CRESCENT Things: James Beard Award Winner Ted Lee Talks About SC’s Invasion of NYC (Part1)

CRESCENT. It’s a magazine about South Carolina, so why would we leave the Palmetto State to go to New York to meet with a guy from Charleston at a restaurant owned by another guy from Charleston so we could eat a South Carolina breakfast? Because South Carolina is the new black. We’re taking over, and the hip places in NYC have their roots in SC.

We took a Saturday morning and went to George Weld’s “Egg.” It’s THE breakfast place to go in Brooklyn’s Williamsburg neighborhood (That’s another story, too.). We sat down with Ted Lee, James Beard Award winner and one half of the Charleston-based Lee Brothers, to talk about South Carolina and the South’s newly discovered influence outside of the region.

If you’re wondering if we’re going to talk with both Matt and Ted, that’s coming later. The authors of “Simple Fresh Southern: Knockout Dishes with Down-Home Flavor” have a new project in the works. Ted gave us a sneak peek what it’s going to be, but we’ll let them tell you about it soon.

For now, we get Ted’s perspective about how South Carolina and the region are impacting food and culture on the Big Apple and beyond.

SOUTHERNERS CONNECTING IN NEW YORK

You know, it’s funny the way that Southerners find each other in New York. You’ll meet someone, and you just find yourself becoming friends. It’s interesting. Southerners in New York throw the best parties. I don’t go to as many parties here as I used to in my 20s, though, but it’s the way we connect.

For example, I had a friend who was the son of friends of my parents.  They were always like “Well, you should hang out. You should meet.”  And he was from Texas and it was parents introducing you, so you just looked back at your parents and said, “Well, it might happen. Whatever.”  Then, we met and we had a lot in common and he introduced me to all his friends at UVA. Those guys were all from Charleston and Richmond and Charlotte and even Newberry.  There was just this super tight nexus of friends. Back in the 90s, three of those guys lived in a loft, and they had these epic chili cook-offs. You know, you’d have 20 or 30 entrants in these chili cook-offs. I mean it was a big deal.

They were playing to win. It was always on Super Bowl Sunday and it was just that kind of partying that just brings people together. Whereas, people here in New York are more focused on the small, intimate dinner because the resources here are so limited spatially.

I remember very vividly, Southerners’ parties in the early nineties because it was like…  Recently I ran into some one after not seeing her for 10 or 12 years, and she said, “Oh. Remember me? I’m Ann.” I said, “Are you kidding?  You threw the best party.” She said, “You thought that was a good party?  That was a terrifying party.  There were 100 people in a two bedroom East Village apartment. Someone got in a fistfight.” I think she was dating George Weld at the time. Anyway, she was one of George’s ex-girlfriends. It was funny. She was from the South. Her roommate was from the South. They threw a party. It was so fun. We met a ton of people. She remembers it as being a disaster, but to me it was this cool thing, and we had just graduated from college. We were trying to find our way in New York.  We were completely overwhelmed, but we were connecting.

PROMOTING WHO WE ARE

South Carolinians are sort of humble in a way and to underreport things that are special about our state and what they do. Matt and I will be out on the water with the most amazing crabber who is working a kajillion hours to make not a lot of money caring for those animals.  And he is so concerned about sustainability, a philosopher/crabber. He said, “All of this is kind of what I do. Why are you taking notes? Why do you want to interview me?” It’s sort of self-deprecating.  It’s like the first instinct is to be self-effacing, which I totally get.

At at the same time, it’s like, “Let’s celebrate what we do have in this state, especially when it comes to what’s grown here. Like strawberries. Produce that comes out of South Carolina is incredible. A lot of it is being shipped up here.”

PRIDE IN THE HOME STATE

I feel like South Carolina has so many things to celebrate. About its culture, about the people who grow up there. About how incredibly diverse it is. There are so many different ways to be a South Carolinian.

Stay Tuned for Part 2 Next Week.