COLUMBIA, S.C. — Chef Howard Stephens has been cooking in the Columbia area for over 25 years in some of the area’s best known kitchens – Tony’s Pizza on Washington Street, The Oak Table, Capital City Club, Rosso Trattoria, and Sapori in Lexington.
Now, Stephens will take the role as Executive Chef at Market on Main, a new venture in the Meridian building at 1320 Main St. in Columbia.
Market on Main is undergoing a soft opening this week, testing out menu items for the restaurant and stocking shelves in the market, before a scheduled official opening Friday, Dec. 13.
Chef Stephens says that Market on Main will feature dine in and take out meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner; indoor, patio and outdoor seating; and indoor and outdoor bars and entertainment space.
The outdoor area still under construction is the former site of Chez Fabric.
The original idea, Stephens says, was to locate Market on Main in that building at 1310 Main, but there were some structural issues and the proximity to other buildings did not easily allow space for delivery trucks. The building was razed after it was declared unsafe and the owner, Josh Willoughby, decided to add the footprint to the Meridian Building space at 1320 Main. The new indoor space, formerly Zoe’s Kitchen, increased by 1,500 square feet with the addition of bathrooms and larger kitchen.
While the indoor restaurant will seat 50 and the front patio area will seat 40, when complete, the outdoor area – accessible only through the restaurant -- will have seating for about 80 and feature an 18-tap serve-yourself beer wall, a 20-foot LED screen for movies and sports, a raised stage for bands, and a small kitchen where Stephens plans to hold cooking classes.
Stephens said that Market on Main offers him and the kitchen staff to explore more eclectic cuisine.
"I'm not limited on certain items, certain ingredients," he said. "We can pull flavors globally -- Middle Eastern, Asian, European... Southern. There are no limits."
"We have a composed breakfast menu, a composed lunch menu and a composed dinner menu," Stephens said. "If you came into the market and didn't want to necessarily buy breakfast and sit down... if you just wanted to grab a pastry, coffee or orange juice or craft soda, we're here for that, too."
The proposed breakfast menu features items such as muffins and scones as well as shakshuka (a Middle Eastern tomato and egg dish); variations of banh mi (Korean sandwiches) and marinated crab salad are on the lunch menu; and smoked lamb ribs with harissa barbeque sauce, grilled quail, steamed clams, and Korean boiled peanuts appear on the dinner menu.
Most of the produce used in the restaurant in available in the market will be local and there will be specialty products – chips, sodas, craft beer, ice cream and frozen foods, pet foods, and more – from around the state.
"We want to be an alternative for people who are downtown who don't necessarily have to go to a grocery store outside of the city on the way home."
The plan is to be open Monday through Wednesday 7:30 a.m.-8 p.m. and 7:30 a.m. -10 p.m. Thursday through Saturday. Market on Main will be closed on Sunday.