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Middleton Place Restaurant: Footprint of Southern past

Brad Nettles
The Post and Courier

Middleton Place Restaurant

Should Henry, Arthur or Williams Middleton sit down at a table at Middleton Place Restaurant, they would experience a taste of home. Okra, rice, field peas and pork are on the menu.

This restaurant was birthed by a Junior League project in 1928. In 1949 their Tea Room moved to the current restaurant, which was built in 1933 as a guest house. W. Bancel La Farge modeled the structure after the Rice Mill and designed it to complement the architecture of the 18th century plantation main house.

Today, oil lanterns light your way to its charming garden entry. In the late summer season, it remains surrounded by pots of caladiums, ivy, ferns and pale pink impatiens.

There is a Williamsburg-tavern feel to the place and yes, it even smells old. The pub features a small bar area, a fireplace and limited seating. The garden room now provides space for private functions and the tranquil main dining room overlooks the Rice Mill pond and the gardens.

In the 1980s, the legendary Edna Lewis was hired as a consultant for the restaurant. Lewis had embraced a mission of preserving the heritage and the traditions of the Southern table, a table that had little in common save the point on a compass. Today, her recipes can still be found on the menu and the tradition of "simplicity" that she so honored can be seen in the cooking.

The influences of West Africa, England, France, Spain and the American South have filtered down over the years to create a foodway at Middleton Place that tastes very much of home cooking. Lewis would be very pleased.

Local Caw Caw Creek Pork Shoulder ($8) was smoked into a soft tangle of succulent meat, blanketed by simply wilted Swiss chard, whose crenulated surface captured sweet and tangy nuggets of peach chutney speckled with rhubarb for a delicious starter.

The She-Crab Soup ($6) honors its creator, William Deas. It tastes not of flour as so many do, but rather a rich cream of lump-crab soup, biting your tongue with a tease of cayenne, going down nutty with its hit of cream sherry and brightened by bits of orange roe.

The Okra Soup ($5) is built on a foundation of spiced tomato broth, flavored with carrots and celery and hearty with okra, corn and butter beans. Plantation minestrone, we named it.

Also on the menu is a Caesar Salad ($7), why? Joining it is a salad of organic greens ($6) that combines blue cheese, berries and a fruit vinaigrette and a Duck Confit Salad ($7). I suspect they are there for the tourists and they lend nothing to the integrity of the menu here — whether straddling the past or embracing the future.

Entrees are balanced. Springer Mountain Chicken ($23), Filet of Beef with Madeira Sauce ($28), Pan-Seared Crab Cakes ($25) with okra and tomatoes, and a thoughtful Vegetarian Mélange ($19) with wild mushroom risotto, okra and tomatoes, succotash and fried green tomatoes are a few examples.

We opted for the Palmetto Bass ($27). Pristine in its freshness, it was gently crumbed with cornmeal, sauteed, finished off in the oven and plated on a bed of local succotash (butter beans, corn and cowpeas) surrounded by a coulis of roasted red peppers and golden sweet corn puree. They are primal ingredients with a "dash of innovation." Lewis would approve.

The Maple Leaf Farms Duck Breast ($25) entree suffered from some seasoning issues. Its accompanying wild mushroom risotto had a tad too much white pepper and the foie gras emulsion broke (separated). Frankly, cooking with this fatted liver is tricky and even the best of chefs have been foiled by its quick change from one state of matter to the next. The duck, though, was tender and tasty.

The wine list is limited but adequate. Not only fairly priced, but honestly poured.

Our server single-handedly managed the dinner service for the 10 covers at the time of our visit. The kitchen was able to keep pace with the guests.

We had to have the Huguenot Torte ($6) for dessert. The crunchy meringue-like jumble of a torte complete with Granny Smith apples and pecans did not disappoint. Tepid whipped cream would be better left off and the dollop of vanilla ice cream contrasted well with temperature and texture.

The background music could benefit from both a sound and menu check.

When you are looking for a restaurant for a multi-generational family experience, or have a desire to showcase the Lowcountry in a unique setting for visiting guests, think Middleton Place, and let chef Micah Garrison and staff serve the honest flavors of Southern heritage one plate at a time.