FIG

Posted By Michael Stern on October 15, 2003 4:38 AM

"FIG" is an acronym for Food Is Good; and when you eat in this restaurant, you cannot help but agree. It's fancier and more expensive than typical Roadfood -- expect to spend a good $25 to $30 per person, not including drinks -- but if you are looking for a memorable Charleston dinner that is polite but not too swanky, you can't go wrong eating here.

It is a corner storefront on Meeting street with a long bar up front that you pass to get into the dining room. Accommodations are spacious at white-clothed tables topped with white butcher paper; walls are decorated with large, amusing paintings of food; and the staff is friendly and efficient.

The menu is stylish, but with a classic Southern flair. Meals begin with slices of fresh, yeasty bread and sweet butter; and how good it is to then fork into a warm salad of local shrimp, pancetta ham, and radicchio! Other compelling appetizer choices include a selection of artisinal cheeses and a plate of Serrano ham with olives, fennel and spiced almonds.

Shrimp is also available as an entree, plated with chorizo in tomato-anise broth; and the rice-flour-dusted flounder with brown butter and capers is an only-in-the-Lowcountry meal. For meat eaters, there is exemplary hanger steak, slow-roasted pork shank, or herb-crusted rack of lamb. Vegetables are served family style, and they are wonderful -- especially ham-laced butter beans, roasted beets with sherry vinegar, and sea-salted fingerling potatoes. One of the most interesting aspects of the FIG menu is its inclusion of old-fashioned gourmet treats such as steak tartare, coq au vin, and roast suckling pig.

You will pass the dessert table as you walk into the dining room from the bar. It is beautiful, and the one we tried -- blueberry tart -- was extra-sweet and utterly satisfying.

Panna Cotta of Greek Yogurt

Banana Tarte-Tatin

Roasted Beets

Strube Ranch Bistro Steak

Crispy Pork Shoulder

Frisee Salad

Posted By Gregory Forman on July 24, 2011 12:26 AM

I live two blocks from FIG and it is my go-to restaurant when I want visitors to experience the bounty of Lowcountry farms and waters. With the exception of McCradys, which is much fancier in both decor and execution, FIG is the best restaurant in Charleston, which has become an exceptional dining town in the 19 years I have lived here. And FIG isn't worse than McCradys; it's simply different.

I've eaten at FIG over a dozen times and go there for cocktails and bar snacks at least once a month. FIG was the first of the downtown Charleston restaurants to feature a well-designed cocktail menu (it is currently featuring variations on Negronis). The cocktails highlight fresh ingredients, hard-to-find liquors, and recipes that show an appreciation of cocktail history without slavish nostalgia.

It's the food where FIG really shines. Recommending individual dishes doesn't suffice because the menu changes daily to highlight whatever happens to be good, fresh, and local. The menu on July 21, 2011 featured a number of local fishes, including triggerfish, porgy, and grouper, as well as local tomatoes in a tomato tarte tatin and pappa al pomodoro (a bread and tomato salad featuring homemade ricotta).

I tasted much of what our table of six ordered and, as always, everything showcased outstanding ingredients prepared in a thoughtful manner. To provide some idea of why FIG excels, I will describe the five dishes I ordered:

My appetizer was escabeche of red porgy with marinated vegetables and fresh herbs. The porgy was lightly poached in a vinegar-based liquid and then served chilled with strips of peppers and onions cooked in the same liquid. The porgy was firm and fresh-tasting, the vinegar marinade worked well with the chilled fish, and the cold fish was refreshing on a hot Charleston evening.

My entree was lamb schnitzel and was exactly what one would expect a perfect lamb schnitzel to be. The lamb was two large thin (under a half-inch thick) pieces of meat from the leg, each piece at least 8 by 5 inches. The lamb had been pounded, coated in an excellent breading, and then pan-fried. The result was crisp without being greasy and the breading was flavorful without overpowering the lamb. I'd never seen lamb schnitzel on a menu and this was an excellent way to highlight lamb in a preparation commonly used for other meats.

Our table shared two vegetables: sauteed greens and roasted beets. FIG almost always has these two items on the menu. The "greens" that evening were red Russian kale, finely chopped and sauteed with slivers of garlic and pepperoncini. The greens were extremely fresh and bright-tasting, with the garlic adding a bit of tang and the pepperoncini adding a bit of bite without overpowering the flavor of the greens. The beets were cut into one-inch chunks and roasted in sherry vinegar. The roasting intensified the beet flavor while the vinegar added a touch of sweetness. These are the best beets and greens I have ever eaten. We received beets and red Russian kale in our CSA box that same day and it's likely that FIG obtained these vegetables from the same local farm. FIG is the only non-vegetarian restaurant in which I will order a vegetable plate as my entree; its vegetable preparation is that good. This "entree" isn't listed on the menu but they will gladly give you a sampling of their daily vegetables as an entree if you ask.

I was pretty full so I simply asked for a scoop of the mint chocolate chip ice cream for dessert. The ice cream featured an excellent coarsely chopped dark chocolate and loads of fresh mint (one can tell if mint ice cream uses fresh mint because fresh mint gives the ice cream a slightly grassy flavor that one doesn't get from mint extract). The ice cream base was luxurious without being unctuous. A simple but satisfying dessert.

"The best local ingredients in a thoughtful preparation" is the best description of FIG I can provide. While hardly the fanciest restaurant in downtown Charleston it is one of the best. Anyone visiting Charleston who wants to see why our city is justly proud of the local bounty should eat at FIG.

Roasted Beets

Sauteed Young Greens

Escabeche of Red Porgy

Roasted Beets

Strube Ranch Bistro Steak

Lamb schnitzel

Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream