Grits reign in New York City
By John Temple Ligon
Temple@TheColumbiaStar.com

Ryan Dukes, Bill Dukes Sr., Brian Dukes, Matthew Dukes, and Bill Dukes Jr. enjoy the A Taste of the Lowcountry at the James Beard House in New York featuring Brian Dukes as chef. Photo by Ashley Sharp

Inside New York City's James Beard Foundation, the world famous destination for foodies, there was a South Carolina Lowcountry cooking convention at 7 pm, March 10. In attendance were 80 diners, with at least 10 from South Carolina. The venue was the former home of James Beard, the dean of 20th- century American cookery who died of certain heart failure and suspected excess over 20 years ago.

Beard, a college dropout and WWII veteran, was America's first prominent television chef and the author of 18 cookbooks to include an attitudinal adjustment memoir, Delights and Prejudices (1964).

Beard's converted townhouse is at 167 West 12th Street in Greenwich Village near the Strand Bookstore at 12th and Broadway. There is always a connection between the well read and the well fed and, yes, the well bred.

The stars of the show Saturday night, top billing, were Brian Dukes, chef at Columbia's Blue Marlin restaurant on Gervais Street, and his kitchen help. His cousins Ryan Dukes and Matthew Dukes, both sons of Columbia's Bill Dukes, helped alongside crews from Charleston's Magnolia Grill and Columbia's Foxfire Grill. Senior consultant to the crew was Bill Dukes Sr.

Second billing, the supporting cast in the show, was the food supplied from South Carolina. For example, Jack Edgerton's Adluh Grits were served with South Carolina coastal wild shrimp. Everything came from home to please the home crowd, both New York's and South Carolina's.

At the meal's conclusion, a cheer rang out: "Grits, grits! Hooray!"

Menu at the James Beard House