The Griffin Market is setting down roots in its new home in Beaufort,  S.C. and locals have quickly glommed onto the former Georgetown gem. Recently author and novelist Pat Conroy wrote his first ever restaurant review, putting Laura and Riccardo Bonini in the spotlight of the Lowcountry Weekly.

The Griffin closed its Georgetown doors at the corner of 28th and P Streets in February 2011. Since then Jamie Stachowski's sausage and sandwich shop has yet to open in the space, though Patch was originally told that October 2011 was the scheduled opening.

When novelist and cookbook author Pat Conroy, best known for "Prince of Tides," asked his local paper the Lowcountry Weekly if he could write a restaurant review, the editors obliged.

Conroy offered a glowing review: "The best restaurant in my history in Beaufort opened quietly in January at the corner of Carteret and Craven streets."

He was of course speaking of the Griffin.

Conroy continues, "I’ve eaten at Griffin Market eight times now. There’s a perfection in Laura’s cooking that is thrilling to me."

About Riccardo, he writes that he is "a master at pairing the region’s wines with its food."

Conroy's gain is Georgetown's loss; neighbors continue to reminisce and regret the depature of a neighborhood favorite long after it closed its doors. Last July the Boninos told Georgetowner and regular customer Jim Wilcox that they had to give up their hopes of finding another suitable space in D.C.

"We decided to move to a beautiful coastal area where we have family and it's a bit more small business friendly than D.C." Riccardo wrote in an email to Wilcox.

Conroy sums up the feeling Georgetowners may have had when the Griffin was still in D.C., "This is a family restaurant like they have in Italy and I’ve no idea how this gifted couple wound up at the corner of Carteret and Craven Street in Beaufort, but I’m glad as living hell they did." Just substitute in 28th and P Streets.

Special thanks to Georgetowner J. Ashley Ebersole for letting us know about the LC Weekly piece after he visited the Griffin Market while on vacation in S.C.