An influx of imaginative young chefs, plus talented native cooks and a distinctive cooking style to inspire and anchor culinary innovation, has made Charleston and Savannah two of the leading food cities in the United States over the past 10 years. Here’s a selection of our favorite restaurants in each city.

Chubby Fish

Chef James London’s menu at this stylish but relaxed new seafood restaurant changes with the local catch of the day. On a recent visit, a selection of crudos, oysters and small plates, including grilled oysters, blowfish tail tempura and chicken-fried bass collars, headlined the menu. Main courses ran to smoked-wahoo curry, a fried-oyster roll and rainbow trout in a ginger-scallion sauce. The service is notably friendly.

Chubby Fish
252 Coming Street, Charleston. Tel. (854) 222-3949