The Entrepreneurs: Heather Frechette & Elizabeth Hunt

Two friends opened three concepts (without a man or a bank in sight).

Heather Frechette and Elizabeth Hunt have been friends since college, co-workers soon after and business partners for nearly a decade now. In the fall of 2009, they opened the popular Main Street bar On The Roxx without a backer or investor of any kind. Since then they’ve opened two more restaurants. How did they accomplish what seems like an implausible hat trick in downtown Greenville? Implausibly, of course: they saved eight years’ worth of bartending tips.

“We were like little squirrels,” says Hunt. “We lived on our day job money and saved all our tips. Our friends would go drinking after work and we’d be like, ‘nope.’ But, we felt like we were out while we bartended since we were in the middle of the scene.”

They ran the bar at Tassey’s Tavern, which eventually became City Tavern, while during the day Hunt worked in publishing and Frechette in tech. They learned how to manage the bar’s business top to bottom, from paying invoices to ordering and maintaining inventory. So in 2008 when both women simultaneously lost their jobs due to the recession, they knew what it would take to open their own place.

“No one wanted to loan us money,” says Frechette. “I remember very specifically vendors saying, ‘where is the man?’ and ‘who’s your investor?’ and we were like, ‘you’re looking at it.’ Neither one of us was married at the time, so there wasn’t even a husband in sight.”

They opened the doors at On The Roxx in November with no debt but very little cash on hand; they staffed the bar themselves and had their parents in the kitchen, unsure of how much help they’d really need. There was a line out the door and down the street within hours. Hunt says they knew they had a built-in clientele, but didn’t realize how many would show up to support the new business from the onset. They started hiring staff the next day.

“We made adjustments almost constantly,” says Hunt. “We noticed business slowing down on Saturdays and started asking our customers why. Turned out the younger clientele liked the DJ on Friday night and wanted a place to dance. This example is typical of the partners, adroit in their ability to make small changes to stay in tune with their customer base.

As they grew up alongside their business, they felt the urge to expand the South Main location and approached their landlord with a plea for right of first refusal if American Grocery ever moved. Surprisingly, AGR stunned Greenville by shuttering its business last year and though nearly every high-end restaurant group came calling to scoop up the space, their landlord honored their agreement.

They opened Encore, a gastrolounge, as a place they’d like to hang out after a date night or before a concert— with expanded bar seating, tables and a lounge. They had a full kitchen staff at their Augusta Road neighborhood concept, The 05, brimming with ideas for shareable modern plates. In addition they quickly hired pastry chef Dorotea Sotirova to create a full-service dessert menu for Encore. “I wanted lots of great desserts because many restaurants simply buy it from their food vendors and call it dessert—and we weren’t going to do that,” says Frechette.

The two gush as they describe favorites including Bananarama, a sponge cake with layers of banana pudding and whipped cream topped with bruleed banana and peanut butter swirl ice cream. And, Ode to Ferrero Rocher, a chocolate torte with hazelnut mousse layers and hazelnut gelato, all made in house.

They are equally excited about dinner items being executed by Chef Derrek Wagner. “Our signature item for sure is our Lollipop Lamb Chops,” says Frechette. For Hunt it’s the fries. “I love when I walk into Encore and I can smell the truffle on our Duck Fat Fries,” she says.

The two say they have purposefully held off heavily advertising, preferring to let the staff get comfortable with the new concept, ensuring their customers have a good experience. Beer leans decidedly WNC and from South Carolina breweries, and they are actively expanding their craft cocktail program. “We’re learning and it’s hard to be split up right now between three businesses,” says Hunt. “But Encore is our passion. And we’ve always found success because we show up every single day; for nearly ten years one of us is always there.” If their history is any indication, these powerhouses will always find a way to make it work.