237: Brandon Carter & John Benhase, Common Thread (Savannah, GA)

What does it mean to really have a culinary collaboration? Circumstances prompted Chefs Brandon Carter and John Benhase to join forces in a kitchen as the world was asking "What does the future of restaurants look like?" Their spot, Common Thread, is attempting to answer that question with every service. Located in Savannah, GA, in an 1897 home that was once the gift of a Prussian hat seller to his second wife, inspired work by architect Kevin Rose realized a modern restaurant vision without disregarding its original bones and nooks and crannies, and made it into a setting for the two chef's love of hyper-local, hyper-seasonal cooking. That's the same idea that Carter cooks from at FARM Bluffton, the small-community sister to this restaurant in Bluffton, SC. Benhase, who cooked under Chef Ford Fry in Atlanta before moving to Savannah to helm Starland Yard, brings a steady organizational and ultra-creative hand. This restaurant is all about relationships -- with the seasons, with the producers, with the guests, and with the team -- and that focus is something that is only going to get stronger.