Critic Hanna Raskin Declares Renzo Not Boring

Huger Street pizzeria Renzo gets a four-star review from Post and Courier critic Hanna Raskin. She finds herself enamored with the environment that co-owners Erik and Nayda Hutson have cultivated, saying it “feels like it belongs on a big-city block where everybody walks and probably visits art galleries and reads poetry on a regular basis.” She goes on:

In Charleston, where it takes mounds of money to open a restaurant, most dining rooms are predetermined down to the littlest detail: Orchestrating the customer experience in advance is one way to keep risk and worried investors at bay. It also usually results in something boring, which Renzo is not.

While “heart of Renzo’s menu is pizza,” Raskin is most thrilled with the grapefruit and boquerones. “It’s a joint triumph of two critical cooking skills: Ingredient selection and controlled technique. Deliciousness is inevitable,” she writes. The bucatini is “a rare disappointment,” but the agnolotti is “... the sort of preparation that makes you feel sorry for people who snub cookbooks, since no amateur is likely to come up with anything like it.”

• Renzo Restaurant Radiates Cosmopolitan Vibe With Great Food to Match [P&C]