About Herd
Herd Provisions is a neighborhood establishment providing the Wagener Terrace and surrounding communities of Charleston with a unique, innovative dining experience.
As the city's first true farm-to-table restaurant and whole-animal butcher shop, Herd Provisions came to be in an attempt to connect the community back to our food and the land from which it comes. Because before Herd, there was Leaping Waters Farm: 843 acres of bountiful green grass and flourishing land in the mountains of southwest Virginia. Alec Bradford began farming almost 15 years ago with a vision of what this restaurant would one day become: a place to celebrate sustainable, humanely raised food that is better for the land, animals, environment, community, and the consumer. We are delighted to provide you with not only the highest quality food, but also the traceability to and transparency of its origins.
At Herd Provisions we proudly serve Ancient White Park cattle, raised in the fertile mountain & valleys of southwest Virginia. They are one of the oldest and rarest breeds on the planet, first documented by the Roman Army during the Conquest of Britain in 43 AD, today they number 2400 worldwide. For 900 years they were "emparked" on four estates across Britain owned by the ruling royal family, where they were kept as a feral breed and hunted by nobility. King John I, upon tasting the loin of an Ancient White bull, was so enthused by its flavor that he drew his sword and knighted the piece of beef, dubbing it "Sirloin." Winston Churchill had ten cows and a bull sent to North America prior to the German Blitz, to avoid the possible extinction of the herd. Today, at Herd Provisions, we ensure the continued life of this foraging breed by showcasing what we believe is the finest beef raised humanely, finished on grass.
Alec Bradford - Owner
Alec Bradford is the owner of Herd Provisions in Charleston, South Carolina, a farm-to-table restaurant and whole-animal butcher shop. Herd’s high quality meats are sourced directly from Alec’s very own Leaping Waters Farm in Southwest Virginia for a delectable and transparent dining experience.
Born and raised in Tennessee, Alec’s love for farming began early on, spending much of his time learning and working at his grandfather’s farm. After studying French colonial history and creative writing at Colorado College and UNC Asheville, Alec moved to Italy for three years and fell in love with the idea and lifestyle of organic, smaller farms. Alec admired how most restaurants he visited in Italy sourced their products from places within a mile. After Italy, Alec moved out to Yellowstone where he worked as a fly fishing guide.
In 2004, Alec started Leaping Waters Farm in the mountains of Southwest Virginia, where he raises one of the oldest and rarest breeds on the planet – Ancient White Park cattle. First documented by the Roman Army during the Conquest of Britain in 43 AD and with only 2,400 left in the world today, Ancient White Park cattle spent 900 years on four estates across Britain owned by the ruling royal family, where they were kept as a feral breed and hunted by nobility. King John I was so enthused by the meat’s flavor that he named it, “Sirloin."
Alec provided beef for some of the most renowned restaurants in the Eastern United States, including Le Bernardin, Marlow & Daughters, the Source, Masseria, Rose's Luxury, Tail up Goat and Bourbon Steak DC. Through his work on the farm, Bradford has had the honor of many memorable culinary experiences connecting with chefs across the globe, including cooking for Chef Eric Ripert on his front porch and winning multiple events with Chef Scott Drewno. He delivered his products himself, putting hundreds of thousands of miles on his truck, and always ended his trips by enjoying fantastic meals amongst great friends in some of the country’s most renowned kitchens.
After years of outsourcing to restaurants all over the country, Alec wanted to create his own special place where guests could go to enjoy grass fed beef from Leaping Waters Farm. Passionately connecting the community back to the food and land from which it comes, Alec created the Herd Provisions food truck in 2017 in Charleston, South Carolina until a restaurant space in Charleston’s Wagener Terrace neighborhood was ready. Today, Herd Provisions is a place where people can enjoy the highest-quality, sustainably and humanely raised food with confidence in the traceability and transparency of its origins.
Alec enjoys providing a neighborhood place where friends can come to enjoy good food with a smile on their faces. Working with many staff members who have been with him since the beginning, Alec loves the team he has created. Now, Alec lives in Charleston but travels to Leaping Waters Farm every week. His kids work at the restaurant and help him stay up to date with everything going on while he is at the farm. When Alec is not at the farm or the restaurant, he loves to play with his dogs, read and spend time with his kids.
Jeanne Oleksiak - Executive Chef
As Herd Provisions’ executive chef, Jeanne Oleksiak oversees the restaurant’s culinary operations and collaborates with the staff to create innovative farm-to-table dishes. Oleksiak serves as a leader, teacher and motivator for the culinary team, while constantly learning from the talented chefs around her.
Growing up across the South and later settling in Charleston, South Carolina as her home base, Executive Chef Jeanne Oleksiak began her culinary journey by joining her mother in the kitchen. While she first followed her ambition to become a veterinarian, she decided to pursue her love of food instead, trialing the culinary program at Trident Technical College and attending the Culinary Institute of America in New York City the following year. After graduating with a degree in Culinary Arts in 2007, Oleksiak provided hands-on leadership as a teaching assistant prior to moving home to Charleston and working at Poogan's Porch as a line cook.
During her time at Poogan’s, Oleksiak immersed herself in helping to craft the restaurant’s menu and discovered a passion for reinventing classic dishes. Her love for culinary creativity led her to assume the role of sous chef at Lana Restaurant, where she worked beneath Charleston native Chef John Ondo. After four years of experience in every station and experimenting with the menu at Pages Okra Grill, Oleksiak moved to Park & Grove (formerly Park Cafe) and worked her way up to sous chef. During the pandemic, she connected with Herd Provisions’ owner Alec Bradford and joined him at the restaurant. Oleksiak has since maintained the title of executive chef, while also working as a butcher and pastry chef throughout the years.
Chef Oleksiak’s culinary philosophy for Herd Provisions prioritizes supporting local purveyors and ensuring their products are sustainably raised, grown and produced. Much of the beef on the menu is sourced from Leaping Waters Farm, a farm in Virginia owned by Herd Provisions’ owner Alec Bradford. With a playful and inquisitive approach to her cuisine, Oleksiak reimagines classic French, Asian, Italian and Latin dishes into unique, novel creations.
When Olekisak is not busy creating the next dish to add to the everchanging Herd Provisions menu, she is spending time with her two daughters and dogs, reading, rollerblading around Charleston and cooking for her family.
Ethan Schneider - General Manager
Ethan Schneider is the general manager of Herd Provisions in Charleston, South Carolina, the town’s first true farm-to-table restaurant and whole-animal butcher shop. With a mission to connect the community back to our food and the land in which it comes from, Herd Provisions celebrates sustainable, humanely raised food that is better for the land, animals, environment, community and the consumer. Their high quality meats are sourced directly from Leaping Waters Farm for a delectable and transparent dining experience.
With a lifelong passion for food and service to others, Schneider’s culinary career began in 2013 when he moved from his hometown of Silver Spring, Maryland to Charleston. During his early career, Schneider worked as a garde manger, host and cook, acclimating to the fast-paced service and creating his own dishes. After a brief break from the food and beverage industry, Schneider worked at Leon’s Fine Poultry and Oysters for two years. While finishing his degree in chemistry at the College of Charleston, Schneider joined Herd Provisions in August 2021. Working his way up from a server’s assistant to server, bartender and lead bartender, Schneider’s diligence and dedication earned him the general manager position in 2023.
Schneider’s career stemmed from his love for cooking, which blossomed into a passion for the hospitality industry as a whole. He strives to create memorable experiences for guests at this one-of-a kind restaurant, whether it's a Tuesday happy hour with friends or a Friday night anniversary celebration. Schneider leads the tight-knit staff by fostering an environment of support and trusting them to carry out the finest service. He happily fills in wherever help is needed and facilitates communication and education amongst his team. Outside of Herd Provision’s staff, he engages in relationship management with guests and vendors, and is abundantly grateful for their local community.
Schneider’s beer and cocktail knowledge is expansive, supplementing his first-hand experience in the industry. He is a certified beer server from the Cicerone Certification Program, where he earned an additional certificate in Keeping and Serving Beer. His hand-crafted cocktail recipes have been featured in Garden & Gun and The Local Palate.
Beyond his work at Herd Provisions, Schneider enjoys exploring the various music venues, farmer’s markets and new restaurants that Charleston has to offer. He also spends time cooking and brewing beer at home with his brother and cherishing time with his friends and family.
Kellie Holmes - Wine & Events Director
As Herd Provisions’ Wine & Events Director, Kelle Holmes runs the wine program for the dining room and retail shop, along with facilitating events and acting as an advisor and operations support, bringing in to play her years of experience as a general manager. She focuses on sustainability and small production and minimal intervention wines that pair well across the menu.
Kellie is a restaurant consultant who focuses on the creation, implementation and education of small wine programs for individual restaurants and artisanal groceries in the Southeast and beyond. The daughter of a navy pilot, Kellie was born in California and spent time living in Sicily, Italy and England before moving to Atlanta where she finished high school. Following her graduation from the College of Charleston with a Bachelors’ degree in Theater, Kellie led many great restaurant teams from Atlanta, to Napa Valley, to San Francisco and Charleston, where she currently resides. She was a valuable and dedicated leader in roles at Basic Kitchen, Stems & Skins, A16 and ZD Winery.
An aficionado in the wine industry, Kellie has collaborated with Highlander Mountain House and worked as a food stylist for multiple wineries with LeighAnn Beverly of Bonafide Productions in 2020. She was contracted by VinePair to work with the Wines of Chile activations at the 2020 Charleston Wine + Food Festival and invited to judge the International Wine and Spirits competition in San Diego in 2021 and 2022. Additionally, Kellie attended VieVinum in Vienna in 2022, where she traveled to four different wineries on her own to learn more about their operation and get to know the families that produce these special wines.
As the Co-Chair of the Slow Food Charleston chapter, Kellie collaborates with the board to ideate and execute Slow Wine events. In this role, Kellie champions slow minded wines and aims to bring more public attention to the farming methods of small producers and why it is important.
Each month, Kellie spearheads a wine club tasting at the restaurant in addition to a weekly Wine Wednesday offering, where bottles of wine under $60 are half off. Each bottle of wine at Herd – often organic and some Biodynamic – are selected by Kellie with the menu and guiding principles of sustainability and unique provenance in mind. Kellie facilitates events at Herd Provisions including master classes for industry professionals. These classes have led Kellie to incredible opportunities, including being invited by the Consorzio of Chianti Classico to attend the Chianti Classico Boot Camp and being invited by the Consorzio of Abruzzo to tour wine regions in Abruzzo.
Beyond her work at Herd Provisions, Kellie enjoys pilates, reading, making dinner for friends and sharing wine with loved ones.
Joe Holmes - CdC
As Herd Provisions’ Chef de Cuisine with 20 years in the restaurant industry, Joe Holmes wears many hats, as he has always been one to jump in wherever needed. Whether he is being a line cook, dishwasher or leader or doing prep work, shucking oysters with care and precision or collaborating with Executive Chef Jeanne on specials, he is a team player who is always looking to get creative.
Growing up in a small town called Bellingham in the pacific northwest, Joe has always had a profound love of nature, something that very much affects his culinary philosophy and personality. At 17 years old, Joe began working in restaurants in Bellingham, WA like Mad Anthony’s Inc and Hundred North, and immediately fell in love with the thrill of doing something interesting and exciting. His passion was solidified by reading kitchen confidential as a young line cook and realizing that any other career would be simply boring. In 2019, Joe moved across the country to Charleston where he worked at Prohibition and Chasing Sage. With a culinary career focused on seafood for a long time, the opportunity at Herd Provisions was a way of challenging himself to do something new, while still bringing his seafood inspiration along with him. For Joe, relocating to the east coast has been extremely rewarding in that the seafood they get in Charleston is very different from what they had readily available on the west coast. Joe went from working with black cod, halibut, boatloads of salmon, west coast oysters, pacific octopus, and local mussels; to grouper, golden tile, wreckfish, flounder and boatloads of shrimp. Instead of getting ingredients from Alaska, he started sourcing from Prince Edward island.
Joe truly enjoys working in the kitchen, and without the daily, unpredictable challenges every day, he would lose the drive to push himself further. He is passionate about working with and talking to local farmers, creating a connection to the ingredients used in the kitchen on a daily basis, rather than corporate culture that disconnects us from the people who grow, catch or raise ingredients.
When he is not in the kitchen, Joe values every moment with nature, and loves spending time in the woods. He enjoys gardening, reading science fiction, and arts and crafts.