Stephanie Mixon
Truffles
Years in F&B: 12
Most frequently asked question you get from your guests?
Why do you always ask about food allergies?
What is your answer?
Truffles takes pride in accommodating food allergies for our guests, such as offering gluten-free options and cooking items separately for a guest.
Favorite dish on the menu where you work?
Southwest Chicken Salad
What is your favorite local restaurant/bar?
Chow Daddy’s
From what state in the USA do the nicest guests hail? (Come on … you gotta pick one.)
New Jersey
What is your all-time favorite food or drink smell?
French onion soup and Pearadise Martini from Truffles.
Phones out at the table—yes or no? No.
If you could be a fly on the wall, who would you want to listen in on?
Jesus Christ
Evan Berkner
Skillets
Years in F&B: 7
Most frequently asked question you get from your guests?
Where’s your mom? Where’s your mom? Where’s your mom? Where’s your mom? Where’s your mom?
What is your answer?
I don’t know.
Favorite dish on the menu where you work?
Coligny Skillet.
From what state in the USA do the nicest guests hail? (Come on … you gotta pick one.)
Tennessee.
What is your all-time favorite food/drink smell?
Anything sweet, fresh out of the oven.
Phones out at the table—yes or no?
Phones can be out until food is on the table. Once food is served, no phones until everyone is finished.
Emily Robert
Palmetto Bay Sunrise Café
Years in F&B: 14
Most frequently asked question you get from your guests?
How many eggs do you go through in a day?
What is your answer?
A million.
Favorite dish on the menu where you work?
Our omelets! They are the best and so filling!
What is your favorite local restaurant/bar?
I love Italian food! My favorite Italian restaurants are Stellini and Michael Anthony’s!
From what state in the USA do the nicest guests hail? (Come on … you gotta pick one.)
Michigan, because that’s where I’m from.
What is your all-time favorite food/drink smell?
My favorite food smell would be fettuccine Alfredo; favorite drink smell, coffee brewing.
Phones out at the table—yes or no?
I don’t mind the phones as long as you’re not on it while I’m trying to take your order.
If you could be a fly on the wall, who would you want to listen in on?
I would want to be a fly on the wall of the Jersey Shore show.
Mary Babb
A Lowcountry Backyard
Years in F&B: 35
Most frequently asked question you get from your guests?
Other than where’s the bathroom? What’s it like to live here?
What is your answer?
Hilton Head is the land of extremes. Extremely busy; extremely slow. Extremely hot; extremely cold. Too much to do; too little to do. But the beach is my happy place.
Favorite dish on the menu where you work?
The Seafood Purloo. It is the epitome of Lowcountry cuisine.
What is your favorite local restaurant/bar?
Charlie’s L’Etoile Verte. I love the bar area, and Jeff Mix is a fantastic bartender.
From what state in the USA do the nicest guests hail? (Come on … you gotta pick one.)
That’s a tough question. We really do have so many nice people. I always enjoy waiting on people from Chicago. but The DeFords are the nicest family I have ever met, and they are from Indiana.
What is your all-time favorite food/drink smell?
Dave Peck’s chicken pot pie.
Phones out at the table—yes or no?
Nope. Never.
If you could be a fly on the wall, who would you want to listen in on?
Karen and Kathy whenever I’m not at Backyard to wait on them. It took me a year to get their order right.
Carmen Alvarez
Hudson’s
Years in F&B: 3
Most frequently asked question you get from your guests?
“Is it going to rain?!”
What is your answer?
Working on the docks, we’re constantly battling the elements, especially during the late summer. From our view at Hudson’s, we can watch thunderstorms forming and moving over Pinckney Island, Bluffton, and Beaufort, usually without a drop of rain! We love to joke about how the storms blow right by us, and I always say, ‘It never rains at the Hud!”
Favorite dish on the menu where you work?
A no-brainer for me: our Broiled Stuffed Shrimp, especially when my buddy, George, is working the grill. He has mastered this dish, and guests are guaranteed to clean their plate every time.
What is your favorite local restaurant/bar?
If I’m not at Hudson’s (even on my days off), you will find me down at Pool Bar Jim’s. Big shoutout to the boys behind the bar for the view, snacks, awesome service, and best frozen cocktails on the island.
From what state in the USA do the nicest guests hail? (Come on … you gotta pick one.)
Keeping it local here. South Carolina, baby!
What is your all-time favorite food/drink smell?
That fresh, lightly battered, fried shrimp on the docks.
Phones out at the table—yes or no?
Sure! “Phone eats first,” as my dad always jokes when I’m snapping pictures of every dish on the table. I don’t mind phones at all, but always leave time to take in surroun-dings and dine with friends and family.
If you could be a fly on the wall, who would you want to listen in on?
Andrew Carmines’ rounds through the kitchen on a Sunday morning as a line wraps around the restaurant. From the fryer to the shucker, through the salad station and then out to the deck, he preps every single one of us for a busy and successful Sunday brunch. His contagious smile, love for our guests and game time pep-talks would be it.
Jesse Ingersoll
The French Bakery
Years in F&B: 4
Most frequently asked question you get from your guests?
What’s the most popular item on the menu?
What’s the most popular item on the menu?
Nouveau Eggs Benedict.
Favorite dish on the menu where you work?
Mixed Berry Crepes.
What is your favorite local restaurant/bar?
Truffles Cafe.
From what state in the USA do the nicest guests hail? (Come on … you gotta pick one.)
New York.
What is your all-time favorite food/drink smell?
Coffee.
Phones out at the table—yes or no?
No.
If you could be a fly on the wall, who would you want to listen in on?
My customers to make sure I’m giving them the best service as possible.
