53 www.ReadMPM.com | www.MountPleasantMagazine.com | www.MountPleasantPodcast.com Living in Mount Pleasant, you develop a sixth sense for finding the good stuff. You want to be on the text chain when the Abundant Seafood boat comes back in for the day. You know which specials are worth crossing town for, and you learn to sniff out the passion projects, the fresh bread, the good bottle of wine and the places without a giant sign telling you where to turn. The newest additions around town are giving us a few more places worth putting on the regular rotation. Consider Simmons Street one of the rewards for paying attention. Turn off Coleman Boulevard toward the water and Coastal Crust is on your left, the local favorite where pizzas come out of the outdoor kitchen and people gather beneath the trees. Now the same ownership has added Giannone Eatery & Italian Market, giving an already popular address another reason to wander. Giannone is part focacceria, part wine bar and Italian market, with a tiny Garden Room tucked into the mix. Rather than putting everything under one roof, the experience unfolds through a collection of small spaces. Walk a little, look around, open another door. It has the feeling of a Mediterranean side street that somehow landed in Mount Pleasant. Start with the focacceria in the little white house, where the bread is the point. House focaccia comes simply dressed with olive oil, herbs and flaky salt or topped with things like zucchini, cherry tomatoes, stracciatella and salami. Then come the sandwiches, and lunch gets serious. Wander over to the wine market and the mood shifts. Small tables sit among shelves of bottles and provisions, creating a room that feels intimate without being fussy. Grilled artichokes, fig spread and pantry finds share space with wines from around the world. The whole Giannone idea seems built around discovery rather than speed. At The Gates at Point Hope, King’s Leaf Cigars & Wine is taking a completely different approach to the art of lingering. Open the doors and the choices are laid out almost immediately. To the right, behind glass, is the walkin humidor, a beautifully crafted cedar-lined room filled floor to ceiling with cigars, more jewel box than storage. To the left is the small, bright wine bar. Walk forward past the bar and the mood changes again. Through another door is the lounge, darker and decidedly more settled, with deep green walls, leather chairs, warm lamps and the kind of New & NOTEWORTHY Worth the Wander Giannone BY ANGIE COLYER DUPREE Steel City Pizza King’s Leaf
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