Lobster Tails & Collard Greens

What do you get when you take a jack-of-all-trades kitchen mastermind, a dash of “New Southern” elegance, and a pinch of coastal influence? I’m not fond of math, but since this delicious equation leads to elevated dishes like lobster tail and collard green spring rolls with raspberry coulis and saffron cream, I’m all ears … and stomach.

Not only does Chef Shane White boast an impressive 17 years as Executive Chef at South Carolina’s Keowee Key Country Club, he got his start at this prestigious facility. From a teenager washing dishes to a young apprentice honing his skills under some of the area’s most talented chefs to a full-fledged leader manning his own flourishing, multifaceted operation, Chef Shane has climbed (and earned) each and every rung on the culinary ladder.

Fresh off of a nearly $8 million renovation, Keowee Key’s Club reopened in July 2019 with approval for outside events like weddings, corporate functions, and fundraisers. The banquet room was consistently packed, and Chef Shane’s kitchen was cranking out as many as five different menus in one day.

Although COVID-19 brought that massive new wave of business to a screeching halt, the Club (and kitchen team) have forged on. Whether it’s casual lunchtime handhelds, Russian-themed dinners, or sold- out signature fried chicken and collards (which dart out the door by the quart), Chef Shane continues to dazzle Keowee Key members with his magic and keep them hungry for more.

Chef Shane White | Executive Chef

The Club at Keowee Key | Salem, SC

Did you know from a young age that you wanted to be a chef? What are some of your earliest memories in the kitchen?

I had no idea! I figured I would be working at Duke Power or laying brick. I didn’t even know that this was a field and actually stumbled into it when I was 15. I started washing dishes at Keowee Key and then eventually continued to move up.

What was your culinary career path like? How much hands-on experience did you get in the industry?

Before I got to Keowee, I had never seen a lobster or a shrimp. The closest thing to a steak that I knew was a Salisbury steak! After washing dishes here starting in 1988, over the next five years, I started working under some great chefs and began to hone my skills.

I followed one of the Keowee chefs to another kitchen in Greenville and then worked as Executive Chef at several well-known restaurants in that area. I came back to Keowee to do a consulting year in 2000, returned in 2003, and have been here ever since.

In a full circle way, everything is tied back to this club!

How would you define your cooking style?

I use techniques versus recipes and play off of a lot of different ideas. Sometimes, it’s all about salt and pepper. You can be a good or bad cook simply from over or under seasoning something.

You’ve been the Executive Chef at Keowee Key for an impressive 17 years. What is it that not only drew you into the country club environment, but kept you there for so long?

Relationships with members are very important, but I also enjoy the ability to not always be doing the same thing. We do an “around-the-world” monthly series where I get to cook all different types of cuisine from Russian to South African to Indian. I’m not an authentic Russian cook, of course, so I take liberties and hope it’s close!

One day, I’m doing burgers and hot dogs and the next I’m preparing a Chef’s Table event for 12. We get compared to other free-standing restaurants who specialize in one thing, but there’s so much more going on here.

Speaking of your Chef’s Table events (which have been wildly successful for over a decade), they’re a huge draw for members and a place where you get to flex your most creative culinary muscles. Tell me more about these dinners and why you think they’ve been such a continued hit.

The groups vary from eight to 12 guests, but I’ve done them for as little as two people and as many as 40. The idea is a five-course dinner where each plate is a surprise. We’ll ask if there are any allergies, dislikes, or likes, but essentially it’s a blind meal (which can be paired with wine).

The Club’s regular menus have to be a mix of things and members like familiar items (i.e. burgers, steaks, pasta, etc.). The Chef’s Tables are opportunities for me to use my creativity. Menus are based on seasonality, but we’ve accommodated all kinds of dietary needs like kosher, gluten-free, and vegetarian. We’ve even done the surprise five courses for kids!

Longtime Executive Chef Shane White’s versatility and kitchen management expertise are paramount in meeting the demands from such a large, diverse array of palates. On any given day, Shane’s menus usually include a large special event, such as a gourmet wine dinner, while simultaneously offering a variety of dining options in the main and private dining rooms, the bar, terrace, patio, and The Bistro, which also provides lunch and extensive takeout service. The members rave about the fine dining events in equal measure with kudos for nightly specials and Southern favorites like barbeque, fried chicken, and shrimp and grits. And as a special treat, on a balmy South Carolina evening, we just might find Shane and the boys regaling us on the Event Lawn with some great dance tunes. Versatility and expertise describe Chef Shane to a T.”

— Margaret Eldridge

The Keowee Key Wine Appreciation Club is a large monthly event with up to 120 attendees (pre-COVID). Chef Shane designs all the meals tailored to the chosen wines for the month's theme. These are five course and five-star meals. He introduces us to new flavors and dishes that expand and titillate our culinary palate. His ability to 'roll with the punches' is second to none, like the time the ovens went out the day of our Wine Club event. Somehow he managed to not only prep the meal, but it turned out fabulous! Chef Shane is an important part of the Keowee Key Club's success and asset to the community as a whole.

— Olimpia Borys Member since November 2013

The club is situated in an area widely recognized for its coastal cuisine. What are a few of your quintessential South Carolina dishes that members love? And is your food mostly Southern-motivated?

Definitely the shrimp and grits, fried chicken, crab cakes, and pimento cheese! There’s a lot of Southern influence even though we’re not necessarily Southern. The meatloaf, for example, features wild mushrooms and a red wine jus. I like to elevate classic dishes and blend unique flavor combinations.

I was a chef at a restaurant and blues bar that featured “New Southern” cuisine. It was coastal, Southern, and New Orleans tied into one. I also worked under a chef in Greenville where the food was a mix between California and New York cooking (like veal meatloaf, for example).

At the country club, we’re a jack of all trades. Sometimes it’s Italian night, sometimes French.

Are you responsible for executing everything?

We do Chef’s Tables and other functions right alongside regular service, and I cook each item that’s on the Chef’s Table menu myself. Members know that my hands have been on everything. I like to surprise them, and in return, they completely trust me.

That’s certainly a testament to the faith these folks have in you!

They use these Chef’s Tables as opportunities to celebrate birthdays or anniversaries, and they’re putting their complete trust and faith in me with the expectation that I’ll execute a great meal.

What advice do you have for home cooks who aren’t very comfortable in the kitchen but want to entertain and improve their skills?

I believe that recipes can help you one time, whereas techniques help you in the long run. If you learn a recipe, you can make that one dish. If you learn a technique, it’ll help you make a thousand dishes. I’m also a big fan of the cast iron skillet!

If you’re like me and have always been partial to the Parisian style of food shopping, you make more than one single weekly excursion. You visit the market almost daily to pick up the freshest produce, proteins, and occasional specialty items to give your supper a little spark. Thanks to the pandemic, however, the frequency of taking trips to crowded stores has tremendously decreased. Depending on where you live and how big of a wave the virus happens to be in at the time, you might not even visit a grocer for weeks at a time. Many of us (guilty) even stocked up on canned foods when it all first went down—not knowing whether we were simply just being cautious or preparing ourselves for an apocalypse-style scenario where we wave bows and arrows to shoo away neighbors asking to borrow a cup of milk.

That’s what happens in apocalypse movies, right? I’m more into medical dramas.