Tabbuli Names New Executive Chef

Lisa Sheldon has been named executive chef of Tabbuli, a Mediterranean eatery and hookah lounge with locations on Market Street in downtown Charleston and the newly-opened location on Savannah Highway in West Ashley. Sheldon brings more than two decades of experience to Tabbuli, recently relocating from the New York area.
“We are delighted to welcome Chef Lisa to the Charleston Hospitality Group family of restaurants,” said Tabbuli founder and CEO Sam Mustafa. “Utilizing my family’s beloved recipes, she has turned our vision of what Tabbuli’s culinary experience should be into a reality.”
After working in the Chautauqua area of New York for 13 years, Sheldon and her husband Keith, also a chef, decided to trade snow for a southern lifestyle and settled in Charleston. While enjoying breakfast at Toast, one of Tabbuli’s sister restaurants, they struck up a conversation with a server who led them to Mustafa. Sheldon’s husband now helms the kitchen at Eli’s Table, also part of the restaurant group, which offers a creative twist on Lowcountry and Continental classics.
“I’m thrilled to join an outstanding team and bring my passion to the Tabbuli kitchen downtown and in the up-and-coming neighborhood of West Ashley,” says Sheldon. “By sticking to fresh, locally sourced ingredients, we’ve been able to craft a dynamic menu that is sure to please the most discerning of palates in fun, casual atmosphere.”
Although Mediterranean cuisine has never been a focus of Sheldon’s background, it was a Mediterranean cruise that first led her to the culinary arts. A native of Pittsburgh, she had hopes of becoming a pharmacist, nearly accepting a softball scholarship to a Division I college. However, following a family cruise, Lisa’s eyes and palate were opened in a life-changing way. She eventually enrolled at Johnson & Wales in Providence, R.I. where she was a stand out on its Division III softball team.
After graduating from Johnson & Wales with a degree in baking & pastry arts, Sheldon began her career at the Sheraton Minneapolis Metrodome, where she was offered an internship. She later transferred to the Athenaeum Hotel in Chautauqua, New York, where she worked for 11 years, beginning as a pastry chef before being promoted to executive chef. Chef Lisa later served as executive chef for Chautauqua Suites before heading up the kitchen at Andriaccio’s Italian Restaurant, a landmark in Chautauqua.
Tabbuli is located in West Ashley at 2026 Savannah Hwy. For more information,
call 556-0006 or visit www.tabbuli.com.