The previously mentioned, but until now never pictured crazy delicious (and deliciously spicy) Cazon BLT. How do they hide the pepper?

The open kitchen at Cazon. You really don’t get more “open” than this.

Alright, I have finally tried the Cazon BLT. The same BLT that Gazette food writer Maureen Crockett found so peppery she had to send it back after one bite. And the verdict? It is very peppery. And crazy delicious! As far as I’m concerned, this is Charleston’s go-to bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich.

Now, I wanted to take a couple bites of the Cazon BLT and declare Maureen Crockett a wimp whose idea of spicy likely falls somewhere between ketchup and communion wafers. That may be true. But indeed, this sandwich does have some kick. But it’s a slow black pepper burn that builds in the back of the mouth rather than a chili pepper scorcher that attacks your tongue and lips. You can probably take it.

And to be clear, it’s the mayonnaise, not the bacon, that is peppered (and this is clearly indicated on the menu). So you could, in theory, order it with regular ol’ mayo. But why would you want to do that? Nothing wakes up the flavor of bacon and tomato like black pepper. I anxiously await Cazon’s dinner hours.

Clcik to enlarge. Photo for thegazz.com by Walker DeVille

We’ve cribbed an outtake photo by Walker DeVille from the Downtown WV gazzblog, shot inside Ellen’s Homemade Ice Cream Shop this week. It’s only fair since we mentioned the Taylor Books soup menu for the week in a post below. Studying up on your lunch options for the week? Click on that photo and enlarge it to aid in your tasteful considerations.

We borrowed a photo from the DowntownWV blog showing the Tidewater’s “old” look. A new one is coming on Thursday.

If you had Tidewater on the mind for lunch or dinner this week, think again. Charleston’s venerable seafood-plus restaurant, which opened in 1985 at Town Center Mall, is closed. But not for long. It shut down Saturday and will reopen Thursday as it undergoes a $300,000 interior redesign. According to an e-mail press release about the redesign, the new look “will be fresh and upscale.” Like how? Here’s more:

Much of the restaurant’s dining and bar areas features will be torn out and replaced… The restaurant décor will be updated with new wood, carpet and concrete flooring, along with new tables, booths and lighting, which will enhance the dining venue. Guests can experience a great place to mix business and pleasure at the newly created Chef’s Table — a semi private dining area for gatherings of 8 to 14 people. A large antique wooden table, creative lighting and intimate atmosphere will set the scene. Working wine racks will also be featured through out the dining room.

New awnings and a trellis will be added to the outside patio along with outside patio heaters, which will not only add warmth but add length to the outside dining season, Tidewater-wise. No changes menu-wise, according to Terry Kretz, General Manager, in the release: “We are expanding the dining experience but will continue to provide the same great food and tradition that guests have come to know and expect from us. It is important for our guests to know that menu favorites like the Greek Salad and our signature bread will not be changed.”

Now you know. Did you also know that Tidewater, Gratzi and The Chop House are all one big happy family, part of Mainstreet Ventures. Michael Gibbons, president of that company, grew up in Charleston and has family in the area.

Can your tastebuds stand the peppered bacon so peppery that Gazette food writer Maureen Crockett had to send it back? Will you be able to choose from the vast selection of yummy salad dressings? Will you be able to enjoy a salad made of mostly lettuce? Will you, brave reader, be able to properly digest your meal in the hustle and bustle of Charleston’s lunchtime rush without sounding like a high maintenance diner?

Take the Cazon Challenge and let us know! We’ll be posting our own results soon.

Photo by Douglas Imbrogno

Until I hear claims to the contrary, I nominate the Rio Grande along Brawley Walkway as having 1) The funkiest decoration for a Mexican restaurante in town; and 2) The most addictive salsa sauce for chips. You want to fight about it? Pretty good chips, too.

– Douglas Imbrogno

We won’t get into the fact that Gratzi at Town Center Mall has a phonetic spelling of the real Italian for ‘thank you‘. (Here’s how to really spell it, and say it.) We forgive them, though because they serve some of the finest Italian food this side of the Veneto. (Well, at least this side of the Kanawha.) Want some tips on how they do it? Gratzi’s chefs are serving up three Saturday ‘Country Italian Cooking Classes’ this fall: Sept. 23, Oct. 21 and Nov. 18, from 10 a.m. to about 1 p.m.. You’ll learn how to make pizza dough, Pesto Basilico (a basil, parmesan and pine nut sauce); Malfati Alla Salvia (similar to the potato pasta called gnocchi); Pollo Picata (chicken in a capers-lemon butter-white wine sauce); Panna Cotta (a cooked cream dessert) and Pizza Genovese and Pizza Quattro Formaggi.

The especially nice part is you get to eat the lessons afterward, along with imbibing some wine. The day class costs $49.95 or $75 for the lessons, the meal and the cookbook “Distinctive Recipes from Distinctive Eateries.” Mainstreet Ventures Executive Chef and cookbook author Simon Pesusich with help from Gratzi Chef Larry Riddle will be the maestros with the spatulas. Space is limited and to register call 888-456-DINE or click this web link for Gratzi’s Main Street Ventures headquarters.

– Douglas Imbrogno

If you’d rather not have a blog in your soup, but rather, say, basil or beef burgundy, then here’s this week’s day-by-day homemade soup lineup at Taylor Books, 226 Capitol St. The tell-tale snap of pre-autumn is in the air in the mornings round these parts, which means it’s that time again: soup weather. Just in time, Taylor’s Ann Saville returns with her Soups of the Week. The lineup for this week

Monday (Sept. 11): Tomato Basil
Tuesday: Beef Burgundy with Barley
Wednesday: Potato Leek
Thursday: Tuscan Multibean
Friday: Clam Chowder

Taylor’s vegetarian soups cost $2.95 and all the others are $3.25. Which cosmically speaking would seem to indicate that either it’s cheaper to be a vegetarian or that carnivorousness is costing you.

Share your Charleston soup reviews. What are some of the best bowls downtown?

– Douglas Imbrogno