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Antwan Smalls was deployed to Kuwait in 2020. The restaurant he owns with his family, My Three Sons of Charleston , was just settling into its new location on Dorchester Road. Smalls, who served in the Army before joining the Reserves, was overseas for nine months.
During that time, he was living in two worlds. When fellow troops went to bed, he would pull out his computer to manage food orders and catering gigs for the North Charleston restaurant. “I would literally go from the Army and I would put on my restaurant hat,” Smalls said.
Joining the military was an obvious path for Smalls, who attended Charleston Southern University on a football scholarship before enrolling in business school. He followed the footsteps of at least a dozen members of his family who previously served, including his mother, Lorraine. Charleston soul food restaurant receives $50K grant from national preservation nonprofit Lorraine Smalls grew up on Johns Island, where roaming the corn fields and picking fresh tomatoes sparked a love of food.
She decided she wanted to cook for a living in high school and enrolled in the Army after one year at South Carolina State. During basic training, Smalls recalls making meals for hundreds of troops every hour. She said she loved every minute of it.
“I had this master sergeant that was head of the kitchen, and I told him what I wanted to do,” she said. “He put me through a little culinary arts program.” Years later, she's churning out seafood rice, fried pork chops, okra soup and more alongside Antwan at their popular restaurant.
The military served as a training ground for the mother-and-son owners. It’s a path they share with a handful of other chefs in the Lowcountry. Military service also runs in Anthony DiBernardo’s family.
Rather than attending culinary school, the owner of Swig & Swine chose the Navy instead. In 1990, DiBernardo found himself cooking on a submarine. The equipment at his disposal was modest — four electric burners, one electric oven, a 15-pound electric fryer, a mixer and a steam kettle.
Alongside two other cooks, though, DiBernardo managed to feed a crew of 130 people four meals a day. They worked 16-hour shifts in pairs, time the pitmaster said prepared him for the rigors of the restaurant industry. “I can manage stress very well,” said DiBernardo, who once spent four-and-a-half consecutive months underwater.
“The biggest part of that submarine service is your mental capacity.” The military took DiBernardo to countries like Turkey, Israel, Greece, France, Portugal and Italy. After four years of service, he cruised into Charleston on a vessel named the USS Batfish.
Arriving in the Holy City paved the way for a career in restaurants. Twenty-five years later, DiBernardo became the sole owner of Swig & Swine, fulfilling a promise he made to himself in high school. Charleston-based barbecue restaurant opens fifth location in Moncks Corner Indaco chef Blake Henderson landed in the Lowcountry shortly after joining the Air Force at age 19.
As he trained to be an aircraft mechanic on C-17s, the Florida native said he fell in love with Charleston. The city stayed in his mind when he was sent to Alaska for three years and Hawaii for another four. It was there that Henderson, whose father was a chef, began to cook.
“I taught myself how to cook and found out I enjoyed it,” he said. “I wish I started it earlier.” Henderson recalls the exact moment when he realized a career in cooking could come next after his eight years of military service.
He was having friends over for a dinner party, one of many he hosted while living in Hawaii. He baked fresh bread and roasted pork to make Cuban sandwiches. A few friends came over to help assemble.
Henderson had to step away at one point. When he came back, the operation was moving along like clockwork. “I watched out the window and my food was still being created,” he said.
“That’s the moment where it clicked for me.” A few years later, Henderson connected with Mark Bolchoz , Indigo Road Hospitality Group’s culinary director of Italian concepts and a member of the Marine Corps Reserve. In December 2023, Bolchoz offered Henderson a job at Indaco, where he’s worked in the kitchen cooking pizzas since.
The structure of restaurants is “shockingly similar” to that of the military, Henderson said. Specific systems, recipes and roles allow busy destinations like Indaco, located on Upper King Street , to function. At the end of the day, though, everyone is working together to produce something meaningful.
Veterans Day Restaurant Deals {p dir=”ltr”} 82 Queen : 10 percent off food for active duty military (offered daily) {p dir=”ltr”} Bohemian Bull : 10 percent off for military (offered daily) {p dir=”ltr”} Bumpa’s : 20 percent off food for all military (offered daily) {p dir=”ltr”} Florence’s : 10 percent off food for active duty military (offered daily) {p dir=”ltr”} Mex 1 Coastal Cantina : Free meal for Veterans {p dir=”ltr”} Palmetto Brewing Co. : Free pint for Veterans {p dir=”ltr”} Steel City Pizza : Two free slices of pizza and a fountain drink for Veterans Vicious Biscuit : Free entrée for all military, plus 20 percent off year-round for Veterans, military personnel and first responders Upper King Street Mexican restaurant to close at the end of the year. Here’s why.
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