Two Charleston establishments are included in Bon Appétit’s list of the 20 Best New Restaurants of 2024 - downtown’s Bintü Atelier and North Charleston’s King BBQ. The list considered restaurants that opened between March 2023 and March 2024.
Here's what writer Jennifer Hope Choi had to say (in part) about each restaurant:
- "Though she’s classically trained in French pastry, Chef Bintou N’Daw’s focus here is on craveable homestyle cooking. Tantalizing crab rice dotted with steamed pumpkin and smoky Ghanaian shito or tender goat egusi with pillowy fufu emerge from a tiny kitchen. Savor them at the outdoor tables beside the tropical flora or in the quirky neighboring house, adorned with ratan-like wainscoting and eclectic pan-African paintings. Decor is Young’s contribution, along with fresh juices like tangy soursop and creamy, dairy-free ice creams in flavors like salted cashew or citrusy baobab. Those won’t last the ride home, but jars of Nafi’s Hot Pepper Condiment, named after N’Daw’s mother, are for sale so you can take a bit of Bintü’s charm to go."
- "Chef Shuai Wang and pitmaster Brandon Olson lean into pork and poultry—an ingenious cross-section between their food cultures—and meld disparate cooking styles with craft and calibration. You’d be in hog heaven ordering the succulent chopped pork (a Piedmont, NC, specialty) or smoky cha shao ribs by the pound—seasoned with an amped version of five-spice and served with a Chinese mustard and Carolina gold–inspired BBQ sauce on the side. But the pro move is to go with the soup bowl: thin, chewy, slurpable lo mein noodles buoyed by a ginger-forward broth and topped with crispy duck. Finish with Hong Kong milk tea flecked with popping boba or the soju-yuzu-coffee mind eraser—the most balanced shot you’ll ever have the pleasure of downing"
You can view the entire list here.
