May 26, 2023
If you visit Spotted Salamander Cafe in Columbia, SC at lunch any day of the week after 12:15, you’ll be in luck if you find a seat. This restaurant, housed in a commercial building constructed around 1915, oozes charm, from its handwritten menu on chalkboard to its creaky wood floors to its old fashioned shrimp salad tucked inside an avocado half, and it keeps its guests charmed as well by creating food that pulls at all the Southern party platter heartstrings. In the kitchen and always dreaming of her own next meal is Jessica Shillato, who honed her cooking chops at the former Charleston location of Johnson & Wales, and who experiments with classic dishes that have a dash of her own expansive palate. In 2019 this creativity and excellent execution earned her a spot as a South Carolina Chef Ambassador, and this year, a semi-finalist nomination for James Beard Best Chef: Southeast. The cafe has a sister spot on Main Street, but Jessica’s first love is still catering, and so there are always plenty of places beyond those business walls to sample one of her famous deviled eggs.