Some big-name SC chefs, all military veterans, will cook a meal for a cause

Brandon Velie is the chef and owner of Juniper restaurant in Ridge Spring. He is also a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, having served four years as a cook after entering the military at age 18.

Velie will partner with other military veteran chefs – some with familiar names in Columbia area restaurant circles – to prepare a multi-course dinner at City Roots Farm to celebrate veterans in the culinary and farming worlds.

The event also will benefit the Farmer Veteran Fellowship Fund, a resource arm of the Farmer Veteran Coalition, which promotes farms run by veterans.

More than 10 farms in South Carolina are connected with military veterans.

“The money raised (at the dinner) stays in South Carolina for South Carolina veterans,” Velie said.

“The Farmer Veteran Coalition is a California-based group that works with former military to get them into farming,” said Velie. The Fellowship Fund provides assistance to veterans during the launch of a farm, ranch or agribusiness. According to the Farm Veteran Coalition website, “since it began in April 2011, the fund has provided more than $1,000,000 to 150 fellows (FVC members) in more than 35 states.”

The mission of the Farmer Veteran Coalition is “mobilizing veterans to feed America.”

The organization, founded in 2007, took off shortly after that when a small group consisting of Michael O’Gorman — then overseeing production of 1,600 acres of fresh market produce for California-based Jacob’s Farm/Del Cabo – and Nadia McCaffrey, Dolores Kesterson and Mary Tillman, mothers who had lost sons in either Iraq or Afghanistan – proposed opening up their farms as places of beauty, peace and opportunity for returning veterans.

A lot of men and women return from military assignments with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD, Velie said, and farming may be conducive to helping ease the transition back to life at home. Although the work may be hard, the rural lifestyle does not produce the same type of stress that is sometimes associated with being surrounded by groups of people or constricted to a hectic urban work environment – factors that could trigger PTSD.

On the West Coast, the Farmer Veteran Coalition proposal grew into a movement, and by 2013 FVC had become a nationwide organization with cooperation from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and agreements with the American Farm Bureau Federation, Farm Credit Council and the National Farmers Union. FVC helped to shape the Farm Bill in 2012 and pushed for the creation of the Military Agricultural Liaison to recognize veteran farmers and expand micro-loans and access to conservation programs in 2014.

Also in 2013, the Homegrown by Heroes campaign that began with the Kentucky Department of Agriculture slowly grew nationwide – including in South Carolina – through the Farmer Veteran Coalition. The program, similar in concept to the Certified SC Grown program here in South Carolina, is a branding campaign that uses the Homegrown by Heroes logo and stickers to inform consumers of items produced by military veterans.

The May 2 dinner at City Roots hopes to heighten the awareness of FVC and the resources available for South Carolina military veterans who might be interested in farming or food production.

In addition to Velie, the participating South Carolina chefs are donating their time for the dinner. Sponsors include the S.C. Department of Agriculture, US Foods, Republic National Distributors, Dick Dyer Volvo, and Professional Printers.

Among participating veteran chefs:

Velie: After leaving the Marines, Velie tried his hand at a few other careers, including working as a corrections officer and UPS, but found his way back into kitchens. He eventually became executive chef at The Green Boundary Club in Aiken and after three years there, opened Juniper in Ridge Spring in 2005 with his wife Jeanne. Since opening, Brandon, Jeanne and their restaurant have been featured in many local and national media outlets to include most recently a great segment on SCETV titled Original SC. He is currently the chef adviser emeritus to the S.C. Chef Ambassador program.

Kristian Niemi: Chef/owner of Bourbon and partner in Farm to Table Event Company, Niemi served four years of active duty and three years of active reserve duty in the U.S. Army as a Farsi translator/interrogator. In 1989, Kristian moved to Charleston, SC, and began working in restaurants. Shortly after moving to Columbia, he helped open Blue Marlin, then left to open Mr. Friendly’s. Since then, he’s launched Gervais & Vine, Solstice, Rosso Trattoria and Bourbon. He also founded The Great American Whiskey Fair. He is currently working on his next project, Revival, a restaurant, beer garden, and event space on upper Main Street in Columbia.

John Sheen: Sous chef at The Citadel in Charleston. In May 1985, Sheen joined the U.S. Air Force as a civil engineer, retiring in March 2010. During his 25 years of active duty, through several moves and multiple deployments, he cherished the opportunity as a senior non-commissioned officer, to cook for the troops and show them gratitude and respect for their commitment to the United States. After retirement, Sheen attended the Culinary Institute of Charleston before moving to The Citadel. The Citadel produces over 12,000 meals a day.

Anthony DiBernardo: Chef/owner of Swig & Swine, in Charleston and Summerville. The U.S. Navy brought DiBernardo to South Carolina’s Lowcountry, where he served as a cook on the USS Batfish submarine for four years. After leaving the Navy, he worked in several culinary roles, among them executive chef at Kiawah Island Resort and corporate executive chef at Mustard Seed. After starting his own barbecue catering business, he opened Swig & Swine BBQ in collaboration with Queen Street Hospitality Group in 2013.

Garrett Berry: Sous chef at Columbia’s Il Giorgione, Berry joined the U.S. Marines Corps Reserves to pay for his Citadel education. Later, he worked with several well-known chefs, including Frank Lee at Slightly Up the Creek and Ken Vedrinski at The Woodlands in Summervillle. Eventually, he joined Vedrinksi for the opening of Coda del Pesce on Isle of Palms, where he fell in love with Italian cuisine. He moved to Italy to learn more, then came back to the United States, working with the Bastianich Group at Lidia’s in Kansas City and later moving to Columbia, where he eventually met Chef George and Monica Kessler, Il Giorgione owners, and joined as sous chef.

Jeff Bannister: Mercenary chef, owner of Bovinoche, Greenville. Bannister served as a U.S. Army medic paratrooper and was a Trooper First Class with the SC Highway Patrol before starting his own process serving company, Serve-One Inc. In 2010, Bannister founded Bovinoche, a charity event. In 2015, he sold Serve-One Inc. to become a mercenary chef, learning about all aspects of the restaurant business. He has appeared on “Man, Fire, Food,” “American Grilled,” and “Fat Guys in the Woods.”

This story was originally published April 25, 2017 at 12:59 PM with the headline "Some big-name SC chefs, all military veterans, will cook a meal for a cause."