A surprising number of new restaurants have opened in the Hilton Head Island/Bluffton area in the recent past, in spite of the challenges provided by our economy. We have described seven of them here. Additional restaurants that have opened in the last year or two are listed on our website at hhidining.com. Our website also has information about additional matters of interest concerning dining on Hilton Head. Please note that, although we believe this material and that throughout Restaurants Magazine to be accurate, we rely on the owners of restaurants for much of it.

CHART HOUSE - Hilton Head

We have great news. The Chart House is back!!

The Chart House folks must like extensive water views, because the new Chart House is located on the nicely remodelled premises formerly occupied by Charley’s Crab, at the north end of the Island. The views of Skull Creek and the Intracoastal Waterway, from both inside and outdoors on their spacious decks, are outstanding.

The menu at the Chart House features lots of beautifully prepared fresh seafood, succulent steaks and delightfully decadent desserts. There are over 20 fi sh and other seafood entrees to choose from. The dessert collection includes Mud Pie (wonderful!) and their signature Hot Chocolate Lava Cake and Chart House souffle.

Entrees that you might fi nd especially appealing include Q’ued Tuna, Bronzed Georgia Peach Halibut, Purloo Shrimp & Grits, and Caramelized Catfi sh. For details about these and dozens of other super entrees, please refer to our partial reproduction of Chart House’s extensive menu. Lots of hot and cold appetizers and salads also are available.

The Chart House’s lunch menu is almost as extensive as their dinner menu. It boasts a wide selection of appetizers, soups, salads, entree salads, entrees and sandwiches. If you can’t make up your mind, try their Lowcountry Cobb entree salad. It’s truly excellent!

Food is complemented by an excellent selection of fi ne wines and other good things to drink.

The Chart House is part of the Landry’s restaurant group, which also included the Charley’s Crab it has replaced. Charley’s affi ciandos will be delighted to hear that some of the most popular items from the Charley’s Crab menu will continue to be served. Kitchen activities are orchestrated by Eric Seaglund, one of the area’s best chefs, who was Executive Chef of Charley’s Crab when it fi rst opened. Rob Britton, a familiar face from Charley Crab days and also an outstanding chef, is Managing Director.

The Chart House offers continuous service from lunch through dinner daily, plus Sunday Brunch. Call and ask about their excellent daily happy hour, featuring drink and appetizer specials, and their early dining specials!

A children’s menu, take-out and reservations are available.

In summary, the Chart House features great food, an outstanding view, and very attractive premises. The multi-level Chart House, complete with both extensive indoor and outdoor dining, and with private or semi-private places to dine, works well for groups of many sizes, from couples to families to weddings, rehearsal dinners and business gatherings.

The Chart House is located at 2 Hudson Road, near the intersection of Gumtree and Squire Pope Roads. For more information, please call (843) 342-9066.

MICHELLE'S GOURMET TO GO - Hilton Head

When Michelle Kitter opened her new take out, delivery and catering business, her objective was to provide Hilton Head with a gourmet dining experience at a very reasonable price. Consistent with her objectives, her hearty single size portions only cost between $8.95 and $12.95, while her family size portions that will feed 3-4 max out at only $27.95. But price is only half the story.

While in college, Michelle went on paid catering assignments that took her to some of the most lavish homes in Westchester, NY with her teacher and mentor, Chef Holzinger. She completed her culinary studies many years ago at New York Community College, and was one of fi ve women accepted by The Culinary Institute of America that year. Though she was unable to attend due to fi nances, her acceptance refl ected recognition of her skills.

Now, that cooking talent is being brought to you. Michelle will tell you that there is a special technique to everything she makes; and her food will speak for itself. Her menu begins with cheese lasagne, where she whips ricotta cheese, and then layers the pasta with her fresh homemade seasoned tomato sauce that never is salted. Many patrons have commented that, “It’s the best they’ve ever had.”

Her chicken piccata, which offers an unusually prominent lemon fl avor is complimented by a liberal portion of white wine and parsley. Her baked macaroni, although usually thought of as a simplistic dish for kids, is brought to life with a bechamel sauce complimented by three cheeses.

Michelle’s appetizing side dishes include steamed broccoli with garlic and fresh basil, tortellini salad with red and yellow bell peppers, diced red onion and olive oil, and an excellent tomato and mozzarella salad. Or, try her white chicken chili soup. Michelle’s Greek, antipasto, and chicken caesar salads are great for those seeking lighter fare.

For catering, you might want to try Michelle’s baked brie with raspberry sauce, or her spinach and feta cheese mix served in small pastries. Perhaps a shrimp or scallop cerviche would be appropriate, or her sumptuous lamb meatballs in her own sauce. Michelle invites you to visit her kitchen at 17 Hunter Road. Take Matthews Drive heading north off 278 one quarter mile to Cardinal Road, turn right, go one block, and turn right again onto Hunter. Michelle’s is a quarter mile down Hunter Road, directly across the street from Federal Express.

Michelle’s food with “gourmet taste, everyday price” is available “to go,” for catered events, or may be delivered using the services of “Express Restaurant Delivery” (see page 8). Her hours are 11:00 am to 2:00 pm, and 4:00 pm to 7:30 pm Tuesday through Saturday.

For more information, please call 785-4245 or 422-0382 for catering, or visit www.michellesgourmet2go. com, to see Michelle’s full menu.

ASIAN BISTRO - Hilton Head

We really enjoy good oriental food, so it is a pleasure to share the news that another restaurant serving oriental cuisine soon will open near Sea Pines Circle.

Asian Bistro will serve three styles of cuisine from the orient, Chinese, Japanese and Thai. In addition to offering a regular menu featuring each of them, there also will be a sushi bar and a bar where libations of various kinds may be enjoyed, and a selection of dim sum choices available.

At lunch, we are told, the regular menu will be augmented by an extensive all-you-can-eat buffet. Its planned $6.99 price is very much in the oriental restaurant tradition of lots of good food at a reasonable cost!

There will be a happy hour every night from 4:30-8:00 featuring martinis and lots of other mixed drinks for $2.99, and reduced prices for beer and wine.

Ask about Asian Bistro’s “Grand Opening Discount” of 20 percent off your entire dinner bill! Note that it is not applicable to Happy Hour prices, their lunch buffet or carry-out orders.

Asian Bistro is scheduled to open on June 15. Lunch will be served from 11:30-2:30, and the regular menu continuously from 11:30 through dinner. Take-out is available.

Asian Bistro is located in a brand new contemporary-style premises at 51 New Orleans Road. For more information, please call 686-9888.

SMOKEHOUSE - HIlton Head

Have you noticed all the construction activity on Palmetto Bay Road about half a mile west of Sea Pines Circle? Smokehouse restaurant, which has been located just off Coligny Circle for over a decade, is moving to a much larger, beautiful building! Smokehouse will be in the rebuilt, redecorated premises for- merly occupied by Sticky Fingers restaurant.

Smokehouse has an outstanding reputation for award-winning ribs, wings and chili. Actually, we are told, when they entered Hilton Head’s “Ribs Burnoff” the last eleven years, they always have been awarded first place for ribs, for barbecue, or both.

Owner Jerry Leonard likes to emphasize that the new Smoke- house will specialize in ribs, rhythm and brews. Smokehouse’s new location will be beautifully equipped to do a great job on all three.

It is the only area restaurant, we believe, that has TWO top of the line barbecue pits to cook its meats. Jerry takes great personal pride in frequently checking the progress of cooking activities, to make sure everything is just right. Perhaps that’s a good part of the reason Smokehouse has won so many awards, and has been selected to provide barbecue to the Heritage Tournament for the last five years.

Smokehouse also is well-equipped to offer a wide variety of perfectly chilled beer. Twelve beers are on tap, served with “ice tower” equipment guaranteeing that the beer will be really cold. You will be able to actually see the ice on the serving equipment. There also will be a large variety of imported and domestic bottled beers.

The new Smokehouse will be approximately three times as large as at its former location. Its interior will be beautifully rustic, with lots of rough-hewn stone on the walls. There will be a partially covered deck outdoors centered around a large fireplace, which should be a great place to enjoy ribs, beer, and other good food when the weather is good. The deck will be separated from the main indoor dining room by a glass wall that can be folded back to bring the outdoors inside on beautiful days and evenings. There even will be a top of the line sound system for live and recorded music.

Smokehouse’s larger, upgraded cooking facilities have permit- ted a substantial expansion of their menu. The staff is especially proud of their wide selection of reasonably priced steaks. Of course, there also are lots of appetizers, sandwiches, salads and grilled seafood entrees.

As in the past, family-friendly Smokehouse will offer a kid’s menu. Take-out and catering also will be available.

Smokehouse is open continuously from lunch through dinner seven days a week. For more information, please visit smokehousehhi.com, or call 842-4BBQ (4227).

CHIN DYNASTY - Bluffton

It almost always is worthwhile to listen to one’s customers.

So, when customers at Kobe Japanese Steak House & Sushi Bar and at Kobe Sushi Bistro frequently commented that they wished there were a really good Chinese restaurant in the Bluffton area, they paid attention. In response, they made Kobe Japanese Steak House larger, and soon will open Chin Dynasty China Bistro & Sushi Bar on the premises where Kobe Sushi Bistro had been located.

Chin Dynasty China Bistro will serve the cuisines of many provinces of China. Its extensive menu will offer a wide, excel- lent selection of appetizers, soups, salads, chicken, beef, pork, seafood, vegetarian plates and noodles.

Sushi and sashimi enthusiasts will be happy to hear that Kobe Sushi Bistro’s attractive sushi bar will continue as part of Chin Dynasty Bistro, and that they may continue to enjoy the sushi, sashimi, tempura, etc., that they have liked so well.

Chin Dynasty China Bistro & Sushi Bar will be open from lunch through dinner seven days a week. It is located at Berkeley Place, just around the corner from Sea Turtle Cinemas, about 15 minutes from the Hilton Head bridge. A children’s menu, take-out, and reservation are available.

Chin Dynasty Bistro & Sushi Bar is scheduled to open in early March. For more information, please call 757-7998.

HUGO'S - Bluffton

Hugo Arrieta truly can be called an Island institution. After a short stint with Sea Pines’ Plantation Club, he spent a remarkable 28 years orchestrating matters in the dining room of Fitzgerald’s Restaurant on South Forest Beach Drive. During his tenure, Fitzgerald’s evolved from a fi ne dining, relatively formal establishment to a more casual restaurant similar to many others on Hilton Head today.

“I was fortunate enough to make friends from all over the world. Some I see frequently, while others only when they come to visit each year,” Hugo says.

When Fitzgerald’s closed in 2005, Hugo observes, it was the end of an era...but “for me it was the realization and beginning of a dream. I decided to start a restaurant with unique qualities, but keeping the same Island tradition of Low Country dining so many came to enjoy for years and years.”

Hugo’s at Wexford, which opened for business in early 2006, has enjoyed great popularity from the very beginning. It offers a continental menu with all soups, sauces, desserts and much more prepared “from scratch.” Hugo’s cuisine is accompanied by a carefully selected list of wines from Italy, France, Argentina, Australia and California.

Now Hugo, joined by his son Brandon and business associate David Warren, has opened a second Hugo’s in Bluffton. The new Hugo’s serves largely the same great food that has been so popular on the Island, but in much larger, even more attractive premises.

Bluffton’s Hugo’s is located in the thoroughly redecorated premises formerly occupied by Blake’s restaurant, near Home Depot. It boasts three fountains, lots of beautiful wood paneling, an expansive bar, and wine racks attractively displaying Hugo’s excellent selection of wine.

Hugo, who is one of the more personable folks on the Island restaurant scene, emphasizes that his primary concern is his customers. He promises “to serve good food, provide good service, and to do it in a very pleasant atmosphere.” His food will be consistent, as in the past, he promises.

When we talked, Hugo’s fi nal comment was that he was going to devote 100% of his time to making sure his restaurant is the way his customers want it to be!

The new Hugo’s at Gateway Village, Bluffton, was scheduled to open for business just as we were going to press. Hugo’s will serve lunch and dinner every day of the week, and brunch on Sundays. Service is continuous from lunch through dinner. Reservations, a children’s menu and take-out are available.

For more information, please call 757-4846, or visit hugosatwexford.com.