Caviar & Bananas: New Chef = New Stuff?

Hit Caviar & Bananas at the right time of day—either high noon or quitting time—and you're likely to wait in line for that slice of lasagna the size of your head or that duck confit sandwich made to order. But that's alright for we C&B fans; we'll wait.

Over the past two months, the gourmet market—a fave of mine—has celebrated its five-year anniversary and welcomed a new chef, Chef Scott Roule. I sat down with Scott to see what this means for the C&B fan club (in other words—me). Will our favorite dishes disappear? Any cool additions to the menu? Read on for these answers and more (including why chefs wear those ugly Crocs).

MH: How long have you been in Charleston, and how long have you been with Caviar & Bananas?
SR: I moved here in September—so about eight or nine months now. I've been at Caviar & Bananas for just more than three months.

MH: I hear you’re fresh out of Charlotte. How would you compare the Charlotte foodie scene to the foodie scene here in Charleston?
SR: That's a tough question because they're both good. Charlotte's a bit bigger of a city so it has more restaurants. As for Charleston, I think that it's—I don't want to say better—but, in general, it's a little more foodie here. There are more options on every corner here per capita. Charlotte's getting there—I think that for its size, though, Charleston's more on top of it.

MH: Good answer. Okay—so there’s a new chef at Caviar & Bananas. Why should people care?
SR: That's a good question. Because it's something different. I've been cooking for the last 20 years, in different restaurants, with different cuisines—it’s all I’ve ever done. I like to keep my food simple for the most part, so i'm just trying to get familiar with the local farms and purveyors around here and to incorporate a little more of that.

MH: What changes can we expect to see?
SR: We definitely want to work on extending our P.M. entree selection so there will be more options for people getting off of work—so people can just come by and pick up meals to-go. And I know that we'll work on our happy hour menu—let people know that we have beers on tap and show them our wine selection. A lot of people don't know we have it! Maybe do like a wine and cheese night when people come in and learn about our wines and some of our cheeses. 

MH: Are there any dishes you wouldn't dare take off the menu?
SR: I think that kale salad is untouchable. We go through a ton, so that won't change. And the duck confit sandwich is pretty safe, too. We'll just tweak things here and there to keep up with the seasons and new trends.  

MH: One last question: Why do you chefs always wear those ugly Crocs?
SR: Well these are clogs—Crocs is a kind of clog, but these are Birkenstocks. And because they're comfortable and slip on. Plus, you can put them through the dishwasher to clean them—it's pretty easy.

Photography by Jessica Giffon