ABOUT US
VICKIE ZAMBRANO
Owner and Chief Curator
VICKIE ZAMBRANO
Owner and Chief Curator
The restaurant business is in Vickie’s Zambrano’s blood. Literally. She grew up in a close-knit Greek extended family where life –and livelihoods– centered around food. Her grandfather, Bill Skenteris, was the longtime owner of Palmetto Fine Foods. Watching her papou at work gave Vickie her first taste of the dedication it takes to run a successful restaurant and ultimately how satisfying one’s hard work can be.
Vickie is a 15+year veteran of the restaurant industry. She worked for two of Greenville’s largest locally owned restaurant groups. a large, privately owned event company and also managed a private club. Building on her extensive front and back of house experience, her industry-wide connections, and her passion for fresh, Mediterranean mezze-style food, Vickie’s natural next step was to open her own restaurant.
Curean is Vickie’s labor of love and reflects her high standards and the full extent of her epicurean tastes. Vickie is, by her own account, “particular.” She’s made sure that everything about Curean – the food the drinks, the service and the ambience – is as perfect and delicious as she can make it to create for her guests a memorable one-of-a-kind dining experience.
She started by curating a top-notch Executive Chef, the talented and versatile Austyn McGroarty, recognized for his flavorful and artful creations. Chef Austyn shares Vickie’s love of small plates and her belief system in fresh, locally sourced, in season and house-made ingredients. Vickie has made sure that the desserts are exceptional, too…all handcrafted daily.
Curean’s Bar (rated one of the Ten Best New Cocktail Bars in the East- 2024) serves up amazing craft cocktails featuring syrups, mixers and juices freshly made in-house. A big believer in sustainability, Vickie’s focus in wines is on all-natural selections that support small family vineyards. She strives to operate a zero-waste bar and has been known to curate unique, top shelf liquor brands that are organic or because of their sustainable practices.
Vickie is actively involved in both her Greenville and church communities. She’s a regular volunteer at Fall for Greenville, Euphoria, Artisphere, Meals on Wheels and Habitat for Humanity. At her church, St. George Greek Orthodox Cathedral, Vickie has volunteered as long as she can remember at the annual Greek Festival. This year she served on the Festival’s Steering Committee and was the Chair for the Greek Pizza booth.
Vickie loves being a part of downtown Greenville’s restaurant scene, but views Curean as being part of a much bigger community. Finding ways to give back is an important Curean initiative. The restaurant is always participating in community sponsored events and has hosted or catered many fundraisers for local charities and private groups. She’d love to hear from you!
Austyn McGroarty
Executive Chef
Chef Austyn McGroarty’s cooking career began in 2006, working in fast food restaurants during the summer as a teenager. Next came full-time prepping and cooking jobs in casual restaurants and eventually training under Executive Chefs in some of downtown Greenville’s finest dining establishments, where he learned the fundamentals of classic French cooking. As part of his culinary journey from fast food to fine dining, Austyn was co-owner of a catering company and co-launched and served as a chef at a popular bistro in West Greenville. Now as Executive Chef at Curean, he’s fulfilling his professional destiny: in control of what comes in and out of the kitchen, with the freedom to explore his creative talents and his love for small plate cuisine.
Chef Austyn is known for his picture-perfect dishes…but his true satisfaction comes from making food that tastes even more delicious than it looks! His personal commitment, in his own words, is “to cook better food every day.” His from-scratch cooking style utilizes only the freshest ingredients that are locally sourced if at all possible. “My goal is for every patron to love what they eat and for Curean to be known as the best restaurant in Greenville.”
