Bluffton’s Neo Farm to Table restaurant closes, owners look forward to catering and more

Just as Russell Keane was about to reopen Neo Farm to Table Restaurant and Bakery in December 2016 after repairing damage from Hurricane Matthew, he said the fire department called him around 7 a.m. early in December.

A pipe inside the wall of the restaurant had burst, and water was pouring out of the building, he said. When Keane arrived at the eatery he and his wife, Madison, owned, he said there was 4 inches of standing water in the building.

After months of closure, a March 21 post on the official Neo Facebook page stated that the restaurant would not reopen in the Moss Creek shopping center in Bluffton.

“We apologize to all of our friends and fans, but this building just became too problematic,” the post reads. “You can find Chef Russell and Madison down at Dorchester Shooting Preserve cooking dinners when they aren’t catering weddings and events or TV/film sets.”

But the days of Neo are far from over. The Keanes are in the process of finding a new location for a kitchen where they will cater, present events, teach cooking classes and more, according to Russell Keane. He said they plan to feature invitation-only events or a wine dinner once a month at the new location in addition to catering.

“I’ve joked ... my next restaurant is going to be open once a month,” he said.

The hush-hush prohibition night once held at Neo — where guests found out by word of mouth about the event — is similar to the types of events Keane wants to host at his new place, he said. Those who miss an invite could still catch a chance to learn culinary skills at the cooking classes he plans to teach.

“(The classes will focus) on food and health and food as medicine,” he said. “Even cooking with medicinal marijuana.”

For now, Keane said the business centers on weddings and events on Hilton Head Island, TV and film production events in Savannah, and continuing their contract to serve food at the Dorchester Shooting Preserve in Midway, Ga., for six months out of the year. He said they’re also looking into building a facility with Hunter Cattle Co. in Brooklet, Ga., a farm that supplied meats at Neo for years.

“We developed a relationship with them when we first opened Neo with the organic grass-fed beef,” he said. “(We’re) looking to work with them as well.”

Keane said they hope to hold a restaurant night at the new facility once a week or month. Construction could take a year, he said.

“Neo could make an appearance there — kind of redefine farm to table.”

This story was originally published March 28, 2017 at 8:23 AM with the headline "Bluffton’s Neo Farm to Table restaurant closes, owners look forward to catering and more."