It’s not often that you can sample food from a James Beard semifinalist chef — out of a food truck, no less. But you’ll get that chance Oct. 7 at Park Circle’s Odd Duck Market, where Bluffton-based chef Bernard Bennett will park his food truck, Okàn. The pop-up kicks off at 6 p.m. and features Bennett’s trademark West African-rooted cuisine.
Bennett was named a 2023 Semifinalist for Emerging Chef by the James Beard Foundation in January, an honor that was even more impressive since it was bestowed when Bennett was still operating solely out of a food truck. The brick and mortar version of Okàn opened in Bluffton this June. In July, Hilton Head’s Island Packet wrote there is “nothing like it” in the area.
The food truck is still in commission, though, and Bennett is ready to expand his cuisine’s reach with a trip to Charleston.
Bennett says that Bluffton’s response to Okàn has been overwhelmingly positive. “The community has welcomed us with open arms,” he told Charleston City Paper. “Every so often we get people who haven’t heard of us, and they’re so thankful there’s something different.”
Expanded options
Odd Duck co-owners Jared Hellman and Andrew Hare are originally from the Bluffton area.
“I was so floored to find that somebody opened a West African concept in Bluffton,” said Hellman, who didn’t hesitate to reach out to Bennett to see if he was up for a road trip to bring his food to Park Circle.
Odd Duck’s cafe and market has been open daily since July, but an evening pop-up is a first for the East Montague spot. “We’ve been looking for ways to utilize the space after-hours,” said Hellman, adding that he hopes to bring more pop-ups and possibly even kitchen residencies to Odd Duck in the future.
The Okàn food truck features what Bennett describes as “typical street foods.” The food truck’s recurring menu items include an Aloo hand pie, a fried dumpling hailing from Trinidad & Tobago; maduros, sweet plantains with sweet chili sauce; and Jamaican curried snapper.
For this pop-up, he also plans to serve cashew butter shrimp skewers. “It will play off West African Maafe and use cashews instead of peanuts,” said Bennett, whose menu at Okan “showcases how ingredients originated, changed through the course of forced migration and now celebrate an elevated pairing of cultures.”
Guests at the pop-up can choose from a variety of Odd Duck’s $5 draft beers, wines, seasonal spritzes and nonalcoholic sips while @dj_slowcountry spins “lo-fi tunes” in the background. Hellman says he’s working on getting a dessert vendor, too.
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