Meet Leslie Rohland: 2024 South Carolina Chef Ambassador

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Leslie Rohland is the mastermind behind multiple Bluffton businesses, including The Juice Hive, May River Coffee Roasters, Bluffton Pasta Shoppe, and her most well-known endeavor, The Cottage Café, a cozy café, bakery, and tearoom.

South Carolina Chef Ambassador Leslie Rohland

Rohland and The Cottage Café, which is housed in a historic building built in 1890, are no strangers to high praise. In 2022, Rohland was presented with the inaugural Women in Business Award from the Greater Bluffton Chamber of Commerce, and in September 2023, The Cottage was honored nationally by the US Chamber of Commerce as one of America’s Top 70 Small Businesses.

A 14-year resident of Bluffton, Rohland credits her success to her parents and grandmothers, who always encouraged her to not be afraid of making mistakes and to the adoption of a philosophy unique to the Bluffton area.

“There’s a saying in Bluffton that to live and succeed here you must adopt the ‘Bluffton state of mind,’ she explained. “It’s something that I try to incorporate in everything I do as a chef and restaurant owner, and something that makes being a culinary professional here in South Carolina such a unique, and fulfilling, experience for me.”

As a chef ambassador, Rohland is looking forward to promoting the ever-changing and versatile culinary landscape of South Carolina and the state’s access to fresh local ingredients. “I want to highlight the spectacular local fresh ingredients and regional foods of the Lowcountry and showcase the important and growing role that the Hilton Head and Bluffton areas have as part of the thriving South Carolina culinary scene,” she says.