Pour Richard’s ALMANAC BY BARRY KAUFMAN
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PHOTO BY ROB KAUFMAN
Richard Canestrari builds upon old-world techniques with a healthy dose of wild-eyed creativity.
It’s early in the morning at Pour Richard’s, the small restaurant at the tail end of a Bluffton Parkway strip that has become an unlikely standard bearer for the town’s culinary scene, and Chef Richard Canestrari is trying to explain how a bone-in meatloaf works. “I’ve looked everywhere and no one has ever tried anything like this,” he said, his eyes wild with excitement. “I’ve Googled it, and I can’t find anything.” At the heart of this intriguing dish is a bison bone, halved into a canoe cut and filled with brioche to soak up the marrow. Around that, a layer of seasoned ground bison is held in place by a surrounding layer of thick, streaky bacon. It’s exactly the 110 TASTEOFHILTONHEAD.COM
kind of mad scientist concoction that has kept a loyal following of customers streaming in the doors at Pour Richard’s, drawn by each day’s entirely new menu offerings. “That’s what I’ve told every sous chef I’ve ever worked with, whether at the Hyatt, 211 Park, Juleps —wherever I’ve been. There are no rules in my kitchen. If you think it might work, give it a shot,” he said. While a few standbys grace the menu, it’s otherwise in a constant state of flux. That’s as much a product of Canestrari’s boundless imagination as it is to his insistence on fresh ingredients. Although he resists the terms “farm to table” or “pond to table,” it’s not far off from Canestrari’s methods.
