How 4 Columbia area restaurants are using tomatoes right now

Tomatoes are ripening on vines throughout the Midlands, giving cooks opportunities to use them in tasty dishes, delighting the taste buds of those of us who eat them.

The Palmetto Tasty Tomato Festival is a six-hour celebration of the juicy deliciousness of the local tomato.

And many will tell you there is no tastier tomato than the heirlooms grown in the Midlands.

The Lowcountry may have its shrimp and grits, and the Grand Strand its seafood. But when it comes to tomatoes?

“The Midlands has to be the tomato capital,” said Wes Fulmer, chef at Motor Supply Company Bistro.

For eight years, the Palmetto Tasty Tomato Festival has celebrated locally grown food in the Midlands – the people who grow it, the restaurants who serve it, the markets that sell it, and the people who eat it. The festival has been named to Southern Living’s “Best in the South” list of things to do.

And while the festival is set for this weekend – Saturday, Aug. 4 – you can keep enjoying local tomatoes long after the festival is over at Columbia-area restaurants.

“Our whole concept goes with seasonality,” Fulmer said. “I look forward to tomato season the day after we get our last tomatoes.”

His supplier takes such great pride in producing tasty tomatoes, “it motivates me to put them in the spotlight.”

Here, several Columbia area chefs share how they’re celebrating the tomato this season.

Motor Supply Co. Bistro

Tomatoes don’t need to be “dressed up” too much, Fulmer said. He finds ways to serve them that don’t mask their natural deliciousness.

Examples: A salad with compressed sugar baby watermelon, shaved jalapeño, feta cheese, vincotto and marinated heirloom tomatoes; an artisan cheese tray with tomato jam; wild caught South Carolina shrimp, yellowstone ground Adluh grits, house bacon, local okra, shellfish jus and roasted tomato.

Still to come: Fulmer’s scrumptious tomato pie.

Spotted Salamander

While the Spotted Salamander regularly uses tomatoes in its salads and on its sandwiches, this time of year count on specials that use local tasty tomatoes.

For example, the specials recently included a panzanella salad with a Southern twist – cornbread. It also had local figs, goat cheese, balsamic and four varieties of heirloom cherry tomatoes.

Another special was a Greek chicken salad stuffed tomato.

But one of chef Jeff Adair’s favorite ways to serve local tomatoes is indeed a vintage Southern favorite: A tomato sandwich on white bread, with Duke’s mayonnaise seasoned with salt and pepper.

“That’s one of the most delicious things you can put a tomato on,” Adair said.

Urban Cookhouse

This farm-to-table restaurant is using local tomatoes in its regular menu items such as Pepper Patch and Very Berry salads and wraps.

Chisholm Crouch, general manager of the Irmo restaurant, said the team are planning to come up with a special salad, which will feature local tomatoes, for the new Devine Street location scheduled to open in a couple of weeks.

Fusco’s Market

Fusco’s tomato pie is totally yummy and is often featured as the daily special. You also can get it to go.

Wednesday is Italian Night at the cafe in Irmo, and lately featured appetizers include fresh mozzarella with local tomatoes, and breaded artichoke hearts baked with roasted tri-color roasted tomatoes.