The Spirited Brunch is back

Join the downtown Charleston snack tour on April 23

Pimento cheese sandwiches at Grace Church Cathedral

One of the reasons I’m most excited about The Food Section expanding its presence across the South, beginning with the launch of two North Carolina bureaus in partnership with The Assembly, is the chance to bring Spirited Brunch to more cities.

Readers who’ve been with this newsletter from the start are already familiar with the annual event, but for the sake of the roughly 2,000 people who’ve joined The Food Section’s email list since last spring, a brief refresher:

Before my job required me to drive a few thousand miles each month, I didn’t have a car. (Actually, I still don’t have a car, but my husband has been very generous with his.) I covered food and drink in Charleston by foot, bike, and bus, which meant I had ample opportunity to study the city’s streets and the many houses of worship lining them. They don’t call this the Holy City for nothing.

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Because congregational doors were typically closed, I always wondered about what went on behind them. I knew each of the venues was home to a vibrant community but wasn’t sure how to access those groups and their traditions as an outsider.

Then, I had an idea.

Okra soup at Calvary Episcopal Church

What if there was an open house-type event, at which each participating house of worship would serve a snack representative of its faith or local customs? What if it was free for all to attend?

My friend Elijah Siegler, a religious studies professor at the College of Charleston, shared my enthusiasm for a self-guided snack tour of downtown Charleston’s prayerful spaces. We organized the first Spirited Brunch in 2017, inviting the community to sample chai tea at the Charleston Tibetan Society, fried chicken at Morris Brown AME Church, hummus at the Central Mosque of Charleston, and pound cake at Trinity United Methodist Church.

The event was an enormous success, enjoyed equally by fans of food, history, and architecture. We’ve repeated the Spirited Brunch every year since, save for a short pandemic break. It’s my favorite local spring ritual.

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Over the years, the event has grown to include as many as two dozen congregations and upward of 700 attendees. Most notably, we’ve created an on-campus space in which houses of worship beyond walking distance from downtown—where real estate is generally out of reach for newer congregations—can share their food and practices.

Among this year’s participants are Sikh Gurudwara Nanak Darbar, Iglesia de Dios Nuevo Comienzo, and Victory Church Summerville, affiliated with the Nigerian-based Redeemed Christian Church of God.

For the first time this year, we’re also setting up a pop-up cookbook shop at the event hub, so visitors who don’t get to every stop on the tour can still tap into the congregations’ kitchen wisdom (and don’t have to worry about lugging their purchases along the route.)

Someday, I hope, we’ll replicate the Spirited Brunch in other places. For now, though, please make plans to join us in Charleston on Sunday, April 23 from 12:30-3:30 p.m. for the free event. No RSVP is necessary, but if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to email me at readthefoodsection@gmail.com.

In the coming weeks, we’ll share an event map and provide details on a pre-Brunch toast for paid subscribers. But no need to wait to mark your calendar!

See you soon.

Take care,

Hanna

p.s. To get an idea of what’s in store, check out video coverage of Spirited Brunch 2022 on TikTok or YouTube.

Rugelach at KKBE

1. For a less glib take on the origin of the nickname—and how it’s been used to obscure Charleston’s history of religious discrimination—check out historian Nic Butler’s blog post.

2. Soft-shell crabs are a close second.