12 Spoons

A Restaurant Rating Guide based on the dietary principles of the Weston A. Price Foundation

A Restaurant Rating Guide
Based on the dietary principles of
the Weston A. Price Foundation
Search for Restaurants Serving Real Food

Husk

11
Type of Business: Restaurant
Cuisine: American
Price: $$$
See All Pictures
Rating CriteriaOverview, Location & ContactMember Reviews

Centrally located in historic downtown Charleston, Husk, the newest offering from James Beard Award-winning Chef Sean Brock of McCrady’s and the Neighborhood Dining Group, transforms the essence of Southern food. Led by Brock and Chef de Cuisine Travis Grimes, a Lowcountry native, the kitchen reinterprets the bounty of the surrounding area, exploring an ingredient-driven cuisine that begins in the rediscovery of heirloom products and redefines what it means to cook and eat in Charleston.

Jump to member reviews

Rating Criteria

1. From Scratch: Serves mostly (i.e., more than half of the menu) fresh food, prepared from scratch. Does NOT rely primarily on kits or prepared/partially prepared foods from commercial food services.
Yes
Comments: Everything here is made fresh from scratch.
2. Local/Organic: Offers at least some locally sourced and/or organically produced food and/or wild-caught seafood.
Yes
Comments: Local, local, local. The menu changes according to what the farmers have available. Grits, peas, beans, and Carolina rice are all locally grown. Wild caught seafood is picked up fresh at the dock. There is a large blackboard that lists items for the day and their source - farm, ranch, or dock/boat.
3. Pastured: Offers at least some pastured animal foods.
Yes
Comments: The pork is forest raised on Wadmalaw Island, as is the chicken and duck. The beef is pastured and comes from Ridgeville about 50 miles away.
4. Organs: Offers some dishes made with organ meats (liver/paté, sweetbreads, heart, kidney, brains, etc.).
Yes
Comments: Pate, black pudding (some may know this as blood pudding) are often on the menu. Pork belly, pigs ears, and fried chicken fat are all delicious. Yes, the chicken fat is 'fried' but this is Southern food after all.
5. Cooking Fats: Cooks (sautés) in natural fats such as butter, lard, tallow, duck fat, coconut oil, or olive oil; uses lard, duck fat, or tallow for frying.
Yes
Comments: Lard, and more lard, followed by butter and more butter. Southerners were scolded about their high fat intake for decades. They had it right all along.
6. Bone Broth: Makes own bone broths/stocks for use in soups, stews, gravies, and sauces (does NOT use canned broth or powdered soup bases).
Yes
Comments: There are no cans in this kitchen! Broth is made from pork, beef, chicken, fish, and duck bones. I think the crab shells are used also, as well as fish bones and heads.
7. Seasonings: Makes most of its own seasoning mixes (does NOT use flavoring packets or MSG).
Yes
Comments: They make their own seasoning mixes, usually from fresh herbs either grown in the garden outside or from the local farmers. The sea salt is local.
8. Salad oils: Makes most of its own salad dressings using olive oil or cold-pressed sesame oil.
Yes
Comments: The salad dressings are all fresh made using house made mayonnaise, olive oil, apple cider vinegar, and fresh herbs.
9. Breads: Offers genuine sourdough bread.
Yes
Comments: The wheat for their house made rolls might be the only thing that isn't local. It is sourced carefully, but why take chances? Just order the table cornbread. It's made from locally grown corn and served to the table in a cast iron skillet with lots of real butter.
10. Beverages: Offers lacto-fermented beverages (such as kombucha or kvass).
No
Comments: While they haven't yet offered fermented beverages, they offer a variety of shrubs.
11. Condiments: Offers lacto-fermented condiments.
Yes
Comments: Not all the condiments are lacto-fermented, but there are a few. A fermented pepper sauce is served on one of the oyster dishes.
12. Desserts: Offers desserts made with natural sweeteners (such as raw honey, maple syrup, maple sugar, molasses, date sugar, palm sugar, coconut sugar, sorghum syrup, or malt syrup).
Yes
Comments: Deserts often use maple syrup, molasses, or local honey, but not always.
Notify Rater of changes to business info or rating criteria
Rating Created by: Bonnie Kuhlman
Notify rater of changes to business info or rating criteria

Location & Contact

French Quarter, peninsula
76 Queen St
Charleston, SC 29401
Husk
(843) 577-2500

Tagged With:

Reader Interactions

1 Member Review

 4/5 (1)
Review This Restaurant
  1. February 7, 2023

     4/5

    Food was fine. Very local, they have a large list with all their food sources. They use animal fats and vegetable and canola oils, disappointing. But they are very knowledgeable about all their ingredients and are very willing to help you with any dietary requests.

Leave a Review