Meet Anthony Marini | Chef and Owner

We had the good fortune of connecting with Anthony Marini and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Anthony, how did you come up with the idea for your business?
I was living near Philadelphia. Right before Covid started, I was slated to buy a restaurant in which I was the Chef. I was to sign the papers on a Tuesday and Covid hit on the previous Friday. I quickly backpedaled which led me to first consulting for a restaurant group in Atlanta where the owner was a friend to Charleston after visiting several times. My background is in fine dining, but I saw the building (then a Poke restaurant) and took over the lease deciding on sandwiches. It was risk but I figured it would only last 2 years.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
The Pass in Charleston seems like just a sandwich shop but it is so much more. We operate in only 700 square feet of space. What we have done there is nothing short of amazing. We have offered sandwich to a willing crowd of locals and tourists coming through the city. Our size gave us the ability to have a small menu of items that were all good because we could concentrate on them all. Our small footprint and the most recent hardship of the accident created critical thinkers on my team that just wanted to be able to figure things out. Our brand for me is about hospitality and how we are able to honor and service every customer we get coming through the door.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Well, from a food standpoint, Charleston is a great way to spend some time with family, friends or maybe your significant other. There are great places to go for barbeque like Lewis or Palmira. You could get some great oysters in plenty of terrific restaurants like The Darling Oyster Bar, Delaney Oyster House or Hanks. There is fine dining at The Ordinary or Lowland Tavern or Vern’s and plenty of places to drink like Gin Joint, ShareHouse or my personal favorite, Leon’s where their frozen Gin and Tonic will change your life.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I would love to give a shout out to the Charleston, South Carolina community. Seven months ago, a Maserati ran through my dining room wall. Obviously, the closure (not total closure. We did operate out of a side window only after 5 days after the accident) was devastating. The thing that kept me going was the community who made me laugh about it and keep things in perspective. The restaurant community was even more supportive as early on I was being offered everything from food trucks to current restaurant locations to share from restaurant groups and restaurateurs. They ordered my menu for staff meals and stopped by often to see the progress of the construction.

Website: https://www.thepasschs.com

Instagram: thepasschs

Image Credits
All images

Andrew Cebulka