Rooftop-farm To Table

Meet McCrady's gardener Abbey Recca

     Due to the recent surge of interest in the "farm to table" movement, I thought it might be nice to paint for you a picture of how this directly relates to our restaurants here in the city. When you think of your typical farmer, you imagine a man in a straw hat hanging off a tractor. Well, in the garden that I am highlighting here today, let's just say a tractor ain't the tool you need. And I don't believe you would have pictured McCrady's gardener, Abbey Recca as your typical farmer. Located three stories up over the top of one of the South's most illustrious restaurants is a full functioning micro-green garden. Now, referring back to my last post, I don't give a shit about hydroponics, solar chambers, or "going green". However, the Begonia flowers that are used as the garnish of Chef de Cousine Daniel Heinze's clam dish creates a complexity in the dish that literally blows my mind. My respect for the art of how things are created led me to taking a little time wondering around the garden with Abbey, and I now have a totally different outlook on what it means to be "farm to table". From Basil, Sorrell, and Cilantro, to Mint, Mustards, and Marigold's, the girl can grow anything. Not to mention that she let me taste everything and described to me exactly what I was tasting. Very impressive. Everyday Abbey rounds up the micros that are needed for service and delivers them to the chefs downstairs. The chefs then take these creations of Abbey's and turn them into a creation of their own... Something quite beautiful when you sit back and admire the process as a whole. You will often hear me describe monumental experiences at restaurants as "Foodie Wow Moments" and while I was standing there, looking out over Chucktown, surrounded by nothing but open air, I had one of these moments. No wine. No ten course tasting menu. Just the food in the raw and the person that created it. Wow! I encourage everyone to take a tour if you ever get the chance. Thanks for reading again this week and stay tuned in!

Introduction

Hello, Foodies!

            My name is Mickey Chucktown. I’m a twenty-two year old F&B professional located in Charleston, SC. In my short career in the culinary world I’ve been fortunate enough to see the good and bad, up’s and down’s and in’s and out’s of a couple of the most prestigious restaurants located South of the Mason-Dixson line.  I’ve taken shots with Pappy, tasted wines with the boys from Screaming Eagle and served dinners underneath 7 James Beard Award winning chef’s. The most interesting thing about all of these accolades is that none of the people I mentioned before have A CLUE who I am.  To them, I’m the kid behind the bar, or the guy in the suit who appears to be doing nothing of any worth besides consuming a good deal of the donated wine for the evening. However, because of this, I have a very unique perspective on today’s over glorified food industry. Before I go any further… This is not your typical food blog. I’m not going to talk about the chef’s that are the hottest at the moment.  I feel as if most of the sommeliers in this industry are self consumed sociopaths (myself included).  And I don’t give two shits about molecular gastronomy. I like good food and I like to get drunk while eating good food. Simple as that. I promise to show you some of the more craft grub spots all across the South, and tell you a little bit about the people that make it all happen along the way. On Wednesday of each week I will highlight someone from the industry that doesn’t normally make the front cover of the magazines. The line cook’s, the wait staff, the bar tenders, the management, the pastry cooks… These are the foot soldiers behind today’s billion-dollar food industry. Through my experiences you will learn the culture of OUR everyday lives. The good, the bad, and the ugly. So grab a beer, turn on a little Hank Jr. and tune in every Wednesday to find out a little more about what it is that we do! Cheers!