taste OF DINING
ONE HOT MAMA’S The Lowcountry’s ambassador to the culinary world, One Hot Mama’s, enters its most exciting chapter yet. BY BARRY KAUFMAN PHOTOS BY ROB KAUFMAN
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TASTEOFHILTONHEAD.COM
Over the years, One Hot Mama’s has come to mean so much more than just a restaurant to locals. In its earliest incarnation at the edge of a Bluffton strip mall, it was that mouth-watering barbecue spot you’d tell all your friends about, then meet them for a few late-night drinks. When it moved to Reilley’s Plaza in 2007, it served as the vanguard of a reinvention of the old “Barmuda Triangle” into a more family-friendly destination. (OK, so there were still bartenders dancing on the bar, but you could bring the family there during the day). With their latest move, just a few yards up Greenwood Drive at Park Plaza, the long-running evolution of One Hot Mama’s may have reached its peak form. “I’ve always said since day one that when you come into my restaurant, I always want you to feel like you’re coming into my house,” said Orchid Paulmeier, owner and namesake of One Hot Mama’s. “If you know Filipinos, you know you’re not going to leave hungry. And we’re probably going to send you home with a few to-go containers.” That welcoming sense of hospitality, fostered in Paulmeier’s family home, has always served as the defining thread that has run through every iteration of her restaurant. While the hospitality may come from the Filipino side of Paulmeier’s upbringing, the food has always been a celebration of the South’s singular culinary heritage, with pitmaster-crafted barbecue,