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Chef Jim Spratling

“I really get excited about local product whether it's as simple as collard greens or as sublime as stone crab.  I love to experiment with new techniques and flavor combinations, but often find the old tried and true methods to be superior.  Sometimes simple is best.”

Chef Jim Spratling, a born and bred North Carolinian began his cooking career at age 16.  Some ten years later found Jim relocated to Charleston, S.C. where he embarked on a self styled apprenticeship, which entailed culinary school by day and cooking in some of Charleston's top kitchens by night.  In an effort to broaden his experience Jim chose a variety of chefs as mentors: French, Puerto Rican, Japanese, Italian, Mexican, and American.  “The chefs I trained under and their philosophies coupled with the influences of my mother and grandmothers southern kitchens have given my food style good depth.”

In 1997 Jim moved from Charleston, S.C. to Beaufort, S.C., a quiet Lowcountry town on the bluffs of the Beaufort River.  It was here that he met and began working for restaurateur Lantz Price.  The two began to conspire in 2000 to open a new restaurant, the one they had both dreamed of.  In 2003 Saltus River Grill opened.  With free reign of menu planning and a brand new kitchen Jim set about making some of the best food in the Lowcountry and immediately “raised the bar” of food quality in Beaufort.

Jim believes that the purity of ingredients and simplicity of preparation highlight a meals elegance.  His demand and insistence for the freshest local ingredients combined with his ability to present his creations classically and artfully means more than just dinner. It's a unique experience.