Chef Michael Rednak blends Southern and Italian cuisines to create Lucy Anne’s
The irony of art, and perhaps the beauty of it, is that creativity can be found in moments of great joy and of great sorrow. Michael Rednak knows this spectrum all too well, and the chef who has spent nearly a decade working at top restaurants around the region is applying this tenet of creativity to his newest and first solo concept, Lucy Anne’s.
From Hoppin’ John arancini to collard green agnolotti, Lucy Anne’s brings a delightful interplay of southern and Italian flavors and ingredients. That interplay, along with the name, is inspired by two grandmothers, one Southern and one Italian.
But the inspiration goes deeper still. Last fall, Rednak and his girlfriend, Caity Guthrie, found out they were going to have a baby girl. The couple was overjoyed and they knew exactly what they would name her—Lucy Anne.
It is still hard for Rednak to talk about the day they found out their baby no longer had a heartbeat. The loss sent the chef into a dark place for a time, and when he surfaced, he had a new sense of what he wanted out of life.
Now, the child, like the beloved grandmothers, lives on in Lucy Anne’s. “I can help bring her to life in a different way, tell the story,” Rednak says. “That’s the best thing about food—you can tell stories.”
Honing in on Lucy Anne’s concept
Already, Lucy Anne’s, which officially launched in October, is making waves. Rednak has secured a regular brunch residency at Junto Coffee in Taylors and is doing regular dinner service at HONE on Mondays and Tuesdays. The chef has also popped up around town for special collaboration dinners with Nico Abello and Joe Cash. He is targeting opening a brick-and-mortar location in Spartanburg, where he lives, within the year.
Rednak had been dreaming of doing his own thing for some time, but it wasn’t until he experienced the trauma of loss that he found the push to reassess what truly made him happy: cooking and creativity. While he had found great growth in his three years as executive sous chef and then executive chef at Indaco in Greenville, he knew he needed to try something new.
Rednak got his start in restaurants at 14, washing dishes in a pizza place in his hometown of Athens, in Upstate New York. That led to other stints at restaurants, and eventually to a deep passion for food.
He found mentors in top chefs in restaurants in Albany, before following opportunity and warmer weather South. At the time, Sean Brock was leading a hyperlocal Southern culinary revolution. Rednak was hooked. In 2017, he applied to work at Husk, hoping to land a job at one of the new locations in Savannah or Greenville. He still remembers getting the call from Chef Jon Buck at Husk Greenville.
From there, Rednak’s culinary evolution continued. The chef is fiercely dedicated to local purveyors. Lucy Anne’s uses Broadwater Shrimp seafood along with produce from BioWay Farms and Bradford Farms.
When Husk closed, Rednak worked at Restaurant 17 in Travelers Rest and at Avenue M in Asheville under Chef Andrew McCleod. There, he saw that Italian flavors and Southern ingredients can not only coexist on one menu but can create something really unique.
When Rednak returned to Greenville, he found further connection working at Bacon Bros. Public House, where co-owner Jason Callaway encouraged his culinary prowess.
Five years ago, Rednak had great skills and ideas, but he wasn’t quite ready to create Lucy Anne’s. He needed time working in restaurant management and a chance to dig deeper within himself. His time at Indaco gave Rednak the chance to learn more about restaurant operations, test his creative skills, and see what he wanted from his own restaurant.
The goal is to create a place that is not simply approachable, but is “intentional and memorable,” Rednak says.
Now, armed with a spectrum of professional and life experiences, the chef is ready.
Food for thought
On Lucy Anne’s
“I want it to be like grandma’s kitchen. I want to do Southern food, because of my time at Husk and Bacon Bros. [Public House], but I also really love pasta. I want [Lucy Anne’s] to be a destination. I want it to be where you go to celebrate an anniversary or where you go to ask someone to marry you. I don’t want it to feel stuffy or that you need to dress up.”
Chef’s Favorite Italian meets Southern Dishes
“Basically, anything where I could take it very Italian, very Southern and make it a cohesive thing and show people what can actually be. Right now, my favorite on my menu is Hoppin’ John arancini because it is very representative of what I do. I [also] did shrimp and polenta with polenta nero, so black polenta with smoked tomato and shrimp.”
On finding passion in the restaurant industry
“I feel very positive about it, especially when it’s a very chef-driven environment. Not driven by a corporation. That’s when you can do your best work, the less oversight you have, and you can let your creativity flow and you can let your food speak for itself.”
