Winners of the Charleston Wine + Food chef awards announced during opening ceremony

By Amanda Hancock
Mar 8, 2019

With the help of flowing Champagne, the heartbeat of the Charleston Wine + Food Festival got its start Friday morning when a handful of the culinary community’s leaders were recognized during the Culinary Village’s opening ceremony.

Before the Village filled with thousands of people looking to sample and see the best of the three-day fair, the winners of the Wine + Food Festival 2019 chef awards were announced from the main stage in Marion Square. 

“Giving these awards has become an easy process,” the festival’s executive director Gillian Zettler said. “There are so many amazing people to celebrate here in Charleston.” 

The Marc Collins Chef Award, the first award of the ceremony and one given to an outstanding chef in the Charleston community, went to Kelly Franz, executive chef of Magnolias.

Longtime Circa 1886 chef Marc Collins, who presented his namesake award to Franz, said Franz exemplifies “sticktoitiveness” and applauded her for giving back to the community through her involvement with One80 Place RISE.