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.

“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!

Fish’s Nosh Mob will begin at 5:30 pm tomorrow  (Tuesday, December 1st). Executive Chef Nico Romo will start the event by taking Nosh Mob members on a tour of Fish kitchen. He’ll be highlighting the fresh seafood selections that come into the restaurant daily, our special kitchen elements like a walk-in freezer made specifically for cleaning fish and introducing the Mob to our super talented cooks and sous chefs. Following the tour, the Mob will head over to the catering kitchen for a demonstration by Nico on the history of dim sum and his French-Asian fusion techniques. Plan to enjoy samples of his one-of-a-kind dim sum and Mixologist Evan Powell’s specialty fusion cocktail.

Immediately following the demonstration Fish will be offering a three course Mercy of the Chef menu for $25 for those Nosh Mobbers that would like to stay and experience the cuisine they just learned about.

The event is FREE to Nosh Mob members (sign up here) and door prizes will include a $100 gift certificate to Fish among other goodies. Space is limited so make sure to sign up as soon as possible.

Happy Noshing!

Chef de Cuisine Charron Henry & Executive Chef Nico Romo are busy finalizing the new Fall menu for Fish that will launch Wednesday. Next project? Predator & Prey dinner for Halloween. Details to come.

Sous Chef Deveaux Stockton & his wife welcomed baby River. Love his little baby face! Congrats to their family.

Charles & Celeste Patrick with Randall & Jennifer Goldman & Elvis at the Charleston Stage Gala

Introducing our new sales team: Director of Sales Ashley Gunnin with Sales Managers Sarah Copeland & Amber Ferguson

We're always working hard to create one-of-a-kind events at all of our properties. Well worth it for beautiful moments like this one for Libba & Tyler at their Lowndes Grove wedding.

No, it’s not a PP staffer. It’s a member of the Charleston Ballet Theatre! We’re gearing up for Brad & Janet’s Wedding Reception at Fish (aka the CBT’s Rocky Horror after party) Nov. 23, 24, 30 and 31. We’ve got a hearse, we’ve got costumes, we’ve got themed cocktails… it’ll be nuts.

It’s been busy, but it’s been a lot of fun. Coming up this week: Upper King Design Walk is Thursday so put on your comfy walking shoes and head up to our neighborhood to see all the new shops and visit the old favorites. Fish will be open to quench your thirst and feed the appetite you worked up after all of that shopping. See you Thursday!

Jimi, Nico, Jodie & Randall get guerilla

Had a blast at The American Theater last night for the latest and greatest version of what I think of as the “traveling Charleston dinner party” AKA Guerilla Cuisine.

Our own Nico Romo was the featured chef, and he and the entire Fish put together an innovative, delicious 6 course dinner that absolutely astounded everyone. Bold flavors, flawless execution and utter fun and creativity in choices.

We had the supreme pleasure of being guests this time around, and I can tell you that it was an honor to be there. Not just to eat wonderful food but to have great conversations, have the opportunity to peruse and purchase fantastic local art: metal work by Chad Haselden and t-shirts and posters by John Pundt.  And, talk to the artists themselves.

These fantastic evenings are put together by Jimi Hatt (who you  may have seen drop trou’ at The American Theater at a past Pecha Kucha Night.) It’s his passion and hard work that brings an ever changing group of people together to hunker down and thoroughly enjoy themselves over fantastic local food, art and music.

Thanks to everyone for such an incredible evening. Check out the pics!

All that goes to say that we lucky kids here at PP HQ get to do some very delicious taste tasting. Susie knows me by now, which means she knows that I’m going to ask her from where she draws her inspiration.

So, while we were tasting Susie’s banana cheesecake ice cream all wrapped up in a light crepe and topped with fresh blueberries, well, between the “holy mother, this is good” and the “yummmmmm!” I asked her what she was thinking this for the summer season.

Her reply?

“Old school summer desserts.” Which started me thinking about things like Coca Cola cake, ice cream sandwiches (which are currently on the menu, thank you) and fresh berries.

I am going to let Susie surprise you with the rest.

But, it should suffice to say that the summer dessert menu will be a balance of old traditions and new twists, humor and playfulness, sweet surprises and the freshest of the season. I guess you could say it’s all of the things we already love about summer.