According to Rosie, “Grits are good for you.” Chef Robert Stehling and wife Nunally Kersh took her advice to heart when they opened their Southern restaurant in 1996, naming Hominy Grill for grit’s core ingredient. Since then, the couple has racked up countless accolades for their local, market-driven cuisine.
This patio mural is a colorful new addition from artist David Boatwright.
The building that houses Hominy dates to 1897. For a long time, it was a barbershop. The barber poles now flank the entrance.
That’s enough decor. Let’s get to chef Robert Stehling’s Southern dishes. Here’s a starter of crispy fried green tomatoes, battered in cornmeal.
I never expected to find stone crab claws outside South Florida. These pre-cracked specimens were smaller than I’ve seen, but tasty with the Creole remoulade. And an absolute bargain.
Savory okra and shrimp beignets and salsa were served over cilantro lime sour cream.
A basket of jalapeno hushpuppies were partnered with watery green tomato ketchup. The cornmeal provided a nice sweetness to balance the jalapeno kick.
A wedge of terrific cornbread was crisp outside, with a semi-sweet and moist interior.
The Hominy Grill vegetable plate contained cornbread, lima beans, baked cheese grits, sauteed greens, and okra beignets. The baked cheese grits came in a savory cake. Greens were field fresh. The limas featured cuts of mushroom and diced carrots, had almost a minty flavor.
Pecan crusted roast pork loin was plated with spicy peach BBQ sauce, sweet potato spoonbread and collard greens. The pork loin featured white meat and dark meat, separated by a thin-layer of hog cartilage. The pecans were too finely ground, but it was still flavorful. Spoonbread blended cornbread with sweet potato souffle, which added sweetness and just enough moisture. The collard greens were amazing, any bitterness masked by the sweet and spicy peach sauce.
Crispy sesame-crusted catfish arrived with sauteed okra, a baked cheese grit cake and geechee peanut sauce. The peanut sauce was subtly spicy and not gooey.
Crispy Southern fried chicken accompanied country ham cream gravy, mashed potatoes and sauteed greens.
Golden pan-roasted grouper with creamed corn, sauteed greens and tomato herb butter: a fabulous melding of flavors and textures.
No, tripletail isn’t the result of nuclear fallout. It’s a variety of fish indigenous to the Atlantic Ocean. Chef Stehling fried his tripletail until crispy and served it with a salad of artichokes, mushrooms, roasted red peppers, Parmesan cheese and arugula, sweet onion rings, and fennel vinaigrette.
Despite the waitress’ protestations, I selected grilled mahi mahi with grilled asparagus, baked cheese grits, and curried butternut squash sauce. The fish was certainly high quality, but the dish was bland. Thankfully, I got to clean other plates.
Frogmore stew, which originated in Frogmore, South Carolina, was one of the best Southern dishes I’ve ever eaten. It contained shrimp, andouille sausage, corn, potatoes, onions, tomatoes in a rich tomato broth with a wedge of deep fried cornbread.
Hominy is strong on desserts, and this is the signature dessert: chocolate pudding, silky smooth and not too rich.
Terrific strawberry blueberry cobbler was built around a flaky house-made biscuit.
Brown sugar pound cake featured vanilla bean custard sauce and a nice sugar crust.
Chocolate peanut butter cake was a rich slice of chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting.
Buttermilk pie was amazing, featuring buttermilk custard and a lemony tinge, plus house-made whipped cream.
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This food looks amazing! I love these photos! Yum….