MEET THE
MAKERS Area restaurants depend on a small army of farmers and producers to keep their dishes delicious and their patrons fed. Come meet a few of the folks behind the ingredients. BY BARRY KAUFMAN • PHOTOS BY ROB KAUFMAN
Penny Acre Microgreens
Think of the best meal you ever had on Hilton Head Island. Whether it was a sizzling steak or a delicately prepared filet of locally caught fish, each ingredient in every memorable bite has a story to tell. It may be the chef who brought them all together, serving as the conductor to this symphony of flavor, but every player in the orchestra played a part in your enjoyment. As “eat local” has evolved from a tenet of niche restaurants to a vital part of the dining experience, the number of local purveyors has grown exponentially. Especially around here. The Lowcountry is a region rich with resources. Its waters teem with seafood of every stripe, and in its soil you’ll find some of the finest farming on earth. Join us on a journey around your plate, to meet the folks behind the ingredients that come together to make one amazing meal. 42
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To think – some of the tastiest dishes in the Lowcountry just wouldn’t be the same if Rita Godfrey had decided to build a she-shed. “It’s not just a living, it’s my therapy,” she said, of the lush microgreens she grows in the outbuilding on her Ridgeland farm that was almost a she-shed. “We grow quite a few microgreens in here. It used to be sunflower and pea shoots, but some of the chefs that are more into different things like beets and wasabi and nasturtium.” Godfrey began Penny Acre, her microgreens farm which supplies restaurants and farmers markets around the Lowcountry, after seeing a lack of the nutritious little sprouts around town. “One day I thought, ‘I love to garden, and I have tons of flowers. Why can’t I grow microgreens?’ So I did an online course,” she said, “We threw away quite a bit of microgreens at first. They’re very meticulous little plants. They like the heat, humidity, and temperature exactly right… You can’t just put them in a tray and expect them to grow.” Having perfected the art, you can find Penny Acre microgreens across the Lowcountry and at pennyacremicrogreens.com.
