10 Questions: Chef Katherine Fridl

Chef Katherine Fridl and nephew, Chef John "Nino" Waterloo

(Lake City, SC) Welcome, fellow foodies.  This post is an informal Q&A with the winner of the Inaugural Taste the South – Best Chef Competitionthis spring, Chef Katherine Fridl. Katherine is chef and co-owner of Foodscapes, a market and restaurant in Lake City, South Carolina.   Blazing the trail for her colleagues in the areas of promotion of local ingredients and cooking with seasonal options, Foodscapes concept is simple, but very true to her culinary vision.

She’s a foodie and she’s here on PeeDeeFoodie.com.  I hope you enjoy the interview.

10 – PDF:  As the winner of Best Chef, Foodscapes and your work was recently featured across the region. How did that make you feel?  Has it changed your daily routine or approach to your food in any way?

FRIDL: I was completely thrilled, especially to win amongst a pool of very talented chefs and restaurants. The win reconfirmed that the Foodscapes concept of fresh-seasonal-locally grown might just catch on.

9 – PDF:  For PeeDeeFoodie.com readers not familiar with Foodscapes, would you explain the concept behind it?  The goals you have for it?

FRIDL: Foodscapes is a café/restaurant inside of a market.  Our goal is to keep your food as close from the farm to your table as possible.  We have an open kitchen so our customers can see where everything they are eating comes from, how it is prepared.  It also allows our customers to interact with the kitchen.  It just a fun and funky little hang out that happens to be clean with fabulous fresh food and great service!

8 – PDF:  You seem to love what you do, as evidenced by our conversation at Best Chef, though you probably didn’t know it was me.  Was it inevitable that you would do what you do? Did you always want to be a chef?  Were you always a foodie, in general?

FRIDL: I still don’t know which one you were!  I absolutely love what I do.  Not only because of the food, but also the wonderful people I get to interact with on a daily basis.  (Hence the open kitchen) I have always been creative, so my career as an accountant was NOT a good fit.

My creative outlet and hobby was dining out and travel.  I am not a picky eater so I would immerse myself into whatever the newest restaurant, beach shack or roadside stand had to offer. So yes, I have always been a foodie, People see dandelions and think weeds.  I see dandelions and think yummy salad. The sight of fresh eggs, these glorious brown ovals of buttery goodness give me goose bumps.  I guess I am officially a Food Geek!

7 – PDF:   What’s your background?  Have you had formal training or are you self-taught?

FRIDL: I do have formal culinary training where I did learn the necessary basic skills. My true culinary skills and tastes have evolved through my extensive travels. I am an adventurous traveler and am not afraid to venture out and mingle with the locals. A cab driver in Antigua took me home to his family where I shopped at the local markets with his wife and cooked a traditional lunch side by side with her. I have caught lobsters with my bare hands and grilled them over a fire pit in Buccaneers Creek VI. Milked goats and made cheese in the Austrian Alps. Prepared wild boar in Yugoslavia. Caught and prepared octopus in Sicily with the local fisherman.

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6 – PDF:  On to something that is important to me, and to you as well, I believe — Certified SC Grown produce.  At Best Chef, Foodscapes was the only restaurant displaying the logo, at least best that I can remember.  Why is the use of fresh, local, seasonal produce so important to you and integral to your food?

FRIDL: Foodscapes believes that great menus start with wholesome, naturally produced ingredients and is committed to sourcing those ingredients whenever possible from local family farms and artisan producers who practice traditional, sustainable agriculture.  Foodscapes believes that in doing so we can help in a small way to improve not only the quality of the things we eat, but also the health and well being of our planet.

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Foodscapes was the first restaurant in Florence County recognized by the South Carolina of Agriculture for their participation in the Fresh from the Menu program.  The abundance of produce, poultry and seafood in the Pee Dee area made it a natural choice for me.  Mother Nature knows what she is doing and she simply makes my job easier.

I don’t think that it is a coincidence that we have an increase of children with ADD.  ADHD, Asthma, Autism and premature today.  I believe that the preservatives, hormones and antibiotics in our foods have a huge link.

Most importantly our menu is constantly changing based on what we can get from the season.  This keeps our chefs excited about food.  An excited chef prepares exciting food.

FRIDL: I am very fortunate that one of the results of working with farmers over the past year is that they are now asking what I would like them to grow … How cool is that?  [Some include] Stan McKenzie Farms (Olanta), Moore Farms (Lake City), Black Pudding Farms – organic (Lake City), Kurios Farm- hydroponics (Moncks Corner), Caw Caw Creek, Anson Mills, Harvest Fields – heirloom, Ricky Burch (Brown Town), and Sally Haynes Herbs (Lake City).

And most importantly all local farmers markets … Pee Dee State Farmers Market and the National Bean Market Museum farmers market.  Rumor has it that I have been labeled “The Cleaner” because I show up late at the market and take whatever they have left.  I can’t bear to see a vegetable go to waste!  I also have a open door policy to all farmers small or large so if your Aunt Betty has great tomatoes, send her my way!

I would like to find more local artisan producers.  Pickles, Jams etc.  The problem is that these items must be prepared in a DHEC certified kitchen.  I am willing to trade use of my kitchen (create a co-op kitchen) at night to anyone who has a business that would like to expand to selling at Farmers Markets in exchange for retail sales and discounts on their products.

Fresh Veggies at Foodscapes

4 – PDF:  What advice to you have for Jane and Joe Foodie, like me and Mrs. PDF, who are trying to both balance the budget and locate and use quality, local ingredients in our meals? How do you balance cost vs. quality — is there really a trade-off involved?

FRIDL: Don’t be fooled to think that local product costs less than your grocery store.  In most cases it will be competitive because cleaner food is more labor intensive and both the farmers and myself don’t have the buying volume to compete with corporate farms.

Grow your own.  For example all the landscaping at Foodscapes is edible. Not only does it look great, smell great, it tastes great!

SC Produce Availability Chart - Click to Review, Save or Print

Eat what is in season. Two websites that are very helpful in identifying harvest times are attached.

The trade off is you have cleaner food.  Fresher food, tastier food.  You are keeping your money in your own community.  Finally, the few extra dollars you may spend now for preservative free food will pay compared to the thousands you will be paying later for your healthcare.

3 – PDF:  On a more personal note, what do you find to be the most fulfilling part of being a chef?  What are the most challenging aspects these days?

FRIDL: The biggest challenge for me was overcoming the label as a “Healthy” restaurant.  People ran from this label assuming that we served rabbit greens with tofu.  The most fulfilling part is having people trust me as a chef, breaking through and showing people that healthier food can be both satisfying and delicious.  We have cheeses, meats, everything you can get in other restaurants.  We just seek out cleaner versions of those foods.

Foodscapes' Shirmp & Grits. A true classic that took home the top prize at Best Chef.

2 – PDF:  Foodscapes is obviously hit its stride, given the win at Best Chef. What do you plan to top that success?  Do you have any specific goals for the coming year or two?  Is there anything you’d like to share here, by way of announcements?

FRIDL: We are going to continue to do what we are doing.  Hopefully find new sources for local product.

We would like to start our Theme Night Thursdays again in the Fall.  On Thursday nights we highlight foods from a country or a region. Floribbean a mix of Florida and Caribbean food was one of our best.

We will also be opening at night for cooking lessons.  Good fun for a bachelorette party, dinner club etc.  The most demanded class has been from the men of our area who would like to learn sauces to enhance all that wild game they are grilling.

1 – PDF:  Here are a few Rapid Fire questions …

(1)  What’s your favorite breakfast meal? Anything that has to do with an egg. Smoked Salmon would be second.

(2)  When you’re not in the kitchen, where do you like to dine out? I dine wherever I hear a buzz about. I want something different and am always searching for the next great place.

(3)  If you could work in or run any kitchen in the world, where would it be? I would run a conch shack in the Caribbean wearing flip-flops and shorts.

(4)  Who is your favorite chef, celebrity or otherwise? Anthony Bourdain.  I love his sarcasm and wit.  He is much like me in my travels.  I don’t think food has to be complicated to be good.

Bonus 1 – PDF:  What’s your personal definition of a “foodie”?  Has that population grown, in your opinion?  If so, why?

FRIDL:   Here is the scenario of a TRUE FOODIE dining out …
Waitron:   “What will you be having tonight?”
Foodie:     “Ask the chef to surprise me and do what he/she does best!”

Not only will you bring a small tear to the chef’s eye, the challenge excites us.  A foodie will find out what the restaurant or chef specializes in and order in that area.  Don’t go to the Seafood house and order a steak and then complain that it sucked!   I am excited to see more dinner clubs organizing.  I think the popularity of Food Network and celebrity chefs have exposed people to such a variety of foods that they have never had the opportunity to try.  They seek out chef like myself, give me a theme and say go for it!  I love that!

Bonus 2:  We’ve reached the last question for this interview.  With the spotlight on you recently, have you developed any specific advice for aspiring chefs and restaurateurs out there?  Any words of advice for those seeking to win Best Chef next year?

FRIDL: Get the romance of this business out of your head.  This is hard work, long hours and a million headaches.  Get your foot in the door and be prepared to work your butt off.  Good work ethic, dependability are key.  Next years’ competitors should do what they do best.  Stay true to your style and HAVE FUN!

Visit Chef Katherine Fridl at Foodscapes in Lake City, South Carolina.   When you order, just say “Ask the chef to surprise me and do what she does best!”

Click to Visit Foodscapes on Facebook

144 Clifton Road
Lake City, SC 29560
843-374-(YUMM) 9866
843-374-9867  Fax

Open 7 Days a week
Monday t0 Saturday:  10:00am to 10:00pm,  Sunday Brunch:  10:00am to 3:00pm

Foodscapes is a fly-in restaurant.  Lake City Airport (51J), Frequency 122.9