LEISURE DINING
A CULINARY LEGACY 82 queen offers fine cuisine in an antebellum setting BY WENDY SWAT SNYDER | PHOTOGRAPHY BY HOLGER OBENAUS
130 CSD
Like many major cities on the culinary map, Charleston enjoys an increasingly well- rounded assortment of cuisines and trendy restaurant motifs to match. But how many food-forward towns can boast an eatery quite like 82 Queen, where history and cuisine meet in the intimacy of a Southern antebellum home? Here, a pair of 18th- century properties, linked by ancient brick paths, lend genteel profiles to a restaurant that has served loyal guests for over 30 years. “The present buildings are about 150 years old,” says Queen Street Hospitality Group owner Steve Kish. “The property has been many things over the years—it was an Italian restaurant before we bought it.” That was in 1982, shortly after he relocated to Charleston from Pittsburgh to be near his wife’s family.
A graduate of the American Culinary Association, Kish says he had always worked in the restaurant business. So when he moved south and found a dearth of eateries in the area, he partnered with Joe Sliker and Harvey Poole to purchase the property and open a restaurant offering classic Lowcountry cuisine. “We were all restaurant people,” explains Kish. “I was a chef and my partners were front-of-house guys. Harvey Poole was a wine expert back when no one here knew about wine. Joe was a local guy, a big college football star.”
The combined interiors and exteriors of
the property offer 10,000 square feet of space—making 82 Queen one of the larger restaurants in town. Nine different dining areas, each with its own personality, provide diners a variety of experiences. “Regular
customers have their favorite rooms,” says Kish. Among the challenges of operating within a footprint this size is maintaining the old Charleston look. “Meaning there’s something to repair every day,” he adds with a laugh. Dining rooms with names like The Garret, Library and Cooper are bathed in varying palettes of pastels and warm earth tones. Antique sideboards, gilded mirrors, chande- liers and wide heart pine floorboards set the stage for an experience that truly is a step back in time.
Outside, old brick and wrought iron frame a lush courtyard in a warm patina. Here guests dine alfresco beneath a centuries- old magnolia on the Queen’s Terrace. Other seating choices include a fanciful gazebo and the partially enclosed Green House—all charmingly embellished with plantings that reflect Charleston’s subtropical landscape. Executive chef Steve Stone returned to
the restaurant this year following a 10-year hiatus during which he directed catering events for Boone Hall Plantation and man- aged their produce market, working hand in hand with local farmers, and chartered offshore fishing trips, among other things. “It was nice, I still was involved with food,” he recalls with a smile. “Steve actually rec- ommended me to Boone Hall. After a while, though, I knew I had to get serious again.” Kish and Stone remained friends over those years, and the timing turned out to be serendipitous for both. 82 Queen was vetting chefs for the executive role and Stone was ready to return to the business. “Once you get it in your blood it’s hard
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