If you don’t know him already, meet Reuben Skahill, the new “sauce boss”/managing partner at the upcoming Elwood’s Shack Park, which is slated to open in March, at 4040 Park Avenue.
Skahill, 30, co-founder of the Memphis Sandwich Clique and the old Clique HQ, will help cook at Elwood’s if need be, but he insists he’s not a chef.
“I just love food,” Skahill says. “I’m just so passionate. I feel like it’s a testament. If you really like something, if you just go for it 110 percent, you don’t have to be an expert.”
A native of Beverly, Massachusetts, Skahill says, “I lived in a Kosher household, so I had traditional Jewish food. Like chicken cutlets and matzo ball soup.
“I was a ‘competitive eater.’ I have two younger twin siblings. There was always food.”
And there was a strategy involved when sitting down at the table: “You get the biggest piece and you finish first, you get more.”
Skahill’s family moved to Memphis in 2004 after his dad, an air traffic controller, was reassigned. The move was “an incredible culture shock. In the best of ways.”
As a 12-year-old, Skahill had “never experienced the flavors” of the South.
He ate pig for the first time at a sleepover. “His mom made breakfast in the morning and we didn’t tell her we were keeping Kosher.”
And? “I don’t want to disrespect my religion, but it was amazing.”
He continued to experiment. “I felt like I had to make up for lost time. I did enjoy the freedom of these new options: fried chicken, spices, in general.”
Skahill, who prefers brisket over pork barbecue, still keeps a Kosher diet with some items.
He got his first food-related job at 16. “I opened up the Holy Cow at the Memphis Jewish Community Center. It was just like a poolside grill.”
He and a friend served Kosher items, including chicken shawarma and Kosher hot dogs. “I was the register for the most part and he was the griller. And sometimes we would switch.”
Skahill moved to other restaurant jobs, including Amerigo Italian Restaurant, where he worked as a bartender. He ate “everything on the menu” at least once at Amerigo.
In 2019, Skahill “started getting into the nuances of sandwiches.” He co-founded Memphis Sandwich Clique, a Facebook group. “We would just encourage anyone to post sandwiches they like. Tasty things someone could get from a local place that doesn’t advertise.”
Skahill, who no longer is with the group, says, “We found an overwhelmingly zealous audience for sandwiches of all types.”
As for how many sandwiches they posted during the two years he was with the group, Skahill says, “I’m not exaggerating. Over 500,000 posts of sandwiches.”
That led to co-founding Clique HQ, a “sandwich speakeasy” in East Memphis. “That was our online pick up-only sandwich deli restaurant.”
He was working for Memphis Capital when Elwood’s Shack owner Tim Bednarski asked him to come to work for him at the restaurant’s second location. “Tim has been a huge supporter of me and things I have done over the last four or five years. I’ve been a huge Elwood’s fan forever. It changed my life. I had never had a smoked anything.”
Skahill fell in love with Elwood’s Caribbean jerk wings. “Everything on this menu is gold.”
In his new job, Skahill says, “I’ll be in charge of operations for the front and the back of the house.”
He’ll help with cooking, but, he says, “Food wise, I’m helping create our high-end coffee bar menu.”
Skahill is excited about the new place. “Being close to the University of Memphis and being close to the new developments that are going on such as the renovation of the Audubon golf course and Leftwich Tennis Center. And just being a part of the revitalization of the whole neighborhood.
“Anybody I’ve ever met in Memphis has either lived in or partied in or had some crazy experiences in the neighborhood.”
Now, Skahill says he wants to “try and get everybody back in the neighborhood and get some good food.”
