Episode Details

What does it take to go from washing dishes at your mom's café in Dalton, Georgia to landing on The New York Times list of the 50 best restaurants in the country? Chef Josh Taylor knows. Raised in Dalton, Josh discovered his love of food early — scrubbing pots at his mother's Sweet Basil Café and later pulling shifts at West Walnut Café before chasing a music career took him from Athens to Park City, Utah, and eventually to Charleston, South Carolina. It was in Charleston that he opened Lost Isle, a fully outdoor, live-fire restaurant fusing Southern comfort with Southeast Asian flavors — and the culinary world took notice fast. In just over two years, Lost Isle earned a spot on The New York Times 50 Best Restaurants list and was named Southern Living's Restaurant of the Year. Josh sits down with us to talk about his Dalton roots, the road that led him to a career in food, and what it's really like to build a restaurant from the ground up.

Highlights

• Josh's first kitchen job was washing dishes at his mom's restaurant, the Sweet Basil Café, in downtown Dalton — he was about eight years old
• He originally left Dalton to pursue music, not culinary arts, and worked in restaurants to fund his life as a musician
• A girlfriend convinced him to enroll in culinary school in Athens, Georgia — that's when food started to get serious
• Josh put together a band in Park City, Utah, released two records (still available on Spotify), and landed his first executive chef job there at age 28
• His move to Charleston was partly about being closer to family — a quick flight to Chattanooga puts him near Dalton and Savannah
• The Thai and Asian influence in his cooking traces back to Dalton: working at a friend's dad's Chinese restaurant in high school, training in Muay Thai, and eventually traveling to Thailand for two weeks of eating
• The fan-favorite dish at Lost Isle? Collard greens with Thai-inspired flavors — they've been on the menu since day one and aren't going anywhere
• Lost Isle is entirely outdoor with all cooking done over open live fire — weather determines whether they're open, which is part of why they operate seven days a week
• The New York Times called Josh for a "fact check" — he didn't realize a critic had already dined at the restaurant months earlier
• Southern Living named Lost Isle Restaurant of the Year without Josh knowing what the call was about — he found out when a family member spotted it online
• His wife Maggie runs all of Lost Isle's social media and marketing
• Josh is opening a new bar called Sunset Cay Ship Store at a marina on Folly Beach — beach food, drinks, water views
• Dalton's food scene has grown enormously: Josh called out Cyrus as a standout he's visited on recent trips home, and the brewing and live music scene downtown
• His Dalton nostalgia includes picking vegetables on his grandparents' land, playing coffee houses, and performing at the Depot at Christmas

Chapters

• 0:00 – Sausage Balls Banter
• 0:58 – Meet Josh Taylor of Lost Isle
• 2:46 – Dalton Kitchen Roots
• 3:58 – Music First, Then Culinary
• 5:13 – Leaving Dalton for Athens
• 6:28 – Park City Band Era
• 7:42 – Back South to Charleston
• 8:20 – Thai Flavors Meet Southern
• 10:47 – Dalton Dining Boom
• 13:03 – Pop-Up Dreams and Music
• 14:13 – Building Lost Isle
• 15:47 – Weather or Not
• 16:40 – Bugs and Fire
• 17:25 – Live Fire Learning
• 18:56 – Awards Shockwave
• 21:43 – Maggie and Marketing
• 22:17 – Beach Versus Mountains
• 23:07 – Small Town Longing
• 24:44 – Folly Beach Bar Plans
• 26:32 – Dalton Memories
• 29:36 – Wrap Up and Thanks

Resources

• Lost Isle — Josh's restaurant in Charleston, SC:

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