They All Start with the People Growing Them

Every summer, someone asks what my favorite ingredient is. And it’s a hard question to answer. The truth is, it changes every few weeks.

That’s one of the advantages of cooking in South Carolina. Summer doesn’t give us one great ingredient, it gives us dozens to use in too many ways to count. Peaches that drip down your arm, tomatoes that taste like tomatoes, eggplant that deserves a second chance if you’ve only ever had the sad grocery store version.

I don’t chase ingredients from halfway around the world when some of the best produce in the country is growing just a few hours away.

Much of what arrives in my kitchen comes through GrowFood Carolina, a nonprofit food hub created by the Coastal Conservation League that connects chefs with small farms across South Carolina and North Carolina. Instead of spending their days worrying about sales, trucking, and logistics, farmers get to focus on what they do best: growing great ingredients. We get access to produce that’s harvested at its peak, and our guests get to experience ingredients the way they’re supposed to taste. Everybody wins.

Peaches Worth Waiting For

Every state likes to brag about its peaches. South Carolina doesn’t have to brag. We put the fruit on a plate and let the peaches do the talking.

This summer we’re sourcing beautiful fruit from Shuler Farm, and they arrive exactly the way peaches should: sweet, incredibly juicy, and almost impossible to eat without making a mess. That’s not a flaw. That’s quality control.

Rather than hiding that flavor, we give the peaches a quick trip over the fire. Charring caramelizes their natural sugars while adding just enough smoke to keep things interesting. They become the foundation for one of my favorite seasonal additions: a charred peach with an Amarillo barbecue sauce that’s sweet and smoky.

Eggplant Deserves Better

Eggplant has spent decades being unfairly judged. Usually it’s because someone cooked it into a gray sponge and called it dinner sometime in the 80s. 

Fresh eggplant from Rosebank Farms is a completely different experience. The skin is vibrant, the flesh is creamy, and it has an incredible ability to soak up flavor while maintaining its own character.

We fry it until the outside is crisp and golden, then finish it with a hot and sour sauce that brings brightness, acidity, and just enough heat. It’s one of those dishes that regularly converts people who swear they don’t like eggplant.

I’ve stopped arguing with those people. I just have the servers send it out and let the plate do the convincing.

Tomatoes That Know When to Stop Showing Off

This has been an exceptional season for tomatoes from GAP at Hickory Bluff Farm. They’re sweet without being sugary, perfectly ripe without turning mealy, and balanced enough that adding too many ingredients would almost be an insult.

Chefs are trained to build layers of flavor. Great summer tomatoes remind us that sometimes restraint is the better technique.

A little salt. Good olive oil. Maybe some local seafood beside them. Then get out of the way.

The Best Ingredient Isn’t on the Plate

One of the things I appreciate most about cooking in Charleston isn’t just the quality of our ingredients, it’s knowing the people behind them.

When we buy from local growers through GrowFood Carolina, we’re investing in farms that have been caring for South Carolina soil long before the produce reaches our kitchen. Those relationships matter. They make our menus more seasonal, more creative, and more connected to the place we call home.

Summer is fleeting. The peaches will disappear. The tomatoes will eventually lose their magic. The eggplant season will come and go. That’s exactly what makes this time of year so special.

When ingredients only have a brief moment to shine, our job isn’t to compete with them. It’s simply to let them have the spotlight.