Bourbon & Bluegrass returns to Middleton Place Nov. 7 with celebrated chefs, an oyster roast, and the Marshgrass Mamas
from Staff Reports
An open-fire oyster roast, bluegrass beneath the oaks, and a gathering of chefs whose work connects food with history will set the scene when Bourbon & Bluegrass returns to Middleton Place this fall.
Now in its third year, Middleton Place Foundation’s signature fall fundraiser takes place Saturday, Nov. 7, from 5–8 p.m. at the National Historic Landmark on Ashley River Road in West Ashley. The evening brings together Lowcountry cooking, bourbon tastings, and live music to support the foundation’s preservation and education efforts.
Organizers say the event sold out in each of its first two years. General admission tickets are $250 per person and include all food, beverages, and entertainment. A $500 VIP option adds an earlier reception and several additional experiences.
Food is a central part of the evening, with a lineup that brings together culinary scholarship, Gullah traditions, and generations of Lowcountry farming.
Chef Bill Green of Gullah Grub on St. Helena Island will oversee a traditional open-fire oyster roast. Culinary stations will feature James Beard Award-winning author and food historian Michael W. Twitty, Marvin Ross of Peculiar Pig Farm, and Bennett Hospitality.
For Twitty, Southern food provides a way to explore ancestry, identity, and the lives of people whose contributions have often gone unrecognized. His work focuses on African American food traditions and their connections to Africa and its diaspora, including the knowledge and skills enslaved cooks brought to Southern kitchens.
A culinary historian, independent scholar, and living history interpreter, Twitty reconstructs early Southern cooking through ingredients, agricultural practices, and historic preparation methods. His work encompasses heirloom seeds, heritage livestock, foraged foods, and the techniques used to turn those ingredients into meals.
His book, The Cooking Gene, received James Beard Awards for Book of the Year and Food Writing in 2018. Through his writing, demonstrations, and educational programs, Twitty examines how the food on a Southern table can reveal a much larger story about family, labor, migration, and cultural survival.
Green brings another expression of that connection between food and history. His approach to Gullah cooking emphasizes eating locally and seasonally, practices rooted in the relationship between coastal communities and the land and water around them.
Along with preparing traditional meals, Green and his wife, Sara, have worked with young people in the Beaufort area to teach gardening and cooking through Gullah foodways. Their educational work has included growing rice and exploring the West African agricultural knowledge that helped shape South Carolina’s history.
Ross’ participation adds the perspective of a fifth-generation farmer. His family-owned Peculiar Pig Farm in Dorchester raises heritage livestock using practices that include wooded areas where animals can roam and forage. The farm also purchases grain from local growers and uses cover crops as part of its approach to managing the land.
Together, the participants bring distinct experiences to a menu built around the region’s culinary heritage.
Providing the evening’s soundtrack will be the Marshgrass Mamas, featuring Cary Ann Hearst of Shovels & Rope. The Johns Island group formed in 2001 and draws from traditional bluegrass and Appalachian old-time music.
Over more than two decades together, the Mamas have developed a sound that pairs harmonies and spirited playing with a loose, humorous stage presence. Their performance will provide opportunities for dancing beneath Middleton Place’s centuries-old oaks.
Beverage offerings include tastings from Elijah Craig and Cannon Distillery, handcrafted cocktails, and a full open bar.
Guests purchasing the VIP experience can arrive at 4 p.m. for an hour-long reception overlooking the Reflection Pool. That gathering includes a meet-and-greet with Twitty, a private Cannon Distillery bourbon tasting, chef-crafted bites, specialty cocktails, and acoustic bluegrass. VIP admission also includes reserved parking, private check-in, and the full evening’s general admission offerings.
For those interested in extending the outing, organizers are offering 20 percent off accommodations at The Inn at Middleton Place along the Ashley River.
Proceeds from Bourbon & Bluegrass support the foundation’s work preserving Middleton Place and sharing its history through educational programming. The evening’s gathering of cooks, farmers, and musicians offers a fitting way to support that mission, bringing regional traditions into a setting where the Lowcountry’s past remains part of the landscape.
Middleton Place is located at 4300 Ashley River Road. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit middletonplace.org’s Bourbon & Bluegrass event page.
