Charleston City Paper: Digs - March 2022

March 2022

HOW

SNAKE PLANTS

WILL BENEFIT YOUR HOME

5 WAYS TO PROMOTE

GUT HEALTH

At Home with

GRAHAM CALABRIA Andy Brack

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Digs 03.09.2022

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2160 IRON ROD CT, NORTH CHARLESTON

Volume 2, Number 8

March 9, 2022

Digs, our monthly home-focused publication, connects the people who make the Lowcountry special with content they’ve been missing. Digs gets up close and personal with stories on local personalities, home design and remodeling, plants and gardening, home repair and real estate. To learn more about advertising opportunities offered through Digs, contact our advertising team at (843) 577-5304 or send an email to: sales@charlestoncitypaper.com. Dig it!

EDITOR & PUBLISHER

CONTRIBUTOR

Andy Brack

Toni Reale

Published by City Paper Publishing, LLC Members: J. Edward Bell | Andrew C. Brack Views expressed in Charleston City Paper cover the spectrum and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher. Charleston City Paper takes no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts. © 2022. All content is copyrighted and the property of City Paper Publishing, LLC. Material may not be reproduced without permission.

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DIGGING YOUR FOOD

5 ways to promote gut health From Staff Reports As you start getting out more as the pandemic wanes, you might want to take special care with your diet to ensure you don’t get digestive troubles, which can reduce overall wellness.

According to Ayurveda, the ancient Indian science of how to live long and be healthy, the health of the digestive system is the core of optimum health. Ayurvedic medicine asserts the digestive system is based on the strength and balance of its Agni (fire), which enables the body to absorb, digest and assimilate food. The teachings suggest an imbalanced Agni creates undigested residues, which form toxins that create imbalances and can lead to disease.

Some of the dietary guidelines for healthy digestion and strong Agni include: • Allowing four to six hours between meals.

• Avoiding eating between meals.

• Avoiding foods with cold, wet and heavy qualities.

• Drinking ginger tea or hot water to stimu-

late the Agni.

• Starting a meal with pungent (hot), sour and salty flavors.

Strengthening and soothing herbs are also incorporated into this balanced formula resulting in an effective yet gentle detox tea.

Add fiber to your diet

Slow down when eating

Plant-based foods that are high in fiber fill you up faster. That means you will be less likely to overeat. These foods also can help with digestive regularity. Increase your intake of high-fiber foods, such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, lentils, nuts and seeds.

In today’s busy world, it’s easy to scarf down a meal in record time. But slowing down gives your body more time to process food.

You’ll give your brain more time to communicate with your stomach and be more aware of when you’ve satisfied your hunger.

Manage stress

Stay hydrated

Keeping your body well-hydrated is like making sure your car’s engine is well-lubricated. It keeps all your moving parts in sync and operating for top performance. Some fluids can also help with detoxification, which can be especially beneficial when your social calendar is full and your opportunities to overindulge are greater.

Look for teas that contain detoxifying herbs that stimulate your digestive system.

Gettyimages.com

Taking a moment to meditate will help reduce stress and aid in digestion.

Exercise

Too much stress can manifest multiple physical problems, including interrupting your digestion. Consider meditation or another method of relaxing and relieving stress. Getting plenty of rest can also help keep stress in check. If you’re looking for a good night of sleep, consider a non-caffeinated tea. Herbs for calming and relieving stress are often paired with organic, watersoluble, THC-free CBD to leave you feeling restored and rejuvenated.

If you need one more reason to get moving, your digestive health could be it. Regular physical activity promotes better digestion.

However, if you jump into a workout too quickly after eating, you could actually do the opposite. Eat lightly before exercising and then have a protein-rich balanced meal for recovery afterward.

Family Features contributed to this story. You can find more solutions for enhancing your digestive health at buddhateas.com.

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AT HOME IN THE LOWCOUNTRY

The young chef who’s already lived a lot

Digs 03.09.2022

By Andy Brack

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Take a look at the inside left forearm of Mount Pleasant chef Graham Calabria. You’ll see an 8-inch-long green-blue tattoo of a Day of the Dead woman. She’s wearing a sombrero, grasping an olive branch in her right hand and holding a skillet in her left.

“Whenever I flip a pan, she’s dancing with me while I’m cooking,” he said wistfully in a garden interview at his Mount Pleasant townhouse.

The tattoo is a tribute to his grandmother Faye, who died a few years back of pancreatic cancer. The olive branch represents how they could talk and talk and talk about just about anything when it was hard for him to relate to others. The sombrero depicts a real hat he once gave her. “She and I got tipsy one night and we danced all night,” he recalled. Ane the skillet, well, you figure it out.

At just 26, Calabria is a talented chef with a catering business who has already packed in more living than people twice his age.

In January, for example, he was chopped from Food Network’s Chopped cooking competition (episode 639, season 51), which is the same month that he spent cooking for a celebrity in the Bahamas.

On the road

Calabria, born in Atlanta, moved around a bit with his family until they landed in the Asheville area during his high school years. To say he didn’t like high school is an understatement. He didn’t feel like he was learning anything and wanted, instead, to learn the food business. So he did, skipping almost all of his 10th grade year.

“I skipped school to help to open a cantina” in Asheville, he said, guessing he missed 180 out of 186 days for the school year. While he learned a lot of the restaurant business, the only thing that really saved him from the school police was a guidance counselor who saw how Calabria thrived outside of the classroom. She thought it

Calabria can easily be described as a coffee lover.

THE LOWDOWN ON GRAHAM CALABRIA Age: 26.

Birthplace: Atlanta, Georgia.

Education: High-school diploma from Dom Elizeu, Paracatu MG Brasil with honors and national recognition for philosophy: GED from Asheville-Buncombe Tech, W-EMT from NOC. Current profession: Chef and entrepreneur.

Past profession of interest: Dishwasher.

Something people would be surprised to learn about you: I enjoy Louis L’Amour westerns and other penny-a-word novels. I could sit in a hammock all day and read Robert Heinlein and L’Amour.

Favorite thing to do outside of work: Balance and adrenaline sports — skateboarding, surfing, snowboarding, slackline, mountain biking, bouldering, etc.

Tip for if you appear on TV: Be yourself. Don’t fake who you are.

Books on the bedside table: Greenlights, by Matthew McConaughy; Bress ‘n’ Nyam, by Matthew Raiford; Ego is the Enemy, by Ryan Holiday and Legends of the Fall, by Jim Harrison.

Favorite novel: The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas.

“I love stories of overcoming seemingly insurmountable obstacles through perseverance and dedication.”

Five foods you always need in your refrigerator: Hot sauce, bacon, butter, roasted garlic, beer.

Three people (alive or dead) you’d like to dine with: Ernest Hemingway, Mae West and my grandma, Faye Graham.

What meal would you want served to you for your last supper: Oysters on the half shell, rare ribeye steak, garlic mashed potatoes and leather britches, pistachio gelato with a benne wafer.

Tattoos: A lot, tells my story. Each tattoo is an obstacle I’ve turned into an opportunity, an experience or a goal. When I get old and crusty and my skin starts to droop and my brain goes fuzzy, at least I’ll be able to stretch my skin and remember who I am.

Hobbies: Fixing things, motorcycles, reading.

Favorite musicians: Black Pumas, Muddy Waters, Nas, Elvis, 2pac, Lauryn Hill, Hound Dog Taylor Describe your best day in 50 words or less: Wake up to the aroma of fresh roasting coffee, a beneficio of a biodynamic coffee farm in Costa Rica, take my coffee in a treehouse above the rainforest, sauna and cold plunge, surf a few hours, fly somewhere with a skatepark and grill once the sun goes down.

Pet peeve: Knives in a soapy sink.

Calabria displays bowls (above) carved by a relative.

Anything else we should know: Favorite poem is “Invictus”

by William Ernest Henley and I like the color green.

charlestoncitypaper.com

style barbecue. In recent weeks, they’ve been welding might be a good idea for him to study abroad. square units that are 24- and 48-inches wide.

“I made her a mocha chocolate carrot cake and she In recent months, Calabria also has been working to excused all of my absences and helped me get a Rotary scholarship.”

And so started the travels, first to a high school in Brazil where he learned Portuguese quickly and said he won a national prize in philosophy. Then he spent a long time traveling the country from one village to the next to hone his cooking skills — picking up bits and pieces of knowledge and storing them away for future use. “I rode a motorcycle up and down the coast.”

When he got back to the United States, he kept up with the travel to see the country as he dove in and out of restaurants from Asheville to Chicago.

“I’d stay and learn what I could from them, and then, I’d move on.”

There would always be jobs open in good Photos by Andy Brack restaurants where he could learn, Calabria Some of Calabria’s surfboards. recalled.

“It’s really one of the only meritocracies make his rented townhouse become more of a home. left,” he said, pointing to a oft-mentioned quote by He’s installed a garden fence to match that of his neighthe late Anthony Bourdain, “You can either cook an bors. And he’s got some raised garden beds to grow omelet or you can’t. You can either cook five hundred fresh herbs and vegetables. And there’s a small fire pit omelets in three hours — like you said you could, and like the job requires — or you can’t. There’s no lying in to gather around to drink a beer or two with his girlfriend and others. Out front are two motorcycles the kitchen.”

— one for utility use and an orange Victory that’s built Calabria added, “It’s a trade where you aren’t judged for speed. Inside on his walls are several surfboards, based on your schooling or education or a piece of some battered from use. paper. You are judged on your skills.”

For now, Calabria is continuing to chop away at being successful in Charleston’s food scene.

Arrives in Charleston “You have the knife skills or you don’t,” he said, adding By the 2019 holiday season, Calabria ended up in with a wry smile that all chefs start out with too-long Charleston, where he showed up at Magnolia’s. After fingers that over time get “trimmed” to the right size. a free shift-long tryout, he got a cooking job. A few months later, he shifted to Barsa, where he became executive chef, and then helped to open CudaCo, a sustainable seafood house on James Island.

About a year ago, he decided to go off on his own. He opened Calabria’s as a catering and private chef business. Coincidentally, a great-grandfather from Italy once had a restaurant by the same name in New York.

“I wanted to keep the name alive,” Calabria said.

“Anything that calls for a celebration — that’s what we do.”

He’s also involved with Palmira Barbecue pitmaster Hector Garate in a joint venture to produce custombuilt direct-heat wood smokers and grills for Texas-

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How snake plants thrive and benefit your home

By Toni Reale, special to Digs Those looking to begin an indoor plant collection should look no further than any one of the 70 unique varieties of snake plant.

These evergreen perennial houseplants are tough-as-nails and thrive with little care. It’s a low-risk and high-reward plant, especially for a beginner.

Natural history

Snake plants are part of the Asparagaceae family of flowering plants that include things such as asparagus, agave and yucca.

These types of plants are native to regions of Africa, southeast Asia and Madagascar.

Generally, snake plants can be divided into two main groups: hard-leaf and soft-leaf species. The difference in leaf morphology is a result of the different environments and climate regimes in which they evolved.

Those with hard, thick, Reale sometimes cylindrical leaves that retain moisture originate from arid environments, much like succulents.

But those with thin, flatter leaves originate from tropical environments with higher humidity and rainfall.

Typically, snake plants begin growing around a center-point called a rosette.

As the plant matures and grows in tight clumps, most lose that rosette pattern.

In the wild, they spread mostly underground by rhizomes. Some varieties can get several feet tall. Unlike their agave cousins which die after they flower, the snake plant’s tiny fragrant flower will turn

to tiny berries after it is pollinated and the plant will live on.

How to care for your plant

Light: These plants demonstrate more rigorous growth in medium light, but they can live in low- to bright- indirect light conditions as long as they aren’t at risk for getting burned by direct sunlight.

Water: Overwatering is the leading cause of death for these plants. They should only be watered when the top 1.5 inches to 2 inches of the soil is dry, roughly every 3 weeks. Timing is all on lighting and humidity conditions. Water less in the winter when it is dormant.

Soil: Well-drained soil in a pot that has a drainage hole is very important. The plant’s roots could become soggy and rot if water cannot drain.

Fertilizer: Snake plants do not need to be fertilized, but if you choose to do so, only lightly fertilize in early spring. When you eventually re-pot your plant, the new soil will have enough nutrients to support its growth.

Pests: Snake plants are not prone to infestations or diseases. However, for any plant to flourish, you must begin with a healthy specimen. Be sure to inspect any new plant for potential pests or diseases before taking it home. Look for webs, small white dots, gnats in the soil and yellow round spots that are gooey to the touch.

Fun facts

• In the late 1980s, NASA conducted a study to determine which plants were best for increasing indoor air quality. Snake plants made the list because of its exceptional ability to purify air by absorbing

A hard leaf snake plant is tough as nails.

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absorbing toxins (namely well-known carcinogens such as xylene, formaldehyde, nitrogen oxides and toluene) through their leaves. These plants also produce clean oxygen at night while most plants release carbon dioxide at night in the absence of photosynthesis.

• In many African countries, snake plant fiber is used to make rope and baskets.

• Extracts from the sap of this plant can be used as an antiseptic and even has antibacterial potency against E. coli bacteria.

• Recent advances in genetic research actually archived the genus Sansevieria that snake plants were assigned to for decades

and reassigned them all to the genus Dracaena. These types of nomenclature changes are hard to adopt so you will hear snake plants mostly referred to as Sansevieria.

Toni Reale is the owner and creative director of Roadside Blooms, a unique flower and plant shop in Park Circle in North Charleston. It specializes in weddings, events and everyday deliveries using near 100 percent Americanand locally-grown blooms. Online at: www.roadsideblooms.com. Visit at 4610 Spruill Ave., Suite 102, North Charleston.

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