Christine Cummings – Beaufort Way of life

The Smokehouse at Paris Avenue
Relationships Are Always on the Menu

story by HEATHER STEINBERGER        pictures by RICHARD STEINBERGER

The Smokehouse at Paris Avenue isn’t a flowery place. Customers step as much as the counter to order barbecue, seafood and Southern favorites, then discover a seat and settle in. Steaming plates arrive from the kitchen, the hum of dialog ebbs and flows, and proprietor Christine Cummings greets prospects with a heat smile.

“We have two regulars who come every Friday evening, sit in the same spot and order the same thing,” she says, smiling. “We’re a mom-and-pop shop, all day long.”

For Christine, these relationships are the center of The Smokehouse, a family-run restaurant she has owned since 2020. They are also a part of what she loves most about Port Royal, a village that has retained its robust sense of group at the same time as Beaufort County continues to develop and alter.

Christine is aware of the world properly. Born and raised in Beaufort, she graduated from Battery Creek High School in 1998 and attended the University of South Carolina Aiken earlier than transferring to South Carolina State University in Orangeburg.

“I studied business management for about three years, but then I decided to take a break,” she says. “I came home to Beaufort, then I moved to Texas to live with my brother.”

Jason Cummings, a educated chef who attended culinary college at Johnson & Wales University, was working in San Antonio. Christine says their time collectively launched her to the concept of cooking as a vocation.

“It was just the two of us, so I started tagging along to the restaurants where he worked,” she says, acknowledging that she by no means thought she would find yourself proudly owning a restaurant herself.

The siblings returned house to South Carolina, and in 2016, Jason took over Smokin’ Planks, a well-liked barbecue joint in Port Royal. He renamed it The Smokehouse at Paris Avenue, and for the higher a part of 4 years, enterprise was good.

“Then his wife got sick,” Christine remembers. “I’d been helping him out, and when he needed to step back, I took over. He’d invested so much. I didn’t want to see it fail.”

Her first day in cost occurred to be the identical day companies throughout South Carolina shut down. It was March 2020, and the COVID-19 pandemic upended day by day life nearly in a single day.

“That was crazy,” she says. “But people in this neighborhood, they knew my brother. They kept coming in and buying gift certificates.”

The Port Royal Community Beer Garden helped as properly. Located on an undeveloped tract of land close to Sands Beach, this out of doors gathering house allowed folks to purchase their drinks, sit at picnic tables and revel in meals from native eating places whereas visiting with buddies and listening to dwell music. It ran efficiently for about two and a half years.

“They really rally around businesses here,” Christine says of space residents. “They kept us going, although there were several times I thought we weren’t going to make it. I remember cooking ribs just to put the smell out in the neighborhood!”

She describes The Smokehouse’s path ahead as one filled with blood, sweat and tears, with no possibility however to deal with every new drawback because it got here.

“I had to take it one day at a time,” she says. “I created new systems, with a big focus on prep work, so we’d have everything we needed at the beginning of each week. And I had to make sure the quality was always good.”

As the pandemic receded, prospects returned to the restaurant in full drive. People had been keen to assemble across the tables once more, and earlier than lengthy, The Smokehouse was busier than ever.

Making positive her prospects can proceed to take pleasure in their favourite dishes is essential to Christine. Over the final six years, she has made a number of adjustments to the menu whereas staying true to its barbecue and soul-food roots.

Pulled pork and ribs stay highlights, however she has added wings, salads, specialty burgers and some of her personal specials. The menu additionally consists of shrimp, oysters and fish, together with conventional sides corresponding to fried okra, collard greens and crimson rice.

“It’s hard to say what’s most popular, because people order it all,” she says. “I can’t switch anything out!”

The Smokehouse is a part of the South Carolina BBQ Trail, a tourism map that identifies barbecue eating places throughout the state and helps introduce guests to native institutions they could in any other case miss. Christine estimates her buyer base is roughly half native and half guests, together with vacationers and cruise ship passengers.

No matter the place they arrive from, she needs them to really feel welcome. She says she realized at a younger age that good customer support is important, and she or he works onerous to instill that very same understanding in her workers.

“When I was growing up, you had to have good customer service,” she says. “I educate our staff about that, and about having a strong work ethic. We have a good team.”

She additionally has loads of household help. Her mom handles the paperwork, and her 16-year-old son helps wash dishes.
“There are always family dynamics, but we’ve bonded over it,” Christine says with fun. “My mom saved my butt, because she’s a stickler for details. I get that from her.”

Jason continues to be in Beaufort as properly, and his culinary experience is useful for The Smokehouse’s catering operation. Christine says they’ll put together the meats, seafood and different dishes prospects know from the restaurant, however catering orders aren’t restricted to the common menu.

“We want people to share their ideas,” she says. “My brother is a chef. He can do anything!”

One of Christine’s favourite catering relationships is with Backroads, an lively journey firm that provides guided biking, strolling and multi-adventure holidays. Its regional itineraries carry vacationers by coastal South Carolina, and Christine has catered particular occasions that mix meals with dwell music.

“I’ve met so many people that way, which I really enjoy,” she says. “It’s a positive relationship.”

Meeting and connecting with individuals are among the many finest components of a demanding job. The Smokehouse is open Wednesday by Saturday, however Christine says she is on website each day besides Sunday, usually placing in 12-hour days. When she does have time away, she prefers to maintain life easy.

“When I’m not here, I like hanging out with my son,” she says. “I’ll go to a movie, chill at the Sands or just rest.”

Like restaurant house owners all over the place, Christine is grappling with rising meals prices and has needed to elevate some menu costs. At the identical time, she is acutely aware of the purchasers who’ve supported The Smokehouse through the years.

“Costs are still going up, but relationships matter,” she says. “I’ve had to raise my prices a little, but I’m also willing to take some losses. I just can’t pass all of that along to my customers.”

Christine hasn’t forgotten how important these relationships had been when she took over The Smokehouse in 2020. They stay simply as essential at this time, whether or not she’s working alongside household, constructing her group or greeting acquainted faces.

She says that sense of connection extends far past the restaurant’s partitions, and it’s one thing she didn’t totally respect when she was rising up. She needed to transfer away after which return to see this little nook of the Lowcountry with recent eyes.

“The festivals, the street dances — there’s so much going on here, and there’s such a supportive, tight community,” she says. “Port Royal has a life of its own.”

For extra info, go to thesmokehouseatparisavenue.com.