According to T-Rav, Proof’s Craig Nelson has hate in his heart and it’s time to forgive. As we reported earlier, on the night of Mon. Jan. 2 Thomas Ravenel, of Southern Charm and cocaine “sharing” fame, took to Facebook to rant against Proof bar owner Craig Nelson. Apparently the two have been in some kind of argument for 13 years over what did or did not happen one night at the long defunct Sushi Hiro.
Nelson maintains that Ravenel berated him at the sushi bar over nothing. Meanwhile, Ravenel says the argument happened after Nelson, who was dining there with his wife, came up to T-Rav at the bar and told him, “excuse me, you’re ruining my appetite.”
“That’s about the most rudest thing anyone can say to someone,” says Ravenel. So he did what any of us would do. Ravenel says he stood in front of the Sushi Hiro’s window and “I jacked my crotch at him.”
Needless to say, Nelson never forgot (or in Ravenel’s mind, forgave) the local celeb for his crass behavior. And to really hit him where it hurts, Ravenel thinks Nelson turned REV Food owners Karalee Neilsen Fallart, Tim Mink, and David Leboutillier against him, banning T-Rav from all their various restaurants for life.
“I’ve been escorted out of Monza and I was recently kicked out of Taco Boy,” Ravenel says. “And I love Taco Boy. I usually have my margarita waiting for me. I get a margarita and a shot of Grand Marnier.”
But there have been no margs for Tommy lately. Not since a bartender asked him to leave last summer. “They said, ‘You were rude to the bartender,'” says Ravenel. “So I went back and apologized to let bygones be bygones.” But no such luck.
The real blow, however, came the other night when Ravenel and a group of friends went to Poe’s, previously owned by REV Foods, now co-owned by Russell Bennett. According to Ravenel, shortly after arriving, Poe’s management asked his group of friends to leave.
“I’d only had a few sips of my beer and had gone to the bathroom and they kicked us out. I told my friends they’re doing this because of me,” says Ravenel. “The manager said we were being too loud. So I emailed Rusty Bennett — he was my T-ball coach – and said ‘this is so completely false. These people are lying for him.'”
That’s why Ravenel says he felt compelled to address Nelson in person the other night, to clear the air once and for all. Following a brief detente with Nelson, Ravenel was furious after the Poe’s kerfuffle.
“We used to be buddies and I could go into Proof, so I went in there and I said, ‘You’re still angry. You need to forgive me. Forgiveness is a gift you give yourself. Then he goes crazy and starts yelling at me telling me not to give him unsolicited advice.”
Clearly, per Nelson’s previous comments, the bartender was not amused. But, as we asked Ravenel, is any of this really about Nelson, or something deeper? What would make T-Rav happy? Does he just want to be able to go to Taco Boy in peace?
“Yeah I just wanna go to Taco Boy. It’s a great place. It’s fun,” he says.
So what do you say, Taco Boy? Is it time to let T-Rav back in the building? He promises he’s a good tipper. Love Best of Charleston? Help the Charleston City Paper keep Best of Charleston going every year with a donation. Or sign up to become a member of the Charleston City Paper club.