Happy Friday morning, Charleston! Last week, I posted a poll on your favorite barbecue spot, and mentioned I’d offer my opinion. Thanks to all of you who participated! Here’s your Top 3:

• Lewis Barbecue - 54%

• Home Team BBQ - 23%

• Rodney Scott’s Whole Hog BBQ - 14%

I have to qualify my choice(s). When I want brisket, it’s gotta be Lewis. But I don’t want brisket all the time. So when I’m looking for a broader menu, I go to Home Team BBQ on Sullivans. Kinda tracks with what y’all like?

No congrats are on offer this week, as nobody took a guess in our “Where Are We” segment last week. Our photo was Saint James Episcopal Church on James Island. We’re on hiatus this week, but we’re profiling something different I think you’re gonna like. 👇🏼👇🏼

I’d love it if you follow us on Instagram. When we get to 1,000 followers, we’ll do a $50 giveaway to a local restaurant!

In today’s newsletter:

• Rapid-Fire Friday this week. Trying something different, I throw in 3 timely stories about real estate development with my thoughts. 🗺️

• Charleston’s O.G. hospitality company has been busy. Indigo Road is getting ready to open its 1st boutique hotel in its hometown. 🏨

• ICYMI. One of my favorite coffee shops to expand, beers go with oysters, and Post & Courier’s food editor’s 2024 Most Memorable Meals. 🍽️

Friday 45° / 26° ⛅ 💧7%

Saturday 49° / 30° ☀️ 💧7%

Sunday 54° / 38° ⛅ 💧6%

Friday, January 24

• Charleston Home + Design Show | 11 AM - 6 PM | Charleston Convention Center Ballrooms, 5001 Coliseum Drive, North Charleston | FREE PARKING + ADMISSION ALL WEEKEND! Find your next local contractor at the 21st Annual Charleston Home + Design Show.

• Charleston Stage’s “The 39 Steps” I 7:30 PM | The Historic Dock Street Theatre, 135 Church St, Charleston | The thrilling Tony and Olivier Award-winning comedy “The 39 Steps” follows Richard Hannay as he escapes from his mundane life and becomes entangled in a murder where he must race against time to solve the mystery and vindicate himself.

• The Beatles ‘Abbey Road’ I 8 PM | Charleston Music Hall, 37 John St, Charleston | Coming Fall 2024, elevate your show experience with our brand new Premium Balcony Box Seats! These luxury seats offer privacy for you and your group and include personal bar service — that’s right, we’re bringing the concessions to you!

Saturday, January 25

• Charleston Kennel Club AKC Dog Show | 8 AM - 4 PM | Exchange Park, 9850 U.S. 78, Ladson | Get ready for a pawsome time at the Charleston Kennel Club AKC Dog Show - where furry friends show off their best tricks and looks!

• Their Footsteps: Retracing Black History in Charleston I 2 PM | Avery Research Center, 125 Bull Street, Charleston | Join Gullah-Geechee storyteller Fouché Sheppard and Walk & Talk Charleston on a journey through the Black History of the city as we retrace the paths and visit landmarks of generations past and present.

• Girls Night Out Dance Party: Dance Through the Decades | 7 - 11 PM | Firefly Distillery, 4201 Spruill Avenue, North Charleston | Get ready for an unforgettable night at our exclusive Girls Night Out dance party. Join us for a fabulous evening filled with fun, laughter, and non-stop dancing. Strut your stuff in your favorite era's outfit (80's, 90's, 2000's, Taylor Swift, or whatever you like!) and groove to the beats of DJ ROC as he spins the hits from every decade. Fuel up with delicious bites from the Motley Chew food truck while you sip on Firefly craft cocktails.

Sunday, January 26

• Barks & Bushels: Oyster Roast & Adoption Event | 1 - 4 PM , 1033 East Montague Avenue, North Charleston | Join us in Park Circle for our Barks & Bushels event, in partnership with the Charleston Animal Society.

• Dave Attell I 7 PM | Charleston Music Hall, 37 John St, Charleston | Dave Attell, the legendary stand-up comedian’s, new Netflix Comedy Special HOT CROSS BUNS premiered in March to huge numbers and rave reviews. He is best known as the host of Comedy Central’s INSOMNIAC WITH DAVE ATTELL, which gave him a cult following.

• Thomas Rhett with special guests Tucker Wetmore & The Castellows | 7:00 PM I CreditOne Stadium, 161 Seven Farms Drive, Daniel Island | Thomas Rhett's PLATINUM-certified third album LIFE CHANGES (The Valory Music Co.) is the biggest, boldest-sounding record of his career, filled with a diverse batch of songs as he stretches his sound to new limits.

For a COMPLETE list of events in the Charleston area, bookmark the site below!

DEVELOPMENT

The Fresh Market, The Powerhouse & The Development Map

I wrote back in August about how The Fresh Market, a Greensboro-based specialty grocer, had taken over the Bowman Place Shopping Center lease that Lidl signed.

That was a follow-up to a September 2023 Post & Courier article which reported that news!

Until I learned about TFM being an agenda item on the January 29 Mount Pleasant Design Review Board meeting, I was skeptical they were coming.

They submitted revisions to their building drawings so there’s still hope!

I was surprised to learn that the developers of Navy Yard Charleston put an iconic building on the market.

It’s a well-heeled development team behind the redevelopment of the former Navy base. With complex projects of this scale, most developers want to control as many aspects as they can.

Usually to enhance “placemaking”, particularly since developments like this are years-long in the making.

The team has spent the past few years trying to convert The Powerhouse building into a live-performance hall. They're now looking to sell it to a buyer with a similar vision.

I happened upon a cool map on LinkedIn this week. Normally “cool” and “LinkedIn” don’t mesh in the same sentence.

In this case they did.

Woodlock Capital is a commercial real estate brokerage and investment company that’s active and growing in Charleston. They put together a clean, simple Google map showing apartment, hotel and office developments in Charleston.

I know one of their principals, Elliot Calhoun, who I recall told me he’s also a Maryland guy.

We spoke last week and Elliot told me about a very interesting project he’s involved in on the peninsula. I can’t share more than that, but it’ll be the first of its kind in the region.

I think y’all will be excited. Stay tuned.

PLEASE ADOPT ME!

If you’re like me, it’s difficult to describe how deeply a pet can burrow their way into your heart. My friends and family don’t mention it, but they HAVE to get tired of seeing posts of my boy, Finn. Here’s your opportunity to start inundating friends’ feeds with adorable photos: Pet Helpers is a local pet adoption agency, and they do a terrific job of placing pets into great homes. That sweet boy below? That’s Bruce, and he’s really hoping you’ll take him home. Contact Pet Helpers and find out how.

HOSPITALITY

Oak Steakhouse Marks 20 Years Just As Hotel Richemont Readies For Opening

I’ve written before about The Indigo Road Hospitality Group. Even though they don’t need my help promoting their restaurant and lodging empire—there’s over 30 restaurants and hotels in cities such as ours, DC, Greenville, Georgetown, Atlanta, Asheville, Raleigh and Charlotte—I have a soft spot for them.

I love the story of its founder, Steve Palmer. He struggled for years with alcoholism and wrote a beautiful book about his path to sobriety, thanks to the love and support of friends in the restaurant industry.

It’s a journey I share with Steve—I stopped drinking on December 8, 2015.

Indigo Road expanded rapidly over the past few years, and has its share of successes like O-Ku, Brasserie Banque, Indaco, and The Kingstide.

It seems, though, Mr. Palmer is particularly proud of Oak Steakhouse, which recently celebrated its 20th anniversary. When he first got involved as a partner 5 years after its opening, Broad Street was sleepy.

An established neighborhood was losing luster to a newish, sexy and emerging part of town called Upper King Street.

Palmer credits the hiring of chef Jeremiah Bacon, who later made his bones at The Macintosh, for supercharging Oak Steakhouse’s emergence.

Oak Steakhouse remains a premier dining experience in Charleston—if you get to 20 years and still open and excelling, you’re doing something right.

Now Indigo Road is readying the opening of Hotel Richemont, a 25-room boutique hotel which will include what looks like a pretty cool restaurant named Two Bit Club.

It’s a Vietnamese restaurant offering an elevated fare of Southeast Asian cuisine with vintage decor from the 1940s and 1950s.

HELP ME SPREAD THE WORD!

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ICYMI

 🥘 What a cush job the Post & Courier’s food editor has. Parker Milner recently shared his 10 most memorable meals of 2024.

🦪 Think Holy City Brewery is only about great beer? You’ve got to check out their new raw bar called The Walrus.

🍲 Southern Living recently profiled dishes its readers are willing to travel for. Two are in Charleston and another in Murrells Inlet.

🐔 Just in time for my hometown Commanders to pull out another improbable win against the city whose fans once booed Santa Claus. Here’s the 16 best chicken wing spots in Charleston.

☕ One of my favorite coffee shops—Brown Fox Coffee in Mount Pleasant—is expanding. They’re adding a kitchen among other things, and if you’re a real estate/architecture nerd like me, you can check out their plans.

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FEEDBACK

Got 15 seconds? Let us know what you thought about today’s newsletter by replying to this email or voting in the poll below (you’ll be done MUCH faster than cars on Johnnie Dodds at 4:00 PM on a Friday). 👇