Wednesday Whereabouts: Charleston Wine + Food Festival

 

On Friday night, Lanier and I headed out to our first dinner during Charleston’s Wine + Food Festival.
 High Cotton hosted Guest Chef Justin Devillier from La Petite Grocery, all the way from New Orleans and High Cotton’s own, Chef Shawn Kelly.  The food was absolutely amazing, as was the wine paired with it!  Janie Brooks Heuck of Brooks Winery was a delight.  We had a wonderful time the whole evening, as we were lucky enough to sit across from Justin’s wife Mia and her mother.  They recently opened a second restaurant in New Orleans, Balise, and we loved hearing about the success of both restaurants.  One thing’s for sure, they make a great team, as Mia is the general manager of both La Petite Grocery and now Balise.  After our dinner, I know one, or maybe two places, I’ll be visiting if I ever make it down to New Orleans!
Just one of the many tasty appetizers served before dinner.  I wish I’d snapped a pic of the blue crab beignets!  They were my favorite!
First Course: Chilled Stone Crab.  Light and fresh, a perfect beginning!
Second Course: Fried Green Tomatoes.  I laugh because this one was clearly my favorite.  I couldn’t wait to even snap a pic before indulging.  So good!
Third Course: Grilled Triggerfish.  I usually think triggerfish can be a little dry, but the Grain Mustard Jus that was served with it, added the perfect amount of sauce to keep it savory.
Fourth Course: Braised Short Ribs.  As if the triggerfish wasn’t enough, the short ribs that came out after were quickly eaten.  Keep in mind that I had just finished a 7-day cleanse a few days before.  This food was all clearly worth it, and an awesome reward!
Fifth Course: A cheese course as a dessert?  I thought this was brilliant!  And the cheeses and preserves they chose hit the spot at the end of such a wonderful meal!
As we sat around, chatting, happily satisfied by our awesome meal, they brought out petit fours for each table.  I must say that I wasn’t able to partake in much of these treats, as I was full by that point, but they sure looked delicious.
Janie of Brooks Winery was such a treat to meet!  She honestly never thought she’d be in the wine business, but her brother who founded Brooks Winery passed away unexpectedly twelve years ago, and she took responsibility for the business.  She quickly learned the ropes, but I did ask her if she had an acquired taste for wine, and she said that was the biggest challenge.  She had to learn to taste good wine.  The Oregon wine community helped her with that aspect, along with more knowledge she’d need to run the business.  One day, her late brother’s son, Pascal will run Brooks Winery, but as he’s only 15, having ownership in something so grand will take some time to learn the ropes, just as Janie had to.  Her words that night were so positive and uplifting.  “Live life to the fullest.  Every single day.  You never know if it’ll be your last.”
What I Wore

More details on fit on this past Saturday’s post here.
On Saturday, I headed to ‘Fried Chicken for the Southern Soul’ at Cannon Green.  It was so much fun, not to mention that the chicken was outstanding!
The champagne was flowing, until they ran out with about thirty minutes left of the event to go.  Many attendees were a little saddened by this.

My favorite fried chicken course from the event was this one from Bonterra (a Charlotte-restaurant favorite).  Anything with fried green tomatoes is a winner in my book!
The coolest bathroom door.
Cannon Green is such a beautiful spot downtown!
Love this artwork by Teil Duncan featured above seating in the restaurant.
Loved all the orange roses to match the theme.  Ring
I love The Sanctuary at Kiawah, so I knew the sweet treats created by Remy Unfrock at the event would be amazing!  They didn’t disappoint!  The perfect addition, washed down with some Veuve Clicquot.
After lunch, we made our way down to the festival tents, but stopped into Beckett Boutique along the way.  I knew my girls Marion and Leslie from Open Door Shop were hosting a pop-up shop at the store, so I wanted to stop in and say hi, and shop a little too.  I know by now that you’re not too shocked by my sunglasses addiction, but I got these silver lens sunglasses (seen in the pic below).  They’re Le Specs.  Much like my other favorites I’ve been wearing for the past few months, these are only $59.  I’m telling you, you will love them.  You’ll notice my friend Natalie wearing a pair like my other blue lens ones, in the pic below.

Running into the ‘Gastronaut’ – I guess you could say he was the “mascot” of the wine and food festival.  I couldn’t believe he wore that the whole weekend.  I asked him how often he had festival goers ask if they could try on his helmet, and he said pretty much all the time.  But he wouldn’t let them, and I don’t blame him.
I was excited to run into a family friend while shopping the tents on Saturday, Craig Evans, owner of Y’allsome.  All of their products are made using Southern businesses and 15% of the profits from the sale of each product go to help Southern foster kids find permanent homes.
It was such a pleasure to meet Erin Connelly, event manager for the festival.  She did such an outstanding job this year, all while staying so cool and collected!
My girlfriend and I made it a girls’ night and stayed at The Spectator Hotel that night.
If you’re ever in town, you must visit!  They pride themselves on providing you with local products, whether it’s the decorating, the cocktail or the food.  For breakfast in bed, they serve an array of food, but my favorite is their assortment of Callie’s Hot Little Biscuit.  They were pretty much everything…especially drizzled with a little honey.

As I mentioned on Saturday’s post, this blue dress is which one I ended up choosing.  So glad I did, as it was perfect for the weather that day.
This week so far, we’ve been enjoying the beautiful sunshine and warmer weather!  Vaughn’s new cheese face is my favorite!
The kids have been begging me to let them sleep together, so I finally let them last night.  The girls usually share a room and the boys each have their own room.
Can you tell how excited they were about this??
Today is supposed to be another beautiful day here!  Cannot wait to spend most of it outside!

Hope y’all are having a great week so far!

2 thoughts on “Wednesday Whereabouts: Charleston Wine + Food Festival

  1. I love your blog! I also have 4 children and am starting to chronicle our days a little better. Do you use your iPhone for most of your pictures? They are so bright and clear. Do you use any filters or adjust regularly? Keep doing what you're doing!

    Best wishes,
    Rebecca 🙂

    1. Thank, Rebecca! I use my iPhone for about 98% of my pictures. In Instagram, I use the brightness filter and feel like maybe that's why some of my pictures appear so clear. I also like to take most of my pics outside because the ones inside aren't as bright or clear. Hope that helps! Four is the best!

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