Come be charmed by Charleston*

*UPDATE: This event is closed and no longer accepting RSVP's. Please check back on the Flavor Forays blog for important updates on future trips and special events.

Be sure to check-out the book documenting this trip at the end of this post!

Our next Flavor Foray, called Grits, Gullah and the Three O’clock Dinner, takes place in the low country of Charleston, South Carolina, spanning from bountiful coastal waterways to gracious historic homes. Participants are promised: a biscuit throw down between the two Southern baking queens Nathalie Dupree, author of the Southern Biscuit Cookbook, and Carey Morey, owner of Callie’s Charleston Biscuits; a visit to the only tea plantation in North America and a lesson in the art of tea tasting; and an exploration of the lore of the low country. As always, there will be no sitting in conference rooms. The group meets the characters and the cooks, the farmers and the fisherman who make this storied region one of the most vibrant food cities in the United States today.

“Grits, Gullah,and the Three O’Clock Dinner", to be held May 4 to 6, includes a series of events that will take us from bountiful coastal waterways to gracious historic homes.* You’ll witness a biscuit throw down between two Southern baking queens, Nathalie Dupree, author of the Southern Biscuit Cookbook, and Carey Morey, owner of Callie’s Charleston Biscuits; visit the only tea plantation in North America and learn the art of tea tasting; explore the lore of the low country. There’ll be no sitting in conference rooms.

You’ll meet the characters and the cooks, the farmers and the fisherman who make this storied region one of the most vibrant food cities in the United States today.

This unique experience will include meeting the modern day chefs who have put Charlestonon the restaurant heat map, walking on cobblestone streets past historic pastel mansions treasured by passionate preservationists, sampling signature shrimp and grits and she crab soup, benne wafers and brown water (Bourbon). You’ll nibble on house-made pimiento cheese at the quaint Tomato Shed on Wadmalaw Island’s Ambrose Family Farm, which also operates its own shrimp trawler. You’ll be entertained on the piazza and in the drawing room of gracious private homes and be sure to get your fill of local seafood at a low–country boil. And the azaleas should still be in bloom. Due to limited space, this invitation-only leadership event for food and beverage professionals will be limited to the first 15 RSVP's. We’ve got your back for hotel rooms, meals, and local transportation.

Presented by Barbara Mathias, former publisher of Food Arts & Beverly Stephen, former executive editor of Food Arts

*Invitation was sent in the winter of 2015. This trip is completely booked.