The Water is Wide: Jesse Sandole

THE WATER IS WIDE The son of a seafood legend, Jesse Sandole followed a coastal path from Nantucket to Charleston to chart his own course.

Today, his two 167 Raw outposts combine new-school versions of briny classics with effortless hospitality and a solid sense of his seaside homes.

fresh catch from two

N A N T U C K E T, CHARLESTON,

PORTS OF CALL

MASSACHUSETTS SOUTH

CAROLINA

THE WATER IS WIDE The son of a seafood legend, Jesse Sandole followed a coastal path from Nantucket to Charleston to chart his own course.

Today, his two 167 Raw outposts combine new-school versions of briny classics with effortless hospitality and a solid sense of his seaside homes.

fresh catch from two

N A N T U C K E T, CHARLESTON,

PORTS OF CALL

MASSACHUSETTS SOUTH

CAROLINA

During the summer in Nantucket, 167 Raw is home to a fish market, a raw bar and a food truck.

Located thirty miles off the coast of Massachusetts,

Nantucket seems far-removed from the cobblestone

father. As a result, nearly every Nantucket landmark that

streets of Charleston, South Carolina. And yet the coastal

holds significance for Jesse is related to the water and

cousins share more similarities than one might think. Both

those experiences—from Great Point Lighthouse, where

are high-traffic tourist destinations whose sometimes luxe

Bill first started scalloping, to the waters off Madaket

reputations are anchored by strong local communities

Beach, where Bill famously caught the haul of striped bass

characterized by a salty-sweet outlook that comes from

that set his wholesale business in motion.

life beside the sea. Both have long, rich histories filled

with tragedy and triumph and revival. Another thing they

grow and evolve to suit the changing times. When he was

fresh catch, known as 167 Raw.

growing up, and later during college breaks, he performed

Born and raised in Nantucket, Jesse found his way to

a variety of roles: he washed dishes, worked on boats, cut

Charleston during college. It was love at first sight. “I had

fish and prepped ceviche, bluefish patê and other fresh-

a week off from school, so some friends and I drove down

made grocery items to be sold in the market.

and ended up staying the entire week,” he says. “I remem-

ber popping a bottle of champagne on Folly Beach and it

Eventually, Jesse began to consider those moments

as more than just a side gig on the path toward adulthood.

was 75 degrees on Easter Sunday, and I’m thinking, ‘I need

What if, he wondered, he could take the lessons he

more of this.’ I transferred to the College of Charleston the

learned from dad and make a go of selling seafood full-

next semester and the rest is pretty much history.”

Jesse was also a regular fixture around his dad’s

shop, then called 167 Seafood, and witnessed the business

have in common? Jesse Sandole and his two temples to

Jesse was raised in the waterman tradition of his

time? There was a lot he knew he could do to build onto

When he arrived, there was a ready-made crew of

his dad’s Nantucket market. And, he believed, Charleston

familiar faces to receive him. Many of them were either

was primed for the same kind of thing.

friends from home who had ventured South first, or part of

an older generation of Nantucket emigreés and summer

His dad wasn’t so sure at first. Turning your passion

into a profession isn’t always an easy endeavor—or a

regulars who paved the trail between the two cities in

financially stable one—especially when it comes to the

the late 1970s. “Whether it was my friends’ parents, older

business of selling seafood. But Jesse forged ahead and

kids I knew growing up or people from Charleston, like

opened 167 Raw in a tiny storefront on East Bay Street in

[restaurateur] Hank Holliday, who used to paint houses

Charleston in 2014. He took the reins of his dad’s shop in

up in Nantucket and now has a house up there, I knew a lot

Nantucket shortly thereafter.

of people,” he says. “There’s always been this connection

between Nantucket and Charleston.” And, of course, nearly all of them knew Jesse’s dad.

Bill Sandole is a Nantucket institution. He started out

“PEOPLE WHO ARE PART OF OUR

selling seafood wholesale toward the end of the 1970s. Over the ensuing years, he grew frustrated with the instability

TEAM WILL OFTEN BE IN NEW

by seasonal tourism, but the demand for his speciality

ENGLAND FOR SUMMER AND

of the business as Nantucket became increasingly driven

seafood never wavered and the people who had tasted it

THEN MOVE DOWN SOUTH TO

had so many back-door retail customers, people who were

WORK IN THE WINTER. IT’S NOT

elsewhere began asking to buy from him directly. “He

clamoring for whatever he would sell them,” Jesse says.

VACATION, BUT IT’S DEFINITELY A

in the early 1990s, he already had a backlog of people lined

FUN NEW OUTLET.”

“By the time he finally gave in and opened a retail store, up, thrilled to go in the front door.”

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Jesse Sandole at the Nantucket spot that started it all.

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A corner pocket fronts a painstakingly preserved interior brick wall at 167 Raw in Charleston.

The back courtyard just off of lower King Street.

“I’ve been here fourteen years now, and I’ve always

space to grow the business set in not long after Jesse

Nantucket,” Jesse says. “The seafood comparables are

The hunt for the perfect spot took two years. And once

been struck by the parallels between Charleston and

opened the doors on East Bay, and he began searching.

different though. We’re used to big industry in New

he finally settled on the new location, a landmark building

England, with tons of fishing boats and multiple ports—

on lower King Street that had previously housed a beloved

down here, it’s a bit different and you have to work a little

Italian restaurant, it took another two years to complete

bit harder to get really great product.”

construction and restoration on the building.

Jesse’s original idea to create a take-away market

in Charleston similar to the Nantucket business met

establishment, growing his team and strengthening the

with challenges from the beginning. “We were learning

connections between both locations. “People who are part

what worked and didn’t as we went along,” Jesse says.

of our team will often be in New England for summer and

“Ultimately, the problems were mostly good ones—people

then move down South to work in the winter,” Jesse says.

loved coming in and just wanted to stay and eat rather

“It’s not vacation, but it’s definitely a fun new outlet.”

than pick up items and take them home.” He was nimble,

quickly adjusting the offerings and transforming the space

When the dust finally settled on the new King Street

location in early 2020 and Jesse welcomed guests to the

into a restaurant to suit his customers. “I just refused to

new and improved 167 Raw Charleston, the results were

give up,” he says. His head-down determination, confident

clearly worth the wait. Throngs of eager diners filled the

leadership and willingness to pitch in when staff was

tables, bar stools and outdoor courtyard to sip a newly

short—all buoyed by an enthusiastic and infinitely patient

introduced slate of craft cocktails and feast on crudo,

crowd of repeat patrons—kept the ship afloat.

In the interim, he kept working on the Nantucket

crispy oysters, pastrami’d swordfish and Baha-inspired

The sense that he would have to move to a larger

specialities like the house pork carnitas.

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The 167 Raw food truck is a familiar sight around Nantucket.

Fresh selects at the ready in Charleston.

The design is as enticing as the menu. Interior

designer Kathleen Hay, a family friend with whom Jesse

had worked on his Nantucket house, helped define the

aesthetic that brought Jesse’s vision to life. And no detail was too small for their attention. They removed wooden

walls to expose antique bricking, only to have the bricks

“WHEN PEOPLE FROM

removed and restacked by hand to ensure structural

support, something Jesse shows off with pride. They

NANTUCKET COME IN TO 167

nautical-meets-downtown vibe throughout the indoor and

RAW IN CHARLESTON I LOVE

commissioned multiple Urban Electric designs to create a outdoor spaces. Old medicine bottles excavated during

SEEING THEIR REACTION. THEY

the building’s earliest use as a pharmacy. Wooden beams

ARE SURPRISED AND ALSO NOT—

the build-out are on display in the dining room, signalling

pulled from the ceiling during an effort to raise them higher

SOMEHOW IT SEEMS FAMILIAR TO

style walls. A rear Dutch door leading from the kitchen

THEM, EVEN THOUGH IT'S THEIR

were repurposed to refinish floors and create shiplapto the outdoor bar calls to mind boats and beach houses

FIRST TIME HERE.”

in equal measure, and custom azure tiles surrounding the massive oven in the open kitchen pay homage to the

water that inspired it all. And, of course, Jesse brought the long wooden bench that served as overflow seating at the

East Bay location to line the courtyard wall. The overall effect is an organic blending of old and new, Nantucket and Charleston, in a way that feels fresh and nostalgic and totally relevant.

“When people from Nantucket come in, I love seeing

their reaction,” Jesse says. “They are surprised and also not—somehow it seems familiar to them, even though it’s their first time here.”

Transformation and evolution are in the Sandole

DNA, but beneath the surface Jesse remains rooted in the

same values and sense of purpose that drove his father to devote his life to sharing fresh seafood with friends decades ago. “My dad’s always doing something,” Jesse says. “His new thing is baking. In addition to his signature clam sauce that we have him make, he brings us banana bread every morning in the summer.”

That’s how it is at 167 Raw, regardless of location. At

the end of the day, the business is personal and everyone— from the chefs to the customers to the fishermen stocking the coolers—is part of the family.

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Snapshots from the family business.