The Piccata That Outlived Hugo

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A fish dish that already outlived Hurricane Hugo is headed for Market Street.

It's called Kendrick's, the target is December, and it's taking over 55 S. Market St., the corner Gingerline left dark. The name is brand new to Charleston. On St. Croix, it's been on menus since the mid-'80s.

Quick history, because this one has plenty. The original Kendrick's belonged to Dave and Jane Kendrick, who set it up in downtown Christiansted, inside an 18th-century great house. Hugo wrecked it about three years in. They rebuilt in Gallows Bay, were among the first restaurants on the island to reopen, moved back downtown in 1999 and kept cooking until Dave retired in 2014.

Somewhere in there the place got written up in Bon Appétit and Gourmet, and Dave made swordfish piccata for the Great Chefs of the Caribbean TV series. With star fruit, no less.

That piccata is the dish to circle. The Post & Courier reports it's coming back as a house signature, swordfish or mahi in a Parmesan crust, sauced with lemon beurre blanc. If your parents did a Virgin Islands trip in the '90s, decent odds they ordered it.

The kitchen belongs to the next generation now. Son Dustin Kendrick was the chef behind Too Chez, a French-leaning American spot in Christiansted that set up in the courtyard of Quin House. That's the same building where his parents ran the first Kendrick's. Family business, same address, new name. Very Charleston of them.

Caribbean Journal called Too Chez a must-visit back in 2018 and singled out its grilled barbecue ribs. Ribs made the trip north too. According to the Post & Courier, Dustin and his wife, Jade, are the ones in charge on Market Street, and the roughly 25-item menu includes Danish baby back ribs with a honey chipotle sauce.

The pitch on paper is American, Portuguese, Italian and Caribbean food, all cooked with French technique. That's a lot of passport stamps for one kitchen. For the record, the family ran the same restaurant name for nearly three decades, through a hurricane and a relocation, before any of this.

Now the address. Gingerline was Charlestowne Hotels' first stand-alone restaurant, a cocktail-first room with Latin-leaning small plates that opened at 55 Market in August 2022. OpenTable now lists it as permanently closed. Run the math and that's under three years on one of the most-walked blocks in town.

So a name that took a direct hit from a hurricane and kept going for another 25 years now gets its shot at City Market foot traffic, a block over from the cruise crowds and the sweetgrass baskets. Different island, same tourist math.

What to watch for: a firm December date, a reservations link, and whether the star fruit makes it onto the Charleston piccata.

Sources: Holy City Sinner (address, December target, cuisine mix), Great Chefs (Kendrick family history, Hugo, swordfish piccata), The St. Croix Source (Quin House location), MySTCroix (Too Chez in the original Kendrick's courtyard), Caribbean Journal (Dustin Kendrick, Too Chez ribs), Hospitality Net (Gingerline opening, operator, concept), OpenTable (Gingerline closure) and the Post & Courier (Charleston menu details, Jade Kendrick)