♪ Upbeat music ♪ ♪ Live your life with ♪ ♪ in the moment moment.

♪ ♪ And don't go wait until the ♪ ♪ morning morning.

♪ ♪ You never know ♪ ♪ when it is over over.

♪ ♪ All that I know is I'll get older older.

♪ ♪ So Let us stand beside and wait.

♪ ♪ Let us dance the night away.

♪ Brittney: Hello, I'm Brittany Brackett and welcome to this edition of Backroad Bites.

Today we're here at the wonderful Euphoria, Food and Wine Festival in Greenville, South Carolina.

This festival was founded in 2006 by platinum selling singer songwriter Edwin McCain and prominent Greenville restaurant tour Carl Sobieski.

Over the last 16 years Euphoria has grown from a passion project into a highly anticipated annual four day festival.

Euphoria features exclusive tasting events, cooking demonstrations and wine seminars, as well as live concerts.

We'll learn more about this amazing festival later.

But first, we'll head down to Sumter, South Carolina, where we found a hometown eatery that's big on flavor and personality.

Jeffery: Most of the time, we always say you really good food, you got to go to your auntie house, your grandma house, but I wanted to be able that on a Sunday or Tuesday or Thursday or Friday any day that you can come in and you feel like coming out.

My name is Jeffrey Lampkin, I'm the owner and operator of Jeffrey Lamkins Country Boy Kitchen, one family, three locations.

I'm we're currently at the original location, which is 5642 Broad Street here in Sumter, South Carolina.

I'm from the country.

So country boys were not allowed in the kitchen.

I was actually outside cutting the grass.

So these are the things that when I tell people now I'm able to do it.

Nobody believes me, but I know how to cut grass, weed, eat mow the lawn, because those are the things that I actually grew up doing.

I would watch my mom, I would wait for things that wish she would bake a cake.

I probably like every other kid who wanted to lick the bowl, I always would lick the bowl of the cake.

Those are the things I would see her doing it.

But I never cooked growing up.

It wasn't until I went to college, that I actually started cooking.

And it was natural.

And so I tell people, there is no culinary experience, but the experience of the kitchen life and what God gave me.

God literally gave me this gift that has allowed me to be able to transcend and feed 1000s upon 1000s of people in this world I'm grateful for it because I know that it's a gift from God.

The restaurant is coin.

Jeffrey Lamkins Country Boy Kitchen, home of the honey fried chicken.

So everyone comes for the honey fried chicken.

But there's this competition for the sides.

It's like What side do you want.

And so the most popular sides that I see are the soul saving greens, the miracle Mac and Cheese because you know that Mac and Cheese.

See I tell people you want to really know if you can cook your Mac and cheese has to be right.

If your Mac and Cheese is right.

You can cook something about you.

So the miracle Mac and Cheese, the soul saving greens and the Yahweh Yams.

If I had one dish that I will say describes South Carolina it is the perlo rice, it's a low country perlo rice.

So in the south, oftentimes when people were growing up, they didn't have a lot of money.

So they literally needed to have feed houses of 12-15 children off a one pot.

So in South Carolina, we have this thing where you can bake meat, you can boil meat, you can smoke meat, but you take this meat and you bake it use whatever you need to do, you cook a pot of rice, and then you season it.

And the beautiful thing about perlo rice is you really can make it to your design and you can use chicken, you can use our neck bones, you can use sausage, you can use turkey, it doesn't matter.

But it's the perlo rice I think is just like it fits the southern South Carolina at its heart at its finest.

You're from the Upstate you're gonna say Chicken Bob, but if you're from Charleston and the Low Country Orangeburg, Manning, Sumter you're going to say perlo rice.

So my other claim to fame, I started on American Idol in 2008.

And I actually made it all the way to Hollywood made it to the top 72.

So Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, Randy Jackson, all of them were on when I was on there, and they all gave me yeses, and I went on to Hollywood and everything.

And after that time, Fox News watch Fox in Colombia called me asked me to be do commentary.

So I was doing commentary for American Idol.

And then from that time, it just went on I started doing commentary.

Then I started, they called me back the next year comes with commentary again.

Then I had my own show.

The Jeffrey Lampkin Show for six seasons number one show and so from there, it's just built this fan base of people who are following me, and each and every assignment I tell people, I'm serving people.

So even with me being on TV, it was about serving people.

So it's like, well, who is Jeffrey Lampkin, the man from the radio, the man from American Idol, the choir director because I'm with Francis Marion I was on Good Morning America.

So God has given all these opportunities in the way I see it again.

It's not about Jeffrey, it's about serving people.

So what I love about everything that I do is that I'm serving people, I get to bless God's people, I get to put a smile on somebody's face.

I get to make somebody happy.

I can't tell you enough.

How when people are eating my food, and they're excited, oh that thrills my soul.

That makes me happy.

So I love that because I'm serving people.

And that's my ultimate mission.

Brittney: Next, we head down the highway to the friendly town of Hartsville.

Where people travel from miles away for that unique flavor of fried chicken that has everyone saying how sweet it is.

George: That funny fried chicken that's got it little secret in there.

Hartsville is a great little town.

And so we have people now moving into Hartsville, from up north and Canada.

I ask them.

What brought you to the Hartsville.

They said we love the small town atmosphere and people are so friendly here.

This is of course been an institution for years.

I bought it about 18 years ago, and I told the original owner, I said if you ever want to sell you just let me know.

And so one day he walked in my office said I'm ready to sell, and I'm ready to sell right now.

Everybody ate at Yogi Bear.

I mean for years.

It's been an institution.

And of course is the best chicken anywhere around?

You know that Honey Fried Chicken that's got it little secret in there.

So that immediately draws you to Yogi Bear.

Customer: The honey, and hospitality and cooking we love.

Everybody worked together.

Everybody worked as a team.

Everybody always have they always got each other's back.

George: We have a good Charlotte business.

We have good a Greenville business people coming down.

This way, we've diversified.

We have snow balls and ice cream during the summer.

And soups and sandwiches during the winter.

We had a big pork chop business.

We have a big seafood business.

But most people that come in from out of town, they don't want our pork chopsor our seafood.

They want Yogi Bear, Honey Fried Chicken.

The three piece box with two sides.

That's probably the most that we sell.

And then of course second would be the Boo-Boo.

Cook: The Boo-Boo is a thigh and a leg or roll and a side item.

Then the three piece you get two sides, two rolls, two legs, and a short thigh.

We've of got all kinds of specials.

George: This is the last Yogi Bear.

Originally they were twenty up and down the East Coast.

And this is only one to survive.

But Yogi Bear will definitely continue on and the secrets in the recipe.

Brittney: I'm here with Megan Earley Soppa, Board Chair of Euphoria, Greenville.

I am so excited to be here.

Tell us about this fabulous event.

Megan: Well, I'm glad to have you here.

Yeah, your board in Greenville.

We're in near 17.

It's a Food and Wine Festival, where our profits go to our grant program.

So we're nonprofit, which is what makes us unique.

We put on almost 60 events across downtown Greenville.

And they're different festival parties like this.

We have private dinners.

We had a Tyler Florence dinner last night.

We've got seven Michelin starred chefs who've been preparing amazing meals over the weekend.

And classrooms.

So you have an experience.

You want to have here in town you can have it.

Buy the tickets.

Brittney: So what makes this festival unique to Greenville.

Megan: So what makes it unique to Greenville is two things.

First, it's a nonprofit.

So we are actually writing a grant program from what happens here.

And the second thing is, because it's a nonprofit, we're not owned by any one organization.

So that allows us to scale down and scale up depending on what's going on.

When COVID came we scaled down.

Now that we're in a almost post COVID world I will say we're in a post COVID world yet.

We can scale back up and we give back to the community which a lot of cool micro schools are just that they make money and get out.

but we literally You take applications from people, and if you have a project that fits what we want to do, write your checks you can get your project done.

It's amazing.

Brittney: Amazing.

So Megan, thank you so much for this opportunity and we're gonna check out some of these bites.

Megan: Yeah cheers.

♪ fun music ♪ Brittney: Next, nestled in the Bellevue Historic District of Columbia, South Carolina, is a beloved family owned vegan eatery.

A piece of soul vegan kitchen creates southern classics that are vegetarians delight.

Food is the thing that brings us all together.

My customer base is amazingly diverse.

So, from all walks of life somehow find their way here and you know enjoy the food.

♪ We are at a Piece of Soul Vegan Kitchen, here in Columbia, South Carolina, Downtown Main Street.

I was born and raised here.

I was raised vegetarian.

When we wanted to eat something, we had very few choices.

The options for vegetarians were very slim.

It was rice and there was salad on most the menus.

So, in order for us to, you know, enjoy an actual meal, we either had make food at home and that of course grew into making food for everyone.

So, we began as Lamb's Bread Vegan Cafe in 2005.

One of the first 100% vegan restaurants in the southeast remains Lamb's Bread for quite some time until 2017 when I purchased the restaurant from my father and did a re-brand.

Of course, we're still vegan, but we are now most known for a modern take on vegan cuisine.

♪ When it comes to vegan, if you leave the seasoning out, you have a very bland meal.

I actually don't cook with recipes necessarily, but just things that I picked up from family members.

If you see your grandma add a little cayenne pepper to the potato salad, you keep that.

The type of vinegar that you use in your collards.

♪ There are very few people that I have met who lived in or are from South Carolina who don't like collards.

It's something that you see on most southern or soul food menus.

Collards can be prepared in so many ways.

There's a collard slaw or using raw collards, the traditional stewed or steamed collards.

If South Carolina was one dish, it will be our collards.

♪ Customer favorites are of course the crispy fried chicken sandwich.

That is one that's kind of taken on a life of its own.

I was very hesitant, at first.

I'm here in the south.

I don't like to bother things that people hold near and dear to their hearts and fried chicken is one of those.

Vegan food is more simple than people would imagine.

You're taking the same steps as you would I presume when you're making actual fried chicken.

The trick for us is just the seasoning and the batter, because you want that crunch and you want that flavor.

And you want it to be juicy.

And so it's made very traditionally.

We just happen to leave out the, you know, bird.

♪ We were blessed in the sense that our renovations took about two years.

While we were renovating, we were in a food truck, which is take out.

When we re-opened it was right before the pandemic sort of got really, really big.

So, we had maybe two or three weeks where our customers could dine in, but right away it became clear that we weren't going to be able to be operate in that way.

We've become completely contactless.

It's essentially seamless.

You just go to the website.

You select your items.

We get notification that you placed the order.

We fix it.

My brother sits it on one of our take out tables.

And you come in, let us know your name.

Pick your food up and you're on your way.

♪ Most of the people that find their way here, have been told by some of their friends or told by some of their family members that they have to try it.

Before Main Street became what it is now, us and one or two other businesses were the only ones that were really here.

And it didn't matter.

They still came.

When nothing else was on Main Street, we still had a great deal of people who would drive to still come and see us.

♪ Soul Food, look at it literally, it's food that feeds your soul.

For me, it means food that nourishes you.

Food that gives you a comfort.

Food that makes you feel better after you eat it.

Now, the difference with ours is that we achieve that without the animal byproducts.

We make cuisine that anybody can enjoy.

You don't have to be vegan.

It's not required.

You can still get your barbeque.

You can still get your collards.

And you don't feel like you're missing anything.

Brittney Brackett: What's the way anybody's heard some good country cooking located in the heart of the Midlands.

Ray's Diner, has made a tasty reputation for itself.

With not only its food, but its small town feel.

♪ Richard: My name is Richard Cooper we at 3110 Two Notch Rd.

Columbia, South Carolina at Ray's Diner.

Ray's got started about nine, ten years ago, it was two guys with a vision we happen to see an empty building and it used to be a restaurant, and it was in a great location so I guess we figured if we can make it if they made it work for 20 years, we could come in make it work for a little bit longer.

What Ray's Diner and mean to the community is a nice warm atmosphere where you can come in and have a meal in and get to know people and see all your old friends and work with the community and bring a good place to eat with a warm atmosphere.

What make Ray's unique to breakfast is an old timey cooking breakfast that we have like the liver pudding onion sausage and stewed salmon out like this stuff like that that people just enjoy eating every day.

My grits they Stone Mountain and we make them a special way and it's hard to find them like that in Colombia.

That's that's when our unique sellers.

If South Carolina was a dish Hey, that's a good question.

Um, I guess it has to be the fish and grits with eggs and liver pudding on the side or some bacon on the side.

I think that will be the main course, main dish Ray's is a down home country spot where most of our customers we know by name and they come here for the good and warm atmosphere and a good breakfast a very reasonable price.

Brittney: Located in the top left corner of South Carolina is the town of Salem.

This place loved for its lakes breathtaking views and according to the locals, sisters restaurant has some really good breakfast.

You can even borrow a book to read from their bookshelves while you eat your meal.

Let's take a look at what's on the menu at Sister's Restaurant.

♪ Amanda: My name is Amanda Moon Callahan and welcome to Sister's Restaurant in Salem, South Carolina.

About five years ago, my parents were looking for their next steps they live down in Fort Lauderdale, Florida live in a busy lifestyle working 80 hours a week and they always wanted to own a breakfast and lunch place.

And so my parents relocated bought Sisters Restaurant it was named Sisters Restaurant and it felt like it was perfect because they had four daughters.

So I'm the oldest and they bought Sisters Restaurant and now I'm one of the sisters.

I think you know eaten a bunch at breakfast places around the area.

I think the one thing that we do really well here is that we make all of our orders fresh to order.

So there's no hot boxes of bacon.

There's no pre cooked sausage.

Everything is made to order.

It tastes like it came right out to Grandma's kitchen.

I think if South Carolina was a breakfast dish served at Sisters Restaurant, it would definitely be our country breakfast.

So freshly cooked biscuits split open, served with ham and scrambled eggs.

And then smothered in gravy.

Little home fries on the side.

Grilled with some onions.

I'm telling you that's in South Carolina.

The biscuits are incredible.

The sausage gravy heavenly.

And yeah, I think that we've just always stuck to the principle of fresh cooked.

Never waiting around in a hot box freshly made to order and getting out food as fast as possible.

So you got a lot of crews stopping in and they need quick convenient and filling breakfasts and lunches.

So we serve that at the same time as serving some of our really awesome retirement communities all sorts of kind of gated Lake Kiwi Communities here and they can still come in and get eggs Benedict, fresh fruit cups on the side.

And so I think that that's the the blends that makes it feel like this is a restaurant for everybody is that you can still come in and get good down home cooking at the same time of getting really fresh, unique foods as well.

One of the unique things that a lot of our locals and regulars take part in is dropping off a book in our library.

So if you head on back into the dining room, what you'll find is several rows of books.

You can drop off your books pick up a book.

So it's really, I know that when I'm finished reading my books, I bring them in here and take some new ones off the racks.

I'm not exactly sure how it started.

But we've kept the tradition going for several years.

And it's always really nice to see when somebody walks in the door and brings us a fresh load books.

And so it's a it's definitely a family atmosphere here, whether it's kids or bringing in your grandparents.

This is definitely the place that when come to visit family, you're going to bring up my favorite little breakfast spot and everybody brings their family, it's always nice meeting extended family from visits for the summer.

You know, we get a lot of folks who are coming to Lake Jocassee.

Devil's Fork State Park is just down the road.

And so we get a lot of people who are Googling up the trails and hiking and then they come over here and grab lunch or grab breakfast on their way to it.

And so it's really, a one stop fits all kind of place.

like supporting locally owned, family run businesses is the bread and butter of keeping the small towns alive.

This is one of the only restaurants that really exists in Salem, South Carolina, that's not really a chain.

There's a couple other small family owned places.

It's not just we're just serving food, you know, it's really about we know everybody's name when they come in.

We're serving of awesome families, little kids that come in, who grow up and we see them come in from week to week.

So it's really a wonderful thing to be a part of.

Brittney: For more tasty tidbits from around the state, please visit our website @scetv.org .

And don't forget to follow us on social media.

Whether it's Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.

For Backroad Bites.

I'm Brittany Brackett.

Thanks for watching.

♪ This is literally the most outdoorsy I have ever been in my life.

♪ Gun goes bang ♪ (Excited cheerful laugh.)

♪ happy music ♪ This is our town.

This is our town.

♪ happy music ♪ Salutations and welcome everyone.

♪ happy music ♪ Food is Southern culture.

When I think of Southern cuisine, I think it's just filled with flavor filled with love.

If South Carolina was a dish, it would be a tomato sandwich.

We have really hung our hats on that too.

♪ Happy laughter ♪ Captioned By: SCETV