The Southern Fork

The day dawns humid and the waters of Sarasota Bay seem like a glassy mirror reflecting a pale blue sky. There are the sounds of birds as well as the gentle lapping of water up against a boat, sure, but more often than not, those sounds are drowned out by the sounds of fishermen calling out to each other to set the lines as they dock, or the beeping of a refrigerated truck backing up to the loading dock, ready to receive a truckload of fish. This is just a day in the life for Karen Bell of A.P. Bell Fish Co, a seafood wholesaler that sits on the water of the aforementioned bay in the small fishing village of Cortez, FL. Since 1940, the Bell family has worked the docks, sorting, storing, and selling grouper and mullet, along with a variety of other seafood. In 1986, after completing college, Karen began working at the company and learning this male-dominated business alongside her father. Now 35 years in, she’s a strong advocate and ambassador of the fiercely proud and independent Cortez community, including as a founding member of FISH, the Florida Institute for Saltwater Heritage, where she acted as the lead negotiator on the purchase of the 100-acre FISH Preserve east of the village. She’s also the brains behind Star Fish Co., the dockside restaurant that’s part of the A.P. Bell Complex, serving fresh catch, sea breezes, and some of the best hushpuppies I’ve ever had.

Charleston Wine + Food is a multi-day wine and food festival that takes place the first full weekend each March, and I have covered it as a media person, and/or participated as talent for all of its going-on 18 years excepting one. The following interview took place live in the midst of the Culinary Village at this year’s festival, and I’m sharing it now because I already have the 2024 festival on the brain. Not only is my behind the scenes planning well underway, but tickets go on sale to the public on October 19. I lovingly call it my Super Bowl, because it is, and the connections and education from it seeds much of the work I do. One of those relationships is with Alyssa Maute Smith, my conversation partner here and the festival’s Executive Director. Alyssa, a native Charlestonian, stepped into the Interim role in April of 2022, having successfully served as the festival’s Marketing + Communications Director for 6 years, then in 2023 was officially granted the title. There’s no mistaking the energy of Charleston Wine + Food, and Alyssa's enthusiasm for the work and for this community she calls home is a good compass for its future. And I’m proud to call her my friend.

The following is a travel journal entry recorded on location and delivered to you the same day. I hope you enjoy this mini-installment from the road during my Southern Fork Summer, and look for a regular full size interview to drop this Friday.

Dan Weidenbenner moved to Greenville, SC in 2007 via Furman University. While there, he fell in love with the region and decided to stay, and then with the help of more than 50 volunteers, launched Mill Village Farms in 2012. The farm is located in the Greater Sullivan Community of Greenville and includes 30 garden beds, a 60-foot greenhouse, a commercial kitchen, and a produce-processing facility, and since 2018 has distributed close to 81,000 boxes of produce and provided 400 individual training opportunities for the neighborhood youth. Dan serves as the executive director of Mill Village Farms and the parent organization, Mill Village Ministries, and he is also a resident of the Greater Sullivan community.

In 1905, Saloon Columbia in Tampa, FL officially became Columbia Restaurant, a place helmed by Casimiro Hernandez Sr. where cigar workers in Ybor City could rest and enjoy Spanish and Cuban food, or snag a sandwich to eat on the job. Through the years, the restaurant grew to envelop the entire city block, and today, the family-owned landmark is Florida’s oldest restaurant and the largest Spanish restaurant in the world with 15 dining rooms and 1,700 seats. Andrea Gonzmart Williams is the great-great-granddaughter of Casimiro Hernandez Sr., and she began working at Columbia at the age of 10 by doing filing in the corporate office. She continued working in various positions through high school and then after graduating from the University of South Florida, joined the family business full-time as the fifth generation of the 1905 Family of Restaurants. She is actively involved in the day-to-day operations of not only the flagship Ybor City location but also the other Columbia Restaurant locations in Florida, the Columbia Cafes at Tampa Bay History Center and Tampa International Airport, and other restaurant concepts within the company. But the Columbia isn’t just a family tradition for those who work there and grow up in the business; it’s also a traditional place of celebration for countless Florida families throughout the last 117 years.