The Southern Fork Stephanie Burt

Augusta Road in West Columbia, SC, isn’t a storybook setting. Strip malls are lined up down the road, flanking a Wal-Mart and a sprawling old school U Haul campus. But just keep going and turn off the road at the Aldi and there’s a  summer camp style building tucked in some trees and a modest BBQ sign. That’s when you know you’ve reached the city limits, City Limits BBQ to be exact. Owner and pitmaster Robbie Robinson grew up in nearby Red Bank, SC eating his fill of SC Midlands BBQ. While living in Houston in the early 2000s, he acquired his first Texas-style offset wood smoker and began his journey to unlock the subtle mysteries of smoking meats. He’s been serving the people of West Columbia for eight years, including the last year in this building on the edge of town, a town that he is representing this year as a James Beard Foundation finalist for Best Chef: Southeast. Every time we visit, we end up at the smokers, where we get down to the business of conversation. And I invariably mispronounce chicharrons, which you’ll hear here. I’m working on it, I promise.

According to Saveur magazine, Border Food is defined as Mexican food with a distinct identity —influenced by the cooking of Chihuahua and Texas, but with a number of little twists. Because Texas is so large and diverse, it’s a more nuanced label than the overarching Tex-Mex, and one surprising spot that it is celebrating with abandon is in Greenville, SC. Dayna Lee is the chef and operator of Comal 864, a petite spot with a big heart and a smoking hot flattop. With her clear vision of the food of her childhood and a combination of grit and introspection on her own life path, she’s gained some well-deserved attention, from being named of Eater's "18 Essential Greenville Restaurants" to a nomination as a 2023 James Beard semifinalist. Originally from South Texas and specializing in Mexican American cuisine, she began her work in a series of brewery pop-ups, teaching herself to channel homesickness into cooking and making more room for others at the table along the way. Last summer, I had the chance to eat my fill of tacos at Comal on a hot June night, and I’ve been wanting to sit down with her ever since, so we finally got the chance to record at this year’s Charleston Wine + Food Festival. The only thing missing? More tacos.

Chef Nikko Cagalanan was born and raised in the Philippines. After immigrating to the states in 2011 and working as a nurse, he found himself inspired to pursue cooking with the desire to share his passion for Filipino food. He moved to Charleston, SC in 2018 and began Mansueta’s, a series of pop-ups in the city and the region that helped him hone his craft, his culinary point of view, and build his community, and he’s never looked back. His restaurant Kultura opened in 2022 and was promptly named best Filipino Restaurant in SC by Food & Wine magazine. Then he won on Food Network’s Chopped. Next, Kultura was named one of Eater’s Best New Restaurants in America. And earlier this week, Nikko was named a Finalist for Emerging Chef by the James Beard Foundation. So I’m far from the only person who thinks that his cooking is a special combination of skill, consistency, and a quality that is infinitely welcoming and delicious. He’s very clear about the foundation of his work -- community -- and it shines through in everything, from chef collaborations and local sourcing to occasional impromptu signalongs in the restaurant if a Beyonce song comes on the sound system. 
 

Hi y’all, It’s Stephanie, I’m excited to share with you another podcast you should check out through this episode of The One Recipe from APM Studios. 
On The Southern Fork I've talked to a lot of people about their food and their recipes. Pretty much everyone who cooks aspires to have a clutch of recipes they can make their own. The ones that we send to friends because we know it’s going to work every single time. The One Recipe is about building that library, one recipe at a time. Host Jesse Sparks, Senior Editor at Eater, talks to chefs and gifted cooks from all over the world about their One and the story behind it. 
This episode features Award-winning culinary historian Toni Tipton-Martin and her one recipe: a Blackberry-Ginger Bourbon Smash, the perfect drink to end dry January. Here is The One Recipe. 
 

Hi! Stephanie here. It’s been a while since you’ve heard from me, but as we get close to Thanksgiving, I want you to know that I’m thinking of y’all, and I’m thankful for every one of you who listen to The Southern Fork. I’m working hard over here in the background making podcast plans and interview itineraries for 2024, but in the meantime, I wanted to share with you a little audio treat -- an episode of The Broadside from WUNC. Since you’re subscribed to The Southern Fork, you might like to check it out too, and this particular episode covers one of my favorite words: y’all and how it’s become a part of culture beyond the South. It’s a short listen for a big subject, and a perfect partner while you’re commuting this next week, or prepping those appetizers for your Thanksgiving table. I wish you all a great holiday and I hope you enjoy The Broadside.

Host Stephanie Burt recaps Season 8 of the show, sharing the most listened to podcasts, her favorite bites of the season, and other details to keep the conversation going. Let’s Dig In.