New gourmet sandwich shop opens in Northbridge Shopping Center
by Lorne Chambers | Editor
West Ashley has no shortage of chain sandwich shops, there are three Subways, two Jersey Mike’s, a Firehouse Subs, a Jiimmy Johns, and a Panara Bread over here. Not to mention, just about every grocery store has a sandwich counter in their deli. But West Ashley has never seen anything even close to Cold Shoulder Gourmet, which just opened in the Northbridge Shopping Center, next to Locals and TBonz. Owner Craig Edmunds is crafting sandwiches that look like they were made for Instagram. But then when you bit into one, you realize that it’s a lot more than just a pretty picture.
“I do nothing other than put together these awesome ingredients,” says Edmunds while piling prosciutto onto fresh-baked focaccia. The Kenya native is being modest. He is an artisan who has honed his craft through years of traveling the world and by working at venerable downtown spots like Queen Street Grocery and Goat. Sheep. Cow.
“Those ladies are rock stars,” says Edmunds of Goat. Sheep. Cow. owners Patty Floersheimer and Trudi Wagner. “But other than being rock stars and pioneering in the field, they’re just genuine people. I feel so blessed to have been a part of their team.”
Edmunds acknowledges that he learned a lot about running a successful business from his time at the popular gourmet specialty shop. “I am very lucky, while I was there I worked very closely with a lot of producers and one of those producers just so happened to be this wonderful lady from Smoking Goose Meatery,” says Edmunds. “And with that came this amazing opportunity to learn how to debone and be really hands-on with the meat and talk to the farmers. I took full advantage of that.”
Edmunds takes pride in the products he uses. “Here try this,” he says holding out a piece of beautiful marbled Tuscano salami, sliced paper thin. “It’s got a little red wine running through there and a little black peppercorn.” Then, his eyes light up as he offers up the picante salami that is used on his “Spicy” sandwich. “You really get low-end notes with this one, smoked paprika,” he says. “Oh, you’ve got to try this. It’s called ‘Nduja, it’s a creamy Calabrian chili prosciutto spread. It’s life-changing.”
Besides the strikingly beautiful and flavorful meats from Smoking Goose, he uses hydroponically-grown greens from Kingtide Farms in North Charleston and every morning Saffron Bakery drops of fresh focaccia bread. Edmunds clearly has an affinity for truffle, but unlike most people who experiment with it, he knows how to use it so that it compliments the flavors, rather than overwhelm them, whether its truffle cream, truffle hot sauce, or truffle salt.
“Truffle is one of those things that seems unachievable for some people, but it’s an amazing flavor and everyone should have access to it. Plus, I’m good mates with this bloke who owns a truffle company.”
A one-man crew, Edmunds says he modeled Cold Shoulder Gourmet after the small specialty shops he encountered while traveling Europe. During the pandemic he wasn’t able to travel and it made him really think about those places and it gave him inspiration for his quaint sandwich shop.
“There are some part of traveling the world that we’ve really missed,” he says. “Like stopping in places like this, these little spots, and grabbing a slice of pizza or a sandwich or whatever. That’s what we’ve been craving and missing.”
Edmunds has lived in the United States for around 10 years and has spent much of that time living in Charleston. Edmunds and his girlfriend bought a home just blocks away from Cold Shoulder, just before the pandemic hit.
“I’ve done a lot of traveling throughout the United States and spent a decent of amount of time in different places. But Charleston is the only place that I have lived for a long time. Why wouldn’t you live here?” he says with a smile. “The main reason I stayed here is the people. Every time I get a chance to have a genuine interaction, that’s the whole point! This is not about sandwiches, it’s about meeting people and having a good time just chatting. We’ve lost a lot of that.”
Cold Shoulder opens at 8 a.m. so that people heading into work can swing by and pick up their sandwich for lunch later. Word seems to be out about Cold Shoulder as they often sell out of some or all sandwiches before the end of the day. “It’s really awesome that the community has been coming out in force. It’s the reason I’m selling out every day. They just been wanting this and needing this in this area,” says Edmunds.
Cold Shoulder Gourmet is located at 1684 Old Towne Road. For more information, visit their Instagram or call (843) 642-4680.
