asking us if we wanted to be outside...they knew we'd say no.   The dining room is charming and intimate. I loved the fact that the ceiling has those little pin-hole fiber optic lights in it.  You know, the ones that subtly change color. It has a very close and comfy feel to it like you're in the dining room of a friend. Right off, we were greeted by the most fabu waitress we've had in awhile.  She's quite beautiful, actually.

Amy. Best Waitress Ever!

First off, they make fried green tomatoes here.  I am a sucker for fried greens.  Funny thing is, until the movie Fried Green Tomatoes I'd never even heard of this.  People say and think it's so Southern, but in my South, this was not a frequent flyer on our menus. But after that movie, they started showing up everywhere. I think it was Rockaways that introduced them to me.  Things haven't been the same since! So, we ordered the fried green tomato appetizer to share.  It came as a stack of tomatoes with homemade sweet pickles.  The tomatoes were perfect and were drizzled with homemade Ranch dressing but those pickles were pretty incredible too! The slices were thick enough to allow the tartness of the tomato really come through. Fried well too, no excess grease.

Super stack of fried green tomatoes

 
I am not a meatloaf eater.  My mom hates meatloaf, therefore, my family never had meatloaf. I've grown curious about it as I've aged, but I've always concluded that my mom knew what she was talking about.  It's a brick of meat. The meatloaf of this restaurant is described as "potato chip meatloaf."  I thought it was interesting that some of the reviews actually said stupid stuff like "I really couldn't appreciate the potato chips." Really?  Really?  Who are these people?  Have you ever been able to "appreciate" the torn up bread or bread crumbs in other meatloaves?  Here's a newsflash...you shouldn't taste bread or potato chips or panko or whatever binder is used.  And here's something else you should know...by using potato instead of bread, these clever folks have made this dish gluten-free, which we know is necessary for some and "all the rage" for others.

Neil ordered the meatloaf sandwich on flat bread with a side of grits.  I know, I know. Odd combo, but that's how my man rolls.  This meatloaf is a game-changer.  From the moment the plate hit the table, I was intrigued.  It didn't look like meat-brick.  Not at all.  It had sauteed onions, beautiful flatbread, but what really caught my attention was that there was actually JUICE coming out of the meat.  What?? Meat bricks don't have any moisture, right? Well, this is the true exception. The grits are magnificent.  Definitely cooked with cream; perfect consistency.

The meatloaf sandwich and incredible grits

 On to my plate...I chose the shrimp burger. Now this is a dish that first showed up around here back in the early 80's.  It was at the Shrimp Shack on St. Helena Island. Maybe it's because childhood memories run deep, but to this day, I think the Shrimp Shack still is the King Daddy of shrimp burgers.  However, the Lowcountry Backyard is a very close second.  The Backyard's burger was nicely cooked. I believe theirs is pan-fried and like the tomatoes, not greasy at all.  It was served, as you can see, with a beautiful bright red tomato and a crisp romaine leaf.

Shrimp Burger

I selected the macaroni salad as my side, since I'd read so much about it.  I thought it was quite good because even though it's a mayo-based pasta salad, it wasn't swimming in mayonnaise.  And, some more of those yummy homemade pickles. 

Neil and I were simply delighted with this place. The food is really good, the atmosphere is comfortable and inviting and it's not an over-priced seafood-slinging tourist magnet.  Our server was very friendly and open to our questions.  She knows the menu and made our experience A+.  I'll tell ya this...I'm ordering that meatloaf for myself next time.  Wow.  I never, ever, ever expected to hear myself say that.  This should tell you how flippin' good the stuff is.  And, if you expect or want to taste potato chips, you're just going to have to get a side of chips.