Chefs come and go. Spend enough time hanging around restaurants and you see that all of the time. A lot of times, that problem is accentuated when you have a new restaurant or concept. For all of the planning and organization, you sometimes don’t know if you’ve got a perfect fit until the curtain goes up. Not everyone adjusts on the fly at the same pace.
One year in to their run on the Southern end of Hilton Head Island, Darren Clarke’s Tavern has seen it all. Adjusting to it has become the norm for Michael Doyle, who along with Pro Golfer Darren Clarke, opened Darren Clarke’s Tavern in 2017 with the idea of creating a quintessential New York City steakhouse experience on the island.
A year later, they’ve been through some ups and some downs. Record traffic, no traffic. Chefs coming and chefs going. It’s an overused analogy, but you get the impression that Doyle and his team have been drinking water from a fire hose the last 12 months. Not only trying to deliver a consistent product, but also understand the nature of the Hilton Head Island dining market, because it is very much…different.
“We did great during Heritage.” Doyle says. “Every single night. Then just like that, everyone was gone. You get to the point where you are driving around asking yourself, did we do something wrong?”
Welcome to Hilton Head, Michael.
If there is a consistent sentiment on the island, it’s the fact that the value hasn’t been there. I can tell you from experience that the food is good. The service, adequate. But when you are billing yourself as a New York Steakhouse experience on Hilton Head Island, well, your audience is going to expect more. Fair or not, this island always expects more. And less expensive. Michael now believes he is one huge step closer to cracking the code with the hiring of his newest chef. Drew Racin, former Executive Chef at Lucky Rooster.
“I think Drew is the best chef on the island, frankly.” Michael says. “I really believe he is going to help us stay on course here.”
For his part, Drew has been on the island almost 3 years. Originally from Ohio, one could argue he fits right in. “When we were at CIA together, Clayton told me he knew me already and we had just met.”
The Clayton he refers to is Clayton Rollison, owner of Lucky Rooster and Hilton Head Island native. The man that brought Drew to the island a few years ago. The man Drew says is his best friend. They met years ago at Culinary Institute of America and later worked together in Nashville. “He knew it was time for me to do my own thing again. We talked about it and he was all in favor of me moving over here. Never once was it a competition type issue.” Drew says.
In fact, a few days in to the new gig at Darren Clarke’s, Drew says he called Clayton asking for some help. “I asked if he had any staffers I could rent from him for a night.” Clayton’s response? “I’ll be over there in an hour.”
Meanwhile, front of the house that night. “I hear screaming coming from the kitchen. I had never heard that before.” Doyle says. “So I walk back there and Clayton is running our broiler.”
“I was right next to him in sautee” Drew says.
He appreciated the help, and says that isn’t the only time his best friend has offered assistance. “He wants everyone on the island to do well.”
Atta boys are nice, but ultimately you need to deliver. Drew’s vision is still taking shape, but it is fair to say he’s hoping to make Darren Clarke’s Tavern more island friendly than it already is. The vision has always been to have a spot where the neighborhood can come in for great beers on tap or cocktails and some munchies or stay later and have a solid steak.
“We don’t need to do 400 meals a night to be successful here.” Drew says. “I’d be comfortable with 150 perfect meals 6 nights a week.” The plan calls to hopefully add lunch to the menu this Fall.
In the meantime, the menu has been tweaked to be a little more approachable. My words, not theirs. The concept remains a great place for a quality steak, however, “I want to expand our seafood selections. You can drive 5 miles in any direction and hit water.” Drew says. “There is no reason why we can have fresh seafood on this menu. No one is coming here for Halibut.”
Go check it out for yourself. They are so excited to introduce their new chef to the community that they are offering a buy one/get one half off promotion from their Tavern menu through Labor Day. That menu includes their signature Shepard’s Pie, Burgers, Steak Sandwich and more.
Any new restaurant owner will tell you getting through that first year is probably the hardest part. Do they get easier? That’s a loaded question, but Darren Clarke’s Tavern likes where they are right now. If you haven’t been in a while, it might be time for another visit.
See you on TV
Jesse
1 thought on “One year reset button at Darren Clarke’s Tavern”
Re. Your article “One year reset button at Darren Clarke’s Tavern”
Your article talks well of the restaurant and the people involved and yet when I clicked on the url in your article and it went to the menu which is well done and most inviting , one thing was missing : The prices .
This is HHI and while their is interest and where with all to dine out , the average age of those living on the island is shall we say, “up there” age wise and people who are up there in age are fearful of surprises and these days steak houses are full of surprises !! While the cost of meat has increased everywhere, the cost of a steak in a restaurant has risen disproportionately, and as a result when you don’t put prices on your website people will assume the worst and hence a low number of covers per night. That is just one mans view but still I shall try the restaurant. Love your TV show. You could go National !!