Heidi Trull and husband, Joe, share deep Carolina roots. She was born in Sumter, and he grew up working in his family's bakery in Winston-Salem, N.C.
They also followed a similar culinary path. After stints at several restaurants, Joe landed in a sweet spot as pastry chef at Emeril Lagasse's former French Quarter restaurant, Nola. Heidi also worked the restaurant circuit before joining him at Nola.
But with the birth of their son, Tom, the Carolinas began to beckon, and they relocated to South Carolina to raise their child. It wasn’t long before that old craving for kitchen action returned. The Trulls satisfied it by opening Belton’s Grits & Groceries, a small country café that found fame thanks to Heidi’s focus on farm-to-table dining before it was a well-established thing.
Heidi's commitment to South Carolina ingredients led to her being named a South Carolina Chef Ambassador in 2015. She spent her tenure promoting the state's agriculture and sharing her knowledge with the dining public.
But four years later, the Trulls opted to take a much-needed break and close the business. But the spark that burns in the heart of a chef is not so easily extinguished. Heidi and Joe missed the cafe so much that they took on a pair of business partners and reopened their venture a year later. Patrons once again fell in line, drawn to Trull's eclectic way with traditional Southern dishes.
Fast forward to the present. The Trulls have once again stepped away from their restaurant baby, but this time with more permanent intentions. As co-owners of Side Dish Catering in Belton, the couple has struck their desired balance between leisurely and kitchen pursuits.
Luckily for diners, their legacy remains a tangible part of Grits & Groceries, which is under new ownership but continues to serve some of Heidi’s most popular dishes.
In this Q and A, we get a peek into the mind of this beloved South Carolina chef during her tenure at Grits & Groceries:
Q: What or who inspired you to become a chef?
A: My mother, because she didn't cook.
Q: What are you cooking these days that excites you the most?
A: Excited to be making ice cream using Watson & Lisa Dorn's Hickory Hill Milk, a low-temp producer who is local.
Q: What is the most embarrassing thing you have ever done in a restaurant kitchen?
A: One time, we sent a "to go" order out to a customer who lived about 30 minutes away. It was three burgers. After arriving home, they discovered we had sent the buns only – no meat!
Q: Is there a food you simply refuse to eat?
A: Chicken fingers
Q: What would your dream meal be?
A: Three courses of foie gras. I actually had this on the final day of a trip to France. It was scrumptious.
Q: How important is presentation?
A: 100 percent
Q: What's the best tip you can give a home cook?
A: Eat out more often (!) and be adventurous with your ingredients.
Q: What is something you learned despite having a wealth of cooking experience?
A: Stuck on this one … I know I did learn something recently, but it escapes me. I remember saying aloud, "Hey! I learned something new."
Q: If you were not working as a chef, what would you be doing?
A: I would be a contractor and spend more time riding horses
And her vision is now reality. These days, Heidi is largely out of the kitchen (save for a catering gig here and there) with plenty of time for saddling up and relaxing with her family.
