why do something as unwanted, meaning nobody was particularly crying out, you know what we need? we need rice that used to taste like it did in 1837. we need grits, better grits. what called to you that you felt compelled to answer? glenn: i m a cuisine whore, you know? i think that culture is interactive with cuisine, as soon as you look at cuisine, you re looking at politics. you re looking at medicine. you re looking at the advanced thinking. anthony: i ll agree with you that there is nothing more political than food. glenn: you got it. anthony: chef mike lata s restaurant fig was one of the first and most important on the charleston scene. determined to source the kind of local products that you used to find everywhere in the low country. as much as i d like to illustrate that solid grounding and traditional ingredients and preparations with my order, i could not resist the soft shell crabs, which are just in season. with a pasta and shaved bottarga, which frankly, i d sl
ridiculously good. jeff: this is really moist for a wild turkey. sean: people who say they don t like turkey need to eat this. mike: so what s your impression of charleston? anthony: it s a, you know, it s one of those weird, distinctly american mutations, kind of like rock n roll or jazz or blues. sean: that s what makes charleston so cool, though. there s really nothing else like it in america, and it s been unique since the early part of the 18th century. and the city works hard to preserve that. we have an incredibly gorgeous city that people want to visit so we have the advantage of tourism. mike: the clientele definitely gives us the opportunity to be this progressive or relevant. sean: they almost push us to be more than we can even be. jeff: we have an active cuisine. i mean, we recovered all these, you know, ingredients and rediscovered a lot of the agricultural influences that were destroyed in the 20th century, but we re not we re not just recreating hist
sean: pig s feet and collard greens. anthony: oh damn. sean: pickled pigs feet and collared greens. anthony: oh yes. sean: and then barbecue cole slaw, some potato salad with ramps, baked red peas. anthony: mm-hmm, oh there s my weakness right there. sean: and we made you some very special bright orange mac and cheese. anthony: mac and cheese. i do love bright orange mac and cheese, as you know. and that s a turkey. sean: yup. anthony: let that be a lesson to you. jeff: like going to grandma s house. anthony: mike lata from fig is here and jeff alan, owner of rebellion farm. so at this point, how many others are there like you guys, like, who are basically keeping it real as far as real southern culinary traditions as opposed to sort of the jokey ones? sean: i feel like just about everybody here is. mike: yeah, more than you would think. anthony: well, how many people is that? mike: 12? sean: yeah, in a town like this, that s pretty amazing. anthony:
chef? sean: pig s feet and collared greens. anthony: oh damn. sean: pickled pigs feet and collared greens. anthony: oh yes. sean: and then barbecue cole slaw, some potato salad with ramps, baked red peas. anthony: mm-hmm, oh there s my weakness right there. sean: and we made you some very special bright orange mac and cheese. anthony: mac and cheese. i do love bright orange mac and cheese, as you know. and that s a turkey. sean: yup. anthony: let that be a lesson to you. jeff: like going to grandma s house. anthony: mike lata from fig is here and jeff alan, owner of rebellion farm. so at this point, how many others are there like you guys, like, who are basically keeping it real as far as real southern culinary traditions as opposed to sort of the jokey ones? sean: i feel like just about everybody here is. mike: yeah, more than you would think. anthony: well, how many people is that? mike: 12? sean: yeah, in a town like
this, that s pretty amazing. anthony: god damn, this is good. pig s feet and green is just ridiculously good. jeff: this is really moist for a wild turkey. sean: people who say they don t like turkey need to eat this. mike: so what s your impression of charleston? anthony: it s a, you know, it s one of those weird, distinctly american mutations, kind of like rock n roll or jazz or blues. sean: that s what makes charleston so cool, though. there s really nothing else like it in america, and it s been unique since the early part of the 18th century. and the city works hard to preserve that. we have an incredibly gorgeous city that people want to visit so we have the advantage of tourism. mike: the clientele definitely gives us the opportunity to be this progressive or relevant. sean: they almost push us to be more than we can even be. jeff: we have an active cuisine. i mean, we recovered all these, you know, ingredients and rediscovered a lot of the agricultural influ