Nothing Ordinary About The Ordinary

Nothing Ordinary About The Ordinary originally published on Food and Fond Memories on May 21, 2014 by sandyaxelrod Leave a Comment (Edit)

Nothing Ordinary About The Ordinary

Though our last trip to Charleston is now just wonderful memories I want to fill you in on the rest of our trip. A terrible upper respiratory infection side lined me for about two weeks but I am back to writing and itching to type away. The night we went to Husk for dinner, on Tuesday, we actually had reservations at Mike Lata’s The Ordinary which we were able to change to Thursday night. It was a delightful treat to be able to dine at both restaurants that were on my dining wish list!

On that Thursday we awoke to a perfect Spring day in Charleston. The weather absolutely begged for a picnic. So on Brian and Eve’s recommendation Steve, Hershi and I picked up sandwiches and headed to Charles Towne Landing State Park. This parcel of land is where the original settlers came to the area, a few years later they moved to the current location and changed the name to Charleston. Charles Towne Landing is rich in history and lush in landscaping. There are picnic tables and benches nestled under the enormous trees. Some of these trees have been there since the early 1600s! So we enjoyed our lunch in the cool shade of the giant Live Oaks and then began our stroll exploring the park.

One of the highlights was the local habitat animal forest with all sorts of animals native to South Carolina. Hershi had a ball interacting with wolves, bobcats, deer, turkeys and bison. He was quite brave through the chain link fencing of course. The cutest thing was that the otters paid total attention to Hershi. They started to get his attention by swimming up and down in front of him and then when we started to walk away they came out of the water to dry land. Through the glass the otters and Hershi were nose to nose checking each other out. But the absolute best part of the afternoon was when Hershi became a hero by saving a baby raccoon’s life! As we were meandering through the animal forest Hershi sniffed out a tiny creature lying in the leaves by a tree. We really thought it was dead because there was no movement at all. So we pulled him away and continued to the end of the path. On our return trip he pulled us to the very same spot. And this time the animal’s head was turned the opposite way. We hailed a Park Ranger who was talking with a group of visitors and they all immediately followed Hershi to his treasure. The ranger picked up the tiny critter who was probably only a day old and abandoned by its mother. He told us that the raccoon’s name would be Hershi after his rescuer and that they would be building a little exhibit around the raccoon so visitors could watch it grow up. Everyone made such a huge fuss; which of course Hershi adored.

And just when we thought the day couldn’t get any better we had dinner at The Ordinary. The Ordinary is basically an upscale oyster bar with lots of rich wood and soaring ceilings. We were seated on the second level which had a fabulous view overlooking the bar and seating below. We ordered an assortment of small plates so we could taste as many items as possible. Our first was Maine Lobster Minute Ceviche which had huge medallions of lobster in a succulent marinade. Boy were we glad we had ordered a basket of in house baked Hawaiian rolls to sop it all up. Next we devoured the house Smoked Oysters with Saltines and Hot Sauce which we followed with Crispy Oysters and Beef Tartare a perfect combination that we inhaled as well. Our last selection proved to be the best of all of the extraordinary bites so we had saved the proverbial best for last. We had ordered two Oyster Sliders thinking that would allow us room for dessert. However one nibble on that sweet Hawaiian roll that held a crispy fried oyster which was blanketed with a bahn mi style slaw and a dollop of hot sauce we knew dessert was out of the question. Therefore we ordered another round of Oyster Sliders, finished that and ordered a third round for dessert!!

The Ordinary
544 King Street
Charleston, SC
843-414-7060
eattheordinary.com