Ben Berryhill has made an impact on the Charleston culinary scene since opening Red Drum in 2005. Where shrimp and grits are the standard-bearing comfort food, Ben’s comfort zone is over a flaming wood-fired grill, bridging the traditional Lowcountry cuisine with Southwestern flavors as big and audacious as his home state of Texas. After graduating from the Culinary Institute of America, Ben’s career led him back to his native Texas. In 1992, he began working in Chef Robert Del Grande’s kitchen where the two worked as friends and collaborators for more than 11 years. Del Grande’s Cafe Annie in Houston provided Ben the opportunity to learn and creatively expand on the notion of Southwestern Cuisine and how its intense flavors fit into the profiles of other regional cuisines.