For all of the discussions about history in the city of Savannah, it’s somewhat comical to talk about the history of a brand new hotel that isn’t even ten years old yet. We have some beautiful properties in this city. A handful of hotels are really taking the time and dedicating the resources to doing good food. Great food will get people through the door. (Try the Crispy Duck Wings with a Thai Chili Glaze at Rocks on the Roof. Thank me later). Point being, some hotels are really trying to do great food. Others just put out the breakfast buffet and call it a day. One that has been on point with their food service from day one has been ANDAZ (Formerly AVIA) hotel on Ellis Square Downtown Savannah.
When the AVIA first opened, the food was excellent. The chef had been recruited from the Low Country and was immediately doing some great things with a very limited menu. It wasn’t long before the bar at AVIA was a very popular spot for cocktails, great sliders, chicken and waffles and, at the time, the best cheese board in town, hands down. They also introduced Savannah to that highly addictive candied bacon bar snack they are now famous for. Well, as is the case in Food and Beverage, chefs come and go. AVIA was sold to Hyatt and became ANDAZ. The chef in place, Mark Krystopa, took a job with Hyatt Corporate. I was a big fan of Chef Mark. I was sorry to see him go.
Then the best thing to ever happen to that building walked through the door.
Chef Lauren Teague was also recruited from the Low Country. I remember meeting her for the first time and hoped she would deliver a solid product like her predecessor. One of the first things I asked her was how dramatically she was going to change the menu. She didn’t mince words. The favorites I had come to enjoy were all but gone. “I was told I can do whatever I want except I can’t touch the candied bacon”, she said at the time. She also shared with me a unique interview process before she was given the job. Chef Lauren says the folks at Hyatt Corporate asked her to create a sample of what she had in mind for the space, should she get the job. “So I went down the list of all the traditional stuff”, she said. “Shrimp and Grits, She Crab Soup, Chicken and Waffles.” And on and on….”I thought that was what they were looking for”, she added. What wound up happening set the tone for one of Savannah’s best kept secrets.
“They told me to scrap all of that and think outside of the box”, Lauren tells me. “Then they took the time to explain the concept behind the ‘ANDAZ’ line of hotels and how they wanted it to apply to food”. Dinner for one business traveler? Or dinner for a family of six enjoying some summertime in the South and the pool. It had to appeal to everyone. Chef Lauren was given creative license to do whatever she wanted. She took it, and hasn’t stopped running.
22 Square brands itself as “Savannah’s Farm to Fork” restaurant. Yes, there are plenty of others that try to keep everything as locally sourced as they can, but Lauren took it a step further. Pretty quickly she tried to establish a 75 mile rule. Everything she prepared in her kitchen needed to be sourced within that radius. Naturally, Hunter Cattle Company in Brooklet got a phone call, as did Savannah River Farms. She set out looking for chocolate and went no further than Adam Turoni on Broughton Street. This wasn’t lip service. She was planning to deliver. And boy has she.
22 Square has, without question, become one of Savannah’s best spots to eat. I’ve told people many, many times when they ask for something “different” to try it. Many times they are turned off by the fact that it is in a hotel, but those that look beyond that have been thrilled more times than not. In fact, a couple of years ago when we were operating food tours around Savannah, we started at 22 Square. Four stops at some of Savannah’s best restaurants. We ran that tour for two years. More times than not, the show of hands for a favorite at tour’s end went to 22 Square. That’s a fact, jack.
A handful of years later, Chef Lauren continues to do her thing. Be it banquet service for the hotel, or great food in the restaurant. “The momentum is building”, General Manager Matt Graham tells me. “It has been a gradual build up as she has developed her following. Sometimes on the weekend, we are on an hour plus wait. It just depends.” That is a solid sign of growth. The most popular restaurants in town are booked solid on big weekends, that’s expected. The others have extended wait times. That would include 22 Square at Andaz. “I don’t know where we’d be without her”, says Graham. A couple of months ago, Chef Lauren was named the Executive Chef of the Year for the Hyatt Hotel Chain. A huge honor, obviously, but the part that gets her the most excited? Being able to provide a great product with local resources.
“I’m driving down the street the other day and I see a garden”, she tells me. “And I see this garden full of vegetables. So I offered to buy some stuff from them”, she adds. “Now I go by every week to see what they have. Who cares if it’s the YMCA?”
We are lucky to have her.
See you on TV.
Jesse
