Chef Lenny Russo
Chef Lenny Russo
What has Lenny Russo been up to? "I really got a nice start on the garden at my house. It's been great, wanna see pictures," Lenny asked me while we were sitting at Ngon Bistro yesterday. It's true, his garden looks real good.
The former Heartland chef, who's been working on a lot of different projects since closing his restaurant, including international assignments with the World Expo (last in Milan, next in Dubai) and consulting gigs all over the country, has been getting some good relaxing down-time in between gigs.
Though, that's all about to change, because Lenny Russo has accepted a position as Corporate Director of Food and Beverage Operations in Charleston, South Carolina.
But first, he's heading to Europe, like next week. He'll be giving a lecture at the Eating City Summer Campus in Paris, where they bring together thought leaders for better food systems. Then he's heading over to Normandy, for oysters, before going to Slovenia to visit Ana Roc, one of the best chefs in the world. Jealous? Yeah, me too, but it's his birthday, so.
Then, it's back to work. By August he'll be in South Carolina working on three different restaurants: Rutledge Cab Co., which is an updated diner concept with burgers and boozy shakes; Container Bar, which is a bar cut from shipping containers (so hot right now); and Harold's Cabin, a reimagining of an iconic Charleston grocery and lunch counter, which now features a 65 seat restaurant and bar, grab-n-go, and rooftop garden.
It's no small coincidence that these properties share some ownership by Mike Veeck and Bill Murray, known pals of Lenny who also have ownership in The St. Paul Saints and the Charleston RiverDogs together. Lenny says they asked him to come on board and help steer the ship, "I think there's some good opportunities here, they may want to franchise Rutledge once it gets streamlined. And Harold's Cabin has some great farmer relationships and they're really into the rooftop garden, so it could be something special."
He's got a six month starting contract and an apartment in the city. I had to ask: Come December when that contract comes up for review, is it possible he might not want to leave the sandy shores and come back North? "We'll see! My residency is still here, but anything's possible."
For now, I guess we'll just say ... see you later?
