Atlanticville's Condon adds 'Southern Twist' to eclectic menu items

Chef William Condon, known around Charleston as "Billy," has been with Atlanticville since 1997 and in the role of the executive chef since 2004.

Condon is a Charleston native who says he has a deep respect for and knowledge of Lowcountry cuisine.

Q: How long has Atlanticville been opened?

A: Atlanticville has been open since 1996, so that's 14 years. We started out as a family-style restaurant with Northern and Southern influences.

Original chef/owner Phil Corr went to culinary school in Staten Island and formed his cooking style and techniques in Cape Cod and Nantucket.

In recent years, the cuisine has become an eclectic mix of sophisticated Southern cuisine with a touch of Pan Asian and Cuban influences.

Q: Is your business seasonal at all because of your location?

A: We definitely have our core group of locals and regulars from Sullivan's Island, Isle of Palms, Mount Pleasant, and the rest of Charleston County, but we get a huge influx of business during the summer season (May to September).

Q: How did Thai Tuesdays get started? Is that your most popular night in the restaurant?

A: Thai Tuesdays started from a 1997 guest chef dinner with Tyler Merson, who studied in Thailand for four years.

The dinner happened to be on a Tuesday and Thai Tuesday was born! It's definitely one of our more popular nights during the week since we have live music on the deck and we were one of the pioneers of Thai cooking in Charleston.

Q: What's the most popular dish on your menu?

A: The seared sea scallops with a new potato and tiny green bean salad over grilled yellow tomato bisque with applewood smoked bacon gremolata.

The item ordered the most would have to be both the flash fried tuna roll appetizer and our fried oyster appetizer with house made sausage, sauteed spinach and onion, and roasted garlic aioli.

Q: Do you have any special promotions coming up?

A: We will start our monthly wine paired dinners again in the fall. The first one will be another sushi and sake dinner in September.

We will be participating in another Guerrilla Cuisine, as well as some guest chef dinners. Thai Tuesdays and Sangria Sunday Brunches will continue throughout the year with live music.

E-mail us at contactus@atlanticville.net or call us at 883-9452 to be added to our mailing list and receive the updates. You can also find us on Facebook.

Q: What do you see happening at Atlanticville in five years?

A: More of the same ... Amazing, delicious food in a casually elegant setting. We're a destination on Sullivan's Island with a great group of regulars and locals and that will continue, but there could be a sister restaurant in the near future in Summerville!

Q: What is your guilty pleasure food?

A: I love a good hot dog. Perfectly Franks in downtown Summerville will definitely have the best in town.

There's a toss up there between the Cuda (aka "The Bama" with chili, cheese, bacon, fried onion and blue cheese coleslaw) and the Elvis (grilled banana, bacon, peanut butter and grape jelly ... insane).