Greg Norman's Toast
To The Grand Strand
By Sandra S. Honaker
GS Magazine
Consider for a moment what a toast actually is; a
toast is a formal, public act, first of all, practiced at such occasions
like weddings or to commemorate a special event. Despite this public
forum, a toast is personal, almost intimate thing, a wish for a bright
future especially crafted by one individual for another. Presented
in this way, a toast becomes a perfect metaphor for describing Greg
Norman's relationship to the Grand Strand.
This dichotomy between public and personal neatly
sums up Norman's relationship in our area. He is, undoubtedly, a
public figure, well known to the American community since his debut
at the 1981 Masters Tournament as "The Great White Shark" and applauded
with his two amazing British Open Championships and 20 U.S. PGA Tour
titles.
Norman is never just a golfer, however, but a persona,
someone whose good looks immediately draw the eye and who has what
the designer for Greg Norman Collection calls "star power aura." The
room changes once Norman enters. Although the ad jingle may claim, "I
want to be like Mike," there are many men out there, golfers and
non-golfers alike, who want to be like Norman.
Norman seems to be well aware of this fascination
with his persona, and has parlayed it into Great White Shark Enterprises,
of which he is CEO. This international business company is actually
comprised of several ventures, including Medallist Developments,
Greg Norman Golf Course Design, Greg Norman Turf Company, Greg Norman
Collection, Greg Norman Estates Wines, and, most visible for this
area, Greg Norman's Australian Grille, located in Barefoot Landing.
But it is Norman's personal involvement in these numerous
business ventures that echoes back to the toast metaphor. He is not
just a figurehead to these organizations, but is actively involved
in the creative process, from simply having right of refusal to implementing
a design strategy to personally overseeing the site. Because of this
involvement, Norman has a true presence in the Grand Strand, evident
in his Australian Grille, the golf courses he has designed, his clothing
line and his wines. In a very public way, he has crafted a personal
wish for the Grand Strand's future, a future of success and well-being.
Greg
Norman's Australian Grille
 It
would have been quite predictable to suppose that Greg Norman's Australian
Grille would try to fully capitalize on
his name by being virtually littered with Norman paraphernalia, like
many other themed restaurants. Despite the use of his name in the
restaurant title, Norman claims that "One of the things we tried
to avoid was making it a 'themed restaurant.'"
And as Peter Dombrowski, Director of Operations for
the restaurant, notes, the Grille was "never built to be a 'shrine'
to Greg Norman." Instead of being inundated with memorabilia, the
restaurant contains just two paintings of Norman, both commissioned
by Laura Norman herself, according to her husband. One painting,
located in the foyer, shows Norman standing while another, positioned
in the dining room, shows Norman on horseback. There is only one
photograph of him in the restaurant, the one showing Norman winning
the British Open.
As Norman notes, "First timers to the Grille are often
surprised at the lack of golf memorabilia. The focus at the Grille
is not on me or golf, but rather the menu and the presentation of
the food. I think we accomplished our objective of not making it
a golf-themed restaurant focused around me. Other than the name on
the door, you could easily believe someone uninvolved with sports
owns it." Instead of a shrine, the restaurant echoes who he is, where
he is from, and is a place that one feels Norman would be comfortable
in, a place where he would choose to dine even if the restaurant
didn't have his name on the sign.
For example, the interior has "a strong Queensland
influence and features authentic Australian woods such as Ipe and
Black butt," notes Dombrowski. There are some aboriginal pieces of
art in the restaurant, which Greg notes that Laura picked; "the aboriginal
style of the artwork was something that she spent a lot of time working
on, and I believe the decor really has an Australian flare." Greg
claims that Laura made many of the design choices, something both
Dombrowski and Samantha Staats, who was the local designer on the
Grille, have noted. Staats said that Laura was a designer's dream,
because she "had great taste and knew what she wanted."
Laura also had great affinity for detail. In order
to make the dining room walls have depth she put a layer of newsprint
under the pain - and she insisted that the newsprint be actual Australian
newspapers. The walls were then painted over, but the print is still
visible through the paint, and Staats claims that as a result, "the
wlls glow." Greg, not surprisingly, also thinks his wife is a highly
skilled decorator, because not only is she "a licensed interior designer," but "a
very accomplished one at that. There is no detail too small for her.
Dombrowski informed us that she even hand selected the service staff
ties.
In keeping with the Australian theme, which Staats
notes is not just one style but a mishmash of the different cultures
that settled Australia, many of the fabrics have both an Asian and
English style reminiscent of the former British colony. Much of the
decor is handcrafted, from the ceiling mural painted as the Australian
sky to the huge wall mural in the Shark Pub, which Dombrowski describes
as "reminiscent of the Australian Outback." Although no one would
claim that Norman designed the menu, Dombrowski claims that Norman's
presence is ubiquitous in his demand for the highest standards in
service, food and presentation ambience.
My husband and I have dined at the Grille and I was
immediately struck by how much the decor and the menu are geared
toward making men feel comfortable without making the restaurant
into just a man's place. The booths, for example, are huge, allowing
to only individual men the freedom to move but also able to accommodate
groups of men sitting at the same table - perhaps a foursome enjoying
a nice dinner after 36 holes. Yet the decor is elegant enough to
be pleasing even to the most artistic sensitivities, Likewise, the
menu, which is described as being "rustic Mediterranean cuisine" with "authentic
Australian fare," is varied enough to appeal to all tastes.
There is a whole category, for instance, of wood-grilled
and rotisserie classics, served with the diner's choice of house-prepared
sauces, including steak, Americaine, brown gravy and fresh horseradish.
The grill items range from Atlantic salmon to filet mignon to rack
of lamb to pork chops. Yet there are also elegantly designed and
presented dishes like the Cast Seared Tuna, which is served over
jasmine rice with rice vinegar slaw and a sriracha BBQ glaze and
the sea bass, which is marinated in miso, mirin and cane sugar, pan
seared and served in a sake-lobster broth, accompanied by a crispy
rice cake and charre. To describe the portions as adequate would
be quite an understatement. This is elegant fare for hearty appetites.
I asked Norman and his wife if he had any favorite
dishes in the restaurant, and he replied, "Predictably, there isn't
anything on the menu that we don't like. I'm a beef guy, so I'm somewhat
partial to the Sirloin Au Poivre. The Aussie Pot Pie is also a favorite.
And of course, what Australian doesn't like a properly prepared rack
of lamb?" |
