Since Chef Robert Stehling opened Hominy Grill with wife Nunally Kersh in 1996, they’ve garnered countless accolades, including Matt and Ted Lee’s four-part profile in the New York Times. I ate breakfast there years ago, and didn’t understand why national publications were raving. It took a recent lunch there to revise my opinion. Food writers have heaped thousands of words of praise on Hominy. Here are my 595.
Robert Stehling endorses “fresh, seasonal, locally grown fish and produce,” utilizing local suppliers whenever possible. He apprenticed under the late great Bill Neal, chef/owner of Crook’s Corner in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Before moving to Charleston to open Hominy, he cooked in New York at Home, Arizona 206, and Monkey Bar.
A huge mural greets diners in the parking lot and features a bygone waitress named Rosie carrying a steaming bowl of grits, pronouncing: “Grits are good for you.”
We ate on the outdoor patio, which is warmed by heat lamps when needed and features its own triptych of blackboards.
A triptych of blackboards list the day’s specials, vegetables, and desserts.
Cucumbers should be very afraid. The fuzzy, powerful okra pickle slapped around my tastebuds. I mean that in the best possible way.
My brother ordered a fried catfish sandwich with homemade tartar sauce, hand-cut fries and vinegary cole slaw ($8.95). He seemed pleased.
Of course my chocoholic brother selected chocolate chip pound cake with a rich chocolate glaze and vanilla custard sauce. It was dangerously moist and delicious.
As much as I enjoyed lunch, I’m convinced my Southern food education will be incomplete until I eat at Hominy for dinner, when my parents claim Chef Stehling really shines. The menu reads like first-rate food porn: okra & shrimp beignets with cilantro lime sour cream; Upland chicken bog with sausages, chicken livers and jasmine rice in a rich brown stew spiked with mustard; and pecan crusted roast pork loin with spicy peach bbq sauce, sweet potato spoonbread and collard greens. Dinner has to happen on my next visit.
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