I suspected I was going to like The Archer as soon as I peeked at the beverage menu. There’s at least one unusual element in each of the cocktails (all $14), and often it’s vegetal. There’s roasted bell pepper in the Remember Sarah Marshall, tomato alongside basil and peach in the Talking in Cursive, and charred corn in the See You on the Other Size.
If you’re going to put weird stuff like that in cocktails, they had better be really good cocktails. And The Archer’s are. That charred corn plus a dose of coconut cream give the bourbon-based Other Side a rich, sweet body and a mild chili bite.
The Freezer Door Martini finishes with a pleasant slickness thanks to a dose of olive oil, and brown butter has a similar effect in the Accidental Daiquiri, which is made from tequila instead of the usual rum. Similar bold twists are found on the nine small plates that open the menu. Tender cubes of steak tartare ($17) are pressed into a baseball-sized mound then blanketed with what appears to be Parmesan but proves to be shaved horseradish.
Those wispy shreds impart a strong, spicy zip, and the tender beef underneath is enrobed in creamy peppercorn aioli with a bright citrusy finish. New neighborhood tavern opens in Charleston near the Ravenel Bridge. Here's what to expect.
Cocktails and appetizers converge in the G&T salmon crudo ($16). The G is for gin-cured salmon, and the T is for lemon-pepper tonic from local “sodary” Sweatman’s Garden . I suppose the tonic functions.