Oak Hill Cafe brings new level of farm-to-table cuisine to Greenville

A chef and chemist walk into a party … and come out with a great idea for a restaurant. Earth and Environmental Sciences department lab manager Lori Nelsen and Costa Rican chef David Porras actually did meet at a Furman party where they hatched a dining concept that combines a farm, dining room and a kitchen-part-chemistry lab. Oak Hill Cafe is set to open in April on Poinsett Highway near Hakim Rug Gallery.

The 2.5 acre plot for the restaurant features a house and enough real estate for a tactical working farm. Lillia Callum-Penso spoke to the two in an article she wrote for The Greenville News. Porras says the concept is “…about understanding from your soil to your plate, understanding what is going on, from when you plant a seed, what is happening.” Says Nelsen, “Food is a connection between our health and the environment, and you can learn and try new things your whole life and never learn it all.” The upcoming restaurant was also covered in the Greenville Journal by Ariel Turner who spoke to the self-described “food chemistry geeks.”