GREENVILLE — It was about 20 years ago that Joshua Miles departed his suburban Greenville hometown to pursue a career in hospitality and restaurant management.
Now, after years of success leading a restaurant group in Rochester, N.Y. — SCN Hospitality — Miles will return to the Upstate, and he is bringing one of his established restaurant concepts with him.
Miles, along with his partners — wife, Jenna Miles, and Zack Mikida — plan to open Bitter Honey at 15 E. Stone Avenue in Greenville this spring.
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The new restaurant will be on the bottom floor of a newly constructed building, with 4,000 square feet of space inside, and an ample outdoor patio space.
The concept marries Mexican-inspired cuisine and tequila and mezcal in a casual, warm atmosphere. Dishes center on flavors that are rooted in Mexico, while also featuring a touch of interpretation. The bar program centers on agave spirits, while also offering a range of unique cocktails, beers and wines.
At the center of the experience will be deep hospitality, care and fun, Miles said.
“What’s really inspiring is you can go there and get your traditional margarita and chips and salsa, or you can go into mezcal world and geek out,” he said during a recent visit south. “There are multiple experiences to be had. But before all of that, it’s about how you feel, the hospitality and ambiance, lighting, sound.”
Miles wasn’t looking to open a restaurant in his hometown, but simply to put down roots in the South again. The mountain-loving side of him had hoped to find some land where he and his family could live part of the year and split time between New York and South Carolina.
But once opportunity presented itself, Miles had to explore.
“It wasn’t always the first intention, but I see what’s happening to Greenville and have watched it grow over the years,” Miles said. “And this is also driven by time and place. My buddy is in commercial real estate and he had the spot, and the people that have helped me grow are interested and want to be part of broadening.”
From one Upstate to another
Miles grew up immersed in the Upstate. His grandparents lived on a farm in Greer. His mother worked in advertising, and his father sold paper for a local company, with many local restaurants his clients. Miles remembers tagging along on his Dad’s visits to restaurants. He fell in love with the culture of the kitchen, the spirit of hospitality.
That fascination pushed Miles to work in restaurants starting in high school and through college. He spent years as a food runner at Saskatoon. Back then, it was a way to supplement his secondary passion and work as a raft guide on the French Broad River.
Miles was working in a restaurant when he and some coworkers took a trip to Charleston to check out the newly opened Sanctuary at Kiawah. There, Miles met Casey Lavin. who offered him a job as an entry level breakfast server.
“I, with my college degree, went and started serving breakfast tables at the Sanctuary at Kiawah Island,” Miles said with a grin.
But he worked his way up, running three different venues within four years.
“That’s where I got my PhD in running restaurants,” he said.
But while he loved the work and saw a future in the hospitality industry, the rigor and intensity of a five-star resort left him burnt out. So, when the executives for Wegmans grocery stores who had met him while staying at The Sanctuary, called and offered him a chance to work for that company, Miles took a chance.
That’s how in 2009, Miles found himself moving from South Carolina to Upstate New York to help open The Next Door Bar and Grill, Wegmans’ original restaurant.
The experience was pivotal for showing the budding entrepreneur not only the ins and outs of genuine hospitality, but also for showing him what he really wanted to do was something of his own.
The chance to do so came via some regular customers who convinced Miles to stay in Rochester by offering to invest in a restaurant project.
In 2013, Miles, along with his investors and his wife, Jenna, opened The Revelry, a Lowcountry-inspired eatery with craft cocktails and a warm vibe.
Over time, Miles has walked a path created by chance and hard work but also by forming genuine connections. His contacts are numerous, built from relationships he has fostered over the years.
Other restaurant concepts followed.
The hospitality group sold a second Branca location and Buffalo Proper to partners in the company, and currently SCN has six restaurants. Bitter Honey in Greenville will be the seventh.
While each idea is unique unto itself, Bitter Honey was always the concept Miles said they considered replicating other places.
A neighborhood spot
The restaurant, whose name comes from part of the process of making mezcal, is a collaboration between Miles and his friend Mikida.
Mikida brings a deep passion and appreciation for Mexican culture and cuisine that has directed the concept from food to beverage to feel. The menu centers on fresh ingredients, scratch-made sauces and marinades, and features everything from tacos, birria and fajitas to composed plates like drunken shrimp and chile rellenos.
Food
Once open, Bitter Honey Greenville will also feature a chef’s tasting, where diners will be able to experience Mexican cuisine in a complex and fun way.
The bar program will be central to the restaurant. Mezcal and tequila will anchor the menu, but plans also call for offering a range of top shelf spirits, crafted cocktails, beers and wines.
“With Bitter Honey, you can dress it up or dress it down,” he said. “You can go there on a date night or go there after work and have a couple drinks and take food to go.”
The goal is to open sometime in the spring, and Miles is looking forward not only to bringing his restaurant group south, but also his family. The former wilderness guide has already rekindled his love of mountain biking.
“We’d been coming back and forth a lot, and I was like I miss it,” Miles said. “I love it here.”
Bitter Honey is slated to open at 15 E. Stone Ave., Greenville in Spring 2024. For more, visit https://scnhospitality.com.
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