TLP Staff at Charleston Wine + Food 2025

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Recap: Charleston Wine + Food 2025

By: The Local Palate

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For the 20th anniversary of the festival that brings some of the best talent and tastes to the Lowcountry, festival-goers really showed up for Charleston Wine and Food 2025. From One Night in NOLA to Fast Food + Fine Wine, the events were unforgettable. This said, the festival is about much more than just good food and good times. Capturing the spirit of the Lowcountry, the festival celebrates the Southern traditions rooted in Charleston and looks to the future for the sustainable, connected culinary communities across the South.

Tickets for Charleston Wine and Food Festival also support the CHSWF Culinary + Hospitality Fund that aids the diverse and ever-growing culinary and hospitality community in Charleston.

Our Editors’ Best Bites and Sips

Rib tips with marinated coleslaw from Rusty Tucker of Rusty’s Bar-B-Q in Leeds, Alabama
Megan Deschaine’s whiskey sour of The Better Pour in Charleston
Both the chocolate-orange scones and the ham-and-cheese scones at Joy the Baker‘s “Battle of the Scones” class
Gnocchi bolognese from The Fat Lamb in Louisville, Kentucky
Brisket + mofongo sausage from Christopher Prieto of Prime BBQ in Knightsdale, North Carolina

Taste of Haiti Class

James Beard Award finalist and Top Chef alum Chris Viaud of Greenleaf in Milford, New Hampshire, is a master of many cooking styles. In the “Taste of Haiti” class, he emphasized that Haitian cuisine can’t be confined to a single category. The country’s cooking is as diverse as its people, shaped by regional influences, ingredients, and techniques that have been passed down through generations.

We rolled up our sleeves to cook a true Haitian spread: legume, a hearty stewed vegetable dish; diri kole (rice and beans); banan peze (crispy twice-fried plantains); and pikliz (cabbage slaw with a fiery kick). The flavors were incredible, and—thankfully—the recipes were forgiving. Let’s just say our group was so busy chatting that a few steps may have gone slightly out of order. But if there’s one lesson chef Viaud left us with, it’s that good food is about more than precision—it’s about connection, celebration, and enjoying the process.

Cast-iron Cooking Class

John Ondo finished paella at Charleston Wine + Food 2025

I had the honor of attending the cast iron cooking class with John Ondo, the executive chef of the Atlantic Room and Ryder Cup Bar at The Sanctuary at Kiawah. We made paella, which I love but always thought was too complicated to make at home. Cast iron makes it into the easiest one-pan dish ever.

Some key tips:

A key tip from chef Ondo was using animal fat like tallow or lard is best for seasoning your cast-iron pan, but inexpensive vegetable oil also works.
You can use cast iron to cook fish on the grill with no mess or sticking to the grates, or to reverse-sear a steak in the oven.

Battle of the Scones Class

Joy the Baker Scone Class at Charleston Wine + Food 2025

Joy Wilson better known as Joy the Baker walked us through her tricks for achieving that ideal crumb in scones, and we left ready to recreate them in our own kitchens.

Some key tips:

Joy likes to use both baking powder and baking soda in her scones for extra lift. The baking powder reacts twice—in the bowl and in the oven.
Why have we not been mixing and matching scone ingredients before? Joy’s savory and sweet combos of Zatarain’s spicy sausage with cheddar, chives, and red pepper, and chocolate chips, candied ginger, and orange zest were indescribably good.
Having fun while baking seems to be Joy’s secret ingredient—she’s so clearly enjoying herself that it’s impossible not to have fun right along with her.