Beatrice Wigfall remembers watching a 1940s Navy disembarkation facility on Concord Street transform into the Charleston restaurant Fleet Landing in the early 2000s, and she applied for a job when the restaurant opened in 2004.
Wigfall, who moved to Charleston from New York with her husband in 1991, remembers her first day well, as many others at the waterfront restaurant would feel over the next 20 years.
As a pantry and food prep worker, Wigfall begins her shift by setting up her station: cutting chicken and flank steak for the restaurant's signature salads, frying shallots and candied pecans, making raspberry sauce for Key lime pie.
Fleet Landing staff hosted a retirement party for Beatrice Wigfall on her final day of work at the Charleston restaurant.
She'll greet Jim Epper and Deljuan Murphy, who worked with her from her first day in 2004 until her last shift on June 1, 2024. As the years went by, Wigfall set a new standard for backroom operations at seafood restaurants in the Lowcountry, mentoring cooks like Shannon Stigall, who went on to become executive sous chef at Fleet Landing.
“I cried all day,” said Stigall, whose family drove from North Carolina to Charleston for “Mrs. B.”'s final day. “She didn't realize how much of an impact she had on everyone's lives.”
Al Middleton, a back-office manager at Fleet Landing, called Wigfall “the mother of the kitchen.” She would teach cooks how to make soup or knit baby blankets for co-workers' babies. Middleton, who worked with Wigfall for 19 years, said Wigfall had a big force in the kitchen despite her small stature.
Fleet Landing remains a downtown staple, especially among visitors to the Holy City, even as the surrounding area continues to change: In 2021, owners Weegee and Tradd Newton signed an expansion agreement that will keep their casual dining spot and bar at 186 Concord Street (next to the soon-to-open Cooper Hotel) open until 2049.
As the restaurant approaches its 20th anniversary, Weezy Newton noted that many of Fleet Landing's employees have been there for years, but Wigfall is the only one who has stayed in the same job for the past 20 years, Weezy Newton said.
Fleet Landing is located at 186 Concord Street in Charleston.
Newton said she has made a significant contribution to staff development by helping to promote colleagues like Stigall.
“Twenty years is a long time at any company and it means a lot,” Newton said. “Her impact was felt by[her colleagues].”
On Wigfall's last day, his co-workers showered him with gifts, including an engraved bread knife, and Newton said he and his friends will receive free meals at Fleet Landing for the rest of their lives.
“My experience at Fleet Landing was amazing. It was the greatest honor,” said Wigfall, 82. “My coworkers made it fun. They really made it a fun place to work.”
