The Art of the Plate: CIC Grad's New Restaurant Gets a Great Review

Thursday, March 28, 2013

CIC Grad's New Restaurant Gets a Great Review

Congrats to CIC grad Nathan Conkle for a great review of his new restaurant, The Gathering Cafe. The Post & Courier read:
The Gathering Cafe: W. Ashley neighborhood restaurant antidote for fast food with fresh, local.
"Conkle learned and practiced his craft at Magnolias, The Sanctuary at Kiawah Island and Whole Foods. He channels the River Cottage in Britain for his inspiration, and although there are no hedgerows or pastures surrounding his cafe, there is a simplicity and straight-forwardness to the cooking and service. ...

"The Gathering Cafe aims to please. Conkle and his team are season- and ingredient-focused. Shopping in the delicious pantry of the Lowcountry arms them well in the local and cafe food genre." For the complete review, go to:

http://www.charlestonscene.com/article/20130327/CS/130329339/1027/the-gathering-cafe-w-ashley-neighborhood-restaurant-antidote-for-fast-food-with-fresh-local-flavors

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What We're Reading

“Eating from the Ground Up”

Out just in time for the vegetables appearing at our farmers markets, Alana Chernila’s cookbook focuses on creatively using every root and leaf. While some of the recipes may be familiar concepts – think stuffed tomatoes – hers are packed with millet, basil, and parsley. Fried rice stars salmon, fennel, and Swiss chard stems. Roasted asparagus are sauced with a combo of butter, garlic, nutritional yeast, and tamari. Stone fruit, raw corn kernels, scallions, basil, and jalapeño make a cool salad for hot weather. Published by Clarkson Potter/Publishers, an imprint of Penguin Random House, LLC.

"Soul: A Chef's Culinary Evolution in 150 Recipes"

“This book is my homage to the cuisine of my family,” Chef Todd Richards writes in his autobiographical collection of essays and recipes. “These are the ingredients of my people. This is my sermon about my Soul food.”

Bringing accolades for his stints at Atlanta’s Ritz Carlton and Four Seasons, James Beard nominations, and, of course, his prowess at Southern cooking, Richards seasons the pot with a powerful bouquet of flavors as he pays his heritage forward. Collards cooked with ham hocks are accented with piquant pickled collard stems. Blueberries are found in fried pies; strawberries are plated with champagne aspic, whipped cream, and honey. Grilled peaches pair with radishes on toast spread with pimiento cheese. Sweet potatoes are layered with cauliflower and crab in a lush gratin.

"Soul food," Richards tells us, "is the original cuisine of the South, born from an involuntary collision of cultures."
Published by Southern Living. $35.