Lunch at The Bistro at Culinary Institute of the South

The Bistro at the Culinary Institute – photos by Seldon Ink

We finally made it for lunch at The Bistro at Bluffton’s Culinary Institute of the South and wanted to share our experience as a follow-up to last month’s DISH about their Foodseum and more.

Situated just past the new Foodseum, The Bistro features multi-course lunches prepared by the school’s culinary, baking, and pastry arts students as part of their curriculum. Open only for lunch by (very popular) reservation only, The Bistro menu changes each semester with the classes and seasons.

The contemporary setting is French café-like and quite lively, as student servers and Bistro patrons discuss the menu, the food, and the Culinary Institute of the South experience. An appropriate food-oriented indigo blue wall painting by Amiri Farris, commissioned by the Culinary Institute of the South, overlooks diners.

Our server, Torie, knew the menu well and addressed all of our questions about the menu, the kitchen, and more. Serving as a poster child for the Culinary Institute of the South, she will be completing her Baking and Pastry curriculum soon and moving straight into the Culinary Arts program.

Options on the three-course $30 menu include: TCL salad; Caesar salad; fried fish bites; or creamy scallion soup (our fave) for the first course. A 6–oz. house burger; roasted miso mushroom panini (yum!); blackened fish tacos; 6–oz. seared steak; “Charleston Style” shrimp and grits; or seasonal quiche for the second course; and a Pastry Chefs Selection for the dessert, which was a colorful fresh fruit gateau or chai tea Crème Brûlée (which were both perfect!), when we were there.

The food and service were topnotch, and we became even bigger fans of the Culinary Institute of the South. If you can’t get a reservation at The Bistro, there’s also Clist Café, which serves a multi-purpose role as both a grab-and-go café for the public, students, and staff, as well as another “classroom” for culinary and hospitality students.

Culinary Institute of the South

1 Venture Dr.

Bluffton, SC 29910

(843) 305-8575

tcl.edu/culinary-institute
The Bistro (tcl.edu/culinary-institute/the-bistro) is only open for seated lunches by reservation (see email address on website) on certain days each semester. The Foodseum (tcl.edu/foodseum) and Clist Café (tcl.edu/culinary-institute/clist-cafe) are both open Monday to Thursday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.