Jun 11, 2010

Want Good Food? Get It At the Long Point Grill

As I've mentioned in previous reviews on the Mustard Seed here and here and on Village bakery here, it's clear that Sal Parco is one hell of a restaurateur. His culinary empire includes six unique restaurants that span the tri-county area. Taken directly from the Dine with Sal site, descriptions of his restaurants are:

1) Mustard Seed - the freshest ingredients for an eclectic ensemble of dishes
2) Village Bakery - cozy and warm, not just for baked goodness
3) Sette - a quaint escape for authentic Italian
4) Long Point Grill - creative cuisine that speaks volumes in flavor
5) Uno Mas - a decidedly moderate twist to traditional Mexican
6) Boulevard Diner - local favorites served up in classic diner style

I've been to the first three on this list and have always been impressed by their offerings.  With it being Grammy's last night in town before heading bank to Yankeeland, we decided to go out for another family dinner on Wednesday. All kidding aside, I would have suggested we go to Mustard Seed again, but I had just eaten there on Tuesday. (It's true. I went to lunch with a friend and had the most amazing tuna & salmon cakes. Photographing was not an option at this lunch as I didn't want to scare this new friend into thinking I had a food obession or something, because really, who does that? Oh. Me.) Anyway, I mentioned Long Point Grill because I had heard that it was similar to Mustard Seed and I needed to give my taste buds a whirl. The LPG is kid-friendly and had outdoor seating. What's not to love? The fam trekked out to my side of the world (aka Mt. Pleasant) for a lovely outdoor meal. 

Just like his other restaurants, the to-die-for specials were written on the chalkboard that is carried to your table for you to look at while you peruse the menu. The chalkboard is so tricky. You can sit there and read the menu for a whole hour trying to decide what you want, but the chalkboard sits behind you haunting you, whispering "You know you want one of these..." I had chosen a special the last two times I went to Mustard Seed, so I was feeling the need for a classic menu item. After many suggestons from our sweet waitress, I decided on the item that stood out to me the most: Pistachio Crusted Chicken, whipped potatoes, grilled asparagus, sun-dried cherry sauce for $14. As usual, I swapped the whipped potatoes for brown butter sweet potatoes.

The chicken was tasty but the cherry sauce was soooooooo good. It had a deep, rich flavor instead of a sweet, tangy one that I was expecting. I love love love sauce (always want more of it) and this dish had plenty. My sweet potatoes were incredible, as were the slightly crunchy asparagus. 

Grammy must also have obsessive issues, because she ordered crab cakes again! A little different than Mustard Seed's, these were Sourdough-Herb Crusted Crab Cakes, with a southern tartar sauce, whipped potatoes, and grilled asparagus for $18. We were in love with her crab cakes, as they plump with huge chunks of crab meat. 

My family always shares our dishes with each other by putting little samples on the bread plates and passing them around. Auntie Kelly got a chipotle crema ravioli special with shrimp and seared scallops and Uncle Johnny got the short ribs with whipped potatoes and veggies, and the kids got a simple pasta with cheese.We all enjoyed each others' meals -- even the kids'! For dessert, we were extra disgusting and ordered four slices of cake. The photos are less than stellar bc we couldn't keep our hands off of them before I was smooth enough to whip out my camera, but you get the idea...
Coconut cake: 
Strawberry Shortcake Cake:
These monster slices can be found at any of Sal's restaurants and are made at Village Bakery. You can order them too. Oh god, my birthday's coming...I can already smell a carrot cake. We also got a slice of both the Pecan Mocha Torte and the Chocolate Cake.

The Chocolate Cake was devoured by this hungry baby:

Gabrielle and I showed some affection for each other...
...and the chocolate cake.

Sal is my culinary idol. The night we returned from Italy, Brandon and I couldn't think of anything we wanted more than Mustard Seed. Thank the heavens we came home when it was still open because my heart would have exploded into 45 pieces. We ordered it to-go, because let me tell you, a 12 hour flight back really kicked our booties, and I ran in to get it. While I was waiting, Sal was at the bar and I, all star struck and sparkle-eyed, made it a point to say hi. (I'm aggressive like that.) He was really sweet but damn it, he was wearing a ring. So, Sal, if you're out there, I know you're married, but do you have children in their late 20s? That would be fantastic. ;)
Long Point Grill on Urbanspoon

32 comments:

  1. LOVEEEEEEEEEEEEEE LPG. I think Sal needs to host a blogger dinner for us...oh wait...we're hosting our own at one of his restaurants on Monday hahah. I think Josh had that chicken last time we were there and he loved it. I tried their butternut squash soup...oh my gosh...seriously? So good.

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  2. Oh that pic of the coconut cake definitely makes my cupcakes pale in comparison! ha ha All the food looks fantastic!

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  3. LOVE the cute pic of you and Gabrielle and your chocolate faces!!! So cute!!!

    This place looks delish! I would want the crab cake entree and the strawberry shortcake for dessert! Yummy!!!!!!!!

    Have a great weekend beautiful!!

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  4. Brown butter sweet potatoes?! YUM. And all those desserts sound amaaazing. Coconut cake is definitely one of my favorites. I love how one of the tags is "naughty food"!

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  5. What a cute family outing!! This is definitely the kind of place I'd love to go to - your meal looked so delicious! And there's nothing I love more than asparagus (ish? acutally I love a lot of things lol) Thanks for sharing the cute post! (:

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  6. Darn! Now I'm craving that chocolate cake again after seeing it all smeared on Zachary, Gabrielle, and you. That really was a great dinner. But of course the company made it better. Thanks for suggesting it!
    Kelly

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  7. The food looks fabulous and delish! Love the pictures!

    xo

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  8. oh yum! The food looks amazing. The little guy looks too cute!

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  9. you are so cute!! and the little munchkins are adorable too! haha. chocolate moustaches!! wow such a great atmosphere :)

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  10. Gotta visit SC! Those restaurants sound awesome and the food looks to die for!

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  11. Aww the kids in your family are adorable!

    Haha I don't blame your grandma for her crabcake obsession - they're my favourite too!

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  12. oh goodness... that strawberry shortcake looks amazing! I must find a way to have a piece soon... it's healthy right? I mean... strawberries... right? ;)

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  13. oh my gah those kids are SO ADORABLE girl!!
    ive been there before! I forget what i got tho-something sea food!

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  14. Cute kid!
    The crab cakes look amazing. Wow.
    Sal, you got friends? Hook my girl up!

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  15. wow look at all that yummy food! AH! I have to go here now, I love the cherry sauce with pistachio chicken...sounds amazing!

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  16. Gabrielle and the little guy are cuties!

    Your restaurant reviews are making me want to visit Charleston! Both the crab cakes and chicken look incredible. Yummy!

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  17. We use the salad plates to share our food too! Love it!

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  18. Sal's restaurants sound amazing! If I'm ever in that area of the country, I will be sure to visit them :)

    I love nut crusted anything. It seems that everything tastes better with them!

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  19. I think we all love Sal's places! See you Monday sista! I'll bring you that peanut butter too!

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  20. that cake looks sooo delicious!! I will miss u guys on Monday:( let's find a good time to meet up in Summerville asap:)))

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  21. Oh so yum! That chicken looks so crispy and delicious! And that cake...I die. And the cake eating little boy makes me so smiley.

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  22. You and Gabrielle are adorable! That cake looks AMAZING - yum.

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  23. LOVE the new layout love!! Muah! Hope your weekend was great too!!!

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  24. Cute, cute pics!! I want those fat crabcakes - YUM!!

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  25. That food looks amazing! And I love Charlestown-my family used to live there- haven't been in forever though!

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  26. Strawberry shortcake looks awesome! That is one of my favorite summertime desserts!

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  27. Each of the cakes look delicious! Great review. I'm drooling ;)

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  28. Hey! Wow - you're trying out all types of backgrounds - love your new pic :) One of those pictures of the cute little boy looks _just_ like a pic of one of my brothers when he was little. SO CUTE!

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  29. Mmmm chocolate cake!! I love your new blog design :)

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  30. Both of those desserts look scrumptious. I love all three of those kinds of cakes, and it's always fun to eat dessert out. (It's something I rarely do, either because I'm too full or it's too expensive.)

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  31. Pistachio crusted chicken and strawberry shortcake! Sounds like a gooooood meal! :)

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  32. What a great review! I need some of the coconut and strawberry cake...now would be good! YUM!

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