The Glass Onion
Deviled Eggs
Duck Liver Mousse with Crackers and Pickles
Fig Jam on Toast with Marinated Mushrooms and Ricotta Salata
Fried Shrimp Po Boy
Scrambled Egg Po Boy
Fried Quail with Potato Salad and Grits
Fried Catfish with coleslaw and fries
Fries with Béarnaise
Cornbread and local honey
Chocolate Poundcake with Cocoa Stawberry Frosting
Bread Pudding
Fig Cream Pie
Butterscotch Pudding
Unassuming in appearance from both the outside and within with a small counter from which to order, a checkerboard floor, and wooden tables with butcher’s paper ‘tablecloths’ The Glass Onion hardly appears the sort of place upholding the highest standards of local, seasonal, and sustainable dining on first sight, but with strong recommendations from friends and the culinary media alike it was with great fortune that we opted to ignore a slightly out of the way location on Savannah Highway given the resultant reward; a meal where the only ‘problem’ was deciding what to order from a menu where no less than two dozen Lowcountry and Southern classics sounded wonderful.…and all sixteen that we ordered were. Beginning first with appetizers in the form of creamy duck liver with house made pickles alongside traditional deviled eggs and the brilliant balance of sweet and savory achieved by the fig and mushroom crostini before progressing to more traditional plates including crispy fried proteins, crusty po boys, and side dishes including stick-a-spoon-up-straight grits and the best cornbread of the trip perhaps the only thing more impressive than the quality and consistency of the cuisine was the price; a whole meal for four only slightly more expensive than breakfast at Hominy Grill and vastly superior in all ways. Helmed by Chris Stewart and manned by a small crew of smiling servers working alongside a bustling kitchen staff as 80’s classics played overhead The Glass Onion is everything I’d imagined as the best of the South Carolina cuisine and whether a local or a visitor this is a restaurant worth celebrating, preferably with a group, and ideally saving room for the dessert menu listed on the other side of the kitchen as both the porridge style bread pudding and butterscotch pudding were standard bearers for their genre while the fig cream pie was quite unlike anything I’ve ever tasted, an intense opening sweetness melting into a buttery finish with a touch of texture provided by the finely shredded fruits.
