In celebration of Black History Month and in honor of Edna Lewis’s legacy, join the Middleton Place Restaurant on Fridays in February to enjoy dinner inspired by her menu served at the Restaurant in 1987. The dinner will include a starter, entree, salad and dessert for $45. Beverages and gratuity not included.

Middleton Place Foundation member and volunteer discount is not applicable to the Tribute to Edna Lewis Dinner.

Seatings available from 6 – 9 pm. Call the restaurant for reservations at 843-266-7477.

The Edna Lewis Connection
Often referred to as “the Grande Dame of Southern Cooking,” Edna Lewis earned her culinary fame at Café Nicholson in New York in 1948. Her connection to Middleton Place began in 1985, when she was persuaded to join the restaurant to develop a menu based on historical records of early Carolina plantation cooking. For almost three years Edna Lewis was Chef-in-Residence at Middleton Place Restaurant, where she walked to her kitchen in the restaurant every day from her on-site residence and began to build on the influences of Mary Sheppard, the Middleton family cook during most of the 20th century.

In a 1985 interview, Lewis stated, “Many ideas for the menu came from a book called The Carolina Housewife,” which was written by Sarah “Cousin Sally” Rutledge, the daughter of Henrietta Middleton (daughter of Henry Middleton) and Edward Rutledge, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Although the recipes in the book are incomplete by today’s standards, she drew the essentials from them and developed a menu of dishes that the Middleton family might have eaten in their home. Edna’s legacy continues to inspire the chefs at Middleton Place even today.

Edna Lewis’s 1987 Dinner Menu

First Course

Broiled Oysters on Half Shells
with buttered crumbs and garnished with lemon wedges

Homemade Soup
She Crab Soup or Soup of the Day

Entrées

All entrées will be served with fresh seasonal vegetables harvested from the on-site Middleton Place Organic Farm.

Panned Quail
with julienne of country ham and spoon bread

Fresh Flounder
pan broiled in sweet butter with a special mayonnaise sauce

Beef Tenderloin
with a sauce of fresh chervil, tarragon, and shallots

Tender Slices of Veal
sautéed in butter with lemon sauce

Sea Scallops
sautéed in butter on a bed of spinach

Salads of mixed greens will be served directly following the entrée.

Dessert

Edna’s Chocolate Soufflé