Cassique at Kiawah Island Clubhouse
In 1993, we were visiting her family who were on a little vacation
at Kiawah Island. We were staying in one of the villas right by the
resort. I had my portfolio with me, so I just walked across the street
and talked to the Executive Chef, and he hired me on the spot. It
was a low paying Sous Chef job, but it was better making money
every day rather than spending it. At the time, the resort was in
receivership. Soon after that, Bill Goodwin from Virginia Investment
Trusts bought it and it has become what it is today. I went from
being a Sous Chef to a head chef of a Mediterranean bistro, The
Indigo House, which was being redesigned. That kept me at Kiawah
for about two and a half years.
I then joined a private club, the Country Club of Charleston, one
of the oldest country clubs in the nation. They wanted to convert
their culinary focus to fine dining. As a member equity-owned club,
many opinions were expressed, and after a year, we still did not have
a final concept in place to make any meaningful changes. It was not
what I wanted, and I decided I needed to do something that utilized
my knowledge and experience level. I needed to be more involved
in cutting edge cooking. I had moved so far away from that and felt
I was starting to get behind in the emerging scene of farm to table
cooking and cutting edge techniques.
A French bistro in downtown Charleston, Beaumont’s, offered me
a position and I accepted. Unfortunately, the business ran into
financial trouble, and I stayed for just four months. I thought about
opening my own restaurant, but then Robbie Crawford, General
Manager of the Kiawah Island Club, called me. Robbie asked me to
come back to Kiawah to talk. I didn’t want to go back to the country
club environment, so I first told him “No.” But after about a week, I
thought I should reconsider, and at least see him. The golf course
here at Cassique had just been completed. We toured the course,
and he asked me what I thought. He said, “Can you see yourself
being here?” I replied, “I see a beautiful golf course, but what are
you asking me? I’m not sure I want to be involved in private clubs
anymore.” He explained that Buddy Darby and Leonard Long had
fallen in love with Gramercy Tavern in New York City, and they
wanted to create a similar concept at Cassique. That got my interest
and my attention! Robbie sent me to New York to train with Tom
Colicchio at Gramercy Tavern. All of a sudden things came into
alignment, and this was just the right thing for me. That was in 2000.
I would remain here as a consultant and be involved in the design of
the clubhouse and restaurant while at the same time doing training
in New York. Everything sounded really good.
The idea was to create a restaurant concept within a club. We
wanted people to walk up the stairs and feel like they were walking
into a restaurant in Manhattan. That really resounded with me.
With that concept, I felt that we could perform at a very different
level, and I could exceed people’s expectations. When you are
pushing the envelope as high as you can and stay just a step ahead
of people’s expectations, you get to do what you want. It allows you
freedom, as opposed to putting out a vote to see what the menu
will be. It was clear that this is the direction that we were headed,
and I liked that idea.
Volume 3 • Issue 39
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