About 25 minutes from Spartanburg, is a slightly larger town called Greenville, SC. We love to go to Greenville for entertainment, shopping and of course great food! Downtown Greenville is a center for boutiques, art, great restaurants and even a cute little wine bar. We titled this post to reflect the fact that downtown Greenville has a little of the atmosphere that NYC lovers enjoy. It reminds you of that great movie with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, You've Got Mail. Imagine that final walking scene where the characters meet; her not knowing and him knowing all along that they were the Internet chatters that had fallen in love and coincidentally were rivals in the art of literature. I know, I know sappy, but so sweet- if you haven't guessed, this isn't Jason writing this! So, to get back to my point, downtown Greenville invokes a sense of class, modernity, and HUNGER! Seriously though, downtown Greenville is known for it's culinary aptitude.
It is a mission for Jason and I to eat, review and blog about every restaurant in downtown Greenville. Believe me that's a lot! So to start things off we'd like to discuss an awesome little place called 21 East.
21 East is a hip, exciting spot that offers a fantastic menu of southern favorites with a sophisticated twist, courtesy of Chef John Acker. Open Monday through Wednesday from 4:30-12:00 and Thursday through Saturday from 4:30-2:00, 21 East offers a chic, SOHO, NYC vibe downstairs with cool violet hued lighting, sleek designed seating, exposed brick walls and a modernized bar to enjoy a cocktail or draft selection. Upstairs, 21 East has a great bar for the party crowd or if you'd like to host a private event that is also available.
If you've been reading our blogs thus far you will notice that we haven't really given you all a full review of any meal just yet! Well, that's about to change!!
This Cheat Day Menu is as follows :-)
Jason and I started off things scrumptiously with the Truffled Tater Tots, hand-rolled and paired with a white truffle aioli on a carrot nest, these little delights were as if heaven exploded in your mouth!! Just the right crunch on the outside with a perfect tot texture on the inside. A few artfully placed lines of their own homemade hot sauce completed this little snazzy starter.
Jason and I gobbled those up like two fat kids eating cake, except usually cake has a bit more volume. Out of all the fancy, smancy (is that a word?) digs I have been to, I'm pretty sure this place is the closest you'll get to a good ole' southern portion. Well, I guess a starter is just supposed to be that, otherwise no one would have room for the engorgement that took place next!
Jason ordered the 21 East Meatloaf. DIVINE!! It is served with whipped potatoes, braised collards and bordelaise. Where the starter lacked in size this made up for it! The meatloaf itself was huge. Potatoes were super creamy and anyone who knows me also knows that I do not under any circumstances eat collards, ugh, but I'll have to admit mixed with the meatloaf and potatoes it had a certain flair that only a great chef would know how to create.
Paired with his entree, Jason had the Quest IPA brewed straight out of Greenville. He thoroughly enjoyed his meal, which could be observed by the empty plate at the end of the meal.
I ordered the Chicken and Waffles. This is a Southern delicacy once or twice removed due to it being most popular among expatriate, African-American Southerners now living in urban areas. Those urban areas spoken of could be from the West as far as Los Angeles or in the North with locations such as the great NYC! See, I told you Greenville had that big, city thing going for it, ;-) According to John T. Edge, author of Fried Chicken: An American Story, the origin is a little bit of everywhere. From Harlem to LA soul food joints to the great South, this particular culinary combination satisfies many a food eater no matter where you grew up. 21 East's version definitely satisfied this particular foodie with a juicy, fried chicken breast, sweet potato waffle, Crown Royal syrup, whisky butter and homemade hot sauce, I have to admit I was in hog heaven!
We also ordered a side of the lobster, mac-n-cheese. We actually tried this at a festival called, Fall for Greenville, which showcases restaurants in the Greenville area. We plan to attend again this year so a full write up of that Cheat Day shouldn't be missed! This specialty mac-n-cheese features Maine lobster, asparagus, tomatoes, three-cheese cream sauce and herb crust. It definitely qualifies as comfort food. This alone makes me want to pop on my gas logs, curl up in a snuggie and drink hot chocolate, all while enjoying a big bowl of this phenomenal dish.
After leaving 21 East, we walked around the corner to Marble Slab and grabbed up some ice cream for dessert. I'd say that was a successful Cheat Day. Let us know what you think about these particular dishes. Do you like meatloaf? Do Chicken and Waffles entice the tummy? Stay tuned for a bit of a transplant from the Big Easy, we will be giving you all the Cajun details of the Back Porch in Spartanburg, SC.
To get all the details visit:
www.21eastbarandgrille.com
Source:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2013/02/14/172019116/fried-chicken-and-waffles-the-dish-the-south-denied-as-its-own, Fried Chicken And Waffles: The Dish The South Denied As Its Own? By: Maria Godoy
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