Restaurant embraces island flavors

WORDS BY TAYLOR COOPER | PHOTOS BY DERRICK DAVIS

There’s a simple reason for that.

B“They want to go in and see the engine,” Hankey says. “Having quality service is good, but if the food wasn’t good they aren’t coming back.”

To put a finer point on it, the service shouldn’t be the primary focus. If everything is going well in the back of the house, it’s likely that will extend to the front of the house, Tullos says. That doesn’t go both ways, though.

In summary, “As the kitchen goes, that’s how the rest of it goes,” he says.

With so many restaurants nearby, one might wonder how Hankey keeps the kitchen staffed when many struggle even now after the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic. That’s not a mystery. He’s completely open about the strategy.

“People talk about the labor force, but there’s a lot of talent,” he says. “It’s really simple: Compensate people fairly and they’ll give you good work.”

It might become an issue during the upcoming summer season, Tullos adds. Even 10 years ago, when he was managing Bonefish Grill off Frederica Road, St. Simons Island still had an off-season lull. Sometimes only a handful of locals would show up for days on end.

“That doesn’t happen anymore,” Tullos says.

It’s not hard for a restaurant to maintain itself during the fall and winter months anymore, he continues, but keeping enough staff on hand to manage the summer rush can be a nightmare.

It doesn’t hurt the business’ success that seafood is always popular in coastal destinations. Wolf Island Oyster Co. has, as one might expect, oysters, but also shrimp, fish, steak, and a handful of other options.

In fact, shrimp remains the No. 1 seller. Tullos attributes that to oysters being a “love-it-or-hate-it” food, while shrimp enjoy a much wider appreciation and association with coastal cuisine.

“You don’t ‘kind of’ like an oyster,” Tullos says. “We sell a lot, but always shrimp is the big one.”

Ben Hankey and Allan Tullos have worked in food service for a long time. If you ask them what makes a good restaurant, you’ll get a similar answer.

“The kitchen is the engine of any restaurant,” says Ben Hankey, chef and general manager of Wolf Island Oyster Co. in Redfern Village on St. Simons Island.

“It’s the heart of the house,” Tullos, a partner in FG Squared, the group that owns Wolf Island, among other restaurants, adds. Wolf Island has been open for eight months by now, and it has been doing better than some of FG’s other restaurants already.

When he and FG Squared opened Wolf Island, he knew it would do well.

Typically, a new restaurant sees a rush as people come to see what all the fuss is about. Then, a lull follows when everyone’s had their fill before the regular rhythm gets established.

Wolf Island saw that surge eight months ago, but neither Tullos nor Hankey would describe the following lull period as such. Rather, they’d say it’s been a very easy cruise since the grand opening.

Tullos has worked in food service long enough to know how hard it is to get away from shrimp. He got his start at Spanky’s Marshside in Brunswick, now Marshside Grill, when he was 14. While attending Kennesaw State University, he took it from a side job to a full-time profession as he worked his way up the ladder of Ippolito’s Neighborhood Italian. He ended up back in the Golden Isles some 15 years ago when he was put in charge of the Bonefish Grill on St. Simons Island.

It was great to move back home, Tullos says. After the Bonefish location closed, he worked for another restaurant group but in 2019 took over as co-owner of Bubba Garcia’s in Redfern Village, and decided to focus all his time on the Golden Isles food scene.

It wasn’t long before fellow food service veteran Connor Rankin and Realtor Josh Nichols got together and had the idea to unite under an umbrella — FG Squared, or Fat Guys Food Group.

It doesn’t have an official motto, but Tullos says the driving idea behind FG was “go big.”

“Josh said ‘Let’s get big. Let’s open Wolf Island and let’s keep opening restaurants,’” Tullos says.

Wolf Island is the latest addition, but the group also owns Bubba Garcia’s, Chubb’s Diner, Coastal Kitchen, and Gnats Landing. It acquired Redfern Village — something Nichols had already had in the works prior — in June last year. Next up on the agenda is a new Bubba Garcia’s location in downtown Brunswick.

But for the moment, Tullos says he’s focused on Wolf Island. Or at least as focused as he can be on any one restaurant in his current role.

With Hankey running the show at Wolf Island for the most part, Tullos says he’s learned that owning a whole restaurant group is an entirely different kind of work than just running one.

“I’m so used to being hands-on,” Tullos says. “Now I talk to people at my desk, fill out paperwork, work on logistics. Having to buy things for multiple restaurants is a whole ‘nother thing from just one.”

Taking more of a backseat role hasn’t been a bad thing. He misses being the hands-on type of owner at his baby, Bubba Garcia’s, but this job provides more stability. It’s also good for his worklife balance. He and his two partners are all family folks now, and while he wishes he could spend more time in the kitchen, spending time with his actual babies is much more rewarding.

“You can’t do everything. Sometimes you have to let your managing partners make mistakes and learn,” Tullos says. “How it runs when you’re not there is a sign of how well your restaurant runs.”