Charleston's Having a Glow Up and Everyone's Invited: Italian Takeovers, French Whispers and Daniel Humm Moves South

Food Scene Charleston

Charleston’s New Flavor: Why the Holy City Is Having a Culinary Moment

Charleston has never been shy about good food, but lately the city is cooking with a new kind of swagger. On one block you might find she-crab soup and shrimp and grits made the way someone’s grandmother insists is “the only way,” while a few streets over, a chef is pairing local triggerfish with Calabrian chile butter and calling it coastal Italian.

According to Charleston City Paper, the past year has seen a wave of ambitious openings that stretch the map as well as the imagination. In Hanahan, Cane Pazzo from chef Mark Bolchoz leans into that “Italian invasion,” turning wood-fired pizzas and handmade pastas into a neighborhood ritual. Downtown, Allora on Spring Street and Pelato on Morrison Drive take the same boot-shaped inspiration but filter it through Lowcountry seafood, proving that local shrimp and Anson Mills grits play surprisingly well with Amalfi-style lemons and olive oil.

Broad Street’s Sorelle and Ashley Avenue’s Volpe show how Italian technique can amplify Charleston’s natural pantry rather than overshadow it, building menus around local fish, Sea Island peas, and just-picked okra. Over in Summerville, Kersey House from chef Nico Romo channels a Parisian bistro through a South Carolina lens, while Merci on Pitt Street doubles down on that intimate French vibe with butter-rich sauces wrapped around local vegetables and dayboat seafood.

The most headline-grabbing arrival may be Daniel Humm’s year-long residency at The Charleston Place, where the chef behind New York’s Eleven Madison Park drops global polish into a city where boiled peanuts and benne wafers still signal true hospitality. Sister spots Sushi Bar and Bellerose on Church Street add, respectively, a tightly choreographed omakase and a sleek, modern steakhouse energy to a town once defined by white tablecloths and crab cakes.

Even the coffee scene is buzzing. Prophet Coffee’s expansion to the Eastside, along with Dawn Patrol Coffeehouse on James Island, Sweet Palm Coffee on upper King Street, and Nook Tiny Cafe and Market on Rutledge Avenue, fuels the city’s daytime creativity with single-origin pours and pastry cases that nod to Southern baking traditions.

Threaded through it all are the Lowcountry staples that made Charleston famous: shrimp and grits, Frogmore stew, okra soup, and benne wafers, dishes that carry Gullah Geechee, West African, Native American, and European influences in every bite. What makes Charleston’s current moment special is how confidently chefs are remixing those traditions rather than replacing them. For listeners chasing the next great food city, Charleston is no longer just a charming classic—it is one of the country’s most exciting test kitchens, where history and innovation share the same plate..


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This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI