New ventures in kitchens, private dining

Two local culinary ventures are making it a whole lot easier to host a dinner party this fall.

If you're keen on cooking for large parties but your kitchen isn't equipped to handle high traffic, visit King Street Kitchen Co. when its showroom opens in October at 543 King St.

Owners Dylan Gilliam and Steve Luisi will be offering full design services, specializing in custom kitchens.

"We want to be involved in every aspect of our clients' kitchen design, from new counter tops to choosing appliances," said Gilliam.

A self-proclaimed foodie, Gilliam said a kitchen should be created to match the cook's lifestyle. For frequent entertainers, Gilliam and Luisi can design a scullery, or back kitchen used for food preparation, and a separate kitchen outfitted for hosting.

If a posh kitchen won't inspire you to fire up the oven, outsource the cooking duty to the staff of Blend. Executive chef Matthew Niessner and owner Mel Goldstein are overhauling the way their formal restaurant operates.

Rather than offer a full fine-dining spread each night, the restaurateurs have closed Blend's upstairs dining room to the general public and will cater instead to private dinner parties of 15 people or more.

The casual coffee bar and deli, located on the restaurant's first floor, will remain open weekdays for lunch and dinner. Find Blend downtown at 170 Ashley Ave.

Setting SunCom

As reported last year, Deutsche Telekom AG, a large European telecommunications company, bought SunCom Wireless Holdings Inc. in September 2007. SunCom, a Southeastern wireless provider, was acquired for an aggregate of $2.4 billion in cash and assumed debt.

This week the transition was completed. Former SunCom retailers were officially re-launched as T-Mobile stores, a brand of Deutsche Telekom.

According to a T-Mobile spokesperson, South Carolina is now home to 41 T-Mobile retail locations, including three in Charleston, two in Mount Pleasant, two in North Charleston and one in Summerville.

Reach Bridget Herman at 937-5582 or bherman@postandcourier.com.