Jason Stanhope is the Executive Chef at Lowland and The Quinte Oyster Bar in Charleston, SC.
Born and raised in Topeka, Kansas, Stanhope grew up in a family where the ritual of cooking together was an important part of everyday life. He stayed close to home after high school, attending Washburn University and playing for the school’s Division II football team. Stanhope quickly realized his passion lay with food rather than on the field and moved to San Francisco to attend Le Cordon Bleu. After graduation, he spent a few years working in Peru with the Orient-Express Hotel Group under chef Michael Raas, who first taught Stanhope the importance and beauty of high-quality ingredients. Stanhope returned to Kansas in 2005 and joined James Beard Award-winning Chefs Michael Smith and Debbie Gold at 40 Sardines as Chef de Cuisine.
Stanhope came to call Charleston home by chance. He fell in love with the city’s rich epicurean history while on vacation and began looking for job opportunities soon after. Stanhope moved east in 2008 to join chef Mike Lata and his team at FIG, the restaurant that helped introduce Charleston to farm-to-table cooking and garnered national acclaim after opening in 2003. From the beginning, Stanhope and Lata discovered that they shared a similar approach to cooking and ingredients. During his time at FIG, Stanhope grew personally and professionally, and learned the importance of empowerment, timing, and communication. Stanhope joined FIG as Chef-Tournant, worked his way up the culinary ranks, and was named Executive Chef in 2012. He later earned the James Beard Foundation Award for Best Chef: Southeast in 2015.
Stanhope left FIG in 2023 and soon after announced his partnership with Method Co., the Philadelphia-based developer and operator behind Charleston boutique hotel The Pinch and oyster bar The Quinte. In his new role, Stanhope will oversee a revamped version of The Quinte, an oyster bar, as well as Lowland, a new Southern tavern. He looks forward to sharing his love for seasonal ingredients and local purveyors at both concepts, and hopes to create a warm, welcoming atmosphere that makes guests feel like they’re walking into a dinner party.
When he’s not at the restaurants, Stanhope tends to his home garden and chicken coop, supports several nonprofits in the Charleston community, and spends time with his wife and young sons.