Euphoric in Greenville

            Have you been to Greenville lately?  If you still think of it as Charleston’s little sister, you’d be surprised to see how she’s grown up.  She’s popular, beautiful and full of surprises.  Downtown is revitalized and pulsing with things to do:  local shops, art galleries, museums, upscale hotels and a variety of restaurants that boast contemporary cuisine with a hearty dollop of Southern hospitality.  The best time to visit may be coming up at the end of September when the city presents the seventh annual food festival Euphoria. 

            Since the 1970’s Greenville has worked tirelessly to revitalize its downtown.  An innovative public/corporate partnership transformed blocks of vacant storefronts into a cultural and shopping destination.  When my husband and I exited the Hyatt Regency Hotel onto Main Street we were immediately swept up in a lively crowd.  The entire street was closed to cars.  A band was setting up on a concert stage.  People were arriving with chairs, strollers and wheelchairs.  Jump castles entertained the children while parents enjoyed outdoor dining nearby.  Walking towards the food festival, we encountered an outdoor artists’ market where we bought petite handmade mugs from Michelle Wright at her Frolicking Frog Pottery.  A block later was the farmer’s market where a table of multi-colored peppers were worthy of Monet.  And we hadn’t even arrived at our destination yet! 

            Greenville stages Euphoria in its transformed venues near the Reedy River and at area restaurants and hotels.  The anchor is The Peace Center for the Performing Arts which rose like a phoenix from a languishing industrial area.  The Wyche Pavillion, reinvented from an old warehouse, carves a stylish facade along the scenic river.  At Friday’s “Taste of the South” over 20 chefs and dozens of vendors whipped up food from the imaginative to the familiar.  Our favorite morsel was from the Nosedive Restaurant:  a pork taco with cilantro and kimchee. 

As we mingled with the crowd we struck up a conversation with a young couple about living in Greenville.  They told us they’d moved from Charleston with regret.  “How could we leave Charleston?  But this is why:  for young professionals it’s incredibly cheap to live here.  I can walk to work.  There are festivals like this twice a month and it’s only three hours to Charleston.”  Greenville native and Euphoria founding board member Edwin McCain was last year’s headliner.  While we sat on the pavilion steps listening to this “great American romantic”, colorful lights illuminated a backdrop of office buildings and apartments.  Sitting next to me on the pavilion steps was a woman who said she’d booked a flight to Greenville a year ago after reading about Euphoria in a travel magazine.  She had planned well.

            Among the weekend’s culinary highlights was a lively cooking competition where we watched Charleston chef Craig Diehl compete while a commentator narrated like it was a sporting event.  Saturday night’s Guest Chef Dinner at the Lazy Goat featured creations by George Mendes and Victoria Moore after which we truly felt euphoric.  New this year is a full pig roast, French Bistro and music from Traffic Jam.  Like little sisters everywhere, Greenville is borrowing some of Charleston’s ideas.  But its event is less crowded and less expensive than the larger BB&T Charleston Wine + Food festival. 

            You have to strategize for the non-stop eating or else you feel like you’ve gone into a restaurant and ordered everything on the menu.  Wine tastings, cook-offs, jazz brunch, VIP events, after parties, restaurant dinners and demonstrations can be a little overwhelming.  A quick remedy is a short walk further up Main Street across the river to Greenville’s most impressive accomplishment:  Falls Park on the Reedy.  Walking paths go over Liberty Bridge, a one of a kind pedestrian bridge suspended over  waterfalls.  The Swamp Rabbit Trail continues on for more than 17 miles past the beautiful Governor’s School for the Arts.  Pedestrians and bicyclists enjoy the trail’s easy access to and from downtown’s schools and businesses.  Many other hiking and biking trails and waterfalls are nearby. 

         We closed out the weekend at the Sunday morning Jazz Brunch where a rockin’ New Orleans style band was the soundtrack for a staggering array of food vendors.  Mardi Gras beads and paraphernalia abounded.  Vats of gumbo, crab cakes, mountains of pastries, variations of Bloody Marys…Intrepidly, we continued our research with journalistic dedication.  But as the unexpected sound of a didgeridoo joined the band for a unique rendition of  “Summertime” we finally said “uncle”. 

 

If You Go:

Greenville information:  www.TheUpcountry.com

Euphoria:  www.euphoriagreenville.com

 Recipes from the chefs

Kenny Callaghan's Blue Smoke Salt and Pepper Beef Ribs

Executive Chef/Pitmaster/Partner, Blue Smoke & Jazz Standard, New York, NY

 

2 Racks of beef back ribs (with membrane removed from underside of ribs)

Rub:

 

2 Tablespoons butcher ground black

pepper

2 Tablespoon Kosher salt

1 Tablespoon dark brown sugar

1 teaspoon Spanish paprika

 

 

Preheat oven to 200°.

In a medium-sized bowl, mix all of the Rub ingredients together, making sure to break up the brown sugar. Take the rub and coat

both sides of the beef ribs evenly. Place ribs on a baking pan in the oven, and cook for 6 ½ to 7 hours (or until tender). Serve immediately. Each rack can be wrapped individually in plastic wrap and refrigerated for up to three days. To serve, simply reheat in the oven or on the grill.

Fountain of Youth Cocktail 

1.5 oz Van Gogh Acai

Blueberry Vodka

.5 oz Yellow Chartreuse

1 oz Honey Syrup

1 oz Lemon Juice

1 Dash Fee Brothers

Celery Bitters

Top Off With 1 oz

La Marca Prosecco

 

Garnish:

Lemon Twist

 

 

 

directions

1. Place potatoes in large pot and cover with water

by 2 inches.

2. Add a good amount of salt (6 tbl) and bring to a boil.

3. Reduce to simmer and cook until tender.

4. Drain and reserve at room temperature.

5. When cool enough to touch, cut into ½ inch rings and

place in large bowl.

6. Sauté bacon in thick-bottomed pan until

beginning to get crispy.

7. Add sugar, and cook to caramelize sugar in the

rendered fat.

8. Add vinegar and mustard, then bring to a boil.

9. Pour over potatoes and toss to coat. Season with

salt & pepper.

10. When room temperature, fold in red onion, green

onion,

parsley & tarragon.

Linton Hopkins' Fingerling Potato, Bacon and Mustard Salad

 

ingredients

2 lb fingerling potato such as

Russian banana or French

½ cup shaved red onion

3 tbl whole grain mustard

3 tbl red wine vinegar

1 tbl sugar

½ cup slab bacon cut into 1/4” pieces

¼ cup Italian parsley leaves

1 tbl tarragon, minced

2 green onions, shaved very thin

kosher salt

fresh ground black pepper

directions

1. Place potatoes in large pot and cover with water by 2 inches.

2. Add a good amount of salt (6 tbl) and bring to a boil.

3. Reduce to simmer and cook until tender.

4. Drain and reserve at room temperature.

5. When cool enough to touch, cut into ½ inch rings and place in large bowl.

6. Sauté bacon in thick-bottomed pan until beginning to get crispy.

7. Add sugar, and cook to caramelize sugar in the rendered fat.

8. Add vinegar and mustard, then bring to a boil.

9. Pour over potatoes and toss to coat. Season with salt & pepper.

10. When room temperature, fold in red onion, green onion, parsley & tarragon.

Chef/Owner, Restaurant Eugene, Atlanta, GA

 

 

 

Following the Parkway to Floydfest

             The Blue Ridge Parkway winds through the rolling Shenandoah Valley in Virginia past mountain hamlets and forests that stretch to the horizon. And then…like a mirage, a plateau suddenly emerges with a surprising spectacle: tents, flags, cars, trailers, stages, trapezes and, even from a distance, the sound of music. Floydfest: one of the premier musical destinations in the country, unique for its family atmosphere, environmental consciousness and seriously great music.

       On ten strategically placed stages is a breathtaking variety of music. The best part is discovering bands you never knew while waiting for the headliners. When we attended, we found our new favorite band, Pimps of Joytime, while waiting for a set by Grace Potter. During a rollicking set by Cyro Baptista, I move up stage side to examine the unusual percussion instruments he had fashioned from reclaimed bathroom plumbing pipes. On the cozy Folklore Workshop Porch, I sat in the shade with a small audience and listened to mountain music and tales. Floydfest is the kind of place where your teen-ager will actually be glad to join you on vacation. One fan wrote, “Michael Franti drew my daughter and me there. She did her thing and I did mine. Great to see my 15 year old in awe of the possibility of exploring other genres of music. Best time ever for us. She is now the hula hoop queen.” In fact the headliner this year, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, is one of my granddaughter (and my) favorite bands. The festival is renowned for its eclectic programming with producer Kris Hodges saying he’s “super psyched” for the 12th year’s lineup which will “…continue to push our creativity further and further.” Among the featured bands this year will also be The Lumineers, Old Crow Medicine Show, John Butler Trio, Brandi Carlile, Gogol Bordello, Citizen Cope, Yonder Mountain String Band, Hot Tuna, and Donavon Frankenreiter and dozens of others. So even if you haven’t heard of these bands, you can depend on the festival’s reputation for booking great music.  

       Need an intermission? There is organized hiking, a fun run, kayaking, mountain biking, yoga, massage, geocaching, disc golf, panel discussions and (phew!) a hammock napping area. During the day a dj plays soothing music in the yoga area but it transforms once it’s dark into a supernaturally lit “Silent Disco” with music provided to dancers via wireless headphones. Almost as much fun to watch as it is to do.

      At the large Children’s Universe kids’ activities are geared to various ages: a toddler playground, TaekwonDo, tetherball, costumed parades and open mic stages. A special “Teen Scene” is a safe area for teenagers to meet and create, drum and dream. Crafters and artisans represent the flourishing mountain talent.

       Most folks camp at Floydfest but it requires planning and patience. The parking is offsite and requires shuttle busses and hauling gear. The organizers do their best to make it comfortable by offering some quiet camps and providing basic amenities but the set-up is crowded and mostly sunny. You can also pay top dollar for a VIP ticket which includes premier camping and a host of advantages like catering and on-stage seating. Our group stayed about 30 minutes up the Blue Ridge Parkway in a condominium. The disadvantage was the drive. The advantage was the opportunity to explore the area more widely. We enjoyed excursions to Mabry Mill and the town of Floyd particularly.

      Many local vendors are among the dozens of food choices. No one stands in line too long even though the festival usually attracts 15,000 people. Beer is only sold in designated “Beer Gardens” which have their own music stages. Buying a refillable commemorative tin beer cup is required to cut down on the trash. This is just one significant way that the festival stresses environmental consciousness. The array of refuse cans marked “recyclable”, “compostable” and “landfill” shows their commitment.

        Ardent music festival goers tout Floydfest as a way to rekindle the fire of attending a live music performance. Every time you glance around at the view of mountains that surround you, instead of a sea of 80,000 people (as in Bonnaroo), you feel it. Afterwards your brain is soggy from absorbing so much music, you’re eager to download your new favorites and share the Floydfest experience with your friends. 
If You Go:

Floydfest is July 25 to 28, 2013 near Floyd, VA. www.floydfest.com Tickets range from $185 for 3 day pass to $1200 for two VIP tickets. Day passes are also available.

This article was originally published in the Island Eye News and the Island Connection where you'll find more photographs.