Food Writers and Editors Pinpoint Their Best Meal of 2014

Q. What was your single best meal in 2014?

Timmons Pettigrew, author of Charleston Beer and contributor to Eater Charleston:
"From the Kitchen" @ Indaco's chef's counter with my wife. Belt-bustingly awesome. La Barbecue/Home Team Brew & Cue @ COAST Brewing.

Eric Doksa, food and beer writer and restaurant critic for the Charleston City Paper:
I will never forget the Goat. Sheep. Cow cheese and charcuterie board my wife and I enjoyed in the hospital the day our son was born — simply incredible. Not far behind were the tasting menu with wine pairings at McCrady’s and the Beer, Wine + Cocktail Dinner with the guys from Animal and Micah Melton from The Aviary at Edmund’s Oast.

Erin Perkins, editor Eater Charleston:
It's a tie. The first time a friend and I visited 167 Raw, they were out of Butcher & Bee buns for the lobster roll and didn't feel comfortable serving them on any other bread, so chef Sean Rieflin suggested a sampling of their other offerings. We ate oysters, tacos, tuna poke, and an impromptu lobster salad — it was perfect.

Another great meal was a recent solo trip to McCrady's for a Whitaker cocktail (gin, aquavit, whey, lime, wild fennel, pine) and a simple, yet super refined ham snack with popcorn mayo and house-made crackers. The drink and the plate worked perfectly together and were a welcome comfort on a cold, rainy day. The McCrady's bar snacks are always exciting.

Hanna Raskin, Food writer and critic for the Post & Courier and author of Yelp Help: How to Write Great Online Restaurant Reviews:
It’s astounding how much great food I ate this year. But the meal experience that stands out is the Uncle Boon’s Wine + Food Festival dinner at Xiao Bao Biscuit (see my previous answers about noodles and Spring Street.) Not only was the food fantastic — and surprising in the very best ways — but the room felt exceptionally welcoming, and the assorted guests at my table (hi, Kinsey!) naturally fell into discussions of philosophy, art, and economics. It was a wonderful example of why we go to restaurants.

Brian Wilder, editor The Rakish Perspective and contributor to Eater Charleston:
Pickled shrimp from Edmund's Oast with a charcuterie board chaser. Simple, straightforward, and delicious

Marion Sullivan, Culinary Institute of Charleston, food editor Charleston Magazine, columnist Post & Courier:
Blue Crab Agnolotti, Lowcountry Pilau, and Applecake at The Grocery