Mount Pleasant Magazine Fall 2011

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EatingWell
By EiLEEN RoBiNsoN sMith
T he atmosphere is festive, a
cross between a country marketplace,
a state fair and a small-town carnival,
complete with funnel cakes, the peanut
man and the come-hither aroma emanat-
ing from the Kettle Korn machine. Zeus,
with its Greek gyros, the French crepe stand and Rio’s
raviolis, officially Rio Bertolini’s Fresh Pasta Co., add an
international element to the
mount pleasant farmers’
market, a Tuesday tradition adjacent to Moultrie Middle
School on Coleman Boulevard.
A musician strums and sings “Blowin’ in the Wind” as a
stream of kids, bicyclists and dogs on leashes passes by and
Mount Pleasant residents greet their neighbors at the mar-
ket, which opens at 3:30 p.m. from April through October.
Mount Pleasant Seafood Co., family-owned and
located on Shem Creek since 1945, was among the first
vendors at the Farmers’ Market 12 years ago. Rial M.
Fitch Jr. works the market with his daughter Sarah and
his son Rial. He offers a wide assortment of fish, from
sea bass to salmon to red snapper, but market-goers who
come to eat dinner come for his shrimp. He serves them
up, along with homemade cocktail sauce, for only $2.
The Johnson family is seated at a picnic table – Stewart,
wife Paula, Martha and her sister, Helen Lowry, who
boasts that she was the first resident at The Ponds retire-
ment community in 1985. They’re eating boiled shrimp
with sides from John G’s, which is how locals refer to
Charleston Bay Gourmet Catering because it is owned
by John G. Thornhill. According to his son Chris, the
company has expanded its offerings beyond barbecued
chickens and pulled pork. Their top sellers now are
barbecue and St. Louis-style ribs. All dinners come
with two sides; the choices include squash casserole,
shucked-corn salad and baked beans.
Boone Hall Farms, the agricultural arm of Boone
Hall Plantation, is recognized by its red tablecloths.
The produce, from succulent strawberries to plump red
tomatoes, is always in demand.
Marty Belk, of Carolina One on the Isle of Palms,
who carefully selected a perfect tomato, said she and
her husband, Don, make the Tuesday market a weekly
affair. They always stay for supper.
“We keep thinking that we are going to change, but Don
simply must have supper at John G’s,” she explained.
Going
MarketTO
Above: Little boys are big on market
treats, from sweet shaved ice to
funnel cakes. Right: the market
pavilion is a new architectural
landmark on Coleman Boulevard.