GEORGETOWN — The Manor House at Wedgefield Country Club in Georgetown has a long history of providing quality meals to its visitors, now owners Mitch and Jamie Thompkins are ready to step that menu up a notch.
The Thompkins hired two-time state seafood champ Danny Smith as the executive chef of The Manor House. I caught up with Smith as he was working on the revamp of the menu, and he offered up a mouth-watering recipe.
Locals and tourists alike are often willing to spend a decent amount of time waiting for a table at either of her locally famous restaurants, where the recipes have been perfected and the staff is continuously working to improve customer experience.
So what’s new?
Smith started at Wedgefield in October and the effects of COVID have limited the hours in which The Manor House is open. The restaurant has been open three days a week to serve two dinner services, a lunch and a breakfast every week.
“I have big plans for it,” Smith said. “I plan on launching a new menu, and work on farm-to-table kind of food. My goal is to use as much local as possible.”
Smith said he would love to be able to get The Manor House’s ingredients from within a 100-mile radius of Georgetown.
“It’s just something that a lot of people aren’t doing anymore,” Smith said. “I’m just trying to in our area.”
A history of community
Smith doesn’t just talk the talk about caring for people in the area. He is known locally for his contributions to Friendship Place, a nonprofit Christian organization that has fed the hungry and sheltered the homeless in Georgetown County for the last two decades.
He helps with the annual Great Chefs Dinner at the Friendship Place, as well. Last year, the seven chefs who were involved raised around $6,000 for the nonprofit, Smith said.
He most recently worked for 9½ years at Frank’s Outback in Pawleys Island. Smith is from the Thousand Island region of upstate New York, and also runs a fine-dining catering business called All About You, which is run from his website chefdannysmith.com.
Smith’s anticipated more popular dishes
The Manor House has its classic menu of pot roast, chop steak, and country-style food for now, but Smith is more of a French-style chef, so patrons of The Manor House will see a change in the menu shortly.
“I want them to get a fine-dining experience at a reasonable cost,” Smith said. “I think my fish dishes are what people are going to like.”
He uses local grouper, and takes the time to meet the fishermen who catch the local fish.
So what is his favorite that everyone should try?
“On the menu, I’m going to have my version of the shrimp and grits, which has andouille sausage, tasso cream, corn and okra, and crispy-fried grit cake,” Smith said. “Instead of doing creamy grits, I do a grit cake over the top of it. That’s one I think people will enjoy.”
I challenged Smith to offer a delicious recipe our readers would enjoy, and he delivered!
Mojo Grilled Red Snapper / Black beans and Yellow Rice / Honeydew Mellon Slaw/ Cilantro lime Crema
6 Portions
Mojo Grilled Red Snapper
4 - 6 oz Red Snapper filet
1/4 Cup Corn Oil . 1/2 Cup Mojo marinade
1 Cup Sweet Onion
1 Cup Red Pepper
1/2 Cup Cilantro
14 Cup Fresh Garlic
2 Tablespoon Sazon tropical blend. Seasoning
Red Snapper
In a ziplock baggie place the fish and all the ingredients except for the oil. Marinade for 1 hour.
Place fish on the grill 4 minutes on each side. Baste with Mojo sauce. Keep warm until plating.
Yellow Rice
3 cups Long grain Rice
6 cups Chicken Stock
3/4 Cup white onion
1 ½ teaspoons salt
1 Sazon seasoning
Preparation
Place rice in a large pot with a tightly fitting lid and add water. Stir in the onion, salt, sazon seasoning, and pepper. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to low, put the lid on and simmer.
Cook until the rice is tender and the water has evaporated, about 20 minutes, stirring once halfway through.
Black Beans
2 Cups Black Beans
2 tsp olive oil
1/2 onion
2 cloves garlic
2 scallions
2 tbsp red bell pepper
3 tbsp cilantro
15 oz can black beans, do not drain
1/2 cup Chicken Stock
1 bay leaf
few pinches cumin, to taste
pinch oregano
1 tsp red wine vinegar
salt and black pepper to taste
INSTRUCTIONS
Water, as needed
Salt for taste and serve.
Honeydew Melon Slaw
1 cup honeydew melon
1/4 Cup red onion
1/4 Cup Red Pepper
2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1 serrano chile
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 teaspoon sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cups red cabbage
1 Cup Savoy Cabbage
Cilantro-lime Cream
1 Cup Sour Cream
1/4 Cup Mayo
2 limes (Juiced)
1/4 Cup Cilantro
Salt
Pepper
Mix all ingredients in a bowl refrigerate until needed .
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GEORGETOWN — Georgetown County Council on Sept. 12 unanimously approved borrowing up to $67 million to pay for the construction of a new county jail.
Sheriff Carter Weaver said his office has no problem with the capacity of the current detention center, which holds about 265 beds, but he’s struggled to separate groups of inmates, particularly when disciplinary, gang-related or mental health issues come into play.
The latest price tag for the new jail is nearly $66 million when they met with representatives from M.B. Kahn Construction and Moseley Architects in July.
“It’s common, this isn’t the first one,” County Finance Director Karis Langston said of the bond issue.
Attorney Frannie Heizer of law firm Burr & Forman told the council that the current plan is to have the bonds mature over 20 years.
“These bonds will have a call feature — at the 10th anniversary of issuance of the bonds they can be called, which means that you have an opportunity to either refinance the bonds or prepay some or all of them,” Heizer said.
Heizer said it’s too early to tell what rate the bonds will be issued at.
The current county budget, passed in June, included an increase in property taxes to accommodate issuing bonds for the detention center project. Langston told the council two months prior that beginning work on the project without a tax increase would cause the county to hit its bond debt ceiling in 2027.
The proposed location for the new jail is also close to the current Georgetown County Detention Center, which opened in 1996.
Plans for the 85,800-square-foot jail call for 256 beds, though Dan Mace of Moseley Architects’ Charlotte office told the council in July that the county’s future expansion was kept in mind when the designs were drawn.
The latest design includes two segregation units of eight beds apiece, three housing units with cells containing a total 47 beds and a 48-bed dormitory, all surrounding a raised control tower. A separate wing of the facility for female inmates would contain 51 beds.
M.B. Kahn Executive Vice President Bret Estridge told the council that construction is tentatively set to begin in March, with an opening date no later than the second half of 2026.
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