NORTH CHARLESTON — A highly anticipated Italian restaurant from Charleston’s largest hospitality group has named its executive chef and set a tentative opening date.
Owned by Indigo Road Hospitality Group, Riva Mare will open on Aug. 21 at Navy Yard Charleston. It will be housed atop Storehouse Nine inside the rapidly developing mixed-use property along the Cooper River, which recently added Second State Coffee to its list of food and beverage tenants.
Riva Mare will specialize in coastal Italian food. The restaurant’s waterfront, mostly outdoor setting and coastal cuisine will set it apart from other Italian eateries in the area, including Indigo Road’s other Italian concept, Indaco, President Steve Palmer told The Post and Courier in April.
Sean McMullen
Andrew Cebulka/Provided
The food will be prepared under the direction of recently named executive chef Sean McMullen, who joins the North Charleston kitchen after serving as chef de cuisine at Asheville, N.C.’s Luminosa.
At the upscale North Carolina Indigo Road Hospitality Group eatery, McMullen served Italian classics prepared using hyper-local ingredients and a wood-burning oven and grill. Last year, he helped the restaurant earn a Michelin Green Star for sustainability and a Bib Gourmand designation in Michelin’s new American South guide.
The chef, who brings nearly two decades of experience to Riva Mare, is looking forward to cooking with more seafood in Charleston, he told The Post and Courier. He plans to partner with local purveyors, such as CudaCo., to build a menu featuring crudos and tartares, as well as whole-grilled fish, head-on shrimp, and other entrees and large-format seafood selections.
Riva Mare takes its inspiration from Italian regions like Liguria and the Amalfi Coast. McMullan plans to harness the light and local focus of those regions, where quality ingredients are the key to creating impressive yet simple dishes.
“Coastal Italy is all about that,” said McMullan, who believes his food will be a good fit for Riva Mare’s waterfront setting. “This is a very exciting part of the city to be developing this concept in.”
Riva Mare is the first major restaurant to open at Navy Yard Charleston, which is projected to feature more than 3 million square feet of office, residential, retail, dining and entertainment venues, as well as community green spaces.
Riva Mare will open for dinner daily, with lunch and brunch to come in September. For more information, visit rivamarechs.com. To book a reservation, visit opentable.com.
Dining and Cooking