Former Red Orchids owners Tony & Kelly Chu open The Cellar in Avondale
by Matt Poust | Contributing Writer
Whether it’s finding the spirit that suits a celebration, the wine that pairs perfectly with a homemade dish, or really any alcoholic beverage that might alleviate the burdens of a bad day, those who choose The Cellar Wine & Spirits in West Ashley can expect to find themselves in a convivial and communal storefront while searching for their next drink of choice.
That’s the sort of gregarious impression that was left by owners Kelly and Tony Chu on Feb. 20, as they talked past and present business ventures within their neighborhood wine and liquor shop located at the convergence of Tall Oak Avenue and Hickory Street in the Avondale Point Business District.
“People don’t want to go to a shop where workers read from a format and don’t really hear you, they want to go to a shop that knows your name and what you’re looking for,” Tony said, speaking on the wine and spirit buying experience that he and Kelly are trying to bring to customers.
While The Cellar is still in relative infancy at seven months in business, the shop follows a 22-year-long award-winning, community-loved reputation that the Chus have earned in West Ashley while owning two popular businesses within the local food and beverage industry.
Starting their entrepreneurial journey after falling in love at The University of Maryland, Tony followed Kelly back to her West Ashley neighborhood, where they opened Red Orchids China Bistro off Sam Rittenberg Boulevard in 2002.
Serving elevated Chinese/American dishes and using recipes from Kelly’s mother’s former West Ashley Chinese takeout restaurant “Joy Luck,” the couple not only caught the taste buds of local community members but earned the title of Charleston City Paper readers ‘Best Chinese food in Charleston’ during their first year of business.
As fondness for the Chus’ restaurant grew, so did their cuisine endeavors, as Kelly established her homemade, wholesale ice cream and gelato brand Cirsea in 2008. Originally started as a way to add quality dessert to the Red Orchids menu, it wasn’t long before customers started asking to take home pints of the sweet treat with flavors ranging from chocolate cayenne to vanilla black pepper.
To-go orders of Cirsea turned into partnerships with Charleston markets and chefs and before long, Kelly’s side passion project grew locally-acclaimed legs of its own, leading to her opening a separate space for its making, also based out of West Ashley.
Success and local admiration remained on an upward trajectory for the Chus’ businesses for two decades until 2023 when increased rent prices on the Cirsea shop and forced relocation of Red Orchids within its West Ashley shopping center pushed Tony and Kelly to step away from both.
At the end of its business span, Red Orchids had maintained an unblemished 19-year hold on its ‘Best Of Charleston’ title, while Cirsea soared to even greater heights, representing North America during the 2017 World Gelato Tour in Rimini, Italy with Kelly’s “Bacche de Marsala” flavor creation.
Despite the local and global recognition that their businesses gained, Kelly Chu noted that she’s most proud of the impression she and Tony left on the local community.
“At the end of the day, a lot of people can cite you on this website, award you on that website, but I think the most rewarding part for us is even though we are no longer in business, we constantly run into someone who remembers us from it; that shares stories, that misses it,” Kelly said. “I think that is the biggest reward for us.”
With bittersweet feelings left for the ending of Red Orchids and Cirsea, the roots of the Chus’ next business grew from Tony’s passion and knowledge of wine and spirits.
Intrigued initially by the makings of wine that he tasted for his menu at Red Orchids, Tony wanted to create a shop that strayed more from explanations on wine’s technical elements and instead focused on what type of occasion a customer wanted to use that wine for.
Taking a more personalized approach to wine and spirit shopping, Tony and Kelly Chu began curating a more communal-based, dynamic boutique collection that would allow customers from all walks of life something to enjoy.
“It’s about how we can bring warmth to this experience, to say, ‘This is what you would like, this is what you want, and this is how we bring it,’” Tony said. “That level of trust you get in a community is what we were looking for in the shop.”
Opening The Cellar Wine & Spirits in July of last year, Kelly Chu said keeping their business in West Ashley wasn’t even a thought. “We love it here. This is where all of our businesses have been, where we built friendships and life-long relationships. It’s home.”
With hours of operation running from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday, intermittent wine and spirit tastings hosted, and social media postings that offer a glimpse at The Cellar’s latest happenings, Tony and Kelly Chu are using this newfound business to fill further the aspirations of the same community that has shown them love for more than two decades.
While it’s a new start in an unfamiliar industry, the two are striving for the same connections they’ve made throughout their entire career, looking forward to the road ahead.
“Wine and spirits is a completely new board game for us, we’re still learning,” Tony said. “That’s the fun part about having an American dream — to start with the inception of an “aha” moment, a napkin idea, and then hear the feedback on the journey of growing.”
The Cellar Wine and Spirits is located at 95 Tall Oak Ave unit 102. For more information, call (843) 261-8480 or visit www.thecellarws.com.
