It’s only been a few hours since we landed into Charleston, South Carolina. I had planned this trip a while back for Jeni’s birthday and as I’m sitting at an AirBnB property we’re staying in along the river, I’m feeling super excited for the unexpected. Earlier this year, we were in Nashville and Louisville and got a taste of the Southern(Eastern) hospitality. The food and scene here has been happening for a while and even more so with Chef Mike Lata and Chef Sean Brock’s two restaurants, Husk and McCrady’s. And there are many other promising places on the eatinerary. You can follow us on Instagram @eeddbbmm and @oishiieats and see if Charleston might be a possible destination for you soon. We know nothing about Charleston! Enjoy the latest mix and stay tuned.

Featured in WonderTune Charleston:

Alpine
Bibio
Blue Hawaii
Blur
Classixx
Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.
Daughter
Destroyer
DJ Shadow + Little Dragon
French Kicks
Friends
John Talabot
Kisses
Local Natives
Mayer Hawthorne
Pinback
Princeton
Royal Bangs
The Ruby Suns
Still Corners

Listen to WonderTune Charleston via Spotify

Featured in WonderTune Tequila:

Atlas Sound
Beck
Blackbird Blackbird
Class Actress
Classixx
Daft Punk feat. Pharrell
Devendra Banhart
Du Tonc
The Flaming Lips
Flume
Generationals
Giraffage vs. Teen Daze
Gung Ho
Javelin
Jon Phonics
Sunglasses
Teen Daze
Tennis
Vacationer
Young Summer
Youth Lagoon

Listen to WonderTune Tequila via Spotify

Walking in and seeing the black wrought-iron ring chandeliers, candles and dark wooden furniture, I got a sense of medieval meets modern. With the hearth in the center of the restaurant and chefs behind the wooden counter, it was almost set up like an old school theater. I already knew the food would be delicious just from walking into this warm restaurant.

Chef Moore uses almond and cherry wood to power the hearth. In the middle of the hearth is a 2′ wide grill. Flanking the grill are various “grill stations” equipped with cast iron pots/skillets and clay cooking pots from Spain/Latin America called cazuelas. When we were in Argentina, we ate various meat and fish stews cooked in cazuelas. This type of material stores heat at higher temperatures for longer periods of time, allowing another level of flavoring to occur than your standard metal pot.

This write-up combines my meals from four different occasions within 2 months. On my first visit, I lucked out during crab season but did not make it for Crab Mondays which I hear gets incredibly packed. Poor crustaceans.

Chef Moore showing the crab who’s boss.

We first learned of Camino through Kayoko Akabori of Umami Mart. She started working here as a bartender before she opened up her Japanese barware store. The cocktails here don’t bother with fluffy things like herbs, flowers and other adornments… they’re just cocktails that are served straight up and delicious.

Hard-boiled Eggs with Herring Bottarga. Man…

Roast Duck and Duck liver pâté crostini with Cranberry reduction

Roast Artichokes and Trumpet Mushrooms over farro

Grilled Dungeness Crab meat

Grilled Sand Dab with potatoes

Pan-roasted local Rockfish

Grilled pork with local asparagus and farro

Sliced Pork Tenderloin with Frisée and Croutons

Roast Duck Breast

Grilled Dungeness Crab with House Herbs. *Applause*

After one of the dinners, Russell kindly took us on a tour of his kitchen. He showed us barrels of his house made vinegar. He doesn’t know that I also stuck a whole Dungeness crab in my camera bag on the way out. I ate it outside in a dark corner. I must have looked like Golum from Lord of the Rings.

House-cured pancetta

Team Camino

Russell’s wife, Allison Hopelain, urged us to come back during brunch as it is equally as delicious as dinner. On a Sunday we returned and she couldn’t be more spot on. The place was packed.

The beautiful brunch smorgasbord

Michael Tsai, sous chef, chopping up crab for brunch service. Michael, you’re not going to let those crumbs of crabmeat go to waste right?

Farm-fresh Eggs with Swiss chard and farro.

Eggs baked in a cazuela. Reminds me of Moroccan-style.

Pastrami and pickled beet sandwich

Grilled Dungeness crab. For the third time.

Chef Russell Moore and Allison Hopelain

If you’re late to this party like me, definitely stop by when you’re in the Bay area. I promise it’ll be worth your time. Look for the East Bay food guide that I’ll be posting soon. Thanks for reading.

Camino Restaurant
3917 Grand Ave
Oakland, CA 94620
(510) 547-5035
www.caminorestaurant.com

Bibio
Big Black Delta
Billa Qause
Bloc Party
Crystal Castles
The Detroit Experiment
Frankie Rose
Gung Ho
Ivan & Alyosha
Javelin
Little Dragon
Millionyoung
Pepper Rabbit
Portugal. The Man
Rhye
The Ruby Suns
Sunglasses
Teen Daze
Toro y Moi
Wild Nothing

Listen to WonderTune København on Spotify.

Stuart Brioza and Nicole Krasinski. Their first date in 1994 was at a pho restaurant in Cupertino. Awesome. Follow his awesome tour of the Fish Sauce Trail in Vietnam with Top Chef Paul Qui of Uchiko (Austin, TX) and Edward Lee of 610 Magnolia (Louisville, KY).

Stuart and Nicole infuse Asian ingredients into their dishes. Always delicious and well-balanced. I believe these ingredients are used to spice their pork ribs.

Produce you’ll never find in Trader Joe’s.

Preparing to roast some rosemary almonds.

Nicole making her famous Sabayon “ice cream” sandwiches.

Eleanor.

Katie.

Six-minute eggs!

Stuart shaving some of his house-cured egg yolk bottarga atop his kimchi and yuba “noodle” dish. I love this dish – nothing was left behind.

Nicole making dough for her fry-bread. Another not to miss item.

Sourdough pancakes, another one of State Bird Provisions’ signature dishes. There are both sweet and savory versions to choose from. I always go with uni and ikura (salmon roe).

Stuart is also an avid Instagrammer. Follow them at @StateBirdSF.

Seared Steak, maitake mushrooms and brussel sprouts with shoyu glaze. Fantastic.

Pan-seared trout with Red Boat fish sauce vinaigrette, hazelnuts and tangerines. I’m a Red Boat fanatic.

It was an awesome afternoon photographing State Bird Provisions and hanging out. Good food is best made by good people. Thanks to S+N, Elizabeth and team. Thanks for reading.

State Bird Provisions
1529 Fillmore St.
San Francisco, CA 94115
(415) 795-1272
www.statebirdsf.com/

Listen to WonderTune Louis + Nash.

01. Aeroplane – We Can’t Fly (Oliver Remix)
02. Atlas Sound – The Shakes
03. Avi Buffalo – What’s In It For?
04. Black Moth Super Rain – Like A Sundae
05. Blackbird Blackbird – Modern Disbelief
06. Cashemere Cat – Mirror Maru
07. Cayucas – High School Lover
08. Childhood – Blue Velvet
09. Chromeo – Hot Mess
10. Ducktails – Letter of Intent
11. Feeding People – Island Universe
12. Frankie Rose + Teen Daze – Union
13. Lord Huron – The Stranger
14. Roosevelt – Sea Dub
15. Sea Wolf – Priscilla
16. The Sweet Seranades
17. Tame Impala – Feels Like We Only Go Backwards
18. Tops – Double Vision
19. Unknown Mortal Orchestra – Swim and Sleep
20. Youth Lagooon – The Hunt

Listen to WonderTune Louis + Nash. Thanks, follow me at @eeddbbmm to see what we eat/drink in Nashville and Louisville.

For us, things can change from crappy to happy the second we smell something delicious being cooked, or see steam rising from a grill or table top. Our friends Warren and Laurie took us to the Borough Market as soon as we could wake up. They knew that this would make up for everything and it sure did. We ended up coming back once more before departing to Paris.

Founded in 1756 and located in the Southwark (Suth-erck) neighborhood, the Borough Market runs from 2 am – 8 am for wholesale companies and shortly after to the public. If you could only eat one “restaurant” in London, I’d suggest checking out the market for the “food court” approach. Or if you plan on taking the Eurorail elsewhere, pack your lunch here for the long train ride and make everyone else around you jealous. The Borough Market finely curates some of England’s best food vendors and purveyors – from meat, seafood to artisanal goodies. I had heard that the selection process to become a vendor here is quite difficult and that the committee at anytime may ask a vendor to leave if they aren’t performing to standards. Sorry Los Angeles, but the Borough Market makes the Fairfax Farmer’s Market look like a Food 4 Less. Although the market itself isn’t that large, the appeal was that of a kid’s first visit to Disneyland. (English accent)… shall we?

According to this cow map, the Borough Market is accurately divided into three main sections. But one should not ignore the fine establishments near the neck, brisket or belly. They are just as tasty.

If it’s a cold day, start with a fine cup of coffee from Monmouth. We walked by here at least six times during the day and it was never without a crowd.

We’re so used to the barista subculture in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Brooklyn, that it’s unusual not seeing tattoo sleeves, handlebar mustaches and suspenders.

Order a coffee and pastry and do some English people-watching.

In addition to the market, there are places that are worth checking out. We didn’t go in because we saw oysters being shucked in the market. There was even a place called Applebee’s, which I sort of did a double-take on. Also right down this same street is the original Paul Smith boutique if you’re a fan of his clothing.

For years, no, decades, I’ve been hearing about the amazing fish & chips offered only in the United Kingdom. There was a time when fish & chips used to be wrapped in newspaper and eaten right out of it. Those days are long gone, but the flavor and experience is still there. Fish! Kitchen (restaurant and take-away stores) is one of the only places in the Borough Market you can get fish & chips. London’s fish & chip scene is super competitive and while this may not make the top lists amongst English foodies, it completely delivers for first-timers. like us.

For 12-15 £, you get a huge piece of either haddock or cod (we chose cod) fried skin-on in the most beautiful, light batter. It is key to immediately add the malt vinegar to the fish so that the heat absorbs all that goodness. The oil they use is vegetable oil and it was surprisingly not that oily as I had though it would be. The skin left on the fish really adds that nice oceanic umami. This was delicious and shared easily amongst three people.

The jolly fish-frying man of Fish! Kitchen.

It’s a “Fish in A Box!”. Justin Timberlake reference.

Where there are Jewish, there are delis. And where there are delis, there’s always corned beef! The English version of corned beef is referred to as salt beef and it is equally delicious. Tender slabs of brisket have been brined to oblivion for nearly 14-18 hours. At this particular stand (there were 3 the day we came), the beef is cut quite generously, served with pickles and mustard and tucked nicely into a hamburger bun. As thick as it was, I thought I would have to really bite down hard but it was unbelievably tender.

This vendor’s version of salted beef already came shredded. And although it was flavored nicely, the fact that they’ve already pre-shredded the meat and keep it under a heat lamp simply makes it way to dry. A simple plunge into the meat juices can cure all of that in a second but we enjoyed the sliced corned beef more.

English-style empanadas.

I loved that this guy was serving soup/stew in a box. What’s up with English and boxes?

There are many vendors selling various types of charcuterie. This one offered a lot of venison (deer). Delicious.

One of the main attractions at the Borough Market is the oyster stand. Apparently there are quite a few. This guy was shucking oysters pulled directly from English waters. I couldn’t believe how briny they were. I had to pour out some of that Atlantic Ocean liquer because it was way too intense. I highly recommend showing up here with a beer ready in hand.

Some of the English oysters were massive. Definitely forage for the ones that don’t require a steak knife to eat.

One of my favorite things to do in any city is check out the seafood market. It’s very interesting to see what the locals are eating. By far, Northern Japan, Panama and South Korea have had the most unique sea creatures. I was basically walking around each market with amusement and raised eyebrows thinking, “you can f*cking eat that?”. England was just as bizarre too. They had some fish that were obviously still living in the dinosaur era (not pictured), like hake.

Braised chicken

Portuguese-style egg tarts

This vendor was offering grilled Merguez sausage rolls. This is a favorite of the market-goers.

Chicken or lamb? Lamb of course!

Laurie recommended that we order our lamb sausage roll with grilled Halloumi cheese and a hit of house-made harissa sauce. I developed a love for Hallomi cheese because of its firmness. It feels like rubber but tastes nothing like it. This was really tasty.

*Sigh* the Duck Confit Lady. She was awesome and extremely audible. I could hear her from a mile away offering her sizzling duck confit samples. When I agreed to take a sample, she made sure to pick out a crispy shred of duck confit which was so amazing. I wanted to eat this so badly in some sort of vessel like a Del Taco crunchy taco shell. It would have been awesome. (Yes, I love Del Taco.)

If this doesn’t make you happy, I don’t know what does.

And I’ve saved one of the best shops at the Borough Market for last – Neal’s Yard Dairy. Oh my, this could be the meaning of life. If you love cheese, you may never leave this place and end up asking for a job application right on the spot. This place occupied two spaces and even had employees on the sidewalk “cuttin’ cheese”. Cheese is just stacked along the walls in every direction. It’s almost like a mini cheese museum and the best part of all is that you’re free to try anything. I kept eating the Stilton cheese which is an English version of bleu cheese – unbelievably tasty and balanced. We could have spent a whole hour here.

If you do check out the market, please be sure to look at the hours of operation on the Borough Market site. Also note that the vendors are only there certain days and I believe the site lists each vendor’s schedule. Thank you to Warren & Laurie for showing us London and Keiko of Nordljus and Caleb of the Wolvesmouth gang for market tips. London was awesome, minus the airport asshole. Thanks for reading!

*****************************************************************

The Borough Market Do-Not-Miss List! There were a few places we didn’t photograph but are worth checking out. Please let me know what I’ve missed so I can add to this list.

Brindisa
Spanish tapas and charcuterie place offering, of course, Jamon de Iberico (pata negra). But Brindisa also has a guy griddling mini chorizo and piquillo pepper rolls for £3.75. If you’re a fan of Argentina’s choripan (chorizo con pan) sandwich, you’ll enjoy this. I prefer Argentina’s more because of the chimichurri – Brindisa’s needed some sort of juice.

Kappacasein
This may be the biggest attraction at the Borough Market. The guy here offers raclette, which is a Swiss dish that consists of burning a piece of cheese to the point it boils and then scraping off the melted portion. I was unaware of such culinary madness – but it looked too interesting to pass up. The melty cheese is served over some boiled potatoes, which are also slightly grilled, and topped with pickled cornichons. You need the cornichons and you need to eat this dish fast because when the cheese congeals, it’s no fun. I definitely recommend sharing this with 2-3 people, even a village. It’s rich.

Le Marché du Quartier
This is the stand where you’ll find the loud, but sweet, Duck Confit Lady. We didn’t try this in a roll but I would imagine it to be awesome.

Merguez Sausage Roll Guy
Order with Halloumi cheese and harissa sauce!

Oyster Stand
Bring a beer and watch your oysters get shucked!

Borough Market
Southwark Street
London SE1 1TL
United Kingdom
+44 20 7407 1002
www.boroughmarket.org.uk

Email Wolvesmouth to get on the waiting list. Also read about Wolvesmouth’s story in the New Yorker. Thanks for reading.

To Jeni, I love you and our life together… here’s to many more. Thanks for reading…

And here’s another mix for you to enjoy featuring…

The Album Leaf
AM & Shawn Lee
Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti
Blackbird Blackbird
Body Language
Community Radio
Dum Dum Girls
El Ten Eleven
Grizzly Bear
Jazzanova
Local Natives
Melody’s Echo Chamber
Nosaj Thing
Princess Music
Seapony
Starfucker
Sun Airway
Wild Belle
Wild Nothing
The XX

Download WonderTune Belize
Listen to WonderTune Belize on Spotify