Born into the family restaurant business in Spartanburg, South Carolina, Shaun Garcia, executive chef of Soby’s, has almost literally spent his entire life in the industry. And after more than 20 years in the kitchen, he’s planning to slowly migrate his skills to a different medium over the next two years.
“It’s time for my next act,” Garcia says.
An artist at heart, he made the decision years ago to not attend his dream school — Savannah College of Art and Design — deciding instead that food would be the materials with which he would create temporary art. Now, he’s looking for completed works with a longer shelf life.
“A dish of food is gone in about 15-20 minutes, but if I make something that’s three-dimensional, it can last months if not years and still be appreciated for years,” he says.
He plans to trade in food ingredients for other types of raw materials — wood, fabric, paint, and metal, to name a few — that he will use to create designs and style for commercial retail spaces. His design and styling consulting business has been a long time coming, but he says he’s finally ready to turn his serious interest and hobby into a business.
“I can sew. I can build, I can woodwork,” he says. “I think this January I’m going to start getting it off the ground. That’s really what I want.”
As for the timing, he says the last 20 months helped him make the move.
“The industry has taken its toll on me,” Garcia says. “Staffing issues give me more anxiety than anything. I can substitute things on the menu if we can’t get something, but I can’t substitute a dishwasher.”
Did you know?
His favorite post-work meal: Generic corn flakes and ice-cold milk with sugar on top.
After rescuing a dog from a Chinese meat factory, Garcia chose to change his diet to mostly plant-based, even though he cooks meat for a living. Because of his own personal experience, he’s careful to create an intentional, composed dish for vegetarian and vegan diners so they can enjoy their experience at Soby’s as much as anyone.
In 2010 he started American Dry Goods — handmade aprons and bags — after wanting to duplicate a mail bag he saw at J.Crew. He sold about 30 of them, including one to chef Richard Blais of “Top Chef ” fame.
Because of the pandemic’s keeping Garcia home more, he fully styles and re-styles his living spaces with a different theme. “If I was going to stay in the same place I wanted it to be unique.” His holiday styling is based on elements of a European Christmas with all of the elements either handmade — paintings and garlands — or sourced from antique shops.
