BY EMILY REYNA
When Brooke Kiernan McCallion steps into Fast and French, the Broad Street eatery is bustling with hungry guests ready for fondue night. Diners eagerly await the pots, overflowing with cheese, vegetables, bread and meat, that will be brought to their tables.
Kiernan McCallion is a graphic designer by day, doing freelance work for Garden & Gun magazine, and by night she updates her blog, which she created in 2011 as a creative outlet. In the blog, “Simply B,” she shares her favorite activities and hot spots in Charleston. As a native San Franciscan, Kiernan McCallion provides a fresh West Coast take on the sweltering Charleston summers.
Between bites of mixed vegetables dripping with cheese, she describes her go-to summer night out: “I love taking friends to the Vendue Rooftop Bar. It’s one of my favorite bars in Charleston. The view is beautiful, they have a great cocktail list—The Skinny is my favorite—and it's always a fun time. At Fuel, Kiernan McCallion says referring to the cantina-style diner on Rutledge Avenue, “I like to order their Pain Killer, which tastes like a piña colada but better.”
While enjoying the French fare, Kiernan McCallion explains her ideal taco experience: “My favorite tacos are actually the vegetarian tacos at Dellz Uptown with two sides of goddess sauce,” she says, referring to the popular Rutledge Avenue restaurant. “But if I want to have a cocktail and hang out, I love to go to Taco Boy and order a margarita and fried avocado tacos.”
Everyone has a different favorite spot for drinks or a “top 10 best restaurants in (fill in the blank) city,” she says, “but more often than not people want the inside scoop on what locals are actually enjoying in their city.”
With that, Kiernan McCallion steps out of the warm glow of Fast and French onto Broad Street, where she mixes with the tourists and Charleston natives strolling down the streets that she spends her days chronicling.
Brooke Knows Best
Simply B blogger shares her picks for local hot spots
Brooke Kiernan McCallion