Southern Chefs
Atlanta Journal & Constitution, May, 1999, by Wendell Brock
As warm as a bowl of buttered grits, Hominy Grill may not
be Charleston, SC’s glitziest restaurant. But, then,
it doesn’t want to be.
After cooking with some of the South’s best chefs and
working at some of New York’ s trendiest joints, Robert
Stehling opened his own place in November 1996. Housed in
a charming two-story shotgun dwelling than used to be a barbershop,
the restaurant has been a pioneer in the redevelopment of
the city’s Cannonborough district.
Though just a few blocks away from the city’s tony
fine-ding scene, Hominy Grill is worlds away philosophically.
In the hands of Stehling, who cooks with historical integrity
and a strong sense of place, old favorites such as sautéed
chicken livers a fried catfish suddenly seem new again. No
quick-wilted collards in olive oil for him: "I want to cook
them until they taste like a mouth full of crushed velvet.
"
Age: 36
Hometown: Greensboro, N.C.
Home life: married to Nunally Kersh, producer
of Spoleto Festival USA.
Specialties of the house:Stehling uses seasonal,
indigenous ingredients to create contemporary comfort food
with an edge-of-the-tropics feel.
Some good choices: avocado & wehani rice
salad with grilled vegetables; fried chicken with spiced peach
sauce, mashed potatoes & collard greens; grilled shrimp
with charred green-tomato relish and backed cheese grits.
His buttermilk pie was recently featured in fine cooking magazine.
Style of cooking: "I like to describe it as
neighborhood cooking"
Early KP: "I started frying eggs and boiling
hot dogs when I was really, really little. We used to pull
everything out from under the counter and make imaginary meals
for "the king" on rainy days: box cake with purple & green
icing."
Background: Started out washing dishes at Crook’s
Corner in Chapel Hill, NC with the late Bill Neal, the legendary
chef and cookbook writer who was key to putting New South
cuisine on the map. When Stehling left six years later, in
1987, he was running the kitchen. He also has worked at Ben
Barker’s Magnolia Grill in Durham, NC and at Arizona
206 & Cafe, Sarabeth’s Monkey Bar and Home, all
in New York. An art major, he never finished college or attended
culinary school.
What spices could you not live without? "Ham
hocks" Um, but that’s not a spice. No matter: "Ham hocks
and red pepper flakes are probably the things I could not
do without.
Free time: Mowing the lawn. Recently bought
at 1969 Plymouth Barracuda.
At home I like to eat: "Simple grilled fish
with beans & rice , tortillas & a salad."
Three things in home refrigerator: "Water,
rotten vegetables and Nunally’s leftovers."
Whom would you most like to cook for and what would
you prepare? "I think it would be fun to cook for Julia
Child. I would probably cook something like a hamburger or
tuna salad, because I know whe would not turn her nose up
at it."
What would you like for your last meal? "Bacon &
eggs, a good hearty breakfast to face the afterworld -- or
underworld -- with."
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