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Wire

Bowens Island in
ruins

Blaze
destroys eatery known for oysters, ambience

Monday, October
23, 2006

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TYRONE
WALKER/STAFF

Bowens
Island restaurant owner Robert Barber vows to rebuild the classic eatery that
was founded by his grandparents.

BY EDWARD C.
FENNELL

JAMES ISLAND - Flames that soared 50 feet high Sunday destroyed a famous
Lowcountry eatery where graffiti covered the dining room walls and oysters were
served by the snow-shovel-full.

The early morning blaze gutted Bowens Island restaurant, but the 60 years of
fond memories at the "American Classic" will remain.

"I kind of feel like I lost a member of our family," said owner Robert
Barber, a grandson of the restaurant's founders, Jimmy and May Bowen.

The fire is under investigation, but arson is not suspected, fire officials
said. Barber, a candidate for lieutenant governor, vowed to rebuild.

The fire at the uniquely decorated seafood restaurant, at 1870 Bowens Island
Road, beside Folly Creek, was reported at 5:38 a.m. The building was a roaring
inferno when the first of five fire trucks arrived, James Island Fire District
Battalion Chief Gene Woodall said.

Destroyed were the restaurant's "wall of televisions" and a 1946 Seeburg
jukebox that played five 78 rpm records for a quarter. A hair-styling machine
and other antiques that belonged to the restaurant's founders also are gone, as
are two old church pews that provided seating at a corner table.

Charleston Mayor Joe Riley called the fire a great loss for the region. Riley
said he fell for the charm of the Bowens Island restaurant when he was in high
school, and frequented it with friends while a cadet at The Citadel.

"The memories are rich," he said. "It was authentic and full of character.
They once had a register, and you signed the register and then put your name on
the walls and tables."

In May the restaurant was named an "American Classic" by the James Beard
Foundation, a New York City-based group that honors restaurants that nurture
culinary heritage and diversity. Barber went to New York and received the
prestigious culinary award while clad in a black tuxedo, red bowtie and white
fishing boots.

Like some of the restaurant's current and former employees, Barber lives
close by on Bowens Island Road. He said he was sleeping when he learned about
the fire.

"By the time I got down here, the flames were 30 to 40 feet in the air," he
said.

Barber, a Democrat, canceled some Columbia-area campaign activities planned
for Sunday, but said the fire won't hinder his election efforts.

Rebuilding the restaurant to be anything like it was "will be part of the
challenge," he said.

Woodall, the battalion chief, said the fire apparently began in a kitchen
area, but the exact location isn't yet known. He said three fire trucks from
James Island and two from Folly Beach came to the scene. It took about 90
minutes to get the fire under control and about four hours to extinguish
lingering "hot spots," he said.

The blaze brought down part of the restaurant's wooden deck, a modern
addition. Left standing was an unattached building with toilets, along with some
concrete block walls. Plastic chairs that melted over empty oyster shells served
as eerie reminders of the most popular seafood item served there.

The Post and Courier's "Restaurants of the Year" special section published
Friday listed Bowens Island as having the Lowcountry's best oysters.

Others knew Bowens fondly for its ambience.

Restaurant employee Ashley Wellons said the "wall of televisions" was made of
old TVs that partly worked. "You had to turn on some for the picture and some
for the sound," she said.

Former Bowens Island cook Eric Hudzinski said that although hundreds of names
that restaurant patrons left on the interior walls in the past 60 years are
gone, many names on the exterior, and an exterior mural painted a decade ago to
honor Jimmy and May Bowen, survived the fire.

Reach Edward C. Fennell at [email-masked] or
937-5502.