Philippe Feret: Hilton Head Social Bakery (Hilton Head Island, SC)

Do you ever consider going to Hilton Head Island, SC for a fresh-out-of-the-oven French baguette or a raspberry tart that’s perhaps gilded with gold flakes and filled with lemon curd? Maybe not, but you might want to reconsider because Hilton Head Social Bakery, with two locations on the island, has been baking that and much more since Chef Philippe Feret and his wife Marissa opened the bakery in 2016. Phillipe was an apprentice in his father's Paris bakery from the age of five, and he soon made restaurants his life, from the famous Parisian restaurant Taillevent, to New York City where he was enlisted to reopen Windows on the World in 1996. He subsequently served as executive chef at Tavern on the Green, The Regency Hotel, Cafe Centro and eventually owned his own restaurant and catering for 15 years. The bakery and his life on Hilton Head seems his most joyous chapter yet, using his father’s croissant recipe, and also letting his creativity, enthusiasm for new flavor combinations, classic recipes, and the artistry of sugar work fill the pastry cases daily. He’s embraced the island life and given up his chef’s coat for shorts and t-shirts in the kitchen, but he admits he still dons it for special occasions. 

Episode with Philippe >

Jael Skeffington: French Broad Chocolates (Asheville, NC)

Jael Skeffington is the co-founder and CEO of French Broad Chocolates in Asheville, NC. What started in 2006 as a chocolate passion and a cafe in Costa Rica with her partner Dan, has grown to 85 employees, a Chocolate Lounge & Boutique in downtown Asheville, and an experiential Chocolate Factory & Cafe. French Broad sources the finest cacao from farmers and producers in Costa Rica, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Perú and transforms it into 50 tons of chocolate a year. They sell not only their bean-to-bar and craft chocolates online but also to wholesale partners, and they directly wholesale chocolate to other artisans, from chefs to coffee brewers, Her in-house products have won numerous Good Food Awards, and in short, Jael’s world is chocolate-fueled, fueling community, a life full of flavor and connection, and the delicious potential in every day.

Episode with Jael >

William Dissen: The Market Place (Asheville, NC)

Passion for your work can give you energy to do more than you ever dreamed you’d have time for. That’s the case for William Dissen, chef of The Market Place in Asheville, NC, which this year, its 45th in operation, was named a semifinalist for Outstanding Restaurant by the James Beard Foundation. William began honing his skills through study at the Culinary Institute of America and in various kitchens, including the Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia, and the beloved but now closed Cypress in Charleston, SC. In addition to another restaurant venture, Billy D’s Fried Chicken, he has a big life outside the kitchen as well. He’s a member of the U.S. State Department’s American Chefs Corps, a “Seafood Watch Ambassador” for the Monterey Bay Aquarium, on the board of the University of South Carolina’s School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, and now, a cookbook author with Thoughtful Cooking: Recipes Rooted in the New South. Granted, it’s an unusual title for a man who always seems on the go, but because of his style of cooking, he’s always looking to nature and the seasons, which tell him to slow down and notice. It’s a practice he actively cultivates. Take one bite of his food, and that’s evident -- there’s a point of view and a grounded ethos behind every dish.

Episode with William >