The last time we were in Charleston, we had lunch at Poogan’s Porch, a fixture of Charleston’s dining scene. As they put it:
WE BELIEVE IN conversations on porches, Sunday brunch, old Southern dogs, ghosts!, seersucker, biscuits, homemade and handmade, sweet tea, handwritten recipes, friends old and new, great stories, gracious hospitality and our Moms. Not necessarily in that order.
The chairs on the front porch have those nice palm fronds, and on each table, a palmetto rose:
Their biscuits were amazing. Not with a big delicious crust like the ones I make in my cast iron skillet, these were terrific in their own way — pillowly and light, big but dainty, off a sheet pan:
And this may be some kind of heresy, but they’re much better than the biscuits at Loveless (although the late Carol Fay was a sweetheart), and unlike Loveless, which is known for not giving away any secrets, the kind people at Poogan’s just give their recipe to whoever asks for it. They put it on a card already printed for guests who ask — and here it is for all the world to see. Bravo, Poogan’s! That good karma boomerang is heading right back to you.
We devoured those amazing biscuits that came out first, and rather than order for each person, we ordered ‘for the table’ so we got more as fried chicken sliders:
Macaroni and cheese:
Shrimp and grits:
…and pimento cheese fritters atop green tomato chutney:
So terrific, all of it. And it will be on our list the next time we’re in CHS.
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A mural of Charleston culinary figures as characters in an interpretation of Renoir’s ‘Luncheon of the Boating Party’ now appears next to Poogan’s Porch (and it’s good). Among those included: Nathalie Dupree, Matt Lee, Sara Clow, Matthew Niessner, Frank McMahon, Frank Lee, Mickey Bakst, Craig Deihl, Charlotte Jenkins, Mike Lata, Robert Stehling, Michelle Weaver, Victor “Goat” Lafayette, Karalee Nielsen Fallert. One day they may need to add Sean Brock.