Sean Brock
Restaurants: Husk and McCrady's, Charleston, SC"I always said that I would have one place and that I would touch every plate. In fact, McCrady's kitchen was designed so that I could do that — dessert to cold food to hot food. When you're young and ambitious, you tend to think that way. The thought of not being able to do that is absolutely terrifying; the idea that you can't be in two places at once is frightening, and it takes a long time to really get over that. It's difficult to deal with that impulse when you're so obsessive.
For me, what propelled the move was the idea that I could reach more people and show them Southern food in a different way. At Husk, my second restaurant, we serve 400 to 500 people a day, seven days a week. That's a lot of people sitting in church. But for that to happen, you need to accept the role of bouncing back and forth and trusting the people that have been by your side for years.
You soon realize that it's a beautiful thing to see people that have been with you for years become chefs. It's great to see Travis Grimes run a kitchen, write menus, and develop a style. Then there's Jeremiah Langhorne at McCrady's, who started as an unpaid stage and is now a respected chef with a team. It's really cool to realize how silly you used to be by thinking that way. You actually end up moving forward much more quickly if you learn to step back in the right way. It's been life-changing. It's actually changed my personality, I'd say.
An example of how all of this makes you a better chef and a better leader and teaches you much about yourself and your limits: even though you can't touch every plate, you can't control everything, and you can't be around for every creative moment, you start having these experiences when you see this dish that the team has been working on, and it's delicious, it's exciting, it's beautiful to look at, and it's something you would not have come up with yourself. It fits the restaurant, and it's proof of the importance of stepping back. You've been teaching all these years, and suddenly you start learning again.
The nightmares with having two restaurants never stop. It's a reality every single day. When you're cooking at one restaurant for a friend or an industry person or family member, and then you get a text saying that someone of the same caliber person has walked in the other restaurant, now what? You panic. Luckily for me, the restaurants are close by. Also, at the beginning, when I would get inspiration for a dish, it would be very difficult to figure out what restaurant it would land at. But once you make the effort to figure that out, it helps you understand each restaurant better. Another challenge is that you also are doubling your staff, so there are twice as many people that you need to motivate and inspire.
The prospect of having a third restaurant is pretty scary, but you never know."
Food is a love affair. We're in a research phase to bring new techniques to familiar flavors. We're still deeply influenced by what were able to see at Mattawoman Creek Farms. I encourage anyone seeking their product to support a local Community-supported agriculture program through Mattawoman Creek Farms. I will personally provide a free Mac and Cheese to anyone participating in this program running 19 weeks from late May through September.
Our kitchen staff is preparing to take some time to travel as the restaurant experiences a renovation beginning March 19th, with service resuming on Thursday the 22nd. Chef is heading to Aspen, and our cooks will be split between Washington D.C. and Charleston, South Carolina.
I have to mention the efforts of Carolina Crab for their dedication to provide some beautiful and flavorful micro-greens. There are some great things coming from these guys.
Our new line cook.
