2 weeks Ago
Get to know some of the chefs and food and drink experts that will be at the Columbia Food & Wine Grand Tasting event on Sunday, April 27, and at other events throughout the week of the festival. Learn a little bit about these flavor-makers around town and what makes them unique and necessary for the Midlands' food scene to shine. David Adedokun is the 2025 Columbia Food and Wine Festival's lead mixologist.
Serving as the Food and Wine Festival’s lead mixologist is David Adedokun, who has been shaking, stirring and mixing together a plethora of cutting edge ingredients and techniques. Adedokun, a longtimer in Columbia’s cocktail scene, derives his inspiration from seasonality, aesthetics and using ingredients people are familiar with in unfamiliar ways. “I’ve been fortunate enough to work at places where the chefs are very open about their process, and offer advice or useful ingredients, and that synergy in the best of all possible worlds,” he said.
“A drink and dish that taste good on its own are elevated to the sum of their parts when they are put together to make it great and unforgettable.” This is the first year Adedokun is involved on the organizational side of the festival, but he has participated the past four years repping the restaurants where he tended bar. “I love that it’s spring in South Carolina and the Food and Wine Festival brings people out in droves, dressed to the nines and you can also see the community and camaraderie among the various bars and restaurants,” he said, speaking of the signature event that caps off the festival.
Adedokun will have a hand in the entire festival, serving as this year's lead mixologist. Harold Pendleton, chef at War Mouth. With nine years at The War Mouth under his belt, Harold Pendleton feels like he has a more clear understanding of Southern foodways and preserving old, traditional family recipes than ever.
After starting out as a line cook, the executive chef now has his hands on the smoking of the meats, preserving and canning of the vegetables, and beyond at the Cottontown restaurant. “We’re very creative (at The War Mouth) and so anytime I have an idea, we research it, go through a bunch of recipes or come up with our own stuff,” Pendleton said. “We keep our menu fresh all year round by trying to be seasonal, which means our dishes are very farm heavy to take care of our farmers out here in South Carolina.
” As for his favorite dish among the many that has been served over the years? It’s a tossup between the catfish stew and the duck confit sandwich. Catch Pendleton at April 25's Cocktail Games and April 27's Grand Tasting. Tripp Roche, fifth generation of Villa Tronco management, is hosting Ping Pong and Pasta at the restaurant during the Columbia Food and Wine Festival.
With the legacy of five generations riding on his shoulders, Tripp Roche is the great grandson of the recently departed Carmella Martin , the matriarch of Villa Tronco, but he also knows how to put his own twist on tradition. He is one of the top table tennis players in South Carolina: ranked fourth for all ages and No. 1 in the under 21 year old category.
“Until this point, Villa Tronco has only had female cooks, but my brother Nate is the head chef now,” said Roche. “People don’t like change, but we look to the future because you can’t stay the same forever.” They hope this will come in the form of renovating the upstairs, starting jazz nights and perhaps installing a piano bar that retains the building and restaurant’s sense of history, according to Roche.
But he assured that they won't be taking away customer favorites like the signature chicken Villa Tronco, or the pizza. Family lore has it that his great-great grandmother Sadie introduced pizza to Columbia in the 1940s, and she practically had to give it away because people at the time had no idea what it was. Roche will host Ping Pong & Pasta during the festival at St.
Andrew's Park. The Saturday afternoon event will be the festival's only non-alcoholic and all-ages event, perfect for a whole family of foodies. Villa Tronco will also be at Sunday's Grand Tasting.
Thomas Hardenberg of Motor Supply Bistro Co. People come and people go, but they only return to truly special places, as is the case for Motor Supply’s executive chef Thomas Hardenbergh. He returned to head up the kitchen after beginning his cooking career there years prior.
Between stints at the beloved Columbia eatery, he gained experience working for well-known chefs. “My style really evolved working for Ashley Christensen and Sean Brock, both of whom have similar Southern cuisine focused, local farm-centric styles,” he said. “I make sure everything is localized, that we use the best products that the farmers have and make them shine, and not mess them up.
” Coming back to Motor has been nothing but positive, said Hardenbergh, who credits owner Eddie Wales and sous chef Marcel in helping him run the kitchen so he has time for research and development. “I would love to give our local farms and business more exposure and bring the localized food scene to more people that live here and come to visit Columbia,” said Hardenbergh. And with a menu that changes daily, there’s plenty of chances for the capital city staple to continue shaping the food scene with their unique point of view.
Hardenbergh will be serving up bites at All Good Books for Thursday's Palates and Pages event , and again for Sunday's Grand Tasting. Brandon and Jeanne Velie own Juniper in Ridge Spring, S.C.
About 43 miles outside of downtown Columbia, a much smaller Main Street boasts a restaurant with a big following thanks to its well-known chef, Brandon Velie. “The core of Juniper has been to have ingredients speak for themselves and highlight what’s in season at the peak of its season so we are allowing the produce to be its very best,” said Velie. And being surrounded by enormous farming operations like Titan Farms, Watsonia Farms and more, they can know exactly what’s in season by driving past the fields each day in Ridge Spring.
“The idea of using local is something we’ve done from day one.” And day one was 20 years ago this July, when the restaurant will celebrate the milestone anniversary. “I love that we’re what some people would call a dining destination,” said Velie.
“We do have quite a bit of people who come from Columbia, and what they say is it's worth the drive. They can’t believe what an amazing experience they have in a tiny area like Ridge Spring,” added Velie’s wife and co-owner Jeanne. “It’s a beautiful drive with the peach trees in bloom.
” But no matter what people have heard about Juniper, the Velies think it’s funny they are most well-known in S.C. for their corn chowder.
Sample bites from Juniper at Sunday's Grand Tasting. VonGretchen Nelson and Tyrus Donawald own Bessie's Sweet Delights. The Bessie’s Sweet Delights food truck is one that follows a bit of a different business model than others: they mainly set up at festivals, hospitals, large plants and schools instead of setting up at breweries or biergartens.
“We have contracts with a lot of these places and establish relationships and partnerships with these businesses and organizations,” said VonGretchen Nelson, a co-owner of the business. They have occasionally set up at the Soda City Market, though they have plans to be more visible in the future. Nelson, along with her husband Tyrus Donawald, started the business in 2015 as SC Sweet Delights.
They expanded to the food truck three years ago, which is named after her grandmother. “Her nickname was Bessie and she seasoned food from her soul,” said Nelson. “She and my grandfather owned a grocery store in Sumter.
” The food truck not only serves unusual desserts like peach cobbler egg rolls and their famous red velvet cake bowls with homemade whipped cream cheese frosting, they also offer savory delights as well. Chicken and shrimp cheesesteak, chicken fingers, soul rolls with collard greens and sauteed vegetables in a crispy egg roll wrapping, plus the drinks and desserts mean there’s something for the whole family. “Our offerings are very diverse for all ages and dietary types as well,” she said.
Nelson and Donawald will be slinging sweets at Sunday's Grand Tasting. Chef Javier Uriarte leads Ratio, Best of Columbia's Best Restaurant, Northeast for 2024. Despite being on the far edge of the Midlands, Chef Javier Uriarte has created a modern dining destination in Ratio that people are eager to return to time and time again for its ever-changing menu.
“I want to show that Peruvian food can be fun and relatable,” said Uriarte. “I try to focus on how I can make more cultural impact to new and existing guests.” Being able to bring his Peruvian culture here is somewhat of the American dream, he said.
“It has been a blessing, not everyone gets to do this and it definitely took a lot of hard work, but it is a challenge that I am proud of.” Uriarte, who was born and raised in Peru, moved to the states as a teenager. He spoke no English.
He still makes time to return to his roots. “I had a 12-course tasting menu at Maido (a Japanese and Peruvian restaurant) and it was so incredible to be back home and experience the food that I grew up eating in an elevated but yet comforting way,” he said of a recent trip home. “It helped me understand more of what my vision for Ratio has been.
” As for his vision for the future of Ratio, Uriarte dreams of more — but said only time will tell. Uriarte and the Ratio team will be at Friday's Cocktail Games , Sunday's Grand Tasting, as well as providing bites for the invite-only Preview Party. Marc Herro owns Pitas on Taylor Street.
With a vast menu of dishes to choose from, unsurprisingly, pita bread is the favorite item to make for Pitas owner Marc Herro. “It’s a peaceful, quiet and tricky operation,” he said. “It happens early in the morning before the majority of the world is awake, it’s a disciplined process and the temperature variations can be temperamental.
” When Herro first opened Pitas, he wanted to spread his culture and cuisine and mainly focused on foods from Levant, the subregion that borders the Eastern Mediterranean sea to the Middle East. “With time and exposure to the Southern roots in Columbia we started to evolve and do a little bit of Southern and Mediterranean fusion dishes,” he said. The unique fusion of Southern and Mediterranean cuisine is one Herro and the staff at Pitas hopes to continue exploring with Columbia, whose diners have been enthusiastic, as evidenced by the full parking lot at lunchtime on weekdays at their Taylor Street location.
Stop by the Pitas tent at Sunday's Grand Tasting ..
