Reservations will book fast, so make yours today at (843) 722.3474.

The Valentine’s Day prix-fixe menu includes four courses (lobster, seared tuna, duck and a handcrafted chocolate dessert) for $50 per person. The regular seasonal menu will also be available. Wine pairings are offered for an additional $15. We’ve done our research, and this is one of the most affordable ways to treat your sweetie to Valentine’s Day dinner in Charleston! Also keep in mind that Fish will be offering this mouthwatering menu for the entire weekend from Friday, Feb. 12 to Sunday, Feb. 14. Yes, we are going to open on Sunday just for Valentine’s Day!

If you’re looking for something extra romantic this year we’ve got just the ticket. Whisk your special someone away for a relaxing retreat at either the William Aiken House Carriage House or Lowndes Grove Plantation. You and your Valentine will be treated upon arrival to a bottle of champagne, a rose and gourmet truffles from local Christophe Artisan Chocolatier. Enjoy an evening on the town and retire to your downtown suite at the William Aiken House, or watch the serene sunset on the Ashley River at Lowndes Grove Plantation and wake the next morning to a continental breakfast delivered to your door. For only $250 you can create this memorable, intimate experience to share with the one you love. Upon request, we’ll also make a reservation for you to dine at Fish, just around the corner.

Call 843-853-1810 for room reservations and 843-722-3474 for Fish dinner reservations. Happy Valentine’s Day!

Saturday a group of girlfriends came to town from Columbia and invited me to dinner. They had made reservations at, where else? Fish. I had been looking forward to trying the new winter menu so I gladly accepted the invite. We shared a lot of small plates like calamari and dim sum, but I ordered the golden trout with potato, zucchini and butternut squash quiche as my entrée and a cheese plate to share. Both were exactly what I wanted. The brown butter almondine sauce on the trout was fantastically sweet and went well with the quiche, too.  The cheese plate was a big hit with the all of the girls as it was passed around the table.

On Sunday Patrick Properties hosted an oyster roast and BBQ at Lowndes Grove for the employees. It was nice to see everyone out of the office, relaxing and enjoying each other’s company. The highlights for me were definitely the fresh local oysters and susnet views. I”ll leave you with these photos that sum up a Lowcountry Oyster Roast at its finest.

Stop by Fish this weekend if you’re on Upper King Street for RENT or a comedy festival show (tickets still available for both!) to try his newest inspired creation, the Paradis Bohéme.

Paradis Bohéme

1.5 oz. Ciroc

.75 oz. Triple Sec

.25 oz. Violette Syrup

¼ Lemon

¼ Lime

¼ Orange

½ tsp Minced Ginger

Dear Ashley,

I want to express how much we enjoyed our stay at Lowndes Grove, but it goes beyond the sentimentality of staying at the place we were married.  Patrick Properties went above and beyond to make our Anniversary/homecoming a truly special time.  Stephanie was so helpful, from suggesting activities to making reservations.  She was always available yet never intrusive.  The staff at Fish Restaurant were excellent; we were treated so well.  And the food – amazing! … We will certainly dine at Fish on our next visit to Charleston, and look forward to the next time we have opportunity to interact with Patrick Properties.

From Lowndes Grove on the banks of the Ashley River to Fish in the heart of downtown, hospitality is the thread that ties our versatile venues together. We’re in it for the memories that are created at our properties, so thanks to those that let us be a part of their special moments.

Tomorrow night we’ll have a guest over at Fish named Carlos Serrano.  As Whole Foods Market Featured Winemaker of the Week, he’ll be hosting a wine tasting for Viña Montes Winery from 6-8 pm at the Fish bar.  Carlos sounds like a pretty interesting guy and I’m very interested to meet him. He was born in Chile, earned his MBA in France and then spent the next 14 years traveling the world and learning about wine. Rough life, but I guess someone has to live it. I’m sure he’ll have story or two to tell anyway. Mr. Serrano will also be joining us as our guest winemaker for the Dine Around dinner that will be held at Fish on March 5th as part of the BB&T Charleston Wine + Food Festival. There are 5 seats still available to this dinner, so come by tonight and if you like what you taste then you can come back for our Dine Around!

We’ll also have the lovely Elise Testone performing her usual Thursday night gig at the bar tomorrow, and the good folks at Ben Arnold will be on hand to assist with the wine tasting as well.  Should be the perfect way to unwind with wine and jazz as the week begins to wrap up.

In other news, Fish is officially serving the new Winter Menu! Hurrah! Additions to note include an open face croque madame (one of my all time favorite sandwiches) with duck confit. Doesn’t that sound divine? Also new to the menu, the roasted golden trout with potato, zucchini and butternut squash quiche is supposed to be the most (to say the least). I have yet to try these new dishes, so I’ve planned to go to Fish on Tuesday and order the croque madame as an appetizer and the trout for my entrée and then use my girlish charm to convince my date to order the Mercy of the Chef menu so I can try that, too. So many intriguing new dishes, so little room in my stomach. Mental note: must skip lunch on Tuesday in preparation. I’ll let you know how it goes, or come try for yourself this weekend. Call 843.722.3474 for reservations.

Fish’s moo shu lunch is not only a steal for only $10 including tax and a drink, but it includes healthy vegetables and satisfies your craving for flavor with the sauce combo of your choosing. Thai vinaigrette or sriracha cream, you’ll get the flavor punch you’re looking for without the guilt of other quick lunches. The pho soup makes for killer comfort food on chilly days like today, too, and the salads are above and beyond your average iceberg and tomatoes. What’s better is that you’re actually FULL when you’re finished eating, but without feeling like you need to run 10 miles to take off whatever weight you just gained in your hips.

It’s healthy. It’s tasty. It has a funny name. Give moo shu a try in 2010.

“Boucheron (aka disc of heaven) is a briefly aged goat’s milk cheese from France’s Loire Valley with an accommodatingly mild flavor and interesting texture. It belongs to the family of “soft-ripened” or “bloomy-rind” cheeses, along with more well known Brie, Munster, Livarot, etc. Accordingly, Boucheron has that “Brie-like” rind and the paste (the interior of the cheese) near the rind is similar to Brie in appearance and flavor. Because a soft-ripened cheese ages from the outside towards the center, the middle of a disk of Boucheron is much firmer and drier than the edges and more closely resembles a fresh chèvre. Chef Nico Romo from Patrick Properties introduced it to us; we’ve never been the same.”

Not only earning mentions as connoisseurs of fine cheese, Fish is also making the news for our incredible happy hour and cocktail selections. Pick up a copy of the Post & Courier Preview to see an article on the top happy hour spots in town, with Fish at the top of the list! We’ve got $2.50 beers, $3.50 liquors plus wine and cocktail specials and $1 dim sum. All the happy hour you can handle for under $10.

If you’re into happy hour (and who isn’t?) then I highly recommend you try Evan’s new Oolong Express that has just been added to the cocktail list. It’s perfectly sweet and dangerously delicious. He is also working on a few combinations for the upcoming Wine + Food Festival cocktail competition as well as the Charleston Fashion Week Next Top Cocktail competition. Ask him for a taste of the Glamour Goose or the Distinguished Gentleman and then vote for his concoctions here. We know he’s the best mixologist in town, but he’ll need your votes to beat out the other 29 local bartenders participating. Good luck Evan!

What makes this feature of Fish especially great is that the blog is about the practices chefs are moving towards in 2010. After reading the list of 50 trend-setting ideas I realized that Nico, Charron, Deveaux and the gang are really ahead of the curve as far as progressive cooking techniques, particularly when it comes to using local and sustainable product. Nico was one of local fisherman Mark Marhefka’s first restaurant clients and has continued to incorporate local purveyors and sustainable practices into his kitchen for years. Did you know that Fish currently contributes to a compost program? All food scraps are separated into bins that are composted, and what’s more is that raw vegetable leftovers are separated and taken to Keegan Farm to be used as natural vegetarian pig feed instead of being thrown away. Pretty progressive stuff. It takes a little extra time and energy on our part, but makes a big difference in working towards a more sustainable environment and local economy.

Not only that, but the article mentions nutrition, allergy awareness and healthy children’s meals among the top trends, all of which Fish has already incorporated into our menus. Fish is known for accommodating food allergies by creating specialty dishes on the fly for guests with special needs and requests. Gluten free? No problem. Wheat allergy? We’ve got you covered. Vegan? We’re on it.

Just this summer Fish added a healthy kids menu for lunch that includes a moo shu wrap overflowing with pineapple, carrot, lightly breaded chicken, rice and house made local honey mustard that is low in fat and calories. Being right around the corner from the Children’s Museum of the Lowcountry we felt that parents needed an option to feed their kids that didn’t include a burger or fries and according to this survey the rest of the country agrees.

Those are just a few of the things that we do around here to make sure we’re making smart decisions for our environment and our bodies. Glad to see that these trends are catching on in the new year!