Get ready for Top Chef: Charleston, South Carolina.! According to some PR that I clearly missed, “Charleston is the perfect location to inject our next batch of chefs. We know Charleston and are excited by the food, people and possibility it brings with its rich cultural and historical background which has played an important role in shaping South Carolina’s unique cuisine.” The photo above is of Shep with Padma at an impromptu wrap party as the season has ended.
I am trying to carefully investigate without stumbling upon any spoilers. I cannot believe I didn’t know Top Chef was filming there and I can’t be any more excited for Season 14! I wonder if the will have a steak challenge at Halls Chophouse?
It looks like they go to Summerville, which claims to be the “birthplace of sweet tea.” I am not sure if the tea plantation in Charleston is still operational. It closed for a bit then reopened and I’m unsure what the current status is. I just to drink that tea exclusively as it is the only tea plantation in the US!
I fed Banjo something that is disagreeing with him so he is out back puking. 🙁 So my investigation into Top Chef in Charleston will have to wait.
Yay! Charleston, that’s great news! Banjo feel better.
I think Banjo was just trying to manipulate me into making him some watery rice. It worked. He’s content.
I should have known you’d know that.
awww! You’re a nice mama :o)
Ah, feel better Mr. Banjo!
I am excited for a new Top Chef season. I saw a show about that tea plantation a while back. I can’t remember the name, but I should be able to look for it now that I know where it is.
Here’s my remedy for pukey dogs: cook Banjo up a nice pot of plain white rice with plenty of salt. Give him about 1/2 cup for breakfast. If he doesn’t puke that up, give him a whole cup for dinner – no treats unless he likes ice cubes. Sunday, if he hasn’t puked, give him a cup of rice for breakfast and a cup for dinner – no puking? Monday, start with half rice/half his regular food and decrease rice as his tummy eases back into his regular food. We believe in the healing powers of rice in the Low Country. I think the tea plantation is really on Wadamalaw Island – it also used to be the location of a big Boy Scout Camp. (I used to love me some Boy Scouts.) In other Low Country history, Shep went to high school with friends of my daughters. My girls call this group of guys the “Low Country Treasures” – they’re generally good-looking, preppy, varying degrees of polite, some degree of still dependent on their parents as they’re all eyeing 40, and always up for drinks, partying, and pretty women. They’re almost always drunk, hung-over, high, or getting there. We know this because one of the “Low Country Treasures” is the younger brother of our favorite Hilton Head girlfriend. Charmingly worthless unless you need a handsome man for something. I’m way off topic…ummm…my favorite Charleston chef is John Ondo, at Lana.
Um SALT can be highly poisonous to dogs.
And yes, the rice with the rice water fixes him up. He gets that with boiled chicken when he has a bad tummy. Or pumpkin, He has a sensitive tummy just like his mama.
Tamara, I hope you don’t think I’m trying to poison your Banjo. My vet says rice cooked with plenty of salt – the salt balances something, but I forget what. By plenty, he certainly doesn’t mean 1/4 cup of salt, and neither do I – just maybe 1/4 tsp. I’m posting this not because I’m trying to convince you to change your menu, but if anyone else reads the post with a pukey dog, I don’t want them to use too much ’cause now you’ve got me skeered.
Of course I don’t think that. Dogs need tiny amounts of salt, but too much (?????) can poison them. Luckily I got rescued by a really big dog and have plenty of room for error. lol. I’d be super careful if you have one of those purse dogs. I confess I put a splash of chicken broth, which is salty in the water to make him eat it. 🙂
Banjo is on a grainfree diet just because those dogfoods seem to have the healthiest ingredients. So he loves getting some white rice and has worked me for the entire 1/3 cup dry (which makes a LOT) of rice and doesn’t seem to realize it is gone. I tried a new kibble this month that he is not enjoying.
He requires some sort of supplement with his kibble or he goes on a hunger strike. I buy cans of organic kidney beans and a third of a can mixed in generally keeps him happy. I do rinse the beans to get most of the salt off.
A lot of dogfood has salt in it. you just have to be careful because too much can make them sick, give them seizures or kill them.
Pumpkin is often the best option, but sometimes Banjo likes that and sometimes he does not. He loves rice. He is Sharpei after all.
I forgot: The name of the tea plantation is the Charleston Tea Plantation – go figure – but Bigelow owns and operates it – American Classic Tea is the brand name.
Thank you, Lizbeth.
Ok TT, you think you’re bad with faces? I can’t tell which one is Padma in the pic with Shep. I didn’t even know that was Shep until I read the first paragraph! I looked again and yeah that’s him. Seriously, I know the woman in the middle is not Padma but I can’t tell with the other two. If it’s the one in the front of the picture, the reason I didn’t recognize is because I never see Padma smile, well not that big anyway. The one in the back, in my minds-eye, doesn’t look like her, well maybe a little!
Hope Banjo is feeling better.
Dude. I get it. I THINK she is far left.
My daughter was so bummed; she had an invitation to be a diner on “Top Chef Charleston” and had to cancel – called to court. She’s a lawyer. Texted me many bad words. Tom Colicchio is a part-time Kiawah Islander; I have friends there I should engage as spies.😎
Like every other city they film in, they show very little of the city, I hope this is different. I’d KILL to eat a Halls or SNOB or The Ordinary or Fig. I miss Charleston and the Low Country food like I’d miss my right arm if it were missing. You can take this girl out of the Low Country but you can’t take the Low Country out of this girl.
Lol at Banjo angling for some rice. Dukie Dachshund likes to wake me by gagging in his crate. Works, too, cause I am wide awake.
I do know the crew visited the peanut guy on 61 and today’s paper listed places the hosts visited, but overall they have been tight lipped. Love most southern food and Charleston has some great restaurants. My only complaint is that we lack much in the way of ethnic places.
Pumpkin is good. Try mixing in some cheerios for crunch. Avoid baby food, too much fat.
Can’t wait!
I wish I could be a restaurant patron on Restaurant Wars. A dream.