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One-year-old Joelle DeLeo sat in a stroller rattling a small plastic toy on a recent Thursday morning as activity buzzed around her. She was sitting in the middle of a soon-to-open restaurant that will bear her name in Bluffton.

Joelle, the restaurant, is located at 132 Bluffton Road, Suite 100, in a newly constructed building that also is home to a salon, an architecture firm and other businesses. It’s the result of years of planning and work by two generations of the family, and, if all goes well with a liquor license and town permits, they will be serving patrons from a “modern Italian” menu later this spring.

Robert and Breana DeLeo, the toddler’s parents and the restaurant’s owner, met while working in the hospitality industry in Charleston, later moved to New York, and now live in Bluffton. Robert’s family owns Island Restaurant Equipment on Hilton Head. His father also is one of the partners in the development of the center where the restaurant is located, making it a true family business.

The DeLeos’ vision for the restaurant is light and airy but still cozy. Breana described it as “modern, but not too modern.”

“We’re trying to go very Italian coastal, very neutral tones,” she said.

That Italian coastal theme echoes in the food served there.

Chef Brandon Torre has worked at The Ritz-Carlton, The Omni Hotel, The Westin Hotel and, most recently, Colleton River Club in Bluffton. He is planning a menu that offers wood-fired pizza and Italian fare including fresh, house-made pasta.

The food will be “from-scratch fresh,” Torre said. “You can usually make it better yourself.”

The goal is not to duplicate traditional Italian-American fare but offer more modern, refreshing and lighter takes.

“We want very unique, very chef-forward dishes with the Italian cuisine as the focal point,” Robert DeLeo said.

To the right of the entrance, Joelle’s bar area will seat 18 between at the bar and at three tables there.

The inside dining area will seat around 44 people at tables and booths, while the outside dining area will seat around 50 people. Between them are large sliding doors that can be left open on nicer days.

The restaurant will be open six days a week for lunch and dinner. It will be closed on Tuesdays.

Why Tuesdays? Many restaurants in Bluffton reduce their hours or close altogether on Sundays and Mondays.

“Coming from New York and coming from an Italian family, we always used to go out for Italian dinner on Sundays,” Robert DeLeo explained. “That’s kind of the day to go out for that cuisine. ... Why not try and compete on those two days when not many places are open?”

This story was originally published March 11, 2024, 11:14 AM.

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A colder than usual winter has delayed the expected opening of the U Pick Daffodil farm, but the Bluffton-area attraction’s owners say they are now ready to welcome visitors.

A trip to the farm has become a spring rite for families, flower-lovers and photographers, and co-owners Chuck and Diane Merrick expect to be open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 24. The farm may close early if the Merricks begin to run out of blooms.

“Cold weather doesn’t hurt the flowers; it just slows them down,” said Chuck Merrick, who estimated the blooming fields are about two weeks behind where they would be in a typical year.

The weather forecast for Saturday in Bluffton is sunny and windy with a high of 67, according to the National Weather Service in Charleston. Sunday will be sunny with a high near 60.

The fields are located at 48 Calhoun Plantation Road, just off Pinckney Colony Road.

Each stem picked is 50 cents. Cash and card payments will be accepted.

This year, the Merricks likely will open the fields only on weekends because that’s when their family is available to help them. Weather and the lack or abundance of blooms will affect what days the farm is open.

For information about days the farm will be open, watch its Facebook page or go to its website at upickdaffodils.com. Those who’d like to check on the status of the flowers before making a longer commute can also text Chuck Merrick at 843-368-1998.

The U Pick Daffodil tradition started more than 50 years ago, and each year the farm has expanded to meet a growing demand.

Chuck Merrick uses a planting machine purchased from Holland — it is pulled behind a tractor — to plant tens of thousands of daffodil bulbs with varying blooming times so the farm has a longer picking season.

Daffodils don’t grow easily in the Lowcountry climate, he previously told The Island Packet, and every year the farm loses about half of the ones they had planted in earlier years.

BLUFFTON, S.C. —

A Bluffton chef is being recognized in a big way.

In this week's Lowcountry Living, we're sharing how she hopes to use her new title to bring positive change to the entire state of South Carolina.

Leslie Rohland is head chef and owner of The Cottage, The Juice Hive, May River Coffee Roasters, and the Bluffton Pasta Shoppe.

And she says her successful restaurant endeavors are thanks, in part, to her childhood.

“Really do the stuff that I remember as a child loving to see. My grandmothers, my grandfathers, my mother and my father do because everyone seemed to be a great cook back then. And just really taking the stuff I love to cook and then being able to serve it and put it on the table," said Rohland.

Rohland’s passion for cooking was just recognized by South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster as she was named just one of three 2024 South Carolina Chef Ambassadors.

She’ll serve in this role for a year, and during that time, one of her main goals is to support local farmers.

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“It’s really nice to know where our food is coming from. It’s nice to be able to see the footprint of where the lettuce is from or the shrimp," Rohland said.

And she hopes her impact will last well beyond her time serving as Chef Ambassador.

“This is some information that really needs to be passed onto our kids. Kind of like the old days, you know, when you were creating recipes basically with what was in your backyard, said Rohland.

Roland says supporting local does more than just stimulate the economy; it also has health benefits for patrons.

“There’s nothing better, I think, than knowing what you’re eating, and knowing where it comes from. You know, we’ve all seen the labels on certain foods that are like, I can’t even pronounce that item. And this is just kind of like, ok, this came from up the road, and it’s strictly just eggplant," Roland said.

Rohland adds it was extra special to be selected as a South Carolina Chef Ambassador now as the program is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year.

While re-configuring merchandise at the Havertys Furniture store on 2 Buckingham Plantation Drive, branch manager John Gamsky discovered something unexpected on the display floor: bullet holes. Just before 11 a.m. on Tuesday, two Beaufort County deputies responded to the store, located less than a mile from the Tanger Outlets and across the street from Moss Creek.

According to an incident report from the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office, while moving some furniture, Gamsky discovered a hole in the wall and another hole in a chest-style dresser. Employees then found a bullet under one of the drawers in the dresser. The overall damages to the store’s interior totaled to approximately $1,500, according to Gamsky’s statement to the Beaufort County deputies.

There also appeared to be two bullet holes on the exterior wall on the west side of the building, although only one of the bullets actually entered the building. While walking through the parking lot, one of the deputies came across three brass 9 mm Luger shell casings. Those casings, along with the bullet inside of the dresser, were collected and placed into evidence.

The building on the other side of the parking lot, The Hilton Head Shop, located at 1504 Fording Island Road, might have also been affected by a similar incident. According to the report, there could have been one or two bullet holes in the exterior of that business. The business owner decided that she did not need to report the incident, since the only damages from the possible bullet holes were on the building’s exterior.

The event, according to Master Sergeant Danny Allen, was not caught on camera. That side of the building, the report said, was typically where people would “hang out at night,” and Gamsky added that people have dumped trash on that side of the building before. However, he has never seen an incident like this one at his branch. Sgt. Allen confirmed that this has been the only report of an incident of this nature in the area. Gamsky plans on installing more cameras on the west side of the building’s exterior moving forward.

Gamsky said that, because of where the damage was located and that it was so difficult to spot with the furniture’s configuration, the incident could have taken place anytime in the past month. The case is closed, according to Sgt. Allen, but they are awaiting forensic evidence of the shell casings from the store’s parking lot.

This story was originally published July 11, 2024, 1:28 PM.

The story of Bluffton’s newest ice cream joint began with a scene familiar to many: a hot, muggy evening in the Lowcountry. Fresh off a round of miniature golf, Derek Cohen’s family was searching for a frozen treat to help cool themselves down.

“We went to get ice cream after — that was around 7:30 — and everything was closed,” he said. “So that’s not great.”

Sensing a gap in the Hilton Head area’s tourist-heavy market, Cohen looked into franchising opportunities. That’s when he discovered Chill-N — a Miami-based company whose high-tech, sub-zero recipe is as enjoyable to witness as it is to eat.

Cohen is a Bluffton resident and retiring 20-year veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, beginning with basic training at Beaufort County’s very own Parris Island. With franchisee rights in the Hilton Head and Savannah markets, he plans to open five Chill-N locations in the long term, according to QSR Magazine.

The new location celebrated its grand opening June 15 in Bluffton’s Belfair Towne Village, bringing Chill-N’s signature liquid nitrogen-frozen ice cream to South Carolina for the first time. Here’s a look at how it works.

Any frozen creation at Chill-N starts with a base, available in classic ice cream, frozen yogurt, or tart ice cream varieties. After adding a couple of flavors — from mainstays like chocolate or vanilla to the fan-favorite Nutella — and any number of the store’s 20-plus mix-ins, the concoction gets mixed together.

Then comes the fun part. From a massive tank below the counter, liquid nitrogen is fed into the mixer, flash-freezing the contents at 320 degrees below zero. By the time the vapor clears about 45 seconds later, the liquid mix has been transformed into a smooth, rich consistency — “the creamiest ice cream you’ve ever had in your life,” Cohen says.

“Typical ice creams come from a manufacturer and are stored in a facility,” Cohen told The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette during a sit-down at the new location on Thursday. “We don’t have to worry about preservatives or anything like that because ours is fresh-made right in front of you, so the ice crystals are a lot smaller than (traditional ice cream).”

For healthier options, Chill-N offers no-sugar-added ice cream or an Isopure protein powder add-in, ideal for a post-gym reward. By the end of June, the store plans to support a host of delivery options, including DoorDash, Grubhub and UberEats.

Even the summer heat is no match for Chill-N’s high-grade technology, which allows for culinary innovations just a step below Willy Wonka’s melt-proof ice cream. If a customer’s dessert gets a little too drippy, an employee can top it with a lid and place the cup in a special liquid nitrogen chamber to refreeze. Seconds later, it’s good as new.

Bluffton’s new Chill-N is the first to feature the brand’s newest prototypes, including a more efficient nitrogen system that makes it about 20% cheaper for franchisees to open a store of their own.

The best part? It’s open late — until 10 p.m. on weekdays and 11 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays — perfect for a cooldown after a day under the Hilton Head sun.

This story was originally published June 21, 2024, 12:44 PM.