Roost—a new Greenville, South Carolina restaurant with a focus on giving the community a place to eat local, organic, and seasonal food of the highest quality, cooked with care, and at an honest price—will open in January 2013. Ideally located on Main Street, Roost will offer guests a one-of-a-kind dining experience including outdoor seating in NOMA Square, an open kitchen with ringside seating along the Kitchen Counter, an open-air bar area, and a Harvest Table where guests can work with the chef directly to build their own meals.
Under the direction of JHM Hotels vice president of food and beverage Michael Rosen,
JHM Hotels has brought together an all-star team to spearhead the creation of Roost: executive chef Trevor Higgins will create an innovative menu with southern influences and a state-of-the-art cocktail program, while general manager Carey Lapidus will lead an exemplary, attentive front of house team.
“This is an establishment our team has been dreaming up for years now—a serious restaurant in Greenville where we will offer our guests tastefully crafted, humanely raised, mindfully sourced and fairly priced dishes,” Rosen says. “We call our philosophy soil-to-city.”
Higgins will work closely with a network of local purveyors and farmers to source nearby ingredients for the food and drink programs from the bounty of the Piedmont. Originally hailing from Tennessee, Higgins was previously chef de cuisine at The Sanctuary at Kiawah Island in Charleston, South Carolina, and sous chef at the Charleston Marriott. His love of food began early—much of his childhood was spent in his grandparent’s garden where he gained a respect for local ingredients pulled straight out of the ground. He brings these sensibilities to Roost, where guests can nibble on snacks like “Fresh” Bacon with Corn Puree and Sweet Tea Jus, or enjoy a multi-course dinner with wine pairings, featuring dishes such as Wild Stripped Bass with Rock Shrimp Chowder and smoked Garlic Aoli.
“The menu will adhere to a few strict ‘Rules of the Roost’: all ingredients must be found domestically and in-season, no high fructose corn sweeteners are allowed, and we need to know where all our livestock comes from,” says Higgins, who will work hand-in-hand with farms like Bioway, Native Meats, Merciful Hearts, and Happy Cow.
An open, demonstration-style kitchen will give guests an interactive, front row seat to all the culinary action and intimately seats up to 15 guests. In addition, a community Chef’s Table, located directly in front of the exhibition kitchen, features a distinguished tasting menu and will be designed to encourage conversation among guests. For breakfast and lunch, it serves a unique purpose as Roost’s Harvest Table, where diners can work with Higgins to custom build the freshest lunch in the upstate and choose from a variety of greens, composed salads, soups, meats, and artisan breads.
Roost will be open daily for breakfast, lunch, and dinner from 6:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. It will also offer a Sunday Family Style Brunch featuring some traditional favorites like Chicken Fried Steak with Sawmill Gravy and Brioche French Toast with salted Banana Caramel. Roost is located at 220 Main Street in Greenville, S.C.
