13 January 2023
Rhett Elliott, the longstanding chief cook of Columbia’s Southern foods restaurant The War Mouth area, died Jan. 7, Elliott’s fianc? Brittany Odom verified. He was 48. Elliott, who spent his grownup life in the restaurant sector, in December 2015 started The particular War Mouth, a cafe in Columbia‘s Cottontown community with elevated food from the Midlands. He helped create it as a staple within Columbia, a neighborhood place known for its skillful The southern part of dishes like catfish stew, rice and hash, plus chicken bog. Elliott passed away from complications with cirrhosis, Odom confirmed. A Camden native, Elliott grew up doing work for his father’s pig providing company. In adulthood, this individual bounced around to a quantity of fine-dining establishments after their studies at Le Cordon Bleu University of Culinary Arts within Portland, Ore. After providing in positions like recipient de cuisine at Coda Del Pesce in Department of Palms, he introduced an impressive resume to the city whenever he returned to Columbia in 2014.
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After spending years traveling, Elliott grew weary of continuously packing his bags plus formulated the plan to open their own restaurant in the Midlands, The particular War Mouth. “He championed Southern cuisine like it has been fine dining, ” stated Alex Strickland, executive cooking of Black Rooster. “(Elliott) grew up and lived within South Carolina for a very, long time. He was one of the first in order to ever be like, ‘Hey, Now i’m not doing (Southern food) to be cool or to obtain a grant. ‘ He had been just like, ‘This is what We’ve always used. ‘ “When the Southern food cafe opened in late 2015, Free of charge Times called it “the food of the South Carolina outside, but with a fine-dining advantage. ” It quickly grew to become a place that folks in Columbia loved — well-known regarding delicious meals and a remarkable selection of specialty cocktails. A lot of that was due to Elliott’s commitment and care for the food he was creating — friends and family echoed the belief that the food of the Midlands was Elliott’s passion. “He didn’t feel like a lot of people find the food from the Midlands, find the food that the people through around here traditionally develop eating to elevate, ” mentioned David Adedokun, a former pub manager at The War Mouth area. “(Elliott) wanted to elevate the particular culture of this place. I believe in doing so he instilled pride in a lot of those who are from around here plus who consider that a section of their culture. “Both out and in of the kitchen, friends referred to Elliott as a gentle man with a knack for amusing jokes, playing guitar plus assigning everyone a moniker. He had a quiet cleverness that he didn’t boast regarding, Adedokun said. With Elliott’s experience of coming up in kitchen areas with grueling and anxious environments, he aimed to produce a space that was the opposite of the. Zarah Newton, who worked well under Elliott at The Battle Mouth before moving in order to Black Rooster, said she’d miss being able to pick their brain for recipe development and advice.
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In spite of their restaurant’s somewhat upscale status, Elliott was a fan from the simple things. His really like for the outdoors and for angling carried into adulthood, where however spend weekends fishing for the Congaree. “(In middle school) he would walk across in order to Kendall Lake (in Camden) and fish and however come back home and start the grill and thoroughly clean his fish and however cook his fish plus he’d eat his seafood and when I’d get home however say ‘Momma, I’m not really hungry, ‘” Elliott’s mom, Jeanette Elliott recalled. Being an only child, Elliott’s mom said the two of them were near and that he spent plenty of time with his two cousins and aunts, often producing him the only boy within the mix growing up. In 2016, Elliott played a part inside a documentary about Bradford Watermelons, a restaurant staple from the South Carolina family farm. Within the documentary, Elliott cuts in the watermelon and explains that will he’d use the juicy, tasty watermelon as a snack offered with light salt plus olive oil, in a straightforward way that matches much of exactly what he did at the cafe. “Wouldn’t really want to fuss over the top of it too much, ya know — keep it that simple, ” Elliott said in the documentary.
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During the time of his death, Elliott has been no longer at the Cottontown cafe he’d help start. Their longtime chef de food, Harold Pendleton, took over in the place in the fall of 2022. Odom, who said that Elliott have been in and out of the hospital within the later months of 2022, said he had big programs for the rest of his life — he had hopes to ultimately open a new restaurant within Columbia. Elliott was involved to be married to their fianc? Brittany Odom this particular month, on the same day that will friends and family will now celebrate their life. “We both had been looking forward to this date jointly… to have a date that we had been both looking forward to and now this is the way things kind of shake lower, it feels like I’m residing somebody else’s life, inch Odom said.