3 courses and 14 seats: New Beaufort restaurant with rotating menu opens for dinner
A new restaurant in a familiar, tiny brick building on Boundary Street in Beaufort is serving up an “unmistakably southern and unshakably global” intimate dining experience.
Blacksheep opened its doors for its first dinner service two weeks ago.
It wasn’t quite the opening night owner and cook Matt Wallace had always imagined because he and general manager Krista Duffy have had to make “several pivots” due to the coronavirus pandemic. But it was still a “colossal moment,” he said.
Wallace, who moved to the Lowcountry a few years ago from north Atlanta, has been dreaming of opening his own restaurant for years. He wanted it to be a place small enough that he’d be able to be the person cooking every day.
Then he saw the brick building at the coroner of Boundary and Harrington streets with a “for sale” sign on the front door.
“I knew I wanted this space,” Wallace said. “This building continued to speak to me when I passed it dozens of times driving around town.”
The 1960s building, which previously housed a Cricket Wireless store and most recently Crosta Pizzeria, is less than 900 square feet with large windows and a giant fireplace in the kitchen.
Its cozy size makes everything feel personal, Wallace said.
“Being a small space affords us a lot of cool opportunities,” he said. “Everything in this space is very intentional. There’s a story and thought behind everything from what’s on the walls to what beer is on the menu.”
A lot of thought and creativity also goes into the rotating food menu. Right now, that menu includes 10 dishes and changes every two weeks, but Wallace hopes he’ll be able to change it more regularly at some point.
The latest menu includes selections such as Pork (belly), Baked Beans, Pickled Peaches, Pickled Peach Mustard, Raw Fish, Citrus, Sweet Peppers, Green Peanut Oil, Flaked Salt, Curried Crab, Toasted Coconut, Sweet Corn Soup and Lime.
For now, Blacksheep isn’t listing prices on its menu because it’s offering diners three courses for $40. Additional courses, beer, wine, tax and tip are extra.
COVID-19 precautions have also pushed Blacksheep to be reservations-only since the already small space can seat up to 14 people under South Carolina’s 50% capacity rule for indoor dining.
“It’s almost like having dinner at your house,” Wallace and Duffy laughed. “We’re basically doing a dinner party every night.”
Wallace said Blacksheep embodies the idea that food is a conduit for people to make memories whether diners are celebrating or just having a night out, and he hopes it can turn into a “neighborhood place” for locals.
Blacksheep is open from 5 p.m. “until everyone is fed” Tuesday through Saturday. Call 843-470-8070 for reservations and visit their website for more information.
“It’s a place where the menu might seem different but we encourage people to be adventurous and try it,” Duffy said.
This story was originally published June 4, 2020 at 1:08 PM.
