At Middleton Place general manager Tim Bedwell makes sure the shrimp and grits are authentic. He says a seafood stock is thickened with roux, peppers, onions and shrimp, which then is poured over traditional, stone-ground grits. She-crab soup, a common Low Country dish found in restaurants throughout Charleston, is a top seller at Middleton Place. To make the soup, Bedwell uses a cream base combined with crab. He adds roe from the female crab along with a touch of sherry to produce the rich crab soup.
People are always quite surprised.
Pictured are several of the restaurant's signature dishes. While chefs in the area respect and understand its Low Country roots, they're giving traditional Low Country dishes a new twist. Executive chef Tom Condron at Mimosa Grill in Charlotte, N.C., combines his upscale style of cooking with traditional Low Country favorites. Condron builds new, unique dishes but never strays far from Low Country traditions. To give his oysters a little spice, he serves up fried oysters by pairing them with a baby spinach salad.