INSPIRED BY THE FOODS OF SOUTHERN CHINA
CRAFTED
DAILY
SHARED
TOGETHER
Beautiful South was born from a simple idea: create the kind of restaurant we'd want to visit again and again. After years of building Kwei Fei, we wanted a place where Cantonese traditions, Charleston ingredients, great cocktails, and genuine hospitality could all live under one roof. We believe the best meals are shared, conversations are louder than the music, and there's always room for one more dish on the table. Whether you're joining us for a quick lunch, Happy Hour, date night, or a celebration with friends, our goal is the same—to make you feel like you've been invited over for dinner.
Just as important as caring for our guests is caring for the people who make Beautiful South possible. Restaurants are built by their teams, and ours is the heart of everything we do. We invest in our staff with paid time off, medical benefits, wellness programs, and a workplace built on respect, opportunity, and long-term careers. When our team is supported, they can do what they do best: welcome every guest with warmth, pride, and the kind of hospitality that keeps people coming back.
At the end of the day, we're just people who love feeding other people. We hope you'll pull up a chair, order more than you planned, stay longer than you expected, and leave already thinking about what you'll come back for next.
David & Tina
Meet Us
DAVID SCHUTTENBERG
Chef/Owner Always Awkward Hospitality
-
Chef David Schuttenberg is the co-owner and culinary force behind Always Awkward Hospitality, the Charleston restaurant group that includes the punk rock Sichuan restaurant Kwei Fei and Beautiful South by Kwei Fei, a chef-driven celebration of Cantonese cuisine. With more than two decades of experience, David's cooking blends classical technique with bold flavors, curiosity, and a healthy disregard for convention.
David began his career in New York City at Tom Colicchio's three-star Craft, where he learned that exceptional ingredients and thoughtful restraint are the foundation of great cooking. He later spent six years working alongside James Beard Award winner Zak Pelaccio, helping open the influential Malaysian gastropub Fatty Crab in Manhattan's West Village. It was there that he discovered a lifelong appreciation for fearless, vibrant flavors that continue to shape his cooking today. Before leaving New York, David served as Chef and Culinary Creative Director at Dickson's Farmstand Meats, one of the country's most respected whole-animal butcher shops, where he spent four years deepening his understanding of sourcing, butchery, and ingredient-driven cuisine.
In 2015, David moved to Charleston and joined longtime mentor Damon Wise as part of the opening team for Scarecrow & Co. But the goal was always to build something of his own. Together with his wife, Tina, he launched Kwei Fei as a pop-up before opening its permanent home in 2019. The restaurant quickly developed a devoted following for its unapologetically bold Sichuan cooking and unmistakable personality. In 2023, the pair opened Beautiful South, a natural evolution of their shared vision that explores the traditions of Cantonese cooking through fresh local ingredients, handmade dim sum, and warm, family-style hospitality.
Despite overseeing two busy restaurants, David still prefers the heat of the line to an office. Most nights you'll find him behind the wok, sharpening his knives, tasting sauces, and cooking alongside his team with the music turned up. For David, the best part of the job has never been managing restaurants—it's feeding people.
TINA HEATH
Creative Director/Owner Always Awkward Hospitality
-
Arizona native Tina Heath has always been drawn to design, storytelling, and creating memorable experiences. After studying art and design in Denver, she moved to New York City to pursue a career in fashion, landing at the acclaimed Zac Posen. When the 2008 recession reshaped the industry, Tina stepped away from fashion to spend time at home with her daughter before channeling her creativity into an entirely new world: hospitality.
Her first foray into food and beverage came by helping friends launch the trendsetting Brooklyn micro-grocery, The General Greene. From there, she joined the team behind the opening of The Plaza Food Hall at New York City's iconic Plaza Hotel before moving to Dean & Deluca, where she led merchandising and was later offered the role of Creative Director.
In 2015, Tina traded New York for Charleston, South Carolina, joining Caviar & Bananas as Director of Merchandising while continuing to develop her vision for hospitality. Alongside her husband, Chef David Schuttenberg, she co-founded Kwei Fei in 2019, followed by Micho in 2020. In 2021, she opened Portal, a curated vintage and designer fashion pop-up that blended her lifelong love of fashion with retail. While both Micho and Portal have since closed, each reflected Tina's belief that great brands evolve with the people behind them.
Today, Tina's focus is Beautiful South by Kwei Fei, where she brings together decades of experience in fashion, retail, branding, and hospitality to create a restaurant that feels as thoughtfully designed as it is genuinely welcoming. From the dining room to the smallest details of the guest experience, her work is rooted in the belief that beautiful spaces, great food, and generous hospitality have the power to bring people together.
ADAM PETTY
General Manager Beautiful South
-
With more than 20 years in the restaurant industry—16 of those spent in leadership roles—Adam has built his career around developing great teams and creating memorable guest experiences. The part of the job he finds most rewarding is helping young people grow into confident leaders, whether they stay in hospitality or take those skills into another industry.
Outside of the restaurant, Adam is fueled by an unwavering love of tacos, salsa, and just about anything that comes wrapped in a tortilla. He and his longtime girlfriend, Kristen, are devoted animal lovers and proud parents to their cat, Pico, and their dog, Wally.
When he's off the clock, you'll usually find him cheering on the Colts, Pacers, Fever, or Michigan Wolverines. A proud nerd at heart, Adam is equally passionate about video games, comic books, and all things sci-fi.
We're building the kind of restaurant we'd want to work in and the kind we'd want to visit. That means cooking with care, treating people with respect, and creating opportunities for our team to build real careers in hospitality. If you believe great restaurants are built by great people, we'd love to meet you.
