Cheesy Goodness and Crunchy Surprises

One especially lovely morning this past week, as I was planning out my day, it struck. An irrepressible urge to have lunch at Cru Cafe had me in its gustatory grip and wasn’t about to let go. So, a little before noon I set out. And, even though I spent several minutes contemplating the menu, I knew exactly what I was there for and why. The Napa Cabbage Chicken Salad (for book research) and the Four Cheese Mac ‘n Cheese just for the sheer fun of it. The salad, crunchy and peppered with chef/owner John Zucker’s talent for all things Asian, won as a player in the salad chapter of the book (Charleston Chef’s Table) and the mac ‘n cheese won as what I described to a curious woman as “simply the world’s best mac ‘n cheese”.

The woman, who my money says wasn’t from these parts, practically tripped as she gawked, passing my table on the porch where I was quietly reading and eating. “What is that?,” she bellowed. Worried I’d done something unspeakable in my overly absorbed state of mind, I tentatively looked up. She was pointing at and practically drooling over my mac ‘n cheese as if she hadn’t eaten in weeks, which didn’t appear to be the case. Needless to say she ordered it. I heard her. Though I wasn’t able to stick around and witness her reaction, I’m quite sure she enjoyed it. There is no way anyone, even a lactose-intolerant anyone, could not.

Holly Herrick

www.hollyherrick.com