Exclusive Properties

Mark your new 2012 calendars!

lisa@exclusivepropertiesus.com

Just some of the great local events coming up…

29th Annual Lowcountry Oyster Festival, January 29th at Boone Hall Plantation – aw-shucks, they’ve got 80,000 pounds of oysters! http://www.charlestonrestaurantassociation.com/lowcountry-oyster-festival/

SEWE – 30th Annual Southeastern Wildlife Exposition, February 17th-19th – all things wildlife, from art to demos: http://www.sewe.com/

Charleston Wine + Food Festival, March 1st-4th – becoming one of the hottest tickets in a town known for great food: http://charlestonwineandfood.com/

65th Annual Festival of Houses & Gardens, Historic Charleston Foundation, March 22nd -April 21st – peek inside some of the peninsula’s most charming homes and secluded gardens: http://www.historiccharleston.org/news_events/festival.html

35th Annual Cooper River Bridge Run, March 31st – walk or run 10K across the beautiful Ravenel Bridge with about 40,000 other folks! http://bridgerun.com/index.php

39th Annual Family Circle Cup Tennis, Daniel Island, March 31st - April 8th – come watch the top female tennis players in the world battle it out on the courts: http://www.familycirclecup.com/

36th Annual Spoleto Festival, May 25th - June 10th – spectacular world class performances come to Charleston: http://spoletousa.org/

Piccolo Spoleto Festival, May 25th - June 10th – more than 700 events over 17 days, featuring artists and performers from across the Southeast and beyond… http://piccolospoleto.com/

94th PGA Championship, at the Ocean Course on Kiawah Island, August 9th -12th – see the best golfers in the world play at one of the most challenging (and beautiful) courses on earth: http://www.pga.com/pgachampionship/2012/news/ocean_course_2012.cfm

Charleston shines again...

lisa@exclusivepropertiesus.com

Tourist-mecca Charleston has landed another accolade.

Alongside London, Paris and Budapest, the Holy City, currently Conde Nast Traveler's No. 1 tourist destination in North America, made travel guide Fodor's Top 21 places to go in the world this year.

Only one other U.S. tourist spot made the list: Oahu in tropical Hawaii.

Pushing Charleston to the forefront of the must-go destinations are great restaurants, plush hotels, beautiful scenery and numerous festivals, according to Fodor's.

The travel guide honed in on Charleston as a "buzzy destination" and a foodie-centric city that's leading a Southern food revival, especially among a couple of Charleston's newer restaurants.

At Neighborhood Dining Group's Husk, which opened just over a year ago, and McCrady's, the travel guide cited chef Sean Brock for delving "into the history of southern agriculture in an effort to reintroduce heirloom produce and incorporate long-forgotten local ingredients, providing a flavor of the South that's gone untasted for decades."

At Grocery, which opened last month on Cannon Street, Fodor's said chef-owner Kevin Johnson "pays homage to old-school groceries with a menu dictated by the catches and harvests of local anglers and farmers."

Fodor's nod to the city is not surprising, Brock said.

"Charleston has the perform storm," he added. "It has incredible hospitality, incredible weather, incredible food with an incredible history to back it up. Our buildings are beautiful, and we preserved our history with respect."

The travel guide's recognition of his efforts in the kitchen is also personally gratifying, Brock said.

"People are starting to taste the difference and become more interested in the story and the history of food when it wasn't processed or engineered or polluted," the chef said. "Food was simply better then, and we need to get back to that. Farmers are finally embracing the old-fashioned way of producing things. Chefs are becoming tighter with the producers, and guests are getting tighter with the chefs … and all of those things are adding up."

Fodor's also singled out the 62-room Planters Inn for its 18th-century charms as well as the award-winning Peninsula Grill.

Hotel and restaurant owner Hank Holliday said it was gratifying to see his staff rewarded for their efforts, but he said Charleston's newly discovered stature took many years of plugging away by Mayor Joe Riley and the hospitality industry.

"It just didn't happen overnight," Holliday said. "It's been long, long years of hard work."

He said the attention heaped on Charleston is because it offers "a wonderful experience and a wonderful product."

Helen Hill, executive director of the Charleston Area Convention and Visitors Bureau could not have been happier. "We are thrilled," she said. "This is a great start to the new year."

She called Fodor's one of the authorities on travel and lauded them for recognizing what millions of visitors already know.

"There's lots to do here," Hill said. "It's a combination of an historic destination with a rich, urban feel and beautiful beaches. There's not many places in the world to go to get that in one destination."

--- by Warren Wise, The Post and Courier

Rhett knew, a long time ago...

lisa@exclusivepropertiesus.com

Charleston is a great place to be!

Charleston is distinguishing itself from other cities culturally and economically. In addition to Husk, Bon Appetit's best new restaurant in America, here are other recent rankings representing the accolades to our city. While reading, remember Rhett Butler's words before that famous last line of "Gone With the Wind," "I'm going back to Charleston, back where I belong." To which Scarlett O'Hara replied, "Please, please take me with you!"

Food Network magazine

Evo Pizzeria, One of the top 50 pizzas in the U.S.

National Geographic

50 Best Places to Live: The Next Great Adventure Towns (2008)

Businessweek

No. 23 --City of North Charleston in America's Most Fun, Affordable Cities (2011)

Coolest Small Cities in America (2010)

Travel + Leisure

America's Favorite Cities Survey (2010, out of 35 cities):

No. 1 Friendly city

No. 1 Bed and Breakfasts/Inns

No. 1 Noteworthy neighborhoods

No. 1 Antique stores

No. 1 Stylish boutique hotels

No. 1 Attractive people

World's Best Awards (2011):

No. 2 Best Cities in U.S. and Canada

U.S. News and World Report

No. 20 Best U.S. Vacations (2010)

AmericanStyle

No. 4 Top Arts Destinations, midsize cities (2011)

Lonely Planet

No. 10 Top 10 Cities (2010)

Conde Nast Traveler

No. 2 Travel Destination in the U.S. (2010)

TripAdvisor Readers' Choice Awards

No. 17 Best Romantic Vacations, anywhere (2011)

No. 7 Best Romantic Vacations, U.S. and Canada (2011)

No. 14 Best History and Culture Vacations, U.S. and Canada (2011)

No. 20 Top Destinations, U.S. and Canada (2010)

No. 2 Great Food & Wine, U.S. and Canada (2010)

No. 4 Culture and Sightseeing, U.S. and Canada (2010)

No. 3 Top Girlfriend Getaways in the U.S. (2010)

United States Tennis Association

Best Tennis Town in the U.S. (2010)

Outside

Best Towns (2010)

Southern Living

No. 1 Best Southern City (2009)

No. 2 Best Neighborhood for Shopping -- King Street (2009)

No. 10 Best Family Destination (2009)

Parade

Five Great American Cities

Augusta Chronicle

Best Romantic Getaway (2011)

Best Romantic Getaway (2010)

Best One-tank Getaway (2010)

Forbes

No. 40 Best Places for Business and Careers (2011)

Milken Institute

No. 19 Best Performing Cities (2010)

Portfolio.com

No. 4 Small Business Vitality (2010)

--- as published in The Post and Courier

Charleston Marathon this January

lisa@exclusivepropertiesus.com

Register now for the second annual Charleston Marathon, which will take place January 13 – 15 and includes a full marathon, half marathon, 5K, youth marathon and a 30- or 60-mile bike ride. The course starts at Calhoun Street and winds through the historic Charleston peninsula, passing Rainbow Row and White Point Gardens/the Battery, ending up at the Navy Yard at Noisette. The race is fast becoming a new Charleston tradition, and proceeds benefit a nonprofit supporting fine arts programming in public schools. Performance groups made up of kids who benefit from the programs will dot the race course, entertaining and encouraging runners. Click here for more info on the weekend full of events: charlestonmarathon.com/

Registered participants will receive 10% off your booking of an Exclusive Property for that weekend! (not to be combined with other discounts, new contracts only).

EP in the news!

lisa@exclusivepropertiesus.com

Exclusive Properties helps care for animals

Recently members of the Exclusive Properties team met with the Isle of Palms Police Department to donate towels and linens to the town's animal control kennel located in the Public Services Building, 30 J. C. Long Blvd. Exclusive Properties is located at 1022 Carolina Blvd. and manages luxury home rentals on the islands near Charleston.

Team members and police officials (from left) are: Shelley Miles, owner of Exclusive Properties, IOP Police Chief Thomas E. Buckhannon, Sarah Trenker, Sergeant Robert Jimenez, Lisa Denman and Megan Morgan.

America's best new restaurant is in Charleston!

lisa@exclusivepropertiesus.com

Husk tops list as best new restaurant

Bon Appetit critic cites 'rediscovering Southern food'

Almost certainly everyone in the room knew the scoop by Tuesday afternoon's mandatory staff meeting at Husk restaurant. The news had gone viral by 10 that morning.

David Howard made it seem suspenseful anyway. He stood before an assembly clad in blue shirts and brown aprons, the pitch rising in his voice until the climax: "You are the No. 1 restaurant in America! Look at the person next to you and give them a hug."

And they did.

It was a great day to be a Husk employee — Bon Appetit's September issue had just declared Husk as No. 1 on its list of "Top 10 Best New Restaurants in America." The magazine is one of the country's largest and best known food publications with a circulation of 1.5 million.

There was icing on the cake, too. Husk's signature skillet-roasted chicken is splashed across the cover.

It is the second major national recognition for Sean Brock, who was named Best Chef Southeast in the 2010 James Beard awards as executive chef of McCrady's. Both restaurants are owned by the Neighborhood Dining Group, of which Howard is president.

Brock said he felt a full range of emotion when he heard the Bon Appetit news a few days ago. He realized there would be even more pressure and more work, "and we work really hard now."

"You feel proud of your team, you feel excited, at the same time you feel equally scared. That really raises the bar for us on a daily basis."

Helen Hill, executive director of the Charleston Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, also was understandably excited Tuesday. She said that while people still name history as the area's top asset in annual surveys, "food came in a very, very close second" in the most recent one. "It's been fun to watch how food has marched right up the list."

Charleston's reputation as a foodie city has been steadily transitioning from word-of-mouth endorsements to more public forms of recognition.

The highest to date has been local chefs Robert Stehling of Hominy Grill, Mike Lata of FIG and Brock winning consecutive Best Chef Southeast awards from the James Beard Foundation, from 2008 to 2010.

The BB&T Wine + Food Festival is ranked as one of the nation's top five such festivals by Forbes Traveler. Food Network magazine recently named EVO pizza in North Charleston as one of the 50 best pies in the country.

Southern Living also chose Husk, at 76 Queen St., as Best New Restaurant in the South this year and will be a partner in October's Taste of Charleston for the first time.

Local restaurants and chefs now appear regularly on food and network television shows and have gotten prominent coverage in major publications such as The New York Times.

"These kind of distinctions help to solidify Charleston's place as the most interesting culinary destination in the South," Hill said.

Southern Living Editor-In-Chief Lindsay Bierman also said Charleston is one of the most beloved and iconic cities for the magazine and its readers.

"We have enjoyed the food scene in Charleston and closely watched it for a very long time," he said Tuesday. Indeed, the magazine's September issue also has a feature story on Stehling, Lata and Brock, calling them "culinary superstars" of the South.

As for the Taste of Charleston, Bierman said Southern Living had been looking for a signature event, and "it aligned beautifully with us."

Andrew Knowlton, Bon Appetit's restaurant and drinks editor and author of "The BA Foodist," said Husk was his top national pick based on traveling across the country and eating out at least 250 days of the year.

He visited Husk twice, once last fall about a month after the restaurant opened, and again in early July.

"I think what Sean is doing is rediscovering Southern food, not reinventing it. He's just sourcing those ingredients and making the food that his grandmother made. For me that was quite personal," Knowlton said.

Leaving the restaurant Tuesday afternoon after eating lunch with three friends, Barry Keane of Sullivan's Island wasn't too surprised to hear of the honor. It was the 22-year-old's third time eating at Husk.

Local restaurants "have a lot of Southern food but not quite like this," he said.

Husk created an industry buzz when its concept was unveiled a year ago, followed by the restaurant's opening in November. It was Brock's idea to change the menus twice daily based on ingredients obtained solely in the South.

He and Chef de Cuisine Travis Grimes pushed the boundaries of farm-to-table dining by highlighting individual farmers and producers and telling their stories.

Knowlton said he has been following Brock's career since he was executive chef of the Hermitage Hotel in Nashville before coming to McCrady's in 2005.

What he sees now in Brock, who was raised in a Virginia coal-mining town, is a mature and confident chef doing the restaurant he always wanted to do.

"Sean certainly embraced the molecular part, foams and all that. ... At McCrady's he said he was cooking from his head, and at Husk he's cooking from his heart."

Howard said he was thrilled by the news, especially considering the large-scale talent found from coast to coast.

"To get this kind of recognition from the national media is like a lifetime achievement award."

Howard said the investors group took a risk buying and restoring two dilapidated buildings on Queen Street to house Husk. They and the restaurant's staff also gambled on the edgy concept, he said.

"Not everybody was convinced about the location, and the economy was tough," he said.

Brock said the whole city deserves recognition.

"The more I think about it, the more I realize how great it is for Charleston. It just proves to everybody that we're not just messing around down here."

By Teresa Taylor -- as published in The Post and Courier

Charleston is America's top place to visit!

lisa@exclusivepropertiesus.com

Holy City displaces San Francisco as No. 1 on Conde Nast list

Charleston named top tourist destination

Was it Charleston's friendliness that earned it the No. 1 tourist destination in America on Monday from readers of the widely read Conde Nast Traveler?

Or was it the bounty of outstanding restaurants, top-notch hotels, rich history, quaint shops and overall ambience that catapulted the Holy City to the top, displacing perennial winner San Francisco, which held the title for 18 years?

Apparently, it was all of it.

"It's like winning the Academy Award for tourism," an ecstatic Helen Hill, executive director of the Charleston Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, said by phone from New York City, where she accepted the honor from Emmy Award-winning comedy writer and fellow Charlestonian Stephen Colbert.

Charleston made its debut on the magazine's Readers' Choice Awards list of "Top 10 U.S. Destinations" in 1993, coming in at No. 6. The charming city went on to earn a top 10 ranking for 16 more years, holding its own alongside major powerhouse metropolitan areas, such as San Francisco, Chicago, New York and Boston.

For the past three years, Charleston ranked No. 2.

Mayor Joe Riley was pleased the city he's helmed since 1975 is now the No. 1 tourist destination in America.

"We love to share our extensive heritage and tradition of hospitality," Riley said in a prepared statement. "It is thrilling to see that the visitors who come here not only enjoy what they see and experience, they also find an open welcome from the city. Great food and lovely hotels add much to the enjoyment of our guests who come either for a day or a week. We look forward to the opportunity to show visitors what makes Charleston a great place to visit."

Voters annually evaluate cities based on six categories: atmosphere/ambience, culture/sites, friendliness, lodging, restaurants and shopping. The city with the highest composite appeal wins top honors.

To help sell the city, the CVB is launching a website at charlestonly.com, a nod to the term coined to describe the one-of-a-kind characteristics that define the Charleston experience.

The website includes highlights of recent national media coverage, a video featuring local personalities saying thank you and a listing of special packages offered by the Charleston area's eight 2011 Readers' Choice Award-winning resorts and hotels.

Also honored at the gala event was Kiawah Island Golf Resort, which was ranked No. 3 on the list of Top U.S. Islands and No. 3 on the list of Top Mainland U.S. Resorts.

By Warren Wise -- as published in The Post and Courier, Tuesday, October 11, 2011