When a city’s cultural arenas are thriving, a sort of cottage industry can spring up around topics like food, music and art. A booming music scene full of new and exciting musicians, for instance, could be more than just an artistic success — it could lead to more venues, recording studios and rehearsal spaces.
And it only makes sense to expand that concept to Charleston’s current culinary scene. Charleston’s reputation as a place for food lovers has been firmly in place for years; it’s only natural that there are people in and around the food and beverage industry who want to talk about it.
These folks discuss the trends, people and experiences they encounter in an often frantic atmosphere, and the best place to chat about that kind of thing these days is on a podcast. As Charleston’s restaurant scene gets increasingly crowded, several folks in the food-and-bev world have been documenting the city’s culinary landscape with their own unique podcasts that each approach the subject matter differently.
Talking shop
Lindsay Collins, creator and host of Effin B Radio podcast, uses humor to lovingly skewer the industry she once turned to to pay her bills.
“Effin B Radio is a podcast that I like to say is loosely about food and beverage,” Collins said. “It’s a comedy-focused podcast, and it’s done more in the style of a monologue. A lot of the episodes are just stream-of-consciousness ruminating on things that are happening in food in general, and then it always has a Charleston focus because that’s where I’m rooted and that’s where I live.”
Collins, who started her podcast back in 2016, is no novice when it comes to the service industry, and Effin B Radio is not just a one-woman show.
“I have had a career that’s spanned all over food and beverage,” she said, “in New York, in Copenhagen, in Napa Valley, in other places, and then my family is in Charleston. … But honestly, I feel like everybody can relate to having worked in the industry or enjoying the industry.”
Industry vets Patrick Sudol and Matt Connelly started their podcast The Shifty Podcast during Covid when they started hanging out one-on-one.
“We needed a chance to see each other rather than just on Zoom,” Sudol said, “so we would just hang out and drink beers. And it seems like our conversation always went to talking shop about working in restaurants. And one of our buddies came over and said, ‘Hey, I could put a microphone in the middle of this table right now, and I feel like other people would want to hear this.’ ”
Sudol was skeptical at first.
“We never really planned to have a podcast or anything like that,” he said, “but the two of us had just worked in the food-and-bev industry for so long that I feel like all the knowledge that we’ve ever gained and all the friends that we had would make for some interesting conversations.”
The duo added another friend, chef and restaurateur Tim Erwin, and The Shifty Podcast was born. Sudol said the hosts had a specific plan in mind from the beginning “to give a voice to the voiceless.”
“How many times do you actually get to sit down and hear the story of the guy who’s been the line cook at your favorite restaurant?” he said. “Normally they don’t get put on a pedestal or showcased or anything like that. But we’re really just trying to hear how people made it as far as they have. We really just follow the journey.”
The Southern Fork podcast takes a different approach than either Effin B Radio or The Shifty Podcast. Host and creator Stephanie Burt has spent years writing about food and restaurants, including a stint for the Charleston City Paper.
Burt’s podcast takes a more regional approach than others. She’s interviewed local people like Hector Garate from Palmira BBQ, but she’s also brought in food-and-bev folks from all across South Carolina, not to mention guests from Florida and Georgia.
“I just felt like there was more to share,” Burt said, “and I wanted to invite people into the kitchen, to know the people behind some of the South’s best culinary stories.”
Burt made the range of The Southern Fork expansive, but she credited Charleston for giving her the skills she needed to shine the spotlight on our regional culinary scene.
“Charleston is what made me into a food writer,” she said. “I moved to Charleston in 2005 and was right there as a lot of the food scene was really taking off. I was right there at the zenith of it.”
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