How Workshop Brought More Diversity to Charleston’s Culinary Scene

Workshop from restaurateur Michael Shemtov and chef Jonathan Ory opened as a fancy food court full of “multiple chef-driven restaurant concepts.” The plan was to have a rotating roster of five food vendors with tenancies varying from one to 12 months. The Workshop would be a first for Charleston. The food hall just passed its year anniversary, so here’s a look back on how it got here.

June 2014

Butcher & Bee owner Michael Shemtov announced provision store The Daily opening at 652 King St. and a bakery/café located in the Half Mile North named The Workshop. The new NoMo addition was planned to be home to the baking operations for the group of eateries and other restaurants that B&B supplies. The space was to be a destination for those seeking breakfast, lunch, or coffee in the North Morrison area of town.

LS3P

November 2015

Chef Jonathan Ory of Chicago’s Bad Wolf Coffee fame relocated to Charleston to build a fancy food hall Pacific Box & Crate, from the makers of Butcher & Bee. The focus of the new establishment was on tenants with exciting menus and regular rotations of new and different concepts.

January 2016

While working on the Butcher & Bee Nashville location, Shemtov was also thinking of his ongoing project Workshop in the NoMo neighborhood of Charleston. He was building Workshop to be a bigger, better version of Butcher & Bee, so he decided that it should become Butcher & Bee. ”The more I thought about it, the more it made sense,” says Shemtov, “We are taking what people love about the Bee and giving them more of it, while also addressing requests from our guests for dinner service, more private tables, and adult beverages.”

As for Workshop, the name transferred to Shemtov’s pending 1505 King St. project Pacific Box & Crate. Shemtov thought the name and branding work would the upcoming fancy food court, since chefs would be able to visit to “workshop” new ideas and the whole concept serves as a studio of new proposals for Charleston area.

May 2017

Fancy food court Workshop unlocked the doors to introduce its first round of chef-driven food stalls. The early rotating roster of food vendors included Vietnamese eatery Pink Bellies, Korean-influenced Kite Noodles, and grown-up sandwich shop JD Loves Cheese.

Bad Wolf Coffee, Brooklyn pizza eatery Slice Co., and Tex-Mex from pitmaster John Lewis, Juan Luis joined shortly after.

Instagram falls in love with the new food offerings.

June 2017

Chefs Philip Powers, Ray England, and Katy Keefe unleashed their Jewish deli pop-up, Pigeonhole to high demand.

And Beyond

Since opening, Workshop has been host to Sambar (Indian cuisine), Slider Gold (Japanese snacks), Fowl Mouth (rotisserie chicken), Koa Bowls (poke), Spanglish (Cuban food), Pool Bar (summery cocktails), and Effin B Radio Headquarters (bar and snacks).

The latest entries to the mix will be: Japanese tavern Sushi-Wa Izakaya, operated by chef Kazu Murakami and Chris Schoedler, serving chirashi, sushi, and sake; and salad spot Verde. These will open the first week of June.

• More Details on The Daily; Announcing The Workshop [ECHS]
• Jonathan Ory Seeking Tenants for Food Court Wonderland in Charleston [ECHS]
• Butcher & Bee Moving Up to a Bigger and Better Space on Morrison Drive [ECHS]
• Workshop Takes Over Charleston Instagram Feeds [ECHS]
• Jewish Deli Pop-Up Packed in the Crowds at Workshop [ECHS]