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By Laura McAlister
Journal Editor
When Dyron and Sonya Powell decided to pursue their passion for food by opening a restaurant, it only made sense to go with the Low Country cuisine of the Southern coast.
They both love Southern hospitality and food, and during months of travel after they married, the couple fell in love with Charleston, S.C., the heart of the Low Country region.
“What I love about the Low Country is to me it’s sort of a relaxed attitude,” Dyron said. “It’s more of a cultural thing than a geographical thing.
“As for the food, it’s Southern, and it’s seafood.”
When planning the menu for their restaurant, the Powells chose items they loved. They have their spin on Hoppin’ John, a black-eyed pea salad, as well as fried green tomatoes. They also have seafood, and lots of it.
“After we made the menu, we hired a marketing firm, and they told us this was Low Country,” Dyron said.
So they decided to name their Crestline restaurant Dyron’s Low Country. The Powells wanted to keep the restaurant relaxed, but the food upscale. They wanted it to feel like a neighborhood eatery, so when they purchased the building, they also purchased a home on nearby Clarendon Road.
Their love for the Low Country isn’t displayed just in their cuisine. It’s a part of their home and will be part of their holidays, too.
This year will be the family’s second Christmas in their Crestline home, and they plan to celebrate it with Low Country style.
The 1930s house is much smaller than the one they left on Smith Lake, but Dyron and Sonya said it’s made their young family closer. They have two children – Ethan, 6, and Emma, 4.
“It kind of forces us to come together and mingle,” Dyron said.
When decking their home for Christmas, Sonya, with the help of decorator and friend Kathy Gray (check spellingsdfdf), wanted to keep their Southern, Low Country style.
The Family Room
When they’re not at the restaurant, the Powells spend most of their time in the family room. Sonya did most the decorating in the house. Though she’s quick to say she doesn’t really have a particular style, Dyron likes to call it “funky bungalow.”
The house was built in the 1930s, and though it’s been renovated, the hardwood floors are the originals, Dyron said.
A leopard-print area rug covers much of the floor in the family room and pairs nicely with the rich gold couch and red parlor chairs.
For the mantle, Kathy mixed local greenery like magnolia leaves and holly with pinecones.
“Greenery is just real traditional,” she said. “I mean, you just can’t beat what God already created.”
Sugar pine cones from Washington decorate the round coffee table.
The Sun Room
Kathy used more natural materials for the couple’s Low Country Christmas tree in their sunroom.
The tree is decorated with gold pinecones, berries, dried hydrangeas, pheasant feathers and cotton wood, all items found in the South and Low Country.
Burlap wrapped around the base of the tree serves as the tree skirt.
Another decorative tree in the sunroom adds a little bit of Sonya’s “funky” style. It’s a small faux tree with curly branches and a slender glittery trunk, decorated with fun ornaments depicting the 12 Days of Christmas.
The Kitchen
Dyron’s Low Country Chef Phillip Baio prepared the perfect Low Country meal for the holiday setting at the Powells’ home.
Raw oysters and boiled shrimp served in a wooden boat-shaped platter started the meal, followed by a Low Country pistou, a soup with red peas, braised turnips, carrots, celery and onion. For the main course, he prepared Hoppin’ John with cornbread – and it wouldn’t be Low Country without creamy grits and a little country ham.
If the food on the island wasn’t already a feast for the eyes, Kathy added a poinsettia, a live juniper tree in a burlap-wrapped pot and a faux potted pine tree to give the kitchen a festive feel.
The Dining Room
On Christmas Day, Sonya said the family of four usually stays home and relaxes. And since operating a restaurant sometimes makes it difficult for the family to come together around the table for dinner, they also sit down for a Christmas meal.
Kathy made sure even their table setting matched their Low Country style. She used red burlap for a tablecloth, which paired well with round, green placemats. Straw wreaths served as chargers for the soup bowls.
For the centerpiece, Kathy used a reindeer and miniature juniper trees, along with a model cottage made from Low Country driftwood and rock.
“Christmas Day, we like to just stay here and spend it with the kids,” she said. “We’re so busy on Christmas Eve visiting relatives that this is kind of our day with just the kids.”
