02/24/18
Husk is a James Beard award winner and, from what I've heard, one of the restaurants that put Charleston on the food map, and after a visit for some grub after an evening stroll around the historic district, I can see why. We went with fire-roasted oysters, chicken skin nachos, and this rice dish. While we knew the former two were dishes we'd like from the get-go, we ordered the rice dish out of curiosity to see what they could do to elevate such a seemingly simple dish. The rice was stewed in a tomatoey broth with a meat sauce, topped with a parmesan-like goat cheese. There were a couple interesting elements to the dish. First, the tomatoes in the sauce were smoked, adding that fiery, almost charred taste to each bite. Second, the rice was cooked a bit more al dente than what I'm used to in, say, Asian or Latin cuisine, but it wasn't undercooked, so you could really appreciate literally every grain. Every ingredient of the dish was sourced from a local farm, so freshness permeated the dish. It was a relatively simple dish, but no element was an afterthought and there were a couple really unique aspects to it. Definitely shows that Southern cooking, while humble, can also be elegant. The Charleston location is the original, but they've now opened Husks in Nashville, Greenville, and Savannah - hopefully there is one on the way in Charlotte!