From Lyon to the Lowcountry

Before opening NICO Oysters + Seafood, Romo took some of his staff to France to experience the culture and cuisine firsthand. While on an excursion to a historic castle, the group drove past a restaurant with a full parking lot.  
 
“We’re in the middle of nowhere,” he says. “There’s nothing else around for about 40 minutes, and this whole restaurant’s packed at lunchtime on a Monday. So, I thought, ‘There’s got to be something good in there.’”  
 
After exploring the castle, the group popped into the restaurant, where they indulged in what Romo describes as the best gratin potatoes he’s ever had. Upon his return to the States, Romo attempted to re-create the recipe, but he could never get it quite right.  
 
“I got pretty close, and our gratin potatoes are incredible at NICO, but I can’t re-create it because I don’t have that same cream the chef would get from local farmers every morning,” he says. “I can get close, but it will never taste exactly the same because of those ingredients.” 
 
From his experience in France, where chefs peruse the local farmers' markets daily for their restaurants, Romo learned the importance of knowing your ingredients and sourcing them from the best vendors possible, and this lesson has stayed with him throughout his experience as a chef. 

When he first arrived in America in his 20s, Romo spent time working in high-end restaurants in Memphis, Tennessee, and Atlanta, Georgia, before settling in Charleston 12 years ago. Until last year, when he opened NICO, he worked as the executive chef with Patrick Properties hospitality group, managing their catering business and running Fish. 
 
Though Romo has been a vital part of the southern culinary scene for more than a decade, his cooking has never wavered from his French roots. When he decided to open NICO, he wanted to combine his French culture and training with something traditionally Charleston—seafood.  
 
“The oyster bar just made sense for us out here on Shem Creek,” says Romo. But, before opening, he wanted to guarantee that his future diners would be privy to a flavorful array of oysters from up and down the East Coast. So, he and some of his staff embarked on another trip—this time to the best seafood providers along the coast. 
 
“We drove my wife’s minivan from Charleston all the way past Portland, Maine, and visited every oyster and mussel farm as well as some lobster guys along the way,” Romo says. “On our two-week field trip, we learned everything we could about oysters—from farming and seeding to understanding the quality and how they grow. By the time we got back, we were pretty diversified in our oyster knowledge.” 
 
He and his crew recognized the need to immerse themselves in each place to experience the region’s cuisine more deeply to understand the journey of their restaurant’s ingredients. When you walk into NICO, you’re not only journeying back to Romo’s childhood in Lyon, you’re also experiencing the flavors of our beloved East Coast. It’s like traveling with your palate. 

To Romo, dining at a restaurant is about so much more than simply eating a good meal.  
 
“People need to come to restaurants with the idea that they’re not coming to eat something they have every day. I’m here to cook technical dishes that you haven’t seen or cooked yourself before,” says Romo. “I want to use French techniques and take classic, homestyle dishes to the next level. That’s the fun part.”  
 
Romo has become an expert at employing those techniques to translate French dishes using Charleston’s local ingredients.  
 
“I do a French quenelle [a traditional French fish dumpling] that’s very popular. But, with a classic quenelle, you’re supposed to use pike fish. We can’t get good quality pike here, but I can get local red snapper right down the street.”  
 
Working with area oyster farmers and fishermen, he’s mastered the art of capturing the intention of traditional French dishes while delivering an authentic Lowcountry spin.  
 
“When you come here to eat that dish, it’s like you tried it in France and came back.” 
 
With the bounty of culinary expertise and new additions to Charleston’s restaurant scene, we’re lucky to have quick, easy access to authentic establishments like NICO. You may not be able to travel to Lyon on a whim for a taste of traditional bourride or quenelle, but you can make the short drive to Shem Creek and have that same genuine experience.  
 
“Here at NICO, we’re all about creating that dish that makes you feel like you went home to Lyon,” says Romo. “I have a couple French ladies who come here once a week to order the quenelle so they can feel like they’re going home for a day. I think that’s what it’s all about, being able to bring back memories of comfort food from my home country and give it to you.”

Want to learn more from Chef Romo? Grab a seat at the bar and join Nico at NICO Oysters + Seafood for an oyster class every Monday through Nov. 18. More information and tickets are available on Facebook.