Lowcountry Cuisine Fall/Winter 2019-20

LC 8 www.LowcountryCuisineMag.com | www.MountPleasantRestaurant.com | www.CharlestonRecipes.com lowcountry cuisine CHARLESTON BEER WORKS 480 KING ST., 11:30 A.M.-CLOSE Charleston Beer Works is a great place for college students and sports fans. TVs keep you updated on sports news until there’s a game that needs watching. The impressive line of taps runs the length of the bar and rotates beers from local breweries with a special focus on one local brewery each month, plus craft breweries from other parts of the country. If you prefer cocktails, Charleston Beer Works pours classic bottles of bourbon, whiskey, gin, rum and local varieties as well. Lunch, appetizers and dinner options feature fresh, locally-sourced ingredients. Breads, including the Local Pretzel, come from Saffron Bakery on East Bay Street. The Local Pretzel consists of two warm loaves of pretzel bread, sliced and served with beer cheese queso and beer mustard. The dipping sauces are flavorful alone, and particularly tasty when combined. Crispy, delicious Buffalo wings come in servings of six, 12, 25, and even 50 and 100. Sauces range from the zero- pepper rated Carolina Gold through one-pepper low and two-pepper medium heat like the hot honey garlic and the honey Sriracha, right on through to a three-pepper heat house hot, with other flavor options at each level. Wings are served with celery, carrots and a choice of ranch or blue cheese dip. If you want a full meal, check out the house-ground all-beef burgers, chicken sandwiches, house-made soups and salads. MONZA PIZZA BAR 451 KING ST., 11 A.M.-10 P.M. Monza uses fresh, locally and regionally sourced ingredients whenever possible. For some items like their Neapolitan style pizza crusts, Monza brings in the flour and yeast from Italy. Beers are local, Italian and Miller Lite. Wines lean toward the Italian for both house pours and bottles, and several cocktails include Italian ingredients like limoncello, Campari and prosecco. One notable exception is the Bourbon Slush, concocted from bourbon, lemon and sweet tea for a defiantly Southern alternative. The menu offers lovely Italian options including Neapolitan style wood-fire baked pizzas. Design your own with a choice of sauces (tomato, pesto, olive oil); cheeses (mozzarella, ricotta, goat); vegetable toppings (including tomatoes, artichokes, mushrooms and olives); and meats (including pepperoni, house-made sausage and bacon). Or choose one of the specialty pizzas like the Volpini, with fresh tomato sauce, prosciutto, arugula and pecorino Romano, or the Ronnie Peterson with oven-roasted chicken breast, artichokes, arugula pesto, ricotta, mozzarella and garlic. Monza also serves delicious salads as sides and entrees, including the chicken Milanese, with crispy chicken scaloppini, capers, arugula, grape tomatoes, red onion and pecorino Romano, and an entrée Caesar salad with your choice of shrimp or roasted or fried chicken. If neither pizza nor salad satisfies your Italian cravings, check out the lasagna or one of the pastas topped with Bolognese, carbonara or vodka sauce. Photo by Holly Vories. Photo Courtesy of the Monza Team.