Circa 1886: New Charleston Restaurant
By Tom Crosby

In a city known for its fine restaurants, one of the biggest stars in Charleston's dining firmament is Circa 1886 located on the grounds of the magnificent four-story, 21-room, French Second Empire style AAA Five Diamond Wentworth Mansion.

Circa 1886 refers to the year the Mansion was built by Charleston businessman Francis Silas Rodgers and the restaurant occupies the spot where stables once housed the carriages and horses of the wealthy cotton businessman.

Since opening in January 2000 (a year and a half after the Wentworth Mansion's $6 million restoration was completed and it opened to the public), Circa 1886 has been garnering awards and restaurant reviews for excellence.

It holds a Four Diamond rating from AAA, a Four Star rating from Mobil, the DiRoNA Award for Fine Dining and Wine Spectator’s Award of Excellence, as well as being named one of 23 American restaurants on Conde Nast Traveler’s 2001 "hot list" of 100 new restaurants worldwide. The restaurant has also received a five-star rating from the Charleston Post and Courier newspaper and been favorably reviewed in Food and Wine, Southern Living, Bon Appetit and House Beautiful magazine, on CNN and in The Atlanta Journal and Constitution and the New York Post newspapers.

The first impression of Circa 1886 is one of history and elegance. Parking is provided across the street from the Wentworth Mansion (so named because it is on Wentworth Street). As you enter the grounds, the manicured lawn, surrounding shrubbery and blooming flowers create a magical atmosphere.

Diners stroll under an arbor of Lady Bankshire roses with a stone patio containing three wrought iron tables and chairs on the left and a neatly trimmed, small lawn area on the right.

The entire front entrance area is tastefully separated from the Wentworth grounds by pampas grass and crepe myrtle trees, adding a nice feeling of privacy, especially at nighttime when diners enjoy a quiet and romantic after-dinner drink outside.

Variegated hydrangea plants in purple bloom and azaleas grow underneath a pair of windows on each side of the two-story brick building's door, adding more color and warmth to the first impression of the restaurant.

Once inside, the bar is straight ahead, in the smallest of three downstairs dining rooms. Four bar stools sit before a copper countertop with a wooden rail bar. Behind the bar, rows of glasses and cooling wines provide ambiance.

To the left of the bar, there is an L-shaped, cushioned-seat booth for quiet conversation and two open area square tables with three chairs each in front of a working fireplace decorated with candles (a fireplace in Charleston seems redundant). The Garden Room, a private dining room for 10, is off the bar.

The other two downstairs dining rooms are the Main Room, which seats 34, and the Wine Room, which seats 22. Upstairs, which once housed the Tack Room, there is a private dining area that can hold 40 people.

The warm ambiance comes from original wooden slat walls now painted in a sage/khaki color, wainscoting, plush wall-to-wall carpeting, original stable doors and a new partially recessed ceiling in the wine room, decorative archways, original heart-pine floors - all blended so expertly that it is impossible to tell the old from the new. Walls sport lithographs and iron art work. Lighting is subdued with sunset draping the interior in a warm glow. Overhead, chandeliers sport electric candles. The end result is a totally modern fine-dining atmosphere with historic and artistic touches.

Diners sit in high-backed brown suede chairs at tables covered with white linen and decorated with a small red rose in a bubble vase and a burning candle in a small glass chimney. Silverware is from Cristoffe Hotel in France and the custom china is from Brighton Falls, Beaver Creek, CA. The crystal wine glasses are by Spigaleau. Coffee and tea service is Wedgewood bone china from England.

Attentive waitstaff surpass typical AAA Four Diamond-rated service, with equal knowledge of the menu, wine list and the history of the Mansion and restaurant. Service is efficient but never rushed.

Manager Mark Severs says, "Attention to detail is very important, especially in service. We want to give guests a touch of the southern hospitality that Charleston is famous for."
           
Added Rick Widman, owner of Circa 1886, "We wanted this to be a quiet, relaxed oasis for our guests."

The other essential ingredient to Circa 1886's success is Executive Chef Marc Collins, a founder of the successful BB&T Charleston Food + Wine festival who was also named a Chef to Watch by Esquire magazine in 2001. Collins, who is well versed in French culinary technique, brings a modern twist to traditional Southern cooking, drawing on the rich culinary history of Charleston during the Victorian era when the Mansion and restaurant were constructed.

“We prepare a type of fare that is indigenous to what was going on in Charleston about 200 years ago with lots of American Southern influences and a touch of French,” says Collins. “Our food is influenced by history.”

For example, the restaurant uses fresh local crabs for the crab cake souffle appetizer with mango coulis and sweet pepper sauce. Chef Collins prepares a soup trio tasting that varies with the season along with the dishes on each menu.

Entree items include the antelope loin with stewed southern beans, cast iron Vidalia onion, merlot peach jus lie and white cheddar waffle, along with the flounder with red rice soufflé, hot collard greens slaw, wax beans, benne seeds and truffle “tartar sauce.”  

Desserts include strawberry shortcake with crisp pound cake, grand Marnier vanilla bean mascarpone mousse and strawberry coulis, as well as the chocolate hot & cold, which is a warm flourless chocolate espresso cake, “hot” chocolate semifreddo, double chocolate cookie and ganache and espresso anglaise.

The extensive wine list covers more than 10 pages and 280 choices that range from a 1998 Robert Mondavi Napa Valley Zinfandel for $20 to a 1990 Chateau Mouton Rothchild Pauillac for $670. More than a dozen wines are offered by the glass ($8-$16) with wine tastings of three for $16.

Sparkling wines and champagnes are also available.

Domestic wines dominate the selection but there are plenty of French and Italian wines offered, as well as a selection of Australian and South African wines. There are 10 dessert wines to choose from.

Special notes: Last reservations at 9:30 p.m. means plenty of after-dinner time to explore Charleston night life, service so impeccable that noticing a left-handed diner the waitress changed the table setting to a left-handed service, closed only on Sunday (typically Charleston restaurants close on Monday) and ending the meal with a cigar and drink outside the restaurant in the gardens.

Please call 843-853-7828 to make a reservation.  (Updated July 2008)