A serene, sylvan setting and a radical approach to city planning have made Greenville, South Carolina, a surprising new hot spot.
Joe Clarke, chef-owner of American Grocery Restaurant in Greenville, a South Carolina native who worked in Hollywood for a dozen years, returned to the state with his wife in 2005. Back then, Greenville’s West End neighborhood, where he took over a boarded-up building, was somewhat down at the heels. Today, his place sits on a virtual restaurant row that’s soon to be inhabited by chef Sean Brock, whose Husk in Charleston was named by Bon Appétit as the Best New Restaurant in America in 2011.
My own path to Greenville began when I met the now-retired professional cyclist George Hincapie at an event in Tennessee. When he enthusiastically mentioned his adopted home, I nodded knowingly—then realized I knew nothing about it. Hincapie, who grew up in New York City, discovered Greenville when his brother moved to the area, and the cyclist quickly realized it would make a great place for his winter training. “You could be downtown and get to the mountains without hitting stoplights,” Hincapie said. Now he and his brother own Hotel Domestique, a château-inspired property in nearby Travelers Rest that’s perfectly placed to accommodate the new breed of visitor being drawn to the area. read more here: http://tandl.me/2bfw1hj
