2013 Charleston Wine + Food Festival
February 28th-March 3rd brought a whirlwind of culinary delights for the OM team. We’re still recovering from the amount of pork and lamb consumed, and are now retraining our bellies to not require 5-course meals at every seating with wine or beer pairings. Yes, it’s a rough life, but someone has to do it… and we adore every delectable minute.
The 8th Charleston Wine + Food Festival, a wonderful magnification of the culinary destination Charleston has become, took place over the course of four days. Eating and drinking was the theme of the weekend, and the Obviouslee team was on hand to support the talented folks we work with who were a part of this year’s Festival.
Friday’s La Luncheon at Social Restaurant + Wine Bar kicked off our slew of events. Chef Jesse Sutton and Owner/Wine Director Brad Ball charmed the crowd with their enthusiasm for the wines featured from Mr. Ball’s La Wine Agency, paired with their wine-region inspired dishes to complement. With a glass of the effervescent La Bubbly in hand, guests took their seats for the four-course lunch. Highlights were the Poached Scallops with Butterbeans in a Buerre Blanc paired with the La Sauvignon and the Slow-Cooked Porch Cheeks over Risotto with Melted Leeks, Mepkin Abbey Mushrooms and a Blueberry Gastrique paired with the La Syrah.
Over at the Passport to Pairing event at Thomas Bennet House, Duvall Executive Chef Matt Greene, whipped up two pairings for guests. Pan Seared Sea Scallops with Pink Eye Peas, Shaved Radish & Local Shrimp Salad Paired with Chardonnay to start and then a Smoked Bacon & Lentil Seared Lamb Loin with Herb Gremolata Paired with Pinot Noir as the second dish.
The culinary village that afternoon was a buzz with energy for the first day. Charleston Mix, our favorite Bold & Spicy Bloody Mary Mix, had a booth in the Piggly Wiggly tent. Owner Ryan Eleuteri and his Bold & Spicy crew (a.k.a Ryan’s amazing friends who volunteered their time to help out) were mixing up Charleston Mix Bloody Marys to the receptive crowd; putting a little more pep into everyone’s step with that habanero mash heat.
Saturday was a busy day. Up early for the media breakfast at High Cotton and then off to SpiritLine Cruises for the Vineyard Voyage around the Charleston Harbor. While chilly out on the deck, inside guests enjoyed a raw bar of local oysters and clams and a full buffet designed by SpiritLine Executive Chef, Masson Mullock. We also had the pleasure of chatting with writer John Mariani of Esquire and Bloomberg News, also onboard, and marveled at the sight of the USS Yorktown as we sailed past the stationed aircraft carrier.
Saturday evening was the inaugural event at Craftsmen Kitchen & Tap House, a new American craft beer-focused restaurant, opening soon at 12 Cumberland Street. Chef Todd Garrigan worked with Dogfish Head Brewery to create a 6-course pairing menu. Highlights were the filet of beef with a mole negro sauce and a vegetable enchilada paired with Bitches Brew (named in honor of the Myles Davis album) and the sticky bun with Carolina Gold Rice pudding and caramel paired with Dogfish Head’s Burton Baton.
Applause to the teams at Oak Steakhouse, The Grocery and FIG for hosting the unofficial after parties, we had quite…a time. And, what a wonderful way to run into all of the friends, old and new, that you make over the course of the Festival. It was lovely to see Lynn & Cele Seldon from Carolina Travel Planner, Kellie Evans of Saveur, Del Scheiter and Chris Hill from Bachelor Kitchen, Dave Mezz and Marshall McKinney of Garden & Gun, Maggie White and Jennifer Hitchcock from The Local Palate, Kinsey Gidick of Charleston Magazine, Katie Abbondanza and Lock Steele of Eater, and Stephanie Barna, Eric Doksa and Erica Jackson of The Charleston City Paper.
Special shout-out to our friends at PDA for the stellar (and speedy) job they did in filming and editing the daily recap videos for each day of the Festival. View the Saturday recap here:
Another great year at the Charleston Wine + Food Festival. Congratulations to all of the restaurants and purveyors we work with, as well as to the Festival team themselves. Quite the event, done to perfection. Just like that filet we had at the Craftsmen dinner…
No Comments » | Posted at 7:08 PM
Dining at the James Beard House
No Comments » | Posted at 7:35 PM
BOOM! The Lowcountry Represents on Inc.’s List of Fastest Growing Businesses
Ok, we OM’ers were geeked last month when Fast Company touted Charleston as the “Silicon Harbor” and gave our friends (at the Charleston Digital Corridor, BiblioLabs, TwitPic, etc.) a nod for paving Charleston’s way toward the “flourishing tech community” it is today. Really geeked.
And the recognition for our Lowcountry’s booming tech scene continues with the release of Inc. Magazine’s Inc. 5,000 list, recognizing the fastest growing businesses across the country.
We know you aren’t hearing the news here first, but we did want to give a big congrats to some of the folks we’ve worked with and admire at BoomTown (ranked 96) and Advantage Media Group (ranked 2,405) for making this year’s list. And of course we’re sending big kudos out to all the other South Carolina businesses that also made the cut, including Lowcountry-based Levelwing and BiblioLabs.
Not only did BiblioLabs make the Inc. 5,000 list, but it ranked No. 7 among Inc.’s list of fastest-growing private media companies in the country, sandwiched between Facebook (No. 6) and Business Insider (No.8). Yes, Facebook. And BiblioLab’s Revenue Per Employee (RPE) ranking was the second highest of any ranked media company.
You guys keep us all on our toes… and keep our creative community looking good. Congratulations to all.
No Comments » | Posted at 6:58 PM
… And That’s a Wrap!
Scorecards are in, the elusive Wanamaker Trophy has been awarded, and our PGA of America friends are already full steam ahead, shifting their focus to September’s Ryders Cup. How quickly it all flew by!
On and off the course there was a lot of sweat and hard work that went into every aspect of the Championship. But along the way, we OM’ers found time to have a lot of fun. Below is a collection of our favorite quotes overheard from our post in the media center (left anonymous of course)…and of course, our favorite *breaking* news story from the week for your viewing pleasure.
#overheard:
- “CBS just reported that two of their microphones were eaten by alligators.”
- “No, we cannot set-up an interview for you with Tiger on his yacht.”
- “How many steps do you have on your pedometer?”
- “These are cookies for the media center. You know how my Minnesota girlfriend usually bakes them for us – well, these are from my SC girlfriend.”
- “Has anyone seen the trophy’s schedule?”
- “That Wanamaker Trophy…she can never stay in one place, can she?!”
- “The bobcat is still watching from the front nine.”
And as promised, this week’s top news story…. Hide yo kids… hide yo wife! (Also known as BOBCATS ON THE OCEAN COURSE).
No Comments » | Posted at 8:10 PM
OM iLife: 2012 PGA Championship Edition
Greetings from our OM perch here at the 2012 PGA Championship: our beloved media tent. Anyone who knows our team knows we’re pretty social folks (read: very social), but it’s been a ‘social’ week for the record books here. Warning: we are about to toot our own horn with some more numbers. #blameitontheheat #blameitontheadrenaline
This week alone we’ve sent out 564 tweets from the @PGAChampionship handle; attracted 500 new Instagram followers and gathered 981 (awesome) Instagram pictures from folks using our #PGAChamp hashtag; scored a combined 5,500 new followers to Facebook and Twitter; seen a record 110.5 million and 4.6 million impressions on Twitter and Facebook content respectively; and coordinated 81 total media interviews (including this one, featuring some friendly OM faces).
More to come, folks, including a behind-the-scenes video recap from our week on scene and some fun media clips wrangled by yours truly!
No Comments » | Posted at 9:18 PM
2012 PGA Championship: Teed Up…and Counting Down
It’s officially 20 days and counting until tee off for the PGA Championship on Kiawah Island. That’s an exciting number because it means we’re all the closer to seeing a lot of other hard earned numbers that we’ve been working hard to finalize around the OM headquarters for the past, oh, 485+ days.
Some of our proudest digits to date…
- 85: the number of secured statewide media hits (+ dozens more in the hopper)
- $500,000+: the estimated media value for these earned placements
- 56: the number of face-to-face media interviews with PGA Championship staff
- 5: the number of press conferences held
- 256: the number of hours we OM’ers will be putting in at the media tent – our home daily for the week!
Make sure to log in… tune in… hashtag openly (#pgachamp) and check us out on one of our many channels: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, iPhone app, or of course on CBS.
No Comments » | Posted at 5:11 PM
Craftsmen Kitchen & Tap House: Lots on ‘Tap’
Today we OM’ers, and 20+ of our closest media friends, donned hard hats and toured 12 Cumberland Street—the site of Craftsmen Kitchen & Tap House (former site of Johnson’s Pub for you long-time Charlestonians)—for a sneak peak of the venue’s redesign and of course some bites and brews.
This is just the start of much to come from Craftsmen, including a Guerilla Cuisine dinner—the 100th at that—by Executive Chef Todd Garrigan in July, and much more revelry ahead. Stay tuned on Facebook or sign up on the Craftsmen website so we can be sure to bring you the latest!
No Comments » | Posted at 6:28 PM
Family Circle Cup 2012: 40-Love
Today brings to a close the 40th annual Family Circle Cup—eight days of some of the best women’s tennis in the country. When we started working with the The Family Circle Cup in fall of 2010, the goal was to increase awareness at the local, regional, and national levels and ultimately boost ticket sales.
What a smashing (too easy) two+ years we have had. This year alone brought partnerships with every local television affiliate in our area and 40+ local and national media partners; an opportunity to feature a dedicated Family Circle Cup Groupon that generated more than $13,000 in revenue; and lots of overall digital fun this year spanning four decades.
If you missed this year’s action, check out our video recap. And stay tuned for details surrounding the lucky ’13 Cup!
No Comments » | Posted at 6:29 PM
Hitting the Lights on PDA
Today we launched the new site for Production Design Associates (PDA). Throughout the years PDA has set the stage (literally) for some of the hottest tickets in town. We were thrilled to have a chance to cast an even brighter light on PDA’s accomplishments with some new, streamlined site features.
Check it out and let us know what you think. Like our friends at PDA, we’re not in the business of disappointing!
No Comments » | Posted at 3:38 PM
Social Restaurant + Wine Bar: Where the Locals Go
You’re catching it here first: a sneak peek at some of the new creative soon to be launched for Social Restaurant + Wine Bar. Recognize some of the faces here? We’re not surprised. The new campaign features some of our favorite local ‘social’ites who were kind enough to lend their smiling faces and social graces in order to bring an authentic look and feel to Social’s new ads.*
Social is revered by foodies, wine enthusiasts, visitors, the coolest of college kids, but it’s the locals who help to give the space its authentic flavor. Be on the lookout for these and more local ‘social’ites coming to a screen/paper/magazine near you soon.
* Our thanks to all our local kinfolk (and some of our favorite folks) who helped to bring this campaign to life – Robert and Megan Lange, Olivia Pool, Jay Fletcher, Marcus Amaker, Logan Lee, Stacy Huggins, Boris Van Dyck, Terry Fox, Ayoka Lucas, Jamie Britt and Nathan Durfee - cheers to you!
