Charleston City Paper: Digs - August 2022

August 2022

At Home with

CHRIS DIMATTIA BUILD COMMUNITY

AROUND PLANTS HEAD BACK

TO SCHOOL a Charleston City Paper publication

Ashley Rose Stanol

WITH SUCCESS IN MIND

BE READY. BE SAFE.

Volume 3, Number 1

PROPER GENERATOR HOOKUPS ARE MUCH SAFER FOR YOU, AND COULD SAVE THE LIFE OF A LINEMAN

Aug. 10, 2022

Digs, our monthly home-focused publication, connects the people who make the Lowcountry special with content they’ve been missing. Digs gets up close and personal with stories on local personalities, home design and remodeling, plants and gardening, home repair and real estate. To learn more about advertising opportunities offered through Digs, contact our advertising team at (843) 577-5304 or send an email to: sales@charlestoncitypaper.com. Dig it!

EDITOR and PUBLISHER

CONTRIBUTOR

Andy Brack

Toni Reale

Published by City Paper Publishing, LLC Members: J. Edward Bell | Andrew C. Brack

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Views expressed in Charleston City Paper cover the spectrum and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher. Charleston City Paper takes no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts. © 2022. All content is copyrighted and the property of City Paper Publishing, LLC. Material may not be reproduced without permission.

Proud member of the Association of Alternative Newsmedia and the South Carolina Press Association.

ADVERTISING INQUIRIES: sales@charlestoncitypaper.com For staff email addresses, visit us online.

DESIGN Art Director: Scott Suchy Art team: Dela O’Callaghan, Christina Bailey

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DISTRIBUTION Circulation team: Chris Glenn, Robert Hogg, Stephen Jenkins, David Lampley, Spencer Martin, John Melnick, Tashana Remsburg

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Welcome Back Students!

Digs 08.10.2022

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DIGGING BACK TO SCHOOL

Head back to school with success in mind From Staff Reports Set up your child for success in school this year by ensuring he or she has everything they need.

Between tools for the classroom and supplies for quick and nutritious meals, these ideas can help ensure you’re ready for what the new school year brings. (You can find more tips and solutions to make the back-toschool season easier at eLivingtoday.com.)

Get essential needs soon

Make calculating quicker

As students advance through the school system, they are introduced to equations, data and graphs that can be best visualized and computed on a graphic calculator. With a high-resolution display, built-in applications and equations, plus the ability to add grid lines, the right calculator can make it easy to explore the STEM concepts found in math and science. Available in a variety of colors to fit your student’s personality, many options are also approved for use on major exams, including the ACT, SAT and PSAT, and in advanced placement courses.

Keep gear organized better

Not only is a backpack a place for students to store belongings on the way to and from class, it’s a simple way to express style and personality. Available in a nearly endless array of colors, styles and patterns, look for an option built to stand up to wear and tear over the course of the year. With zipper pockets, dividers, padded storage for laptops and other electronics and additional built-in organizational tools, you can find an option to fit every student from kindergarten to college.

Courtesy Unsplash

Make sure your student has the right tools for success in school.

Make weeknight meals easy

Spend more time with family and less time in the kitchen this school year by using meal kits, such as those that blend salads. Many come with fresh lettuce, yummy dressing and something crunchy like cornbread crisps, Parmesan crisps or bacon bits. Pair the salad with chicken or salmon for a nutritious dinner in less than 30 minutes.

If you have leftovers, just add the salad to a wrap for an easy lunch the next day.

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Simplify school lunches

When your child needs a meal that’s big on flavor but short on prep time, turn to a classic comfort food and family favorite: chicken and rice. You can buy fully cooked rice cups made with carrots, onion and garlic. They’re ready quickly and can be power-up loaded with flavors of chicken, vegetables and herbs with hearty rice.

Add more veggies to meals

Even with the hustle and bustle of back-toschool season, eating well doesn’t have to be difficult. An option like veggie-based pastas make it easy for kids and adults to incorporate more vegetables into daily meals without sacrificing taste. The pastas are available in popular shapes like penne, spaghetti and elbow. They’re often made with nutritious base ingredients — lentils, peas and cauliflower, zucchini or sweet potato. These gluten-free, non-GMO and vegan pastas are also a good source of protein and fiber. Visit veggiecraftfarms.com for more information.

Family Features contributed to this story.

INTERIOR • EXTERIOR RESTORATION

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Regardless of age, every student needs the essentials. Pencils, notebooks, loose leaf paper, folders, scissors, rulers and glue are necessities for almost every grade level.

Other items like crayons, markers, colored pencils, dry erase markers, supply boxes, headphones, tissues and hand sanitizer also find their way onto most supply lists.

Specialty courses may have even more specific needs, and laptops or tablets are becoming common in most classrooms of all grade levels, though many school districts provide the technology for students to use. Check office supply stores — particularly for surpluses after South Carolina’s recent tax-free weekend.

19

AT HOME IN THE LOWCOUNTRY

How the owner of the Recovery Room recovered

By Andy Brack

Charleston dive bar owner Chris DiMattia is reminded of his hometown area every day thanks to the single phone land line in a house he rented as a student at the College of Charleston.

Digs 08.10.2022

This was before cell phones became ubiquitous. The shared downtown home in the late 1990s had three occupants named Chris. DiMattia was the one from the Boston area. So when people phoned, they’d ask for “the one from Boston.” Soon, “Boston” became his nickname. These days, some people probably don’t realize his given name is Chris.

But they know what he sells — and lots of it — Pabst Blue Ribbon beer. DiMattia’s Recovery Room Tavern on King Street sells more cans of PBR than any other bar in the country. At one point, it sold more PBR overall than anywhere else in the world, but that was changed by the pandemic and tourists who have gentrified the drink selections at the bar. People used to order PBR and a shot of bourbon, he said. Now they may order a Jager Bomb (a shot of Jagermeister and Red Bull), a vodka and Red Bull or some other drink of the moment favored by AirBnB visitors.

The Recovery Room continues to be filled with lots of regulars, DiMattia explained but that’s slowly changing, like everything else.

“The working-class crowd that was our bread and butter for so long can no longer afford to live downtown,” he said.

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A home with an amazing view

Just as the pandemic hit, DiMattia and his wife, Kelli, and their two children moved into an older 3,200-square-foot Mount Pleasant home with a view to die for. Nestled in the quiet Bayview Shores neighborhood, it overlooks Shem Creek and the Charleston harbor. It’s relaxing to sit on indoor-outdoor sofas on a covered back deck and watch the maritime traffic — sailboats, motorboats and huge container cargo ships that steam to and from the Port of Charleston. A sea breeze gently pushes mosquitoes away.

Chris “Boston” DiMattia admits he can be a little obsessive about some of his non-work pursuits.

THE LOWDOWN ON CHRIS DIMATTIA Age: 43.

Birthplace: Quincy, Massachusetts.

Education: Bachelor’s degree in business administration, College of Charleston, 2002.

Current profession: Entrepreneur and owner, Recovery Room Tavern, 685 King St., Charleston.

Family: Wife, Kelli, and two children.

Number of concrete gorillas guarding his home: One, “Sasquatch.”

Photos by Andy Brack

Sasquatch guards the DiMattia’s Mount Pleasant home (below).

Favorite thing to do outside of work: “I really get into things.”

Past passions: Beard-growing, video games, pinball, curling, ice hockey and weightlifting.

Favorite cocktail or beverage: Pabst Blue Ribbon beer.

Lots of hard work

After graduating from the College of Charleston in 2002, DiMattia returned to the Boston area for a year to work. During the daytime, he worked at a marina.

In the evenings, he worked as a bar-back at a strip club.

All the while, he socked away money.

It wasn’t too long before he realized he wanted to be back in Charleston. He returned a year after graduating and spent four years doing more hard work — at Moe’s Crosstown as a bartender plus valet parking cars at other times. DiMattia freely admits he is obsessivecompulsive, “a bull that keeps plugging away.” At that point in his life, he worked almost every day. He was making really good money.

By 2007, DiMattia left Charleston to spend six months traveling the world, from Bangkok to Barcelona. He wasn’t sure what the future held.

But as fate had it, DiMattia had become friends with the owner of an unoccupied former club on King Street.

She gave him the keys. In 2008, the building became the Recovery Room at a time when the city of Charleston “was desperate in that area” for economic rebirth.

Guess what beer enjoys the lead position in the home of the nation’s top seller of PBR cans?

Something people would be surprised to learn about you: “I can’t swim. I sink. I’m just not very good. Now, I can tread water. I’ve had two in-ground pools, but made sure the deep end was just 5 feet.”

Five drinks always in the house: “Water, milk, PBR, white wine and random beer people want me to try.”

Favorite foods to eat: Meatloaf with gravy; chocolate chip ice cream.

Five foods always in the refrigerator: Eggs, yogurt pops, cheese sticks, berries, grapes — all stuff for kids.

Favorite food to cook: “My favorite food to cook is going out to eat.”

Five favorite local restaurants: Cru Cafe, Bistronomy by Nico, Muse, Red’s Ice House, D’Allesandro’s Pizza.

Three people (alive or dead) you’d like to dine with: New England Patriots General Manager Bill Belichick, Clint Eastwood and Ben Franklin.

What meal would you want served to you for your last supper: Prime rib from TBonz, PBR and the brownie sundae from Kaminsky’s.

DiMattia said opening a bar felt comfortable because of his experience and the fact that his parents often took the kids to Massachusetts bars and clubs as they socialized with neighbors.

“There’s just something about the energy at a bar that I’ve wanted to be part of,” he said.

The Recovery Room was profitable, DiMattia said, from its first day. It didn’t hurt that he did what he’d always done — work, work and work.

“Back then, I bartended six nights a week,” he remembered. He also washed dishes, swept floors, hosted trivia and more.

“I never opened the Recovery Room for the money,” the business owner said. “I opened it for the reliable income stream to buy the real estate.”

Next? He’s slowed down now on some of the houseflipping and now is developing a new bar concept.

Surely, it will be a place where people will be able to (wait for it) recover in a new way.

Tattoos: 4.

Secret vice: Chocolate chip cookies from Harris Teeter.

Guilty pleasure: Collecting Nintendo 64 video game cartridges.

Favorite musicians: Al Green, The Four Tops, Stevie Wonder.

Childhood hero: Bobby Orr. Pet peeve: “People who aren’t polite.”

Philosophy: “Follow the Golden Rule — treat people the way you want to be treated.”

Your advice for someone new to Charleston: “Try to live downtown and try to get to know some of your older neighbors.

They might get you to realize what a great place this is.”

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The home’s first floor has a separate mother-in-law suite set apart from a comfortable sitting room, dining room and spacious kitchen, replete with a beer refrigerator. Inside it is always-present PBR as well as an array of other beers that distributors want the businessman to sample, hoping he’ll carry them in his bar.

The home’s regular refrigerator includes food mostly for his children. DiMattia insists that he can’t — or doesn’t — cook and generally goes out for food, unless he munches on cereal in the mornings.

You can peek between the front and back of the house through cool, open wooden stairs. Upstairs are bedrooms for his 5-year-old son and 3-year-old daughter, as well as a remodeled master bedroom where he and his wife have a million-dollar view of the harbor. In a large basement is a storage area, entertainment room, a place for video games and a small bedroom. On the day we visited, a workman was making outside improvements.

Through the years, DiMattia has had lots of construction crews around. He has invested in homes on an ongoing basis in transitioning neighborhoods. His crews upfitted them and then flipped them or rented them.

“I’ve bought and sold about 40 homes now,” he said, adding they’ve been in James Island, Charleston, North Charleston, Hanahan and Ladson.

21

DIGGING LOCAL

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COOL OFF THIS SUMMER WITH A TECHNOGEL® MATTRESS

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22

Build community around plants

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Quite often at Roadside Blooms, new customers will come in who have just moved to the area to rebuild or add to their indoor plant collection. We love learning about where they are from, what brought them here, and what plants they were able to bring and what plants were tough to leave behind.

They all have stories and their faces light up Reale when they talk about their plant collection and those on their bucket list. Frequently, we are asked how transplants can meet other plant-minded people so they can begin creating their new community here.

Opportunities for plant-minded connections

There’s something so innocent about connecting with others over a shared love of plants. Discussions of plant care, plant issues, dream plants, plant sales, propagation techniques and more break down any barriers to otherwise connecting.

Facebook groups are plentiful when it comes to locals exchanging ideas. My favorites include Lowcountry Plant Hobbyists and Lowcountry Plant Swap. In these groups, people are kind and encouraging.

There is no judgment on these pages and I’ve seen really beautiful connections happen. One example: Years ago someone lost their whole indoor collection due to a house fire. People came out of the woodwork to offer cuttings and whole plants to help them restart their collection acknowledging that plants do, in fact, make people happy and can help heal from traumatic

events such as losing everything in a fire.

Plant swaps organized on these pages typically happen on a single day where people bring a plant to the event, can pick a plant and meet other people. There are other swaps like this one organized and hosted by Park Circle resident Glenn Cabaley — a hand-painted kiosk that’s a take-a-plant, leave-a-plant opportunity.

If there’s not one of these in your neck of the woods, why not start one?

There also are Facebook garden clubs in many neighborhoods and parts of town sharing tips and plants for the outdoors.

A quick search will offer nearby options.

Opportunities IRL (In Real Life)

Newcomers frequently comment on how different the flora are here and how different it would be to start a garden in terms of planting times and seasonality.

Clubs

If you are looking to start a garden here and the climate is different from what you are used to, we highly recommend Rita’s Roots Garden Grower’s Club. It is packed with so much content, opportunities to ask questions and chances to connect with a members’-only page that will help you start gardening like a Lowcountry native. Rita can also be hired for at-home assessments, consultations and even help build your vision.

The Charleston Horticultural Society, founded in 1999, offers a lecture series, native plant sale event and an informative newsletter that tells you what you should be doing in your garden that month.

Community gardens

Many neighborhoods have their own community gardens and what better way to

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meet new neighbors than to get involved, volunteer and share in the bounty. Search for one online or ask a neighbor.

The Green Heart Project offers many volunteer opportunities to help build and maintain urban gardens at schools. These gardens help enrich students’ STEM experiences and connect them to how food is grown.

For indoor plant enthusiasts, Roadside Blooms offers an in-person plant series called Plantmate. It’s held twice a year and is a four-month plant club in which each class offers a new more challenging plant to help build skills and confidence. Participants learn about its natural history, how to care for and propagate it. Before and after class, participants mingle and get to know one another.

Workshops

There are lots of opportunities for single-event indoor plant workshops. In

addition to Roadside Blooms offerings that are held in-shop and at local breweries, Plant House in Mount Pleasant offers interactive workshops and walk-in DIY terrarium building. Abide a While also offers workshops of all kinds almost year round.

Whether you are new to the area or were born here, it’s never too late to engage with your community and to meet new friends.

Plant communities are filled with kind and encouraging people of all ages and backgrounds and would be a great place to build new friendships.

Toni Reale is the owner of Roadside Blooms, a unique flower and plant shop in Park Circle in North Charleston. It specializes in weddings, events and everyday deliveries using nearly 100% American- and locally grown blooms.

Online at www.roadsideblooms.com.

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A plant swap in Park Circle in North Charleston.

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