When two restaurant veterans wed, their regular customers are there to watch.
By AMY SCHERZER
Published August 27, 2004
SOUTH TAMPA - Customers outnumbered relatives at Cheryl Hill and Waylon Nelson's wedding Saturday.
The guest list could have been ripped from the reservation books at the restaurants they run. Hill is general manager of the Palm in WestShore Plaza. Nelson is executive chef at the Signature Room in Channelside.
A Palm regular, Carlton Carter, offered his Beach Park home for the ceremony. He also provided the ring bearer and flower girl, his children Chip and Elizabeth.
Another frequent diner, former Mayor Dick Greco, officiated. Faces in the crowd included many in the caricatures adorning the walls of the Palm.
"We spend so much time at work, customers are our family," Nelson said.
The same goes for the upscale clientele at the Signature Room, an offshoot of the Chicago restaurant on the 95th floor of the John Hancock Center. Since opening in March, he has added a Tampa touch to a menu of American regional cuisine.
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Hill, 41, and Nelson, 25, paired up like surf and turf in January 2001 to open a new Palm in the Hard Rock Hotel in Orlando. He had been a sous chef at two Palm locations in New York: the Huntting Inn in East Hampton and the Manhattan flagship restaurant at 837 Second Ave. Hill had come from Atlanta, where she had been assistant manager at the Palm in the Westin Buckhead.
During the two years they worked together, Hill impressed Nelson on many levels.
"Cheryl's a great restaurateur, very professional," he said, "and she looks a little like Jodie Foster."
Hill started scooping ice cream and waiting tables at age 15. She ran a snack bar and was a bartender while getting a bachelor's degree at Oglethorpe University in Atlanta.
Since February 1997, she has worked for the Palm in four cities. At times, she wanted to leave the restaurant business but couldn't.
"It's an addiction, the stress and pressure," Hill said. "I tried to quit three times; I even got a master's degree to teach but always got sucked back in."
The foodies' friendship flourished when Nelson got a bad ear infection from his swimming pool in Orlando. She administered ear drops; he chilled the beer. Soon they were ending long work days watching Monday night football, rocking to Metallica and eating Nelson's delicious spaghetti and meatballs.
In February 2003, the Palm offered Hill a job as manager of the Tampa restaurant. Nelson was ready for a change, too. After four years with the Palm, he resigned, and they moved to a house in Port Tampa.
"Since I was a kid, all I did was work," Nelson mused. "Cheryl taught me to enjoy life outside of work."
By age 9, Nelson was cooking for his single mother and younger sister in Houlton, Maine. Watching the late Julia Child on television inspired him. By 15, he was catering weddings and parties.
"I got a special permit to drive the van," Nelson said.
At age 17, he earned enough money from mowing lawns and delivering newspapers to buy a Cadillac Seville. He ran the dining hall and college bar at Johnson & Wales University in Providence, R.I., before graduating with a degree in food service management in 2000.
The next move might have been a restaurant of his own. Instead, the Signature Room snagged him to open its swanky spot in Channelside.
One afternoon last August, after hosting friends for a barbecue, Nelson proposed to Hill.
"He folded a dollar bill around a dime and made me an origami dime-in ring," she said.
The real diamond came later.
A five-day honeymoon at the Hyatt Regency Grand Cayman Resort was a new experience for the Nelsons. For a change, people waited on them.
But don't worry. They'll be back at work tonight, Hill working the front door, Nelson overseeing the kitchen. They'll meet up after last call.
- To pass along tips to Amy Scherzer, reach her at 226-3332 or scherzer@sptimes.com
DATEBOOK
Mark your calendar for five formal fundraisers:
SEPT. 18: Cultural Carousel Ball benefits 10 health, education, arts and cultural charities; 6 p.m.; Indian Conference Center, sponsored by the Patel Foundation for Global Understanding and JPMorganChase; $300; 471-4380.
OCT. 2: Broadway Ball 2004: Hairspray benefits the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center; 6 p.m.; Morsani Hall stage; $250 and up; 222-1037.
OCT. 16: Hearts of Fire Gala benefits Muscular Dystrophy Association; 6:30 p.m.; A La Carte Pavilion; $250; (727) 577-4217.
OCT. 23: Starlight Ball benefits University Community Hospital Foundation; 6:30 p.m.; Hyatt Regency Tampa; $300; 615-7663.
NOV. 13: Pavilion XIX benefits Tampa Museum of Art, 600 N Ashley Drive; $350 and up; 274-8294.
