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By Tom Crosby
By Tom Crosby
(July 2009) Located at Charleston's AAA Four-Diamond rated Market Pavilion hotel, Grill 225 has earned a reputation for being one of the top steak restaurants in a city that epitomizes Southern hospitality and cuisine.
Aesthetics create the first impression of a dining establishment and Grill 225 exudes a warm, welcome feeling with dark brown mahogany walls, a black and white Italian marble floor and properly spaced tables covered in Italian white linen, all under a crystal chandelier bowl surrounded by classic Old World egg-colored alabaster crown molding.
Menus rest on a pair of easels inside the hotel lobby in front of a giant vase filled with fresh, colorful flowers. The prices may startle some, but professional restaurant reviewers and repeat local customers maintain the experience is worth the cost.
Rated Four Diamonds by AAA, Grill 225 is first and foremost a steak house, and Executive Chef Demetre Castanas, 30, states his goal is "to be the top steak house in the country."
Castanas, a cousin to the Palassis family that built and owns the 3 year-old Market Pavilion, worked previously at the Epicurean and The Palm in Charlotte, NC.
His passion about beef includes advertising for Grill 225 that outlines what most people don't know - the definition of 100% USDA Prime beef.
 The restaurant only uses 100% Prime Beef is quality graded on two main criteria: maturity and marbling. Maturity addresses the age of the beef - the older the cattle, the tougher the meat. Marbling refers to flecks of fat in the meat; more marbling means a more juicy and flavorful steak.
"One hundred percent Prime means superior quality," said Castanas in his advertising. "This meat would contain the most marbling and come from young, well-fed cattle. Less than 2% of beef consumed by Americans qualifies as prime."
Many nationally known steak restaurants, such as Morton's, The Palm and Ruth Chris, use beef rated "Choice", a grade below Prime. Lamb is another Castanas specialty.
"You can create so many recipes with it," he said in an interview. "It's more versatile compared to beef or pork. Pretty much anything goes with it."
Seafood specialties include: Tuna Tower , a popular appetizer, includes tuna tartar (like sushi), lump crab and avocado piled high on a plate of sticky rice in a "tower" sitting in a pool of lemon chili. Regional choices include a low country blue crab chowder served with melt-in-your-mouth cornbread.
Popular seafood entrees include broiled jumbo lump crab cakes with roasted red pepper remoulade or crab stuffed blue prawn with roasted red pepper Rémoulade.
 Desserts by Executive Pastry Chef Gary Elliot include chocolate mousse cake on macadamia fudge served with strawberries and warm ganache, napoleon of white chocolate mousse and hazelnut crisps, and baklava purse with cointreau crème fraische and lavender honey.
Wine choices are mostly French and American, with more than 260 choices, including 20 wines by the glass.
The Charleston Post and Courier restaurant reviewer rated the food and ambiance excellent and the service by the white-coated wait staff excellent.
Total capacity of Grill 225 is 110 and choice seats are against the wall adorned with mahogany insets. Four curved neoclassical mahogany banquettes custom-made in Asia and lined with chocolate brown plush upholstery seat four each and ensure privacy. There are smaller, intimate high-backed mahogany booths with seating for two to four, as well as more traditional tables for four.
The floor is wide-planked Brazilian cherry wood, purposefully aged to provide a well-used look. Tabletops are covered in Frette white Italian cloth and tables are set using Reidel stemware glassware, Christofle silver-plated cutlery and china with a fleur de lis pattern.
Mahogany chairs have dark leather seats with red velvet backing. Walls sport original oil portraits and gilded mirrors.
Because it is rated Four Diamonds by AAA, it means Grill 225 has a menu that reflects a high degree of creativity and complexity using imaginative presentations to enhance high quality and market fresh ingredients. The service staff demonstrates a strong desire to meet or exceed guest expectations and the ambiance is highly refined, comfortable and well coordinated, incorporating quality materials that give diners a first class experience. (Updated July 2009) |
