2Nixons
By Libby Williams, @PlateSouth
I have a confession. It’s big. REALLY BIG.
Are you ready?
Confession: until a few weeks ago, I had never had ramen.
I am so serious. NEVER. NOT EVER. I don’t know…maybe I have been living under a rock. Maybe I am clueless. Mostly, I think it was because I didn’t know where to get good ramen from around Charleston. That was all possibly true until I met the amazing Chef/Owner Jeffrey Stoneberger of 2Nixons a few weeks ago. Now my world is forever changed. Chef Jeffery started 2Nixons as an incredible pop up restaurant specializing in some next-level, non-traditional ramen and other Asian Fusion inspired dishes so the rest of Charleston could take note and experience what delicious, well made ramen really tasted like. No better place to start than at the top, right?
Chef Jeffery is delightfully passionate about his food. He knows it, he loves it, he plays with it, he modifies it, he blows your mind with it. Hearkening from some fine dining establishments (like McCradys), Chef decided to bring more of a sense of a familiarity with food – so to speak. He pairs unique flavors with elegant presentations making for a truly unique experience. And his food doesn’t just cover the basic ramen – it runs the gamut of inspired food. Ramen. Burgers. Yakitori. It’s an incredible blend that creates an experience to remember.
For our meal, Chef brought out some starters – starting with the squash tempura. These little babies were breaded and fried to delicate perfection and served with a spicy mayo furikake. Incredible! (Please Note: I want to start every meal out this way…if someone could arrange that for me that’s be great). After that came some blistered beans that were gone before I got a chance to photograph them. I was too busy eating. Sorry, friends.
Next up came the Yakitori – A delicious and perfectly grilled skewered meat appetizer. We had one chicken breast, one thigh and then a melt in your mouth taste of the dry-aged beef with some local Bull’s Bay smoked sea salt. Delicious!
Next up, we tried the Squeeze Burger. I don’t know what kind of burger you are used to, but this might now be my go to in terms of burgers. Holy. Moly. Made with dry-aged beef, aged cheddar, pickles and their “not fancy sauce,” people were lining up for this baby outside in the heat. I was tempted to order 5 to go, but decided I would come back for one in the coming weeks.
After that came the big show – ramen 3 ways. The BBQ spare rib ramen was delectible and served with pulled spare rib, mushroom, sweet corn and “the perfect egg.” (And that isn’t a lie. At all). The second option was more of a vegetarian version of this with smoked mushrooms and tomatoes. And lastly – the crab ramen which was a combination of everything I love and felt like I was eating something I shouldn’t be. Chef went back to his Maryland roots for this one. It was defintely something I was not prepared to share with the group!
We chatted for a while after our delicious meal about his background and how he got here to be a pop-up chef. Life walks us in a direction for a reason. And his reason: to feed people like me and keep Charlestonians on top of their growing and ever-evolving food game. That and getting to spend a little time with his adorable little ones.
You can find 2nixons and where they are popping up next online.
You can follow them on facebook, and instagram.
Whatever you do, go hungry and curious.
