BY JULIA DUDA

 

During a typical workweek, don’t expect to get in touch with Scott Wink between 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. It’s lunchtime. Settled into a sleek high-top table at CO restaurant on King Street, Wink takes a photo of his steaming hot pad Thai. Dressed in brown khakis, paisley blue button-down, matching bow tie and hipster sunglasses, Wink looks more like a College of Charleston student than a pharmacist-turned-food blogger.

     In just four short years, Wink has become the most followed food blogger in South Carolina and has garnered the attention of foodies across the world. He has more than 23,000 followers on both Instagram and Twitter and over 61,000 likes on Facebook.

     “My friends think I’m obsessed, but I religiously check his Instagram account every time I go out to lunch or dinner,” says Carly Dane, a 2000 College of Charleston graduate and huge fan of Charleston Food Bloggers. “His suggestions have never steered me wrong.”

     Wink’s blog has a simple format, broken into sections such as best restaurants in each South Carolina county, Charleston food events calendar and Charleston’s best eats. Despite the world famous culinary scene here, there are very few food bloggers in the area, which has allowed for Wink to ascend the ranks of the local blogosphere. His posts are thorough, visual, creative and hilarious. For example, last Christmas Wink created a “Ho, Ho, Ho: Horrible Holiday Hors d’oeuvres” post, featuring fruitcake and mincemeat pie.

     Wink’s blog became so popular that he was asked to be part of a cooking segment on the radio. Fans and foodies can now listen to him talk about Charleston food Thursday mornings at 8 a.m. on 103.5 FM WEZL. Wink has also had the opportunity to interview most of Charleston’s top chefs as well as celebrities like Darius Rucker, who performed at Charleston Distilling Co. on King Street last month. 

     When not on lunch break or putting together content for his blog, Wink is a pharmacy district manager for BiLo Holdings. He and his wife, Crystal, are Florida natives who relocated to Charleston for work 12 years ago after graduating from the University of Florida. Adjusting to life in Charleston was easy after living on the Panhandle, where there was an abundance of seafood.

     Wink’s lifelong appreciation for food paired with his love for science allowed for “the geek in [him] to really come out,” says Wink. Although he doesn’t get too scientific or technical, he does like to throw in posts about the health benefits of certain foods and their impact on the human body.

     Wink realized that an online blog was the perfect platform to express his passion for food when he noticed the hundreds of food pictures on his phone and notes to himself about meals and restaurants he enjoyed. He considered himself “a blogger without a blog” after years of eating out multiple times a week and whipping out his giant Canon to try and capture the flavors of his meal in images. It wasn’t until customers at the restaurants he frequented asked if he was a food blogger that Wink realized he should be sharing his thoughts, photos and recommendations.

   When asked to describe his blog and social media accounts, Wink says, “I’m not a writer. You’re not going to get a five-page, in-depth report of the food or restaurant, but I’m going to give you good tips, pointers and snippets of advice. Following my social media accounts is like following my mind.” One of Wink’s recent Instagram posts is a picture of his meal at Home Team BBQ featuring the caption: “#Brisket and #BrunswickStew @hometeamBBQ…aaahhhh. #CHSeats #takemetocharleston.”

      With such a strong online presence comes great responsibility—in making the right restaurant recommendations, that is. On any given day, Wink receives dozens of messages, tweets and comments from locals or visitors looking for somewhere to eat. When asked for advice within a certain price range, travel parameter (walking or driving somewhere) and type of food, Wink is capable of making superb suggestions, something MacKenzie Adams knows full well.  

     Adams, a junior at the College of Charleston, started following Wink’s blog and social media accounts when she was a freshman. A New Hampshire native, Adams wanted to make an effort to explore real Southern cuisine during her time in Charleston, which is how she stumbled across charlestonfoodbloggers.com and its affiliated social media accounts.

     “After seeing countless mouthwatering pictures of all these meals at restaurants located just blocks away from my dorm, I said to myself, ‘I need to make a list and get eating.” Inspired by Wink’s blog, Adams makes a point of updating her restaurant list every month.

     When asked to what he attributes the success of his blog and ardent followers, Wink’s first response is “a positive attitude.” He never posts nasty restaurant reviews on his site. If his palate has a negative experience, Wink