new framework, Holmes and Collins circled back and decided to take the next steps toward outlining a blueprint for the festival. After an initial meeting in 2004 attended by Holliday, Elliott, officials from Mayor Joe Riley's office and others, a planning committee with 13 members formed with the common goal to elevate Charleston and put it on the culinary map of the world. Holmes, who eventually took the festival on as a client because the board could not find anyone else capable of pulling it together in a short time frame, set the organization up as a nonprofit. One of her next moves was to hire Mitchell Crosby, president and founder of JMC Charleston, for his full-service destination event planning services. Crosby teamed up with Denise Barto, owner of All Occasions, the party and event division of AAA Rentals, as a resource for her talent for entertaining, inventory, decor and tents. Then in 2006, after two years of meeting and planning, the first Wine + Food Festival came to life. Offering 30 events in the culinary village in Marion Square plus dine-arounds in private homes and restaurants, the launch attracted between 8,000 and 10,000 visitors. Holmes credits that early success to the planning committee, unpaid and contracted staff including Randi Weinstein and Sara Donahue, interns and volunteers such as Lisa Buzzelli, who remains with the festival today. She also hails legendary author, chef and cooking show host, the late Nathalie Dupree, who came on as chairman of the board, along with Dupree's dear friend and then-food editor for Charleston Magazine Marion Sullivan. In its second year, Holmes became director of the Wine + Food Festival. During her eight-year tenure, a snowball effect kicked in. The board grew to 35 members. Media and James Beard judges flocked to Charleston. High-end establishments such as FIG and Halls Chophouse opened, while countless others around the King and Calhoun neighborhood developed. After eight years at the helm, the time came for Holmes to step down so she could represent the restaurant groups that had grown as a result of the festival's success. For the next ten years (2012-2022), Gillian Zettler ran the festival and, according to Holmes, elevated its quality through expanded event designs, more creative programming, bigger sponsorships and a new office space. When Zettler left the position in 2023, current Executive Director Alyssa Maute Smith took over the role. "Each year's programming is a reflection of communitywide brainstorming, which is influenced by the various cultures that have impacted the story of the Lowcountry's cuisine," she says. "Because 'rising tides lift all ships,' meaning it wasn't one restaurant that's put us on the map, the evolution of the festival has been a community-wide effort. As the organization has evolved and matured, it's allowed us to take an even stronger focus on bringing the community into the planning process that our city will feel ownership of what we are creating together." This spring, the Charleston Wine + Food Festival celebrates its 20th anniversary with a past-present-future theme. "In honor of the Lowcountry's history, there will always be a Gullah Geechee component," Smith explains. "This year's event will also incorporate an excursion to Native American shell rings to learn how indigenous people were eating and cooking with local ingredients. Although there is no documentation of Native American customs, this experience will give visitors a glimpse into the ancient culinary FOOD + BEVERAGE Current Executive Director Alyssa Maute Smith Former Director Gillian Zettler with some of the countries top chefs and professionals including Daniel Boulud (to her left) and Mickey Bakst (to her right). 30 WWW.CHARLESTONWOMENPODCAST.COM | WWW.READCW.COM | WWW.INSTAGRAM.COM/CHARLESTONWOMEN
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