A 2014 Father's Day Culinary Wish List In Charleston
It's harder than you think...finding the perfect gift for the special dad in your life. Lucky for those living or visiting Charleston, the city is filled with unique one of the kind items that would make the culinary lover excited to open up on this Father's Day. Here are Daily Meal's top choices for the year:
Middleton Made Knives
You might have to travel an hour or so to find Quentin Middleton, but you don't have to go far to see his craft knives in use at some of the city's best restaurants. That's because Quentin's knives are used by chefs like Sean Brock of McCrady's and Husk and Jason Stanhope of FIG. A trained bladesmith, Quentin uses high carbon steel and creates customized knives made by the exact specifications of his clients. They can be purchase locally from Charleston Cooks or Southern Season or directly from his site. Knives range from a $100 paring knife to an $820 10" Damascus chef knife.
Food for the Southern Soul Gift Box
Pitmaster Jimmy Hagood knows how to feed a crowd. And lucky for most, you can go on his website and select from a multitude of sauces, marinades and pickled items. Best of all it is authentically southern like he is. The Southern Soul Pantry Gift Box is filled to the brim for $69 with his Blackjack Barbecue Sauce, a shrimp sauce and marinade, black bean dip, stone ground grits, aromatic rice, benne wafers and a hot sauce.
Charleston Beer Exchange Gift Certificate
Let Certified Cicerone and store manager Brandon Plyler take you on a tour and teach you all about beer while you visit this charming, tucked away spot right off of Broad and East Bay Streets. Brandon, a long-time beverage professional, knows the ends and out of good beer and can help select something based on taste and preferences and can share some limited, hard to find varietals. Charleston Beer Exchange is stocked with the best which is why it has been rated one of the top beer stores in the country since opening. Glassware, growlers and gift certificates are also available.
Anything Le Creuset
Charleston is lucky enough to serve as the US headquarters for Le Creuset and the company has a strong presence throughout restaurants in the city. Most every top restaurant serves some dish using their gorgeously designed cast iron cookware. They offer a variety of product lines to choose from including stockpots, burner grills, braisers, French overs and more. Best of all, they can be found throughout the city in stores like Charleston Cooks, Southern Season and their stand-alone store on King Street.
Craig Deihl's Artisan Meat Share
Before you know it, Craig Deihl's artisan meat share will be available any day of the week when he opens a free-standing location on Spring Street. For now, he has a limited meat share program available through Cypress and features "bags or boxes" full of cured and handcrafted meats. Past items have included braunschweiger, Tuscan beef salami, pork pate and landjager to name a few and are normally $50 a share.
Learn to fish, shrimp and more
Who does not love to get on the water and what better way to enjoy it than fishing, shrimping, crabbing and catching something good to eat? Charleston Angler hosts a variety of free seminars in their store on how to do all of the above and most of them are free. While inside, shop for a variety of items, take advantage of a class and then put them both to work. Items sold include rods, reels, tackles and lures, cutting boards, oyster knives, flasks and more.