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Home cooking
Chef Kent Carpenter keep classic Southern recipes on the menu at South of Pearl. “I love to cook and serve foods like we eat at home,” he says.
Photo by Jeff Smith
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Secret ingredients
Local farmers like Ricky James keep the restaurant well-supplied with the freshest local produce. “The focus of our menu is close to home,” says South of Pearl owner Todd Hardee. “If we can’t get it in South Carolina, just forget it.”
Photo by Jeff Smith
The backdoor slams at one of Darlington’s most gracious homes. It’s early on a crisp March morning, and local farmer Ricky James is hauling in some pay dirt: freshly harvested collards. The comforting aroma of good things cooking wraps around the porch like a warm scarf on a pretty lady’s neck. Go ahead and claim a rocking chair—many an appetite has been worked up here by simply sitting and doing a little deep breathing.
Fresh vegetables, home cooking and porch time—it’s an irresistible combination that keeps the dining rooms filled at this historic home-turned-restaurant. Owner Todd Hardee, who is also town coroner and proprietor of the funeral home next door, named his operation South of Pearl for its location one block down from busy Pearl Street. Intended initially as a special event venue, Hardee had a change of heart and established limited hours for dinner service.
“The focus of our menu is close to home, as in Darlington County,” says Hardee. “If we can’t get it right here, then we get it from the Pee Dee. If we can’t get it from the Pee Dee, then we get it from South Carolina. If we can’t get it in South Carolina, just forget it.”
The concept found favor with Darlingtonians and the annual NASCAR crowd, leading Hardee to give in to public demand and open for lunch and dinner. Making profits was never part of his vision, though.
“South of Pearl is about my love for this town, about supporting local businesses and making Darlington a culinary destination,” says Hardee. “It’s a small affair but I look at it this way: We could serve 7,500 and do it wrong or serve 48 and do it right. We’re doing it right.”
He bought the property and began extensive renovations in 2014 with an eye toward retaining as many original features as possible. After all, the late South Carolina novelist, Elizabeth Boatwright Coker, was born in an upstairs bedroom in 1909. Those too young to appreciate that bit of history might be more wowed to know that Coker’s brother, Purvis James Boatwright, was the maternal grandfather of rocker Edwin McCain, who romped the house’s hallways as a child.
“We honor the roots of this house and town through the restaurant,” says Hardee. “We use Elizabeth Boatwright Coker’s pimento cheese recipe and other longtime Darlington favorites. If you want to really get a taste of Darlington, order an Uptown Egg Roll. It’s got lots of local things inside: collards, chicken, black-eyed peas. When you bite into one, you can taste that good old Indian Branch dirt.”
While Hardee hobnobs with the customers, executive chef Kent Carpenter prepares a buffet lunch in the small, but efficient kitchen.
“I love to cook and serve foods like we eat at home,” says Carpenter. “I’ve worked in restaurant management but being at the helm of the kitchen is my favorite place now, especially at dinnertime.”
On Thursday and Friday evenings, the operation gets gussied up for “by reservation only,” full-service dining. Cloth napkins and fresh-off-the-presses menus with a list of that day’s offerings mark each place setting. Think prime rib, grilled rib-eye steak and diamond-scored crispy flounder the size of an angel’s wing. Come a little early to do some tippling in the restaurant’s bustling cocktail bar. Sip house specialties like Hugo’s Hurricane, a tropical rum drink, or go all-out Darlington with a bourbon and cola served with a pack of peanuts.
A typical lunch buffet might include pulled pork, fried chicken, fried flounder, field peas, stewed squash, fried okra, vegetable soup, cornbread and baked ham that Carpenter himself serves from a carving station. There’s also a colorful salad table full of fresh fixings.
Hardee, who admits he has a strong affection for food, points out one platter on the buffet that seems a bit out of place.
“Know why we got those french fries?” he asks, a hint of mischief in his eye. “Because I like ’em, that’s why!”
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South of Pearl
117 Edwards Avenue, Darlington
(843) 944-0398; www.southofpearl.com
Hours: Lunch buffet: Tuesday through Friday, 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Dinner: Thursday and Friday, 6 to 10 p.m. Reservations are requested for dinner.