It's simmer time for culinary tourism

Greenville's restaurant business continues to mature.

Coure Square Restaurant Group, the company that owns seven restaurants including the landmark Soby's, has rebranded, calling itself Table 301. Its newest restaurant, with a Reedy River-side spot at RiverPlace, opens next week. It's called The Lazy Goat, dishing up Mediterranean fare.

That's downtown. Over on the eastside is Rick Erwins Erwins on Villa, which opened on the eastside about a year ago with the same menu as Rick Erwin's in the West End. But now Erwin has decided to change to a Lowcountry fare.

Both restaurateurs say they are focusing on eater-entertainment, the idea that food is an experience.

At Rick Erwin's Low Country Grille, executive chef Robert Enniss comes straight from the salt marshes of Pawley's Island.

"When we met it just all came together," said Erwin. "The restaurant on Villa with its serene setting feels like something right out of Litchfield Beach. When you gaze out the windows, you can almost envision the coastal marshes through the shade trees. I don't know why I didn't see them before."

Carl Sobocinski and the Table 301 Restaurant Group said he's going beyond food to provide a compelling dining experience.

"Food is becoming more of an entertainment item on people's budgets," he said. "That factor has helped our company succeed in the local market by allowing the introduction of more varied offerings. It also keeps us on our toes by continuously raising the bar."

The Lazy Goat, which opens June 18, offers an enjoyable experience as well as good food.

Sobocinski is betting that it's not just the coveted riverfront location across from the Hampton Inn that will attract visitors to The Lazy Goat.

Walkers will be able to meander up to a waterfall-graced stone patio and into the cool interior of a laid-back Mediterranean dining space. They'll enjoy food, wine, decor and architecture that blends styles from Spain, Portugal, Southern France adn even North Africa.

To that end, the restaurant has adopted as its slogan, "Time Well Wasted."

The idea is for people to while away a few hours - or at least the better part of one - grazing over several small courses and a few relaxing beverages with friends.

Those small plates make up the lion's share of The Lazy Goat's menu, which is fashioned by Executive Chef Lindsay Autrey. The North Carolina native sharpened her skills in restaurants from Charleston and Miami to Cancun before landing in Greenville.

"I was raised in the South and my grandmother was Greek," she said. "So I grew up eating collard greens adn Spanikopita on the same plate thinking it was normal."

Though patrons can't expect that exact combination, Autrey will showcase her talents with creations like Trout Spanikopita featuring creamy spinach and feta filling, crispy leeks and salmon roe.

The Lazy Goat experience will include patio entertainment from an amphitheater that sits directly across the Reedy River.

At Erwin's Low Country Grille, the new staff and general manager - Steven Bright from Erwin's downtown location - are becoming well-versed in the new menu items, like Spicy Oyster Caesar Salad, Award-Winning Shrimp & Grits, Pauley's Grand Platter, and Trio De Mer.

And they're learning the fish tales that go with them so they can share with curious customers. LIke how folks in the Lowcountry started cooking up this type of cuisine in the first place. And why Aunt Mary's Dirty Clam Chowder is, well, dirty.

"Lowcountry food is a celebration, a way of life," Ennis said. "Growing up there, we were limited in entertainment, so we dug for clams, pulled in a crab or two, went out past the breakers for a pool of blackfish. We ate what the land had to offer each season."

About his decision to move to the Upstate, Ennis says that as a seasoned chef with years of experience, Greenville was the natural choice.

"If you want to be in the restaurant business in South Carolina and express your culinary skills, you need to be in Greenville. That's just where things are happening."

Erwin plans some new decor, including enhancments to the outdoor dining area.

"But for now," he says, "it's all about the food."