Anson's Grits With Shrimp And Braised Bacon Recipe

Pretty in pink, wrought iron, and delicate French doors, Anson recalls the look and feel of New Orleans’s French Quarter, but she is 100 percent Lowcountry. The old gal’s been around or nearly twenty years, but in executive chef Kevin Johnson’s hands, her cuisine tastes as fresh as ever. He refuses to restrict his larder to cliché Lowcountry ingredients like she-crab and okra, while embracing a broad range of locally raised produce for inspiration. “If one of our farmers is growing it, it’s basically in the box. Braised radishes may not necessarily be considered Lowcountry, but if our farmers are growing it, we’ll use it. This has really allowed s to think on a different level for inspiration,” says Kevin.To wit, the former vegetarian brings in a whole pig every week and breaks it down into chops and tenderloins, crafting liver terrines, pork belly, and more. Bacon is cured in-house and shrimp stock is prepared from local shrimp. Whole dried corn grown in South Carolina is delivered and ground in the restaurant’s very own stone gristmill, which separates the ground corn into grits, cornmeal, and polenta. These are used handily in dishes like cornmeal-dusted okra, cornmeal-fried okra, and, of course, Johnson’s memorable take on shrimp and grits, which marries the round mouthfeel of braised pork belly with sweet local shrimp. (Ask your butcher a few days in advance to cut and reserve the pork belly.)Adapted from "The Charleston Chef's Table" by Holly Herrick.