Chef Greg Garrison of Prohibition
by Stacy Huggins | images by Jonathan Boncek
Chef Greg Garrison is an ambitious young man.
When he took the job as Executive Chef of Prohibition, a successful Upper King Street restaurant that’s better known as a bar, he was eager to implement his vision in the menu overhaul and the creation of 
their forthcoming second restaurant in Savannah, GA. Previously, Garrison worked as Sous Chef at L’Espalier in Boston, the pinnacle of modern fine dining. Coming from a four million dollar kitchen with a staff of 35 to a four-person kitchen—where he is solely responsible for the happiness of his team—has been a rewarding transition. “A phrase that I hear a lot more often down here is ‘quality of life,’” he says. Now he thinks about his team’s happiness more than anything else, in an effort to retain quality staff.
The happiness quotient is only possible because Chef Garrison is in complete and total mastery of his craft, and challenges his team to do the same. In the nine months since he took the wheel at Prohibition, Garrison has revamped the menu into an elevated culinary experience. It may have been open for a few years, but Garrison’s Prohibition is a totally new restaurant.
Garrison hails from the Hudson Valley of New York; he attended college in Boston, returned to New York for culinary school at the Culinary Institute of America, and then ‘staged’ all over the place before returning to Boston to work at L’Espalier.
‘Stage’ rhymes with ‘mirage’ and is the culinary equivalent of an unpaid internship, a practice that came under fire locally a few years back, but has provided the springboard for many an accomplished chef.
A really good restaurant and a really good bar? Garrison believes it’s possible to be both.
He has created a sophisticated menu of small plates and entrees that features simple-sounding offerings like jumbo sea scallops, ceviche, fried cauliflower, or beef tartare that personify their ‘Modern American with Southern Influences’ with seasonal, seafood-forward cuisine. The NC Shrimp a la Plancha features Anson Mills Grits with local peas and spinach, but with a twist: Garrison folds the spinach into the grits, tinting them green. The plating is immaculate; it’s an embodiment of pure artistry that layers vibrant colors and textures to create a visually stimulating, mouthwatering dish.
MAKING OF A CULINARIAN
“How did I end up in fine dining? That’s a funny story actually.
I was 14; I started as a dishwasher and ended up cooking until I was 18 and went to college. At the time I 
was like, I want to have a suit and tie, and a BMW, and a hot girlfriend; I’m going to law school. So, I did a pre-law track, graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Suffolk University in Boston; was applying for law school and did an externship at Harvard, selling advertising for their magazine; it was a really strange externship…so I walk into a restaurant trying to sell the guy advertising, and he started asking me all these questions…In retrospect it was genius…I ended up three days later coming in and putting on an apron.” Only 23 at the time, Garrison launched into his culinary career from there. There is no doubt that his career will be meteoric.
Much like that brilliant chef who talked him into a job, Garrison is constantly looking for team members who will be an asset to the entire environment. “I look for problem solvers—not just cooks that come in and do their job. I want thinkers.” Garrison’s philosophy on culinary culture is the perfect recipe for cooks and clientele alike.
by Stacy Huggins | images by Jonathan Boncek
From ART MAG 2016 Summer Issue
Chef Greg Garrison
Prohibition
547 King Street, Charleston
843.793.2964
prohibitioncharleston.com
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