Orlando Pagán: Wild Common (Charleston, SC)

Fancy dining isn't all fluff. At Wild Common in Charleston, SC, Orlando Pagán puts his culinary passion on the plate with every service. He left Puerto Rico after high school to attend Johnson & Wales in Miami, and following graduation, spent three years at the Ritz-Carlton Coconut Grove. In San Francisco, he cooked in a handful of acclaimed restaurants before leading the kitchen of Michelin-starred The Village Pub as executive chef. In 2017 Pagán relocated to the Lowcountry of South Carolina to join Sean Brock at McCrady's Tavern, and in 2019, he helped open Wild Common, where he leads the culinary program as executive chef and was recently nominated for James Beard Best Chef: South. In the midst of this illustrious career, he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, but his careful management of the disease and focus on team and family keep him strong in the job.