South Carolina has three new Chef Ambassadors. Here’s Commissioner Hugh Weathers to tell us about it.

We’re celebrating the 10th year of the program.

We created in 2014 to highlight South Carolina as a destination for great food.

Chef Ambassadors represent the state through food festivals and other promotional opportunities, sharing South Carolina’s culinary traditions, agricultural heritage, and undiscovered places with the world.

South Carolina Chef Ambassadors support our state’s farmers by using Certified South Carolina produce, meats, dairy, seafood, and other farm-fresh foods in their own ways.

The 2024 South Carolina Chef Ambassadors are:

Chef Leslie Rohland

The Cottage Café Bakery & Tea Room |  Bluffton, South Carolina

As founder, owner and head chef/baker at The Cottage Café, Bakery & Tea Room, Chef Leslie serves up innovative cuisine and Southern hospitality in Old Town Bluffton. After the success of The Cottage, she opened May River Coffee Roasters, The Juice Hive, SideCar Catering, and The Bluffton Pasta Shoppe, all committed to offering fresh, local cuisine.

Chef Michael Sibert

Anonymous Burgers |  Greer, South Carolina

A Greenwood native and alumnus of Cornell University and the Culinary Institute of the Carolinas, Chef Michael trained in New Orleans before moving to Greer, where he has headed up high-end establishments for more than a decade. Chef Michael opened Anonymous Burgers in Cartwright Food Hall in 2023.

Chef Javier Uriarte

Ratio |  Elgin, South Carolina

Chef Javier gained his culinary experience in DC-area restaurant kitchens before moving to Columbia in 2013. He is chef and owner of Ratio in the Kershaw County/Northeast Columbia region, a tapas-style restaurant influenced by Chef Javier’s Peruvian background and Southern comfort food.