A glorious night at Edmund’s Oast

Besides the obvious reasons, there are two things I really love about Julia Child: 1) she and her husband, Paul, sent out Valentine’s Day cards every year to their friends, usually with a photo of the two of them in some goofy, smitten pose; and 2) her husband, so enthused by Julia’s discovery of a new passion in French cooking, took it upon himself to educate himself in all things wine so as to have a hobby to complement hers.

If that ain’t love…

Here at Gravy Central, it takes a lot for me to be able to write these little posts.  I know it seems like I’m just always on a Festivus of Gorging 24/7 over here, but the secret to my success is the fact that the hubby carves out a little bit of time in the evenings several times a week for me to be able to sit upstairs in my office, sifting through and editing photos and writing my heart out.  When I come downstairs, sometimes at 11pm or later — well, let’s just say he’s magic.  My kitchen is spotless, my laundry folded, and my multi-vitamin laid out lovingly on my nightstand.  In other words, behind this blog is a man who cares about my hobby enough to make sure I don’t drown in the humdrum of daily life to keep me from it.

Now if that ain’t love…

The perk, of course, is that when there’s a new gastronomic show in town, we’re both equally excited to sniff it out and see what the deal is.  The newest gem is called Edmund’s Oast, a microbrewery/cured meat house just outside of downtown Charleston.  The hubby has for years taken an interest in serving as the beverage director to my home cooking, learning a little bit about everything from brewing an excellent cappuccino to mixing a delicious cocktail.  Sour beers are his latest thing, and the Faust — a dark, sour, chocolately blend of amazingness brewed by Edmund’s Oast — has quickly become one of our favorites.

Top: a freshly poured Faust, a sour beer brewed in house at Edmund’s Oast; bottom: the scene at Edmund’s Oast is cozy and intimate

Edmund’s Oast was the nightcap of another successful run of restaurants during one of our Pub Crawls, and so we just snacked on a small cured charcuterie plate — all cured in-house, mind you.  While the portions are admittedly small, even for two who’d been living it up at two (okay, maybe three) other dining establishments that night, it was a perfect taste of what’s on tap in the meat department.

We finished with a panna cotta dessert with passionfruit puree, a lovely light dessert with lots of acid punch from the puree.  The panna cotta was delightfully light and creamy — a nice balance to the sodium we’d inhaled on our meat board (wow, that’s a term I’d like to be able to use every day without getting in trouble).

In the end, thought, it’ll be the Faust — along with the 48+ other beers the place has on tap — that’ll keep us coming back.  After all, even beverage directors deserve a break every now and again.

Edmund’s Oast | Charleston, SC