Charleston Restaurant Report April 2013
April 2013 -- Issue #16
Charleston Restaurant Report
ON THE MENU
------------------------------------------------------------
1. Green Scene – NOISY RESTAURANT? FIND SOLUTIONS FOR SOUND ATTENUATION
2. Local Restaurant News – 980 GOURMET SAUCES MAKE A SPLASH IN CHARLESTON RESTAURANTS!
3. Restaurant Openings, Closings and Coming Soon!
4. National Restaurant Trends – PORK PRICES HOLD STEADY
------------------------------------------------------------
GREEN SCENE
------------------------------------------------------------
NOISY RESTAURANT? FIND SOLUTIONS FOR SOUND ATTENUATION
Contributed By Mary Gatch of DwellSmart
A lively restaurant is desirable, but it is essential that your patrons can relax and hear each other without screaming. There are many creative and environmentally-friendly solutions to help you dampen and reduce deafening sound levels.
• Floors - While concrete is easy to clean and maintain, it echoes and amplifies sound. Consider cork flooring as an alternative. Cork is made of over 100 million prism shaped cells per cubic inch, each one filled with air which inhibits the conduction of sound. Cork floors reduce impact noise. And, your employees will really appreciate the reduced impact to their knees and feet.
• Walls - A new sound reduction coating is available called Serenity. This coating system reduces sound transmission between walls by 50% - 60%. Serenity also absorbs and deflects sound. Another option to attenuate sound through your walls is American Clay, a textural wall covering. Bonded Logic has also recently introduced acoustical panels made in various colors with recycled cotton fibers.
• Ceilings - All of these wall solutions will also help absorb sound from overhead. Other solutions include adding insulation above your ceiling where possible. This insulation, such as UltraTouch by Bonded Logic, will provide a good thermal barrier and good sound absorption. Acoustical ceiling tiles and varied ceiling heights may also be helpful to absorb and deflect sound. Look for opportunities throughout your restaurant to add fabrics and texture. You can see these and other ideas at DwellSmart (http://www.dwellsmart.com) at 804 Meeting Street in Charleston.
------------------------------------------------------------
LOCAL RESTAURANT NEWS
------------------------------------------------------------
980 GOURMET SAUCES MAKE A SPLASH IN CHARLESTON RESTAURANTS!
By now, you may have heard about or seen the bottles of green, red, or yellow 980 Sauce popping up on restaurant tables, in prep kitchens and on store shelves around town. Restaurant operators and chefs around Charleston got the first taste of 980 Gourmet Sauces (http://www.980sauce.com) over the last few months. Now the sauces are being used in dozens of restaurants (like Rutledge Cab Co. + Mex 1 Cantina). The company, started by Smith Anderson in Mount Pleasant with a partner in Panama, has created three sauces that are drawing attention from foodservice folks near and far: Wild Cilantro (http://www.980sauce.com/wild-cilantro.php) (green), Picante Panama (http://www.980sauce.com/picante-panama.php) (red) and Garlic Mustard Habanero (http://www.980sauce.com/garlic-mustard-habanero.php) (yellow). A tasting booth at the WIne & Food Festival last month brought rave reviews from first-time tasters. The sauce ingredients are gluten-free, all-natural and are grown, harvested, +
bottled in Panama by a family that's been in the food business for 50 years. These sauces are about as farm-to-table as you can get. Limehouse Produce supplies the sauces to restaurants in Charleston. You can also buy them at stores such as Bottles in Mt. Pleasant or Ted's Butcherblock downtown. I put the Wild Cilantro sauce on everything!
------------------------------------------------------------
RESTAURANT OPENINGS, CLOSINGS + COMING SOON!
The following list reflects 1st Quarter 2013 market activity (January - March):
Openings --
Black Bean Co. (Downtown – former Bubba Slye’s)
Crust (James Island – former Savory Sushi)
Five Loaves (Mt Pleasant -- moved to former Jon's Mixed Drinks)
Frothy Beard Brewing Co. (N.Charleston)
Homegrown Brewhouse (Summerville)
King Dusko (Downtown)
Massi’s Wine Bar & Osteria (Downtown – Osteria la Bottiglia name change)
Mex 1 Coastal Cantina (West Ashley – former Jack’s Cosmic Dogs)
Osaka (N Charleston)
Ninja Express (N Charleston – former Slices)
Pane e Vino (Mt Pleasant – former Sette)
Persimmon Café (Downtown)
Republic Garden & Lounge (Downtown – former Chai’s)
Rutledge Cab Co. (Downtown)
Slice Pizzeria (Mt Pleasant)
Spice (Seabrook Island – former Lucy’s)
The Oyster Room (Folly Beach)
The Southern General (Johns Island)
Closings --
17 North (Mt Pleasant)
Abe’s Oyster House (Mt Pleasant)
Bojangles (West Ashley)
Boulevard Diner (James Island)
Bubba Slye’s Deli (Downtown)
Cesca (Downtown)
Daily Dose (Johns Island)
Fazoli’s (West Ashley)
Huck’s Lowcountry Table (Isle of Palms)
Light (Downtown -- closed by fire)
Lucy’s (Seabrook Island – former Red Sky Grill)
Perkins (Summerville)
Squeeze (Downtown – closed by fire)
Station 22 (Sullivans Island)
Suede (Mt Pleasant)
The Brick (Downtown – closed by fire)
Tropical Sushi (Mt Pleasant)
Coming Soon --
Agave (Daniel Island – former Lana)
Atlanticville (Sullivans Island -- re-opening)
Basico (N Charleston – Mixon)
Black Bean Co. (West Ashley -- former Burger King)
Bonefish Grill (N. Charleston)
Charleston Harbor Fish House (Mt Pleasant)
Coda del Pesce (Isle of Palms – former Huck’s Lowcountry Table)
DeSano Pizza Bakery (Downtown)
Distillery (Downtown)
Falyn’s on Forty-One (Mt Pleasant)
Indaco (Downtown)
Kitchen 208 (Downtown)
La Hacienda (Mt Pleasant – former Gringo’s)
Local 616 (Downtown)
Marco’s Pizza (West Ashley – former Quizno’s)
Mellow Mushroom (Summerville – former Perkins)
New York City Pizza (Downtown)
Petticoats (Downtown)
Salt at Station 22 (Sullivans Island)
Scratch (Mt Pleasant – former Abe’s Oyster House)
Seppy’s Hot Dogs (Mt Pleasant)
Sub Station II (West Ashley – former Quiznos)
Sweeney’s (Johns Island – former Island Soul Food Café)
Tasty Thai & Sushi (Mt Pleasant -- former Tropical Sushi)
The Orange Spot (North Charleston)
The Warehouse (Downtown)
Verde (Mt Pleasant)
Yo Bo Cantina Fresca (West Ashley – former South of Philly Pizzeria)
------------------------------------------------------------
NATIONAL RESTAURANT TRENDS
------------------------------------------------------------
PORK PRICES HOLD STEADY
Good news for all of you buying and serving pork out there! National hog inventories are in line with or a little bit above last year's numbers, meaning that there should be plenty of supply for the spring + summer season. Higher hog inventories, coupled with slower exports, should bring prices down a bit from normal seasonal highs. Bacon sandwich anyone?
Check out this Nation's Restaurant News report:
http://nrn.com/commodities-watch/pork-supply-increases-march