I received a call from a reader this week asking me if Charleston’s Wandering Wind Meadery had closed for good. It is currently closed, but only temporarily, as it works through new state alcohol licensing requirements that render them unable to sell their products at the moment.
And I know what many of you are thinking: Charleston has a meadery?
Sure does!
Located at 422 W. Washington St. on the West Side, Wandering Wind opened somewhat under the radar back in 2022 when partners Dawn Racer and David Bradd started making and selling small-batch artisanal meads, which guests could sample in a tasting room with light bites while enjoying occasional game nights, drum circles, DJs, live entertainment and other special events throughout the year.
Mead is an alcoholic beverage made from fermented honey, which is then diluted with water and sometimes mixed with other ingredients to impart unique flavors. It most closely resembles a fortified wine, although mead makers are now taking a page from the craft beer handbook to make their meads in more unique and nuanced combinations.
Before its recent closure, Wandering Wind’s lineup featured creations like an “Irish Sailor’s Mead” made from Irish flowers, juniper berries and citrus aged in bourbon barrel oak; a Concord grape mead with hints of vanilla; and a traditional clover honey mead made with citrus and coriander over toasted French oak.
Other options included meads made with berries and chocolate, plus varieties featuring peach and ginger, mango and jalapeno or cherry and hibiscus over toasted Cognac.
“We’ve got some big changes coming here at the meadery,” Bradd wrote in a Facebook post last week. “Unfortunately, due to new licensing, I can't sell anything in the interim so we’re going to be temporarily closed during the process. Stay tuned for updates and please be patient.”
To learn more, visit www.wanderingwindmeadery.com.
Remembering Humphrey’s Pine Room
Although I never had the chance to dine there, I’m sure many longtime Charleston readers remember Humphrey’s Pine Room, which opened at 1600 Bigley Ave. back in 1946.
The restaurant closed decades later and was demolished in 2008, but memories of its food remain.
“Is there a cookbook of Humphrey’s Pine Room recipes,” reader Elaine Casto recently asked? “A lot of their dishes can’t be beat.”
I’m not aware of such a cookbook – or the availability of the restaurant’s old recipes – but if anyone would know, it would be Food Guy readers!
Reader seeks Chris' hotdog chili recipe
Finally, another reader called this week in search of a recipe that has been requested many times before, but never revealed.
“One of the attendees at our family reunion last weekend asked if anybody had a recipe for Chris’ hotdog chili sauce,” she said. “And of course, none of us did, so I’m calling to see if you can find one.”
Once located on West Washington Street where Elk City Bistro is now, Chris’ was a longtime humble hotdog joint with a diehard following that operated on and off from the 1960s to the mid-2000s.
In addition to its retro décor, a big part of Chris’ appeal were its delicious dogs (I can vouch for that) topped with mildly spicy sauce made from a 40-year-old family recipe. While full of flavor, the sauce’s ingredients were all so finely ground together that it made it near impossible to detect exactly what made it so good.
I’ve asked before and I’m sure I’ll ask again. Does anyone have any leads on tracking down this still-sought-after local recipe?
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Steven Keith is a food writer and restaurant critic known as “The Food Guy” who writes a weekly column for the Charleston Gazette-Mail and has appeared in several state, regional and national culinary publications. Follow him online at www.wvfoodguy.com or on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest. He can be reached at 304-380-6096 or at wvfoodguy@aol.com.