Building Business w/ the Mount Pleasant Chamber of Commerce
The Building Business podcast provides compelling stories of the Mount Pleasant Chamber of Commerce's journey, its steadfast commitment to the local community, and its forward-thinking approach to addressing the needs of businesses in an ever-changing landscape. It stands as an invitation to listeners to become part of a movement that values growth, connection, and the collective progress of the Mount Pleasant, South Carolina community.
Be prepared to be inspired, informed, and motivated, as we provide a rich tapestry of stories that celebrate the dynamic interplay of business and personal growth right here, in our own backyard.
Building Business w/ the Mount Pleasant Chamber of Commerce
Tasting the Lowcountry: Behind the Scenes of Charleston Wine & Food w/ Alyssa Smith
Get ready to feast on a culinary journey through Charleston with our latest episode featuring Alyssa Smith, the Executive Director of the renowned Charleston Wine and Food Festival. This week, we delve into the heart of what makes this festival a must-visit for food enthusiasts near and far. From its humble beginnings in 2005 to becoming a significant economic force for local businesses, the festival not only promises delicious dishes but also fosters community connections and sustainable practices.
Alyssa shares insights about the festival's impact on the local economy, revealing how it generates millions in revenue while attracting food lovers from across the globe. As we discuss the vibrant Culinary Village, listeners will get a sneak peek into the exciting new events and offerings planned for this year. We also explore the collaboration with local chefs and culinary students, shedding light on the festival's role in educating the next generation of culinary talent.
In this engaging conversation, storytelling emerges as a critical theme, emphasizing that food is not just about taste but a reflection of culture and history. Alyssa’s anecdotes and enthusiasm paint a picture of a lively festival atmosphere where every dish tells its own unique story. Don't miss your chance to hear about the excitement surrounding this year's festival, including exclusive dining events and special activities happening throughout the week.
Whether you're a seasoned festival-goer or a first-timer, this episode is filled with inspiration that will make you eager to explore Charleston's culinary scene. Tune in, and don't forget to secure your tickets, as this is one festival you won't want to miss!
Presenting Sponsor: Mount Pleasant Chamber of Commerce
Studio Sponsor: Charleston Radio Group
Production Sponsor: rūmbo advertising
Committee:
Kathleen Herrmann | Host | MPCC President
Michael Cochran | Co-host | Foundation Chair
Mike Compton | Co-host | Marketing Chair
Rebecca Imholz | Co-host | MPCC Director
Amanda Bunting Comen | Co-host | Social ABCs
Jennifer Maxwell | Co-host | Immediate Past President
Darius Kelly | Creative Director | DK Design
that's all right. We don't have a mic, though oh sorry, it's all right.
Speaker 1:We don't really need to hear him talk today, do we? Do you want me to?
Speaker 2:scoot over some so you can be more on the camera. We're good.
Speaker 3:It's podcast first.
Speaker 1:Yeah it's audio first, just for SEO reasons.
Speaker 3:Okay, got it. Yeah, so just talk to us.
Speaker 1:Okay, you are much prettier than he is, so I'd much rather have the Wow that was hanging there.
Speaker 3:Someone had to say it. All right, thank you.
Speaker 1:You know what. It was me, so I'm not going to get in trouble, right.
Speaker 3:I'm feeling very pretty right now.
Speaker 1:You've got a hair swoosh going on.
Speaker 3:Oh, Alyssa's.
Speaker 1:That's because you're playing golf all weekend.
Speaker 3:Lotus the hair swoosh.
Speaker 1:And you got rid of the U. That's what it was getting getting rid of the you. Yep, are we all working right now, brian? All good.
Speaker 3:She already did it, but we'll do it again, oh.
Speaker 1:Hello and welcome to the Building Business Podcast powered by the Mount Pleasant Chamber of Commerce. We are here today recording in the studio at Charleston Media Solutions. They are a huge supporter of the studio at Charleston Media Solutions. They are a huge supporter of the Chamber. We love coming in here and hanging out in the studio. My name is Kathy Herman. I am the immediate past president of the Chamber and I am marketing director at Mount Pleasant Town Center. So I would like to welcome everyone and thanks for joining us. I'm joined here by my guest co-host, one of my favorites.
Speaker 2:I see that every time right. Oh, I say well, it's true, it's true.
Speaker 1:Exactly, I'm always going to say it. He is president of Roomba advertising and the current chair of the chamber marketing committee, Mike Compton the best committee out there. I agree.
Speaker 3:I'm on that committee too, you know, yeah that's why it's the best.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes, thank you, uh, kathy, kathy, we've got us. We've got a guest. I know I'm really, really excited for this. Um, I don't know how she even made time to come see us today, but, um, that's how amazing she is. Wait till we tell you who she is. The executive director, a favorite.
Speaker 1:The executive director of Charleston Wine and Food. If you don't know Charleston Wine and Food, you are living under a rock. A native Charlestonian raised on James Island, oh, okay, clemson graduate with a bachelor's in communication studies. But that wasn't enough. So then she also went and got a master's degree from College of Charleston in communication. I'm going College of Charleston in communication, I know, and all of this for wine and food, which I love. I think it's amazing. Everyone, please welcome our special guest today, alyssa Smith.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much for having me. And what an intro, right, it's nice. Yeah, it feels really nice. We're your cheerleaders here. Yeah, this is how we feel about you.
Speaker 1:And I mean the biggest event of the year is coming up this weekend and you came to see us.
Speaker 2:Well, you know, I really care about local and y'all seemed like a fun crowd.
Speaker 1:Oh, we're definitely a fun crowd. You've listened to an episode. That's nice of you.
Speaker 3:That's very sweet of you.
Speaker 1:Now I am going to be embarrassed and say I've never gone. And I'm going to tell you why I've never gone it's because I want to go to those individual at the restaurants, and every time I find one I like, the first thing I see is sold out. So one day, one day I'm going to go. Everything sells out so fast. I know, but it's because it's such an amazing event Can you talk about the food.
Speaker 1:Yeah, let's go back to what is Charleston Wine and Food, and we'll start with there, and then, of course, we want to hear more about how you got involved and what we got planned for this year.
Speaker 2:Yeah, okay. So Charleston Wine and Foods it's a nonprofit organization. It was formed in 2005 by a group of community members and leaders that felt like Charleston had something really special going on in the food world and we weren't being recognized at that time at the level of other food cities enter New Orleans, you know, nashville, new York and so they formed this nonprofit organization and established the festival to create a platform to promote Charleston, help build a culinary brand and really bring travelers here to spend money locally and create some economic injection for the community. What did that first one look like?
Speaker 1:Do you know it was?
Speaker 2:smaller and you know it was very much a grassroots effort at first. So a lot of community members, a lot of people who are volunteers to get it off the ground, the original kind of founding executive director and that team that really a team of volunteers they kept these scrapbooks and so they did like clippings of, you know, newspaper articles and photos from the early days and old programs and we keep them all in our office and I love them because I get to go back and look at you know 20 years of history for the organization and there's a front page food section of the New York Times that announced the new festival and I feel like page food section of the New York Times that announced the new festival and I feel like that was kind of the first moment that we really started to get some national recognition for the organization.
Speaker 1:That's crazy. Yeah, of course, how it's grown, and it's it's 20 years.
Speaker 2:It will be. Our 20th festival is 2026. Thanks to the COVID pandemic, we didn't have 21, unfortunately, and over the course of 20 years we've done $170 million for the region.
Speaker 1:That's amazing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, for the region.
Speaker 1:Wow, speak more on that so the Tri-County area.
Speaker 2:So we measure economic impact for the area every year. We have a great partnership with the College of Charleston or Office of Tourism Analysis, and about half of the attendees that participate and come to the festival are local and about half of our attendees come from out of town. So if you're out of that, they define local as a 50 mile radius. If you're like kind of epicenter, so that hits the tri-county area, and then outside of that, if you're traveling over 50 miles, they assume that you're staying in a hotel and there's additional expenses, that you're, you know, contributing to the local ecosystem here. So yeah, $170 million for the area and almost 20 years, which is spectacular, and the event itself has grown and ebbed and flowed a lot as well.
Speaker 1:And so, and there's a different location this year too right, the Culinary Village. Yep, tell us about the Culinary Village, because I keep hearing amazing things about that.
Speaker 2:It's literally like a foodie playground for adults. It's often the event that people equate. When you say the festival, they think you're talking about that, and that's only one of 90 events that we'll produce this weekend um, yes, 90 events in five days.
Speaker 1:She has the time to hang out with us today. I am so impressed. I am so impressed. Oh my god. Thank you for saying that was a really good concealer.
Speaker 2:um so 90 events in five days for this year. Culinary village is our largest event. It's three days long, it's at john Haygood Stadium and it is kind of a taste of everything we do in the festival, all wrapped into one event. So food samplings, beverage samplings We've got wine, beer, spirits, non-alcoholic, there's grilled foods. In an area called Grillin' and Chillin' we showcase local caterers, local chefs and restaurants, and then there's some fun like things to do, our silent disco, which is arguably the best people watching in all of charleston charleston yes, I agree, if I wasn't working the event, that is where I would be standing just to like hang out um, we have a music stage where we have local, regional acts perform daily.
Speaker 2:And then new this year, which our team is super excited about Duke's Mayonnaise, which, if you're a foodie, there is a feud over what mayonnaise you use?
Speaker 1:Oh, absolutely.
Speaker 2:What's in your cabinet.
Speaker 1:Well, it used to be something else, but when we moved here it became Duke's, Duke's. What about?
Speaker 3:you, Mike? I was a Miracle Whip guy. Oh God, no I. We moved here. It became dukes, dukes. What about you?
Speaker 2:I was a miracle oh god no, it's like sugar cream, that's it, I'm a duke fan.
Speaker 2:Now I'm getting you a jar of dukes now, okay, so dukes is the title partner of our demo kitchen, so we do high energy chef demonstrations every day. Three chefs per day. They're on the Duke stage. Really fun. You get to watch them cook and hear from them and then also taste. So Shwai from Jackrabbit, philly King Barbecue, we've got Vivian Howard, carrie Morey from Callie's Hot Little Biscuits, joy the Wilson from Joy the Baker. So just really spectacular talent.
Speaker 1:And if you're into cookbooks, if any of the chefs that are on the stage have a cookbook, you can get your book signed after the fact so do you just go in and just stop at every little and just eat and drink and eat and drink and eat and drink?
Speaker 2:Well, I don't because I'm working, but if you are doing, then, then yes, so it's a sampling experience. So there are small sample bites from the food, um, and the same on the. Yes, you get to try a variety of things, um, and then the. The beverages are the same as well. So we have an area of wine called the courtyard. It's about 25 different wineries that we showcase there. We have a fun section called Tipling Town, which is actually a little ode to Charleston. Charleston's known as a Tipling Town.
Speaker 1:What town? I don't know what that means A Tipling is where you're imbibing in alcoholic beverages.
Speaker 2:We're one of the drunkest cities in America. That's something to be very proud of Charleston.
Speaker 1:Tipling.
Speaker 2:We're a Tiippling town. We've learned two new things today, mike.
Speaker 3:Now I know this is amazing, this is great.
Speaker 2:And so in that section is all our spirits, where we showcase spirits there. We have a local and regional beer garden where you can try some brews, and then we have non-alcoholic too. We have several non-alcoholic wines. The non-alcoholic cocktail has definitely been a movement over the past couple of years and it's a nice reprieve from you can only drink so much wine and spirits.
Speaker 1:You can only tipple so much. Tipple, that's one of the best words I've ever heard. That's the word of the week. So, as executive director, I can only imagine what goes on to putting in something like this.
Speaker 3:Putting together something like this Days before.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, what are the biggest challenges and, at the same time, the biggest rewards of? Putting on one of the best and well-known events in this town.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and you know, in the country we have people coming internationally as well. We have one of the world's 50 best restaurants, esther's the name of the restaurant Sydney, australia, coming for this event, so we bring international talent as well. It's it is a full year of planning this endeavor. I mean the quantity of individuals that helped to put this on is spectacular. We work with about 400 chefs and beverage professionals. That includes wineries and mixologists that we work with. We have over 200 volunteers, 150 different sponsors and partners. We have basically every vendor in town. Like, hopefully, if you have a wedding, you booked it way far in advance, because we've got every tip up.
Speaker 1:No one's getting married next weekend or this weekend.
Speaker 2:All the linens are at Charleston.
Speaker 1:Wine and Food.
Speaker 2:So I mean it takes a lot, it takes a year and I think the most rewarding piece for me is the programming. So every year we change over what the types of events are and they're very focused on storytelling and that's the mission and the whole point of the organization.
Speaker 2:Like yes, it's a fun party, but we're trying to impart some sort of takeaway with our guests and really highlighting and showcasing food stories from Charleston and the Lowcountry and really exploration of history and what we eat and why we eat it and where it comes from. And I think it's really important for consumers to be knowledgeable with where you're eating and how you're spending your money and your local community.
Speaker 1:Especially because there's so many choices yes, right, and you so many choices yes, right. And you never know where to go. It's always where do you want to eat tonight? Where do you want to eat tonight? So knowing that would certainly be a help for me too, and I wanted to clear something up and I apologize if this is just me, I know that was $150 million or whatever you had mentioned before. $179 million, $179 million. See, he's got a much better memory than I do. Is that go to charity? Like, where does that money?
Speaker 2:go so to the local economy. So when we bring people in, we're measuring. You know how they're spending their money at local restaurants, how they're patronizing local businesses where they're staying with hotels.
Speaker 2:So like that, money stays right here in the Charleston community and helps to build our businesses community and helps to build our businesses. And I think Charleston one of the things I love so much about this town is that there's still this like diehard localism about this city and when you spend your money with a local institution, that money stays right here and it reinvests in you know, potentially, your neighbor, or you know somebody else that you have a connection with, or you know somebody else that you have a connection with, and it helps our communities to grow and be prosper but also be sustainable, and I think that's something that we all learned, unfortunately, in 2020 was that that ecosystem of local, I really think, helped Charleston rebound, probably quicker than maybe some other cities.
Speaker 3:Oh my gosh, that's a good point, it's a great point. And you know we're a chamber, so what you're saying is exactly what we want to hear, and what we're kind of not preaching but screaming from the rooftops is shop local. We've got a couple of different benefits that, uh, locally. Um right, we got dine where you live, we got shop where you live and get fit where you live, so we love the where you live. So we love the local. We love the fact that you love the local. That's why you're here, alyssa.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I do. I care about this community.
Speaker 3:So Kathy suggested something about sampling.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Not the day of, but hey can you sample before Like?
Speaker 3:do you know what the food is?
Speaker 2:Do you get to, even if it's the year before the show, right, are you sampling? Or six months before, like, oh, a new vendor's coming and I get to sample that. So our um, I have a fantastic team. I have two people on my team that really um are in the nitty-gritty on the programming of our food and beverage and they've got a really good pulse on the community here locally. What's the new? You know, restaurant on the scene? Um, we're out there trying it and tasting it and they plan and program it. Just those two individuals. There's a really small nonprofit team that puts this on Every single chef demonstration spot. I mean over 90 events. It's a lot of presence from local restaurants.
Speaker 1:If they need help, you can just give them my number.
Speaker 2:Okay, because I'll just go check. There's a couple of ones that I want to go.
Speaker 1:try that I won't wait in line, for I have an idea.
Speaker 3:You probably already have this idea. You probably already do this. Do you get influencers' opinions on the food at all? Do you have an army of tasters Not just the two people, I'm sure, because that's a lot but do they have a committee?
Speaker 2:They don't have a committee but A volunteer committee.
Speaker 1:Are you trying? You want to be on the committee. Oh my gosh.
Speaker 2:We do have a very strong influencer program. That happens during the festival. Oh, I'm sure, and they're out and about, you know, tasting and sharing on their social networks, just to continue to, you know, not only market the organization and the festival, but really highlight the businesses that participate in this event because, again, that's the point is to really showcase them.
Speaker 3:So maybe you can apply to be on that team and then take it to the next level. I will Take it to the next level of maybe having a blog year-round of when those people do taste different restaurants. Then they write about it.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:And then now it could be just like a campaign. I see that I love anyways wheels always spinning bray, you can, you can steal that one bray, I love it um, and so let's talk about mount pleasant too.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we know that. You know the the main part of the festival takes place downtown, or um, it's uh johnson haywood yes, I could never say that right, for some reason. I apologize.
Speaker 2:It's first year there correct, it is our first year there. We're excited about it. It's a great location From an event planner's perspective. The infrastructure that you have to work with at a facility like that is you have to bring everything in, don't you? There's a lot of stuff there.
Speaker 2:There is stuff there, it's already there's been a cool trend Like I don't know if either of you follow like biz, bash and in the industry, but producing events in stadiums and arenas has kind of been like a new trend, just as post COVID, the events industry hit a real, got really hit during COVID and expenses were just there's not a comparable before and after really. So there's been a lot of things of you know using stadiums and places that have infrastructure and converting them into experiential moments.
Speaker 1:So, anyways, we've been excited. They come with bathrooms, they come with kitchens. I mean, just think about what's behind the scenes instead of just taking an event like this and plopping in the middle of the park. I mean, just think about what's behind the scenes instead of just taking an event like this and plopping it in the middle of the park.
Speaker 2:Lighting, electricity power, running water, no porta-potties. Well, I'm excited for you. I think it's going to be absolutely amazing. So, Mount Pleasant.
Speaker 1:Mount Pleasant, yes, so tell us how Mount Pleasant businesses can get involved and what those kind of experiences are for those who might not have attended yet.
Speaker 2:So we're really excited. We have a partnership with Mount Pleasant this year Town of Mount Pleasant, experience Mount Pleasant and we are doing a three kind of events at Memorial Waterfront Park. And again back to the storytelling. For us those three events were specifically designed to be in that place because of where it's located. So on Thursday we will host Shocked and that is our oyster celebration. So it is a celebration of steamed, raw, on-the-house-shell oyster farmers, wild oysters you got some seafood mixed in between and it really celebrates that. You know, south Carolina is one of the only East Coast states that still has a wild oyster population and it's so important to our ecosystems here locally for you know, hurricanes, erosion, cleaning our waters so that takes place at that venue. On Friday we have an event called Island Time that really explores the flavors of the Caribbean and West Africa and its influence on the food that we have here.
Speaker 1:And these are all at Waterfront Park. And these are all at Waterfront Park Cool.
Speaker 2:And so lots of really cool Caribbean chefs and low country chefs that are kind of more, I would say, lots of Gullah Geechee cuisine from the low country perspective. And then we have some chefs coming in from places like Barbados and Haiti and the Bahamas. Definitely there will be rum.
Speaker 2:And so that one is in Mount Pleasant too. And then, finally, we'll cap things off at this venue on Sunday with an event called Big shrimping. Um, it's a new event for us this year and it's a celebration of the shrimping industry and and just you know, crustaceans in general, which obviously mount pleasant has a huge blessing of the fleet celebration and, with shim creek being right there, it's a it's a bus bustling business, um, so that that event, um, I'm sorry.
Speaker 1:Are all three of these new um, or have you done something like we've done?
Speaker 2:shocked is always on the schedule I feel like people might uproar if that's not on the schedule right yeah and then island time. We've done before it's been a little bit, but big shrimping is brand new. We've never done it before.
Speaker 1:That's very exciting.
Speaker 2:So in each one of these events showcases chefs sampling food, beverage. We do live music always at our events and some other fun experiences. So all of those happen in Mount Pleasant. So we have several Mount Pleasant businesses and restaurants that are participating in those. We also have the Wando High School Culinary one and two students. We have a high school partnership program that we created where we go into high schools year round and offer mentorship, elevated culinary instruction, and we have an externship program for culinary high school students in CCSD and D2. And so the Wando students you'll see out there. So if you are out and about and you see any in their chef coats, they're really excited to be talent in the festival. So hi.
Speaker 1:And that's amazing. Yeah, it's a cool program. What a great way to bring the community and and, of course you know, to give support to the future of this industry. That means so much to this area, 100%. We want to keep them here, we don't want them to leave.
Speaker 3:Speaking about the young talent here, this might be a good question. It's like what for the future too, right? So our succession plan, like five, 10 years down the road? What does that look like?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so the high school program we started as an initiative. For us, the festival offers such a great platform to celebrate and really it can be a launching pad for careers for individuals. But what does that long-term sustainability look like and how are we regenerating the next wave of talent? So we have a scholarship program at the collegiate level and then we have this high school scholars program at the high school level, um scholars program at the high school level. So hopefully not just um, offering you know, on the job training for these individuals that participate, but really inspiring them of like this could be a career and you could see yourself in this career. And the festival, I think, is the perfect platform for that, because so many different industries come together within culinary hospitality to pull this event off so you get a microcosm of exposure to so many different fields and avenues you could take within culinary and hospitality cool.
Speaker 3:That's amazing, crazy, amazing. What about? What about the festival in five to ten years? Where is that? How are you growing? Are you? Are you still going to be?
Speaker 2:doing it oh gosh I don't know if my board is listening um how big is your board?
Speaker 3:by the way, I have 15 people on my board. You have to be a foodie to be on your board.
Speaker 2:You have to have a certain no, no, I mean, I guess everybody has some sort of passion for food but we have a pretty diverse background of industries on the board which is helpful in the planning and kind of moving forward, I think, the future of Charleston Wine and Food. We're really passionate about the high school and scholarship programs that we have, so leaning into that to continue to cultivate like the next generation of talent is a big component for us.
Speaker 2:We also last year is our first year we launched a summer collection of events called the Summer Sizzle. We're doing that again. People loved it, so that will be in May, june and July. It's a small little collection of events. Charleston Summer is the muse. For those of you who might not be from here. You're like oh, it's so hot. I literally thrive Like. Charleston Summer is my spirit animal.
Speaker 2:I love it and from a food perspective, we really had the opportunity to explore other ingredients that aren't just oysters and root vegetables that we have in March, you know, like lots of really fresh seafood, lots of really beautiful produce, so bringing that and finding ways to showcase some of those stories in the summer, so really looking to doing some like more year round experiences. Of course, the festival will always be like a mainstay for the organization and it is always the first week of March. It's always the first weekend of March, yep, and that was by design, I mean in 2005, it was dubbed like shoulder season, like tourist season was in the summer months, so they wanted to create something that would bring people to town and want to spend money here locally to support the community.
Speaker 3:Shoulder season. Yeah, you're teaching me so much right now.
Speaker 1:Are you writing all this?
Speaker 3:down. Yeah, I am.
Speaker 1:Because you're going to get tested on it. And then tell us a little bit about the individual restaurant events like I was talking about before. So you've got the huge culinary experience and then, if you go onto your website, you have all these individual restaurants that host all these special dinners or luncheons.
Speaker 2:Tell me, how do you get? This is Kathy's favorite part here. Yeah, it is. It's a lot of people's favorite part.
Speaker 1:That is just as important as the main culinary event, I'm sure. And how do you get involved in that?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so we do a series called our Signature Dinners and those are. The format is a host restaurant here locally and their culinary team host an out-of-town chef talent. So they typically we work one-on-one with the chefs here locally and they give us like a short list of like oh, it would be amazing if I got you know, michael Anthony from Grand Mercy Tavern or Andrew Carmelini or some of these chef names that they would love to collaborate, and then we court and pitch them to come to Charleston to participate. So even though you may have been to, you know, eat at Vern's before. The Vern's signature dinner during Charleston Wine and Food is like a one night only experience, because you get to not only have that host restaurant experience but the out of town collaboration, and so they come up with a menu that's unique to that night, which is really fun.
Speaker 1:And that's why you can't get tickets, because I remember. I want to say it was two years ago. I could be wrong, but I believe it was two years ago. I'm the marketing director at Town Center and of course we have Malika. That opened, yeah, and Miriam was walking around and she's with somebody and I'm looking at her and I'm walking around, I'm going. I almost felt like so starstruck because it was.
Speaker 2:Manit Manit, it was. I remember that and I'm like I remember.
Speaker 1:It was like I was seeing a superstar?
Speaker 2:No, it was like I was seeing a superstar.
Speaker 1:No, I couldn't get in.
Speaker 2:I wasn't there either, but I hear the stories from that dinner and it was so Miriam and Manit, pakistani and Indian culture, and the whole entire dinner was a discussion about really the divide between their two cultures, and so for each course I'm going to get teary-eyed talking about it Manit wrote a letter to Miriam and then Miriam wrote a letter to Manit and they didn't read the letters until the dinner and so the course would come out and they would read it on behalf of the other chef that represented the feelings of that culture. I was not there, but I heard there was literally not a dry eye in the restaurant of how impactful and I think that that really shows the power that food has to like bridge differences and give us a platform to talk about hard things and cultures. So, yeah, miriam always comes up with like the best concept. She's her event that she has on the schedule this year is a Pakistani brunch. There'll be a traditional Pakistani dance. She really brings in a full sensory experience beyond just the food.
Speaker 3:That reminds me of the transformation table.
Speaker 2:Yes, she does a great job. Tina does a great job with that as well.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I was able to experience that. What an amazing 100-person long table, all different types of people there. Yeah, it's cool because she doesn't seat you with your people that you came with you.
Speaker 1:sit somewhere else separately.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's more of an experience than a meal.
Speaker 2:So those are the dinners. We have lunches and brunches, and the lunches and brunches don't typically have a gas chef component. They're more for the local restaurant to shine and we bring in a beverage component, so a lot of them have a winemaker or a distiller or a brewer. There's 20 dinners on the schedule this year and 20 lunches and brunches.
Speaker 1:And they're probably also that, aren't they?
Speaker 2:There's a couple that still have tickets. The Dewberry on Friday night had tickets available. The best place to go is to the website and you can click available and we publicize when the schedule goes live every year and you've got to buy tickets on launch day because some of the restaurants are small. We had a dinner this year or we'll have a dinner with Michael Toscano. It's only 10 seats.
Speaker 1:If you want to go, you better get that real fast.
Speaker 2:It just goes quickly. So launch day is the best to buy the in-restaurant experiences and remind us when is that typically then? It's typically in October around the third week so we haven't announced the 2026 Festival launch date yet, but it will be in October and we'll announce it on our channels.
Speaker 1:And it's funny because my anniversary, my wedding anniversary, is March 8th. So every year that I've been here I've been here nine years, this is my 10th year here I've always said, oh, I really want to go to one of those for my wedding anniversary. Oh that's fun and then I put it on my calendar right In October. They're going live. I don't think I go to, they're gone.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, this year they hawk the site they're on the site like ready to go. That's why there are shrimp and shrimp tickets. Oh, awesome.
Speaker 3:That's good to know too. Thank you, Amanda. Amanda, just let us know.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I don't even have to go downtown for that which say the shucked and um shrimp and tickets are still available. All right, listeners, but I want amanda, you need your job next year is to remind me.
Speaker 3:Oh, it's your job, I'm not gonna ask.
Speaker 1:I'm not gonna ask elizabeth to do it, because she's too busy to remind me to get on my computer that morning and get um and get something speaking of too busy.
Speaker 3:Let's get you back to work. I'm sure some people are waiting for you.
Speaker 1:I'm sure I actually I did want to ask her a couple fun, fun questions.
Speaker 3:I was hoping you would say that.
Speaker 1:Okay, and then, before we let you get back, Okay. And I'm not going to make you like, pick your favorite chef or anything. That's not nice. They're all my favorite. I know Exactly. We love them all. Everybody makes the best food in the world, but are there any fun like any kind of behind the scenes, just told us about. I have a good story but I'd I'd love to hear another one you want me to tell you a story about a chicken I love chicken okay, have you ever heard of chicken shit bingo?
Speaker 2:no it's a concept out of texas. Um, there's a guy named dale that has started this concept and it's uh chickens and they uh literally poop on a bingo board get the f out of here you put in your dollar for that uh yeah, it's a thing.
Speaker 2:It's a thing, um, and so we did a version. This has been a long time ago, but john lewis is from texas, okay, and where chicken shit, bingo, is apparently rampant, and so he wanted to bring the actual singer to Charleston. That created it, and so we had Dale here.
Speaker 1:A singer.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Dale, and he's a country singer. And then we did a chicken shit bingo. We had a bingo board, it's about I don't know 40 minutes before doors open and our culinary programming manager at the time came up and was like we don't have a chicken because you got the flu because I guess somebody forgot to get the chicken oh, they had plenty of chicken to cook, just none to play the game, I guess.
Speaker 2:And so we were like, well, what are we gonna do? She was like I know, I know a guy. She made call, but there wasn't enough time for one of us to go there and back, so we called an Uber to go pick up the chicken. And so the woman with the chicken came out with the chicken in a Rubbermaid and put it in the front seat of the Uber and he said what is this? And she said this is the chicken, this is what you're Ubering, this is your ride and this chicken needs to get down to the john lewis barbecue event stat for charleston wine and food.
Speaker 3:The chicken wrote a row of about 15 minutes before the event and, uh, we pulled the chicken shit bingo off. So that's just like a chicken didn't need to be trained at all.
Speaker 1:There was no training the chicken no, it just goes wherever it wants to right.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, a fence right here, a fence. It's not a free range chicken. Oh, am I in trouble with that?
Speaker 2:yeah, I know now that I'm saying this on this podcast, I'm like oh gosh, maybe I shouldn't have shared that one.
Speaker 1:But you know that's hysterical. I absolutely. I just feel like that's like planning in a nutshell, you know, well, my favorite part is that the chicken was ubered. I mean, that is that's a good one.
Speaker 3:When it comes, you gotta be efficient.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you needed to get that done and you got that chicken down there. That's hysterical.
Speaker 3:You probably have a really cool I love it.
Speaker 2:I have a great team. I have a really great team.
Speaker 3:It's it's a it's a labor of love to put on um this event, though Cause event planning you know, like things just always go, I won't make you go ahead and I won't make you talk about last year and your plans.
Speaker 2:Yeah, there were lots, lots of changes and ebbs and flows and this year we have. You know, we learned a lot from that circumstance of you know, I didn't I never realized I would be planning for an event in the spring that could potentially happen, with hurricane level, weather Right. But yeah, I feel like we're really prepared for this year after learning that and I immediately checked the tide chart when we put the tickets on sale to see if it was a king tide or not. And it is not a king tide.
Speaker 1:Very, very smart.
Speaker 3:No kidding.
Speaker 1:My other question, and again, you don't have to get, I don't want you to know a restaurant or chef, but if there's one dish from the festival every year that you could eat for the rest of your life, is there one like? Is there a dish that you've had that is just like Amazing, yeah, like the best thing you've ever eaten.
Speaker 2:Oh gosh, okay, there's two things that come to mind. One doesn't exist anymore Fat Hen on John's Island. I miss it. All the time they had this homemade bread pudding with a home spawn cinnamon ice cream. Oh, it was like delight and chef fred knew I liked the bread pudding and when I was pregnant with my first son I ate that all the time. He'd be like the pregnant lady that would call up and be like is the the bread pudding on the menu?
Speaker 2:tonight, because that was going to determine whether I came there or not. That I would say. And then there's another dish, and I don't know if it's been back on the menu again. It's been years. But Jacques Larson of the obstinate daughter had this foie gras capoletti. That was just like pillows of absolute joy in your mouth.
Speaker 1:I will never forget that. Apparently not. I love that. Yeah Listen, my husband and I love to eat and we go all over Mount Pleasant, johns Island downtown and every time I go to a restaurant and I have a meal it's the best meal I've ever had and then we say we're coming back here again. And then we never go back because we found the next favorite place that we're going to go to. What a hard life to live.
Speaker 2:I know.
Speaker 1:I mean just to make the decision of where we're going to go eat is like we know. I don't think I've ever been disappointed in any restaurant I've ever had. No, we're very lucky, all right, so tell us again, where can we get tickets? Remind us a little bit more about this weekend that's coming up, and then we'll let you get back to work.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so we'll kick things off on Wednesday evening for opening night at the Cistern and Culinary Village. Friday still had tickets available and maybe a couple on Sunday. Sunday is Locals Day, so if you live here and you check out with a 294 zip code, you get 40 bucks off your ticket.
Speaker 1:Oh wow, that's great to know.
Speaker 2:The Mount Pleasant events. I would check out Island Time and Big Shrimpin. And if you go to CharlestonWineAndFoodcom, click on the schedule. That's going to show you the latest and greatest of what's available. All of our stuff's online. So even if it's day of and you're like, hey, you know, I just think I might want to go to the Culinary Village today, Check the website and see if you could get the ticket and if the ticket's available, come have a good time with us.
Speaker 1:A good time A good time. And then, of course, when it's over on Sunday, you get Monday off, and then you have to start again working on Tuesday, right, I?
Speaker 2:feel like the mayor should make Monday an actual holiday for all Charlestonians to recover. I think that's a good idea.
Speaker 3:Probably get Mayor Haney to do something like that. Yeah, maybe we could get.
Speaker 2:Mayor Haney to do that. A proclamation on Monday.
Speaker 1:We'll start a story. We've got to get everyone to sign a petition. We'll get that taken care of for you, um alissa. Thank you so much, um, for joining us here today.
Speaker 2:Um again if anyone, like me, has not been there, you need to go and um, and you're going this year, I'm gonna go this year, I'm gonna go this year, yes, I am um I, I, I 99 promise you that I'm gonna go this year um I think bray offered us tickets.
Speaker 3:I don't know what. Maybe not. Maybe that was a Maybe, that was a different thing. I'm just throwing Bray under the bus. It's amazing. I'm still waiting for that email.
Speaker 1:I've heard incredible things about it. It obviously sells out every year. Be a part of it. It's part of you live here, it's part of Charleston and it's because of Elissa the way it's grown and everything that's been going on here. So we're really honored to have spent this time with you.
Speaker 2:Well, thank you.
Speaker 1:And of course we hope this weekend is going to be just as amazing as it always is. Get your tickets. Get your tickets Now to this weekend's Charleston Wine and Food Festival. Thank you so much, alyssa, and before we leave, we need to thank our sponsors.
Speaker 3:Yeah, we need to thank our sponsors at Charleston Media Solutions and also DK Design. You can get a hold of DK Design at designdkdcom. They created a lot of marketing material for us, like our banner that we have here. I'm motioning to the banner like you can see it, listeners.
Speaker 1:It's there, I can see it. Thank you, dk Design. Thank you for everyone here at Charleston Media Solutions, brian, we always love working with you, thank you. Thank for everyone listening today. Until next time, Mount Pleasant, until next time listeners alright, let's take some photos and we'll get you out awesome.
