Food + Wine Festival Poster Party at CIC Palmer Campus

CIC Dean Michael Saboe accepts the BB&T Charleston Food + Wine Festival scholarship check from Festival Board Chairman Laura Hewitt and Board member and BB&T representative Randy Byerly.

L to R: Cru Catering and Granville's cook in the teaching kitchens at CIC's Palmer Campus.

181 Palmer Gets Stellar Review

Great Gourmet Dining Secret Unveiled

By ANN THRASH, editor CharlestonCurrents.com

NOV. 13, 2008 -- "The three-course lunch started with a mouthwatering appetizer of pork and ginger pot stickers with daikon radish salad and a sesame-soy vinaigrette. Next up was a velvety roasted sweet potato and carrot soup garnished with fresh blue crab - perfect for a cool fall day. The entrée? Grilled beef sliders with aged white cheddar, caramelized onions, arugula, smoked tomato ketchup, an okra pickle and hand-cut shoestring fries.

"It wasn't easy deciding between the sliders and the grilled mahi-mahi and the braised beef short ribs and the lemon-thyme roasted chicken breast - but such is the delicious challenge awaiting lunchtime guests at one of the city's best-kept dining secrets: 181 Palmer. And here's the icing on the cake: The tab for this amazing three-course lunch was just $15. Not per course -- $15 total.

"If you haven't heard of 181 Palmer, you're not alone. The café is quietly tucked away inside Trident Technical College's Culinary Institute of Charleston at the Palmer campus on Columbus Street near East Bay. The members of the wait staff and the chefs in the kitchen are Culinary Institute students and instructors. The café provides real-world, real-time hospitality-industry training at its finest, and those who dine there are the lucky beneficiaries.

"Gracious hosts welcome and seat guests, then provide a menu with four categories: appetizers, soups and salads, entrees, and desserts. Guests select a total of three courses from those four categories, with no more than one choice from each category.

"A recent day's menu included the pot stickers as an appetizer, with the other choices being grilled wild American shrimp with cauliflower puree and caper-currant brown butter, or duck confit with brioche French toast, Camembert and poached quince. On the entrée menu along with the sliders were braised beef short ribs with a Yukon gold potato puree, roasted baby carrots and a red wine reduction; grilled mahi-mahi with Anson Mills farro (that's an heirloom grain), sautéed Swiss chard and a smoked paprika-orange butter; and lemon-thyme roasted chicken breast with Anson Mills grits, caramelized fennel and a wild mushroom broth.

"The chefs didn't forget dessert, of course. The choices included a tatin (tart) of apples with sour cream sorbet and salted maple caramel; white chocolate panna cotta (a silky custard) with passion fruit; and dark chocolate rosemary cake with lavender whipped cream.

"If it sounds like a meal fit for a king or queen, it is. Before you start making plans to head to the cafe, be forewarned: The place is small - it seats only about 50 - and reservations are required. And lunch is served only certain days of the week when classes are in session, which means that in a few short weeks, the cafe will be closed until spring semester.

"But the good news is that in addition to the cafe downtown, the Culinary Institute also has a dining room at Trident Tech's main campus on Rivers Avenue. According to the school's Web site, it offers a buffet featuring soups, entrees, vegetables, starches and desserts, all for $12 per person. Go to http://charlestoncurrents.c.topica.com/maamtWnabLS5vaOQ9oLcaeQAiT/ and you can see menus for both dining rooms and find out how to make reservations. Your palate will thank you!"

Mount Pleasant native Ann Thrash is editor of CharlestonCurrents.com. You can reach her at:mailto:editor@charlestoncurrents.com.

Thanks to 181 Palmer Chef Instructor Scott Stefanelli, Dining Room Adjunct Instructor Dean Layes, and their CIC students for bringing it home!

Fine Work in the Artisan Chocolate Class

Chef Alexander's Advanced Certificate Artisan Chocolate class at CIC's Palmer Campus is producing delicious results!

Chef Huff Does His Stuff

Chef Instructor Miles Huff worked his annual garde manger magic at the State Fair in Columbia this month. Assisted by CIC students Kimberly Harrigal and Chris Holme, Chef Huff carved a veritable garden of fruit and vegetable flowers and crafted an array of other amusing creations.

First Farm to Plate Class Ends by Cooking Local

Members of Class 1 of Farm to Plate, r/l:
Renata Dos Santos, James Handy, Dereck Israel, Ami Whiteside, John Hicks, Thomas Jordan, Charles Valenza, Cole Poolaw and Chef Instructor Michael Carmel. Absent from the picture: Seth Purvin.

For their final exam, the class divided into groups of three and devised menus of appetizer, entree and dessert. All primary ingredients had to be locally grown, raised, or caught.

Judges awarded first place to the team of Handy, Dos Santos and Whiteside.

Special notice was given to the appetizer below from the team of Hicks, Poolaw and Valenza, which featured Wild American Shrimp.

CIC Premiers Taste of Charleston IRON CHEF!

Friday, October 10th - CIC inaugurated its new demonstration amphitheater kitchen at the Palmer Campus with a high-spirited Iron Chef competition. Chefs Aaron Deal of Tristan and Craig Deihl of Cypress clashed pots with Chefs Frank Lee of Slightly North of Broad and Charles Arena of The Boathouse on East Bay, cheered on by some 250 attendees and the playful patter of emcees Tom Crawford and Mickey Bakst.

CIC Donates Doggie Baking Class to Pet Helpers

On a sunny Saturday morning, CIC Chef Jeff Alexander led a group of friends in treat-filled class of baking for their dogs. CIC donated the class and lunch following it in 181 Palmer to Pet Helpers as an auction item for their annual Fur Ball. Guest celebrities - and dog lovers - Teresa Taylor, Food Editor of the Post & Courier, and Mitchell Crosby, of JMC Charleston, joined in the fun. The CIC Baking Club, under the leadership of Chef Bernd Gronert, whipped up a batch of puppie cupcakes for snacks.

Chef Lee Teaches Farm to Plate Class

Folowing a talk by Keegan-Filion Farms owner Marc Filion, Chef Frank Lee, of Slightly North of Broad, joined the Farm to Plate students in the kitchen to prepare the farms's pastured chicken.

Chef Alexander Stars in Post & Courier Story

Chef Alexander's Artisan Bread class was featured in a story titled "The Art of Baking" by Post & Courier columnist Nathalie Dupree.

"There are 10 of us," writes Dupree, "including the instructor, Jeff Alexander, who have been standing next to the oven during the Artisan Baking Class. The hardest artisan bread to make is the French baguette. And, class after class, the students at Trident Tech's Culinary Institute of Charleston turn out at least three loaves of French baguettes each, totaling more than 50 each by the end of the term. Each student is eager to master all 50.

"Fifty is a magic number to chef Alexander, a graduate of Johnson & Wales when the culinary school was in Charleston, a passionate baker and unbelievably dedicated teacher.

"In addition to the French bread, the class had already rolled pita bread and formed it into rounds, watching it as it miraculously puffed in the oven. They had made pissaladiere (French pizza-type breads, these shaped into rectangles), covering them with salt and pepper, sauteed onions, garlic and the finest Nicoise olives.

"The finale is pizza, tossed in the air. "Think 12 o'clock, 3 o'clock, 6 o'clock, 9 o'clock as you toss the dough between two hands, turning as you go," says Alexander. "That will keep it round." And it does."

Find the complete story, including CIC student Meri Spalviero's recipe for homemade pizza, at:
http://www.charleston.net/news/2008/oct/08/art_baking57050/

CHEF DEAL FEATURED IN POST & COURIER

CIC Adjunct Instructor and Tristan restaurant Executive Chef Aaron Deal garnered some pretty fine press in this week's Post & Courier!

"Deal moved to Charleston several years ago and graduated from Johnson & Wales in 2005. ... [He] works an average of 12 hours each day of the week. He recently started teaching culinary courses at Trident Technical College," wrote Sophia Rodriguez.

For the complete story, including some great quotes, go to: http://www.charleston.net/news/2008/sep/25/tristans_new_chef_wont_let_youth_get_way55626/

Chef Bob Waggoner Shows Farm to Plate Class Wild American Shrimp

Thanks to Wild American Shrimp Executive Director Eddie Gordon and Chef Bob Waggoner, the Farm to Plate class had a hands-on experience with right-off-the-boat Wild American Shrimp. (Note the "whiskers" on the shrimp in the first and second pictures, the true tell.)


Chef Waggoner prepared one of his Charleston Grill specials, Zucchini Blossoms Stuffed with Carolina Shrimp Mousse (see recipe on the side feature of our Blog: What We're Eating). A board member of the prestigious Chef's Garden in Huron, Ohio, where he sources his squash blossoms, Chef Waggoner was kind enough to bring enough for the students to make two stuffed blossoms each. A real treat!

FARM TO PLATE FIELD TRIP TO KENSINGTON PLANTATION FEATURED IN POST & COURIER

In a September 24th article titled "Going for Gold," Post & Courier Food Editor Teresa Taylor writes:"Last week, [Richard] Stoney, whose family owns Kensington, and [Batt] Humphreys, a longtime friend and business associate, shared their tale and their table with students at the Culinary Institute of Charleston. A dozen or so class members and faculty visited Kensington in Berkeley County as part of the school's new "Farm to the Plate" course.

"Stoney also is an attorney and owner of Crew Carolina, a restaurant and catering group that includes Carolina's and the Boathouse restaurants. Humphreys is its communications director.
They and Carolina's chef Jeremiah Bacon served as hosts and educators for the excursion that took students into the rice fields and then to a plantation lunch under live oaks. Bacon rewarded them with a sumptuous platter of chicken and okra pilaf, or "perlo" in Charlestonese, made with fresh, handpicked rice."

See the full story, complete with color pictures, at: http://www.charleston.net/news/2008/sep/24/going_goldprospects_look_good_carolina_r55495/

FARM TO PLATE CLASS EXPLORES HISTORIC CAROLINA GOLD RICE

On Tuesday, September 16th, the Farm to Plate class has a one-of-a-kind field trip to Kensington Plantation to see authentic Carolina Gold Rice grown again where it had been grown as long as three hundred years ago. It was a historic moment when the class was served a chicken pilau made from Kensington's rice. Chef Jeremiah Bacon, of Carolina's Restaurant, did the honors, and subsequently came to the Palmer Campus to lead the class in cooking an array of dishes made with Anson Mills' Carolina Gold Rice and corn.

CIC Adjunct Instructor M. Kelly Wilson Featured in Charleston Magazine

One of CIC's Baking and Pastry Adjunct Instructors was featured in the September issue of Charleston Magazine in a story titled "Sweeten the Deal: Pastry Chef M. Kelly Wilson makes haute desserts easy with recipe and tips for the home cook."

"Now head pastry chef at the prestigeous Cypress restaurant, industry committee chair for the Food and Wine Festival's Bubbles and Sweets event, and a second-year adjunct instructor at The Culinary Institute of Charleston, Wilson has a tall toque of professional credits. Over the past three years, she's also become a popular teacher of continuing education baking classes at both USC's Culinary and Wine Institute certificate program and The Culinary Institute. There, she educates nonprofessionals in the art of making restaurant-worthy desserts that are doable in the home kitchen."

Showcased in the story are Chef Wilson's Limoncello Cheesecake with Pinenut and Lavendar Shortbread Crumbles, Apricot Beignets with Rosemary-Infused Honey and Rosemary-and-Sea Salt-Candied Marcona Almonds, Milk Chocolate Mousse Lollipops, and an assortment of mignardises.

Photos by Roo Way

CHEF SEAN BROCK OF McCRADY'S LEADS FARM TO PLATE CLASS

Following a field trip to Wadmalaw Island to Chef Brock's farm, the Farm to Plate class enjoyed a great day with Chefs Brock and Carmel in one of the CIC Palmer Campus kitchens!