Sermet Aslan, long time owner of Sermet’s Corner in downtown Charleston, is a patient man. He’s been running his popular and highly touted downtown restaurant for 15 years, but said that he’s finally discovered the perfect place to open restaurant number two – on Daniel Island, just a stone’s throw from the Wando River, where he plans to deliver great food, light jazz and a warm family experience.

The place? Where Brewer’s Bistro used to be. The name? Sermet’s Courtyard.

Said Aslan, "This is it, we’ll be a half mile from the main drag . . . in a peaceful setting. We have great ideas for the courtyard. We’ll make this place beautiful."

Aslan’s partner and island resident Dana Vosburgh said that they plan to take full benefit of the unique courtyard area adjacent to the restaurant and will lean heavily on their in-house creative team – Vosburgh’s wife Sally Vosburgh. Dana Vosburgh said that "Sermet will stick with his current theme" – a heavy emphasis on organic and local food because "the brand is known."

Aslan said that they’ll have daily specials, and will be open seven days a week, for lunch and dinner, and Sunday brunch.

In the mid-1990s, Aslan gave up Sermet’s Grill in West Ashley to open Sermet’s Corner in downtown Charleston. There were no active plans to expand, until he and Vosburgh, good friends sharing a light conversation, started to discuss the possibility of a sequel. The two teamed up as 50/50 partners, with Vosburgh drawing on his financial background to handle the business side. For Vosburgh, this is his first foray in the food industry – previously, his investments have been primarily in real estate.

Aslan said that they’ll have to spend time, effort and money "to turn it into a restaurant," given that the location has no oven, burner or grill. But energy and enthusiasm are high – after last week’s official signing of the lease – to get going.

Said Vosburgh, "We hope to open on 10-10-10, which just happens to be my wife’s birthday." Let the celebration begin. Four Daniel Island Restaurants plan joint marketing effort, likely to partner with DIBA

Four Daniel Island restaurants – the Daniel Island Grille, Hammett’s Landing, Two Rivers and Vespa – are joining forces to attract off-island residents to dine on Daniel Island, and the foursome is set to launch the campaign with an aggressive radio blast with Clear Channel, whose radio stations serve the greater Charleston area. What has long been known among island restaurateurs is that island residents alone cannot fully support them – that they must draw from residents in Mt. Pleasant, North Charleston and downtown Charleston to thrive. The new group hopes to engage other DI restaurants and retail establishments to join the effort.

The restaurant quartet is expected to join forces with the Daniel Island Business Association, and may soon become known as DIBA’s Restaurant-Retail Committee. Currently, DIBA has two standing committees, one each for membership and social activities. DIBA president Cheryl Fletcher said that DIBA is actively discussing a new plan to financially support membership-driven advertising, and the proposal at hand would have DIBA contributing 33 percent to the Clear Channel effort being launched by DI Grille, Hammett’s, Two Rivers and Vespa.

Bo Hammett of Hammett’s Landing is hopeful that the radio campaign will launch "as soon as possible" to take full benefit of the upcoming Black Crowes concert here on Sept. 10. Both Hammett and Fletcher said that, if all goes as planned, Clear Channel will have four radio jockeys broadcasting from the island that day, one each from the four island restaurants.

Fletcher noted that Bob Moran, who is the Chairman of the Membership Committee, worked closely with the restaurant owners regarding promotional ideas as well as on the Clear Channel venture.

Hammett added that the group is exploring the full range of promotional ideas, among them initiating a "Taste of DI," a "DI Restaurant Week" and a pub crawl, along the lines of last spring’s "Sip of Daniel Island" that was organized by The Rotary Club of Daniel Island to benefit Water Missions International.