The Charleston restaurant industry is brutal on longevity. Concepts close. Chefs rotate. Group ownership shuffles names on signage. Twenty-five years in one kitchen, with one menu evolving under one chef, is essentially unheard of.
That’s what Marc Collins has done at Circa 1886.
Tucked inside the Wentworth Mansion’s former carriage house, Circa 1886 opened in 2000 under owner Richard Widman. Collins took over the kitchen in June 2001 — and never left.
The interview that hired him.
Collins grew up in Erie, Pennsylvania, attended culinary school in Pittsburgh, and built his early career cooking in Texas. When Widman recruited him, the audition wasn’t a paper résumé.
“It was very important to me to hire the right person,” Widman told the Post & Courier. “Marc has all the attributes that I looked (for in a) person.”
The actual test was a tasting at the Charleston Grill. Then-chef Bob Waggoner cosigned. Widman closed the deal. The hire stuck.
What the menu has done over 25 years.
Collins began with what he called “quintessential Southern” cuisine. The menu has cycled through several iterations since — including one ambitious version that walked diners through South Carolina foodways across four sections: Native Tribes, African influences, European arrivals, and Carolina Today. That format never quite caught fire.
Collins shifted to the more traditional offering Circa 1886 runs today — two prix fixe tasting menus called the Ashley and the Cooper, plus about a dozen à la carte options. About half of Circa 1886’s diners pick a tasting menu. Both run four savory courses plus dessert, anchored by laminated brioche baked in-house.
What’s on the current menu.
Recent dishes: chilled local shrimp with roasted pearl onions; a 62-degree poached Storey Farms egg with roasted beets and spicy pecan mayonnaise; sea bass with a golden crust on cauliflower chowder; Mishima Reserve beef with crispy potato pavé and a chilled-carrot-and-peanut slaw. Right now, guests can also order shrimp with grit croutons and stracciatella mousse, dill-marinated grouper, lamb chops with spring pea purée, or Faroe Island salmon with uni butter.
It’s a family operation.
Collins’s wife Jennifer runs the breakfast service. Both his sons — Matthew and Christian — have spent time in the Circa 1886 kitchen. That’s part of why he’s stayed.
“To me, (it’s) been challenging and rewarding enough to keep me at this restaurant as long as I have been,” Collins said. “It’s awe-inspiring to be able to do this.”
Twenty-five years, one address, one chef, one steady evolution. In Charleston dining, that’s the rarest dish on any menu.
This is a summary of an article published in the Post & Courier. Click here if you’d like to read that article.
