I was somewhat amused to learn that FIG was named this year’s South’s Best classic restaurant, for I remember when it was the brash newcomer on the Charleston scene.
When co-owners Mike Lata and Adam Nemirow founded FIG (short for “Food Is Good”) in 2003, the city’s eateries were bifurcated between coat-and-tie fine dining and casual comfort fare. They wanted to create something in between.
A passion for local produce—especially vegetables—is hardly iconoclastic today, but it was back then. The kitchen had no freezer and no walk-in refrigerator. The dishes changed every day based upon whatever the area farmers and fishermen brought in the back door…