Tapas Restaurant The Island's Fabulous Taste of Paradise. In 1992, a 7.3 magnitude earthquake shook Southern California early one June morning. The tremblor was enough to rattle Ardis Matthews and her husband, Max, into travelling across the country “to fabulous places, none of which were exactly right.” But, as it turns out so many times in life, the road less traveled, led to the most adventure. When the Matthews were in Charleston “we were sitting in a bar being friendly,” laughs Ardis. “We were talking to a nice couple from Hilton Head about our trip to Savannah. They said Hilton Head was right on the way, just make a left and go over a bridge.” The Matthews fell in love with the Island immediately. “It reminded us of our old home in California.” After trading one paradise for another, and replacing surprise earthquakes with preemptive hurricane warnings, Ardis had to find out what to do with herself. Ardis is perpetually jovial and enthusiastic. She is enthusiastic about
anything. Anything. Every new experience is “exciting”, “cool” or “fabulous”. Every past experience, even if it was less than grand, has one little slice of humor, wisdom or combination of the two. She is sweet, sassy and indefatigable. She doesn’t fear change, she embraces it. “This is all learning by doing,” she says of her extensive menu. “Except that I did have a fabulous […there’s that word again, ‘fabulous’…] opportunity to take cooking classes with some of the greatest chefs of the
1980’s in California.” Wolfgang Puck, Bert Greene and Julia Childs among them. “It was mostly fun. And the main thing I learned from these classes was, ‘I can do this.’” To Ardis, the best cooking she comes up with is “looking around that kitchen and reinventing the same ingredients over and over and over again. I’m not classically trained, I just makes what tastes good. And fortunately it seems to taste good to other people too.” Besides food that tastes good, the good food changes all the time. “There are certain items I would never take off the menu. I like the classics, but then I like totally wacky new flavors.” Ardis reflects and then starts laughing again, “And then I like the stuff in between! I don’t know! I like food! Anything but beets!” You can’t help but smile in her presence.
Visit us at our new location in Port Royal Plaza near Sam’s Club.
Chef/Owner Ardis Matthews has been featured in Bon Appetit Magazine!
Serving Dinner Nightly From 5 p.m. - til’ *Catering Available
Visit us at our new location in Port Royal Plaza Near Sam’s Club 95 Mathews Drive, Suite B5, Hilton Head, SC 29926
(843) 681-8590
Complimentary House Wine • 2 glasses per person maximum with minimum food purchase of $16 per person • Not valid with any other offers • Must present ad when ordering *A 15% Gratuity will be added to the pre-discounted total
S c a l l o p s • E s c a r g o t • Fi l e t M i g n o n • Tuna
L o b s t e r Th e r m a d o r e • S h r i m p • A l l i g a t o r
Award Winning She Crab Soup • Crab Rangoon • Quail • Lamb
Fr i e d G r e e n To m a t o e s • S a l m o n • C h i c k e n • Po r k • D u c k • Ve a l • Ti l a p i a ATASTEOFHILTONHEAD.COM
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