Sorghum & Salt — Restaurant in Charleston

First impression My first impression of this place was first of all a complete accident. I happened to be walking by and saw the restaurant. Looking through the windows I saw immediately this is a jewel in the rough. It looked like high priced gym in the wall location. It was. Yet I had to go in. It was more inviting than I imagine. It was riveting the feel to the smells and sounds. I walked into what I would describe as a midwest industrial factory. This place echoed a Charleston unique food culture. The moment I saw the kitchen visible it felt like home. I could feel the cooking happening before I smelled it. This place was relaxed on a Sunday night and I am thankful I got a spot by the window. I saw I am not the only person who stopped to look inside. The team here is respectful and inviting. They answered questions I had about their place and this is what I found out. Started only about 6 months ago from this writing. Sorghum & Salt started. Sorghum is basically baby pop corns it's just part of their dishes and as one customer said "it blew my mind". Salt is in everything and is the spice of life. The menus are constantly evolving and organic. They grow and change depending on ideas the team has and food availability. There are some basic popular dishes. Crispy Brussels sprouts and soy cured salmon. I asked for a surprise and this is what I got.

Drinks The water is amazing. If you know I don't like ice and I drink a lot of water. I had a pitcher of water with no ice. It was fantastic.

For the beer I got the calming White Thai Westbrook which is more like a fermented Belgian witbier, it has its own notes of old warming and the mystic. It brings to mind a memory of charleston alleys and old wooden porches. It's kinda exciting because I could imagine fish is the next dish.

Coffee was French pressed local Charleston coffee roasters. The French brew is Warm and strong. It's actually fantastic cause you get a double walled metal French press that keeps warm longer and you can pour as little or much as you want. This alone is a winner for any visitor to Charleston.

Appetizer Soy Cured Salmon I was given a soy cured salmon with fermented cucumbers and micro-greens over an avocado spread. Now upon first look this cured salmon fish seemed impossibly possible. But the flavors actually work together. The cured salmon is warm and smooth with the avocado. With every dish the chef brings out he tells me what is in it and how it's made. Next up on the mix is the house made sausage with fennel cream and sorghum popped. Now this is not something you would think goes together separated. I mean fennel is meant to be within but I can feel this more and more and now smelling it. I cannot wait to enjoy it.

Home Made Sausage The homemade sausage is immense. Fresh local pork with smooth local fennel homemade cream. The mint leaves and fennel atop is a nice crisp touch. Now these sorghum poppers alone are tremendously enjoyable. But when you couple them with the soft sausage you get a texture crunch that is unbeatable. Along with the sweet pears and raisins the salty meats are accented perfectly.

Dessert

Beet Crémeux It was beautiful. Micro-greens. Wow. The pistachio nuts and moose were tremendous. With fresh local raspberries I felt a healthy almost warm dessert without the heat. The cacao nibs wow these are great.

Single Origin Chocolate Mousse This was beautifully powerful. It's the dish/dessert everyone needs to have and split with a friend when here. It's packed full of flavor from cocoa to cayenne.

Customer Service Customer service is a big deal to me and often I might go overboard about it. Although it's completely subjective, here is my take. I am not lying when I say the team here loves what they do and you can feel it. I felt appreciated. I felt the food came out quickly and was warm. I felt the overall treatment of myself and others was above the top. As I rate waitresses with my service fives.

Friendliness 10/10 Knowledge 10/10 Attentiveness 9/10 Care 9/10 Cleanliness...

Wholeheartedly 5 stars. I went to dinner with a friend last night- we sat at the counter in front of the kitchen and ordered the 6 course Chefs Menu- Now, this always makes me nervous- especially because I don't care for seafood, but I also know that a great Chef can prepare foods that I do not normally care for, and create something that is delicious to me. Hands down the BEST meal I have had in years and years, (and I have eaten in fine restaurants all over the world) ( and I love the Charleston go tos- but if you want a truly creative menu this is it!) and also an all around great experience (really enjoyed chatting with the Chef (s) and staff). The descriptions of the food were absolutely accurate, and it tasted exactly as described, better really. Having done many Chefs/Tasting menus, I typically find that there is a brief and bland, rushed, memorized explanation that tells you nothing about what you are about to taste. Not so here.

Some very creative combinations- I don't eat squash- I dislike squash! The squash was wonderful! As was the smoked trout-This was mind-blowing to me! I just don't like seafood! or maybeee, I dislike non-fresh, blandly or poorly prepared seafood 🧐. The scallops were very fresh, and again- the sauces delicious- but the texture is not my thing- so I enjoyed one and passed the rest to my friend- who was pretty happy about that! The piece de resistance was the slow roasted Wagyu! I am not going to reveal the secret of this dish- but what you will 100% think it is, it is not! So fun! ( Hint- it is beef, it's about the cut you expect)

The sauces were creative and left you wanting to lick your plate (I was sorely tempted). I enjoyed chatting about the food with the Chef, and just was so very appreciative if this dining experience.

It is expensive IMO, but not out of line expensive- and if you are looking for a real, creative, local, (Vegan options!), sublime dining experience you must go to Sorghum and Salt.

I perused the negative reviews- don't we always? I did it after the fact though, out of curiosity in order to see what ANYONE could complain about. The theme I picked up likely centers around two factors- not understanding how foodies eat, and that you shouldn't leave the table stuffed! I could have eaten more, but I was not hungry when I left. I came home and enjoyed a big bowl of ice cream a little while later because my tastebuds were so lit up! So small portions, yes. You need to order a lot of plates, yes. But I saw the dinner plates go out and those portions were far from small- since the menu is very vegetable centric, I suspect those used to heavy carb sides would feel left out- and don't get me wrong, I love my carbs, and lots of them. This is just not that experience (The Chefs menu anyway- and in general)- this is a slow food, taste every bite and appreciate the nuances before you are too full to do so kind of experience. Highly, highly recommend, and the fact that vegans can eat there...

Still on my list of places to go but our visit this week had some items that weren't quite up to what we're used to enjoying at Sorghum and Salt. The wine was excellent but the bread service we had with it was awful and, unfortunately, being our introduction to the meal, set the tone which had to be overcome by everything else.

The bread service was two buns, the size of slider buns, that had been dry- charred on the grill long ago enough that they were no longer warm. They were served with butter that had been mixed with herbs but was either unsalted or minimally salted. The only flavor was the char, so it tasted like burnt toast. It should have been served with an apology, not a charge of $7.00.

The scallops were good. The poached turnips with which they were served were a nice accompaniment but the larger ends were quite undercooked, making for a pretty jarring contrast with the rest of the dish.

The savory Blue Panna Cotta was wonderful. It was silky smooth. Hints of blueberries and (I think) Bleu Cheese just made me want to eat more. The honeycomb was a great counterpoint as was the texture of the crumb on which it was bedded.

A real standout for me was the Smoked Trout dish that my dining partner didn't like. He said the fish was hard and dry. Well, it's smoked trout. It was cut into little chunks and served with fresh cucumber, pickled green tomatoes, parsley, and buttermilk. I loved it. The acidity of the pickles and buttermilk tamed the smokiness of the trout and the fresh parsley and cucumbers lightened everything. It was really well balanced.

The grouper with fennel was nice. The fish was sweet and nicely cooked. The fennel was tender and mild and didn't overwhelm the fish.

Finally, the beet dessert - what an amazing and creative dish! What appeared to be chunks of beets were slices of slightly sweet, rich, creamy beet panna cotta or maybe mousse served on a smear of dulce de Lecce, decorated with beet micro greens, accompanied by blackberries. I could have eaten my weight in it.

Less impressive was my dining partner's dessert of quite tasty rosemary ice cream accompanied by some very loose meringue, roasted lemon and chocolate. The meringue very quickly lost what body it had and ran all over the plate, making for an unappealing appearance.

It was a hit and miss experience. Restaurants are having to adapt during the pandemic. Things don't always go well. The best parts of this meal were excellent and...