Charleston has a way of slowing you down. The light, the pace, the long conversations that seem to fold into the evening. When we gathered there with Chef Charlie Layton, the food carried that same feeling. Mediterranean at heart, generous in spirit, full of flavor without ever feeling heavy.
Charlie cooks with a kind of clarity. He thinks about food as something that should taste good and feel good, with a focus on ingredients that do most of the work on their own. His dishes invite people to reach in, pass plates, and settle into the table together.
For this edition of In the Kitchen, we are sharing more from that Charleston evening. A conversation with Charlie about cooking in the South, the pantry staples he reaches for without thinking, and the flavors that feel like home. We are also sharing his Harissa Caponata recipe, the dish he served beneath a grilled B liner snapper at our dinner.
It is simple, layered, and deeply flavorful. It is also the kind of recipe that can turn an ordinary weeknight into something worth lingering over.
Q&A with Chef Charlie Layton
1. Your food has this beautiful balance. It is generous and flavorful but never fussy. How do you think about the line between simplicity and intention when you build a dish?
I like to ride the line between flavor and sustenance. It should not only taste good. It should make you feel good too. Thinking this way helps me balance the plate with a lighter touch and a little less fuss.
2. Charleston has such a strong sense of place in its pace, its people, and its produce. How has living and cooking here shaped your approach in the kitchen?
I try to let the city guide me. The ingredients here are seasonal and full of character, and the slower rhythm of Charleston encourages a more relaxed way of cooking. It gives you permission to keep things simple and let the ingredients speak for themselves.
3. What ingredients are always on your counter or in your fridge, the things you reach for without thinking?
My pantry rotates quite a lot with whatever catches my eye at the farmers market, but I am definitely a condiment fiend. Anything with toasted spices and big flavor. I always have a jar of rose harissa paste going, along with a variety of pastes, pickles, and chutneys. They can brighten any stir fry or side dish with almost no effort.
4. We loved how the dinner in Charleston felt shared. How do you think about designing menus that bring people together at the table?
One of the most exciting parts of feeding people is the social side of eating together. Passing plates and helping one another create a bit of theater at the table. It lets everyone get involved in the meal.
5. Is there a dish or flavor that feels like home to you, something that connects your past to the way you cook today?
Fresh grilled mackerel will always be home for me, ideally cooked over an open wood fire. Paired with grilled sprouting broccoli, lemon wedges, and lightly buttered boiled potatoes, it takes me straight back to the beaches of Cornwall where I first learned to cook. That stripped back approach has shaped my cooking throughout my career. I always value quality over quantity.
6. If we dropped by your house at 8 in the evening on a Tuesday, what would you realistically be cooking?
Lately I have been obsessed with poaching whole chickens and making something really simple, like ginger scallion sauteed snap peas and mushrooms. Add a side of steamed rice and you have a great Tuesday night dinner with the bonus of leftover chicken and broth for soup or a salad the next day.
About In The Kitchen With
PORTA offers a uniquely honed edit of homewares from Europe bringing unique character and thoughtful design to your table and home in a way that simultaneously celebrates tradition while embracing contemporary style. Through our travels, interests and obsessions we bring storied traditions and histories to light so they can be engaged with in new ways. Many chefs explore and play with similar interests and ideas through food, and in our seriesIn The Kitchen With…we hope to highlight the joy and creativity that happens from stove to table by inviting chefs to whip up something wonderful on (or accessorized by) PORTA products. Each chef is generously sharing their recipe with us so that we can all recreate the magic at home, and answering a few questions about their love of food and approach to bringing people together around the table.
