Award-winning chef, television personality, and cookbook author, Vivian Howard, today announced that Handy & Hot, the online, small-batch bakeshop, will open its first brick-and-mortar location on Tuesday, August 11th at 68 Wentworth Street in downtown Charleston.
Howard says Handy & Hot will present “a modern take on the American-style coffee shop, offering a fresh, new approach to grab-and- go drinks and dishes.” The shop's all-day menu features biscuits, sweet and savory hand pies, seasonal salads and snacks, agua fresca, and a full coffee, espresso, and tea menu.
All items are available for take out and orders can be placed online for contact-less, curbside pickup. Highlights include air-dried sausage & grape mustard biscuits; sweet corn and onion hand pies; chilled shrimp succotash; and butterbean hummus with sweet potato pickles.
In addition to the regular menu, Handy & Hot will offer two Beach Basket options — one centered around Howard's praised blueberry barbecue sauce and the other around her much beloved tomato pie. Each kit includes Vivian's Boozy Fruit — summer fruit infused with craft spirits — also available on the daily menu. Beach Baskets will be available to order starting August 18th.
Howard says she is excited to partner with a number of Charleston and southern makers for her Handy & Hot menu. She's collaborated with friend and Charleston Chef Cynthia Wong of Life Raft Treats to create custom-made ice cream treats, including Pepsi Sherbet + Candied Salted Peanuts and a Banana Pudding Bar. Handy & Hot's beverage menu boasts drinks using specialty roaster B&W Coffee, small-batch Slingshot Coffee, and Videri Chocolate Factory's bean to bar cocoa.
Howard's team worked with local architect David Thompson to completely update the space at 68 Wentworth Street. The colorful, modern café features bright accents and outdoor dining seats.
Later this year, Howard will launch her second Charleston restaurant, Lenoir, adjacent to Handy & Hot. Lenior will be a “casual and refined restaurant that aims to spotlight food traditions that perpetuate, honor and evolve the cuisine of the rural, agricultural South.”
Handy & Hot will be open from daily from 7 am to 4 pm. For more information, visit handyandhot.com, call 843- 534-9032, or follow along on Instagram at @handyandhot.
