On a late Monday afternoon at Christine’s Farm to Fork in downtown Edgefield, all is quiet in the dining room, for now.
But within a half-hour, 30 diners and wine lovers would gather to enjoy what’s become one of the hottest tickets in town, the restaurant’s monthly Wine Dinner.
Christine’s is named after owner Christine Smith, an Edgefield County native, who — with her husband, Jake, and sons, Jacob and Jared — manages JM Smith Farm in Johnston and runs the restaurant. That farm is where many of the restaurant’s fresh ingredients are grown; for example, diners at Christine’s may enjoy a creamy dip featuring collard greens picked fresh that day from the family farm. And if their farm doesn’t produce an ingredient, Christine’s simply sources them from other local and regional farms.
For its fourth anniversary this October, Christine’s is celebrating with a wine dinner on Oct. 13 featuring Argentinian wines from Familia Vicente Pearce, led by vintner Shawn Pearce, Christine’s Executive Chef Matt Flemister, consultant Saad Hafez, and Smith herself. It’s a beautiful partnership, says Smith, that starts with the fresh ingredients from local purveyors and the craft of the winemaker and is joined by Flemister’s creativity, Hafez’s impeccable palate, and Smith’s passion.
The team at Christine’s knew it wanted to host something special for the restaurant’s fourth anniversary. So, when Hafez — a longtime restauranteur who led Charleston’s beloved Meritage wine bar for more than a decade — learned that Pearce would be visiting South Carolina, he invited him to come to Christine’s. In July, Pearce, Hafez, Smith, and Flemister sat down together with Pearce to hear his story, talk about the vineyard, the growing conditions — “what it takes to grow a quality wine,” says Flemister. “That inspired us to go forward, to start thinking about the menu and doing things that will honor the culture and cuisine of Argentina, but maybe approaching it in a slightly different way.”
Flemister, whose in-laws hail from North Augusta, came to Christine’s with a distinguished career both as a chef for restaurants and private clubs and during 23 years in the military, where he prepared meals for military personnel, political leaders, and dignitaries from around the world. He earned the title of Armed Forces Master Chef of the Year in 2015 and is one of only 11 chefs in the nation to be named Personal Certified Executive Chef from the American Culinary Federation.
So, for October’s dinner, Flemister is using his expertise and the skill of the team in the kitchen to reinterpret Argentinian locro, a thick stew typically featuring several meats, hominy, beans and squash, by presenting it deconstructed. The restaurant’s modern locro is a smoked bison ribeye (locally produced from Johnston’s Lone Palm Bison Co.) with calabaza squash puree, roasted tomato, baby limas, sweet corn, bison demi, chorizo oil and crispy leeks. That will be served with Familia Vicente Pearce’s 2022 Malbec, with flavors of plum and blackberry and gentle tannins that pair well with the smoky bison and earthy squash.
The full menu features seven courses, each with a wine selected by Hafez. Argentinian wines tend to be heavy on the reds, so Flemister wanted to think outside the box, for lighter courses that would still pair well with those wines. Once the menu was developed, Hafez tasted and matched wines with the various courses.
“With wine, there’s so much you can play with,” Hafez says. “I’ll see what actually brings out the flavors of the dish…You can do that a couple different ways. You can go for a comparison to enhance flavors. Sometimes it’s a contrast that shows what works best. For a spicier dish, sometimes a light and fruity wine will make the spice more predominant. … It’s often the case that we’re putting something together that will surprise and make somebody think twice about their established views of what wine is.”
The fish course, for example, includes rich flavors like chorizo sausage, grilled octopus, and jumbo shrimp, which Hafez mirrored with an herbal and peppery cabernet, while a roasted tomato bisque will be served with a lightly oaked chardonnay (the only white on the menu) to add acidity to cut the creamy soup. “It was a great feeling when we got the feedback from the winery owner,” continues Hafez. “He reviewed the menu, and he said it looks fantastic. No changes needed.”
“These wine dinners is a great synergy on educating, promoting what’s available, and highlighting Executive Chef Matt and his talent to mentor everyone in the restaurant, including myself,” adds Smith. “Because I’m just blown away every dinner by the creativity, taking key ingredients and just highlighting the best about that ingredient, whether it’s Hickory Hill milk and the Clemson blue cheese or using my strawberries from the farm—just Incorporating pieces and parts and then pairing it with Saad’s knowledge of wine. It’s just been a great synergy.”
Christine’s Farm to Fork typically hosts its wine dinners on the last Monday of every month, with seatings at 4:30 and at 7:30, although dates in November and December differ because of the holidays (December’s will be a New Year’s Eve dinner). While the October 13 wine dinner is full, you may call to join a wait list. To make a reservation, call 803-615-0695.
