Best restaurant in Charleston SC?

Someone wrote:
>
>My wife and I run a restaurant in Britain, and next month we will be on
>Kiawah Island for several days.  I would appreciate recommendations of
>the best restaurants in Charleston.  Grand or simple so long as the food
>is good, price no object.

      Without question, the most exceptional restaurant in the Charleston SC area
      is a ramshackle shanty of a shack by the name of Bowen's Island, located
      on a strip of land south of Charleston called Bowen's Island.  You won't
      find it listed in the guide books, and the good folks at the Chamber of
      Commerce office will turn up their noses when you inquire as to directions.
      Best technique is to badger your innkeeper relentlessly until he breaks
      down and gives you the directions.  My host, a gentleman by the name of
      Walter who runs the Swordgate Inn (also highly recommended if you have
      not yet arranged your accomodations) and his girlfriend     were kind enough
      to join me for dinner and guide me through the pecadillos that are Bowen's
      Island.

      Once there you will want to head directly to the oyster room.  It's a good
      sized room with a bunch of tables and, at the head, the oyster roasting pit.
      Every afternoon the oyster roaster roams the shoreline gathering burlap bags
      full of clumps of marsh oysters.  Marsh oysters, as opposed to their ocean
      bretheren, grow in clumps, five or six oysters to a clump.

      Once dinner starts, the oyster roaster dumps bag after bag of oysters on
      the oyster pit.  Roasts them just a bit, so they're warm inside.  When a
      bagful is ready, he grabs his shovel, scoops up a bunch, walks them across
      the room and dumps them in the center of your the table.  Each guest will have
      been assigned an oyster knife and a garbage can.  The oyster man keeps the
      oysters coming until you holler "Uncle," and then he'll bring one or two
      more shovelfulls in case you were just being polite.

      You'll emerge from Bowens Island muddy (the oysters are dug up from the
      shoreline, after all), a bit bloody (there's an occasional sharp edge on
      the oysters) and filled to the brim with some of the best oysters you'll
      have encountered from one of the most unique eatting establishments in
      the US of A.

      Enjoy, and down a shovelfull for me,

      Holly Moore

      P.S.  On a more respectable end of the spectrum you'll find chef Donald Barickman's
            Magnolia's.  If his spicy shrimp and tasso gravy is on the menu, order
            a double portion.  It's served on the best grits (coarse stone ground
            grits prepared with chicken stock and heavy cream) I've every encountered.

Our favorites in Charleston are Bocci's for their Lemon Chicken Pasta, and the bar at the Beaumont (haven't eaten there but it looks lovely.  For a nice brunch or lunch, try Baker's Cafe.  Don't be taken in by the old Southern style restaurants.  Traditional Southern food tends to be overcooked and very unseasoned for my taste (unless you like lots of bacon!).