Charleston welcomes new Chinese brasserie
Xo Brasserie, a new restaurant specializing in sophisticated Chinese cuisine, has opened in Charleston's NoMo neighborhood. The menu features dishes with Cantonese and Sichuan influences. The restaurant's debut adds to the city's reputation as a growing culinary destination.
- The restaurant is the first solo venture for owner Herman Ng, who grew up in his family's Chinese restaurants in Columbia, SC, and previously worked with the Indigo Road Hospitality Group. - Xo Brasserie is located in The Morris, a multi-use building that is part of the recent development transforming the North Morrison, or "NoMo," neighborhood from a low-income area into a trendy hub for tech businesses and restaurants. - The menu, created by Ng and Executive Chef Michael Chanthavong, features modern takes on Chinese-American classics, with some dishes served family-style on tables featuring lazy Susans. - The restaurant's design was a collaboration between Ng, local interior designers Lennon & Flohr, and architect Justin Feit, and features a large, colorful mural by the local art group Girls Who Paint Murals. - Charleston's hospitality industry contributed $12.8 billion to the local economy in 2023, with the average visitor spending significantly more on food than before the pandemic. - The city's culinary scene is expanding beyond its traditional downtown core, with new and interesting restaurants increasingly opening in neighborhoods further afield, a trend driven by rising rents and changing demographics. - The NoMo area, once characterized by hollow buildings, has become a "Creative District" attracting young professionals and tech companies, leading to a boom in housing and restaurant development over the last decade. - Recent data from the first quarter of 2024 showed a significant pipeline of new restaurants in the Charleston metro area, with approximately 80 establishments listed as "coming soon," the longest such list in 15 years.
