WHAT’S NEW UNDER THE SUN
Santa Fe Café Hilton Head Island’s long-time mainstay for mouthwatering Mexican-American fusion, tries on a new top. BY BARRY KAUFMAN • PHOTOS BY ROB KAUFMAN
After a long brutal winter, one that saw snow (SNOW!) blanket Hilton Head Island, spring has finally arrived, leaving everyone itching to get out there and melt away those frigid memories. As you indulge in your annual return to al fresco dining, you’ll have a gorgeous new spot to bask in the Hilton Head sun as the famed rooftop terrace at Santa Fe Café rolls out its gorgeous new look. Gone is the seldom-used kitchen, cleared out to make room for expansive lounging and high-top seating options. The corner bar has been turned to create a more inviting, open-kitchen feel, with Corian counters set against white pine for a casually elegant look. The flooring has been completely replaced, with tiles in smoky charcoal mimicking the look of hardwood. But these are all material changes – what has truly reinvigorated this space is new feeling of openness. Lounge areas set before a massive 55-inch TV have created an entirely new experience here, one that takes full advantage of the massive canopy of sky overhead. “We were long overdue,” said Santa Fe Café owner Marshall Sampson. “It’s been 13 years since we’ve done anything up here… It came out better than I expected. We really expanded the space.” As we spoke, Sampson was perched on a high-top chair as construction buzzed around him. The finishing touches were being put on the patio, with crews from Lowcountry Electronics finishing up wiring the TV and sound system. Those crews were the last of a legion of workers who had been diligently reinventing this space since November (with a few breaks in between thanks to mother nature). 12
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“We were supposed to be done a while ago, but the weather didn’t cooperate. Like, at all,” laughed Sampson. Rebuilding a rooftop terrace amid an unprecedented subtropical snow storm is certainly a challenge, but it helps when your contractors have a vested interest in making the best dining experience. “We kept it local – it’s all people who come into the restaurant to eat,” said Sampson. He gives credit to customer/ contractors like Amanda Costa who worked on the tiles, Stacy Peacock who installed it, Bob and Mary Slack of Creative Structures and Jonathan Lancaster at Millworks who did the cabinets. “Everyone had a stake in it, which made it even more special,” he said. Considering it started out as a sketch on a scrap of paper, skillfully interpreted by architect Mark Brummer, the results are astounding. And what’s more, it’s a monumental change for a restaurant that has always prided itself on steady, incremental change “Every year, we close after Thanksgiving, so there’s always something going on every year,” said Sampson, citing small changes like new flooring or tabletops. “This building has been a restaurant for 25 years, so if you don’t do something every year to keep up, it will show.” It’s a smart attitude to take toward change – when he first took over as owner, Sampson says he tried his best not to change anything. “I’ve worked here a long time, I knew it worked and I knew that people had their favorites,” he said. “I wanted to show them that I wasn’t trying to change anything they liked.”