Last week I wrote about a quick trip to Charlotte, NC, and our journey to an old-school haunt, Beef and Bottle.
The next morning, still fat and happy, we went to another classic with locations dotted around Charlotte: The Original Pancake House. What a gem.
I had been to an OPH in Birmingham several years ago and loved it. Not only is the food damn good, but it feels like a place where real people eat breakfast.
Living in Charleston, it can be difficult to carve out space that feels like it belongs to and is used by the local community. There are so many tourists to compete with - a fact that benefits me professionally, but can still be a pain personally. Finding a place that just feels like a simple place where real people gather for a normal breakfast - that is my new idea of exciting!
In Charleston, my longtime breakfast favorite was the Marina Variety Store. It’s still lovely, but lost some of the luster when they updated and redecorated to make it more “of the times.” Never a good idea, in my opinion. I love when a place feels willfully NOT of the times, and stuck in the past.
At breakfast that morning, I had the Dutch Baby, seen above, which put me on a path to make my own when we returned home. It’s basically a large, slightly sweet popover, and I was shocked to learn how easy it is.
An image of my version, and the recipe, is below. This is so so so simple to make. And the result is a dish with real wow factor, visually. This is just the thing to make when you’ve got company staying for the weekend - put on some music, brew some coffee, and BAM - spring this sucker on them. It’s a guaranteed hit.
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