Popular Rock Hill restaurant provides meals for utility workers

ROCK HILL, S.C. — The Kounter restaurant in downtown Rock Hill temporarily closed so volunteers could support utility workers as Helene recovery efforts are underway.

“We are feeding a bunch of hard-working men and women out there,” said Rob Masone, chef at Kounter. “The day starts for them at 6 a.m. For us, we’re here in the kitchen at 2 a.m. getting breakfast ready.”

Masone closed his restaurant for a week.

“We’re doing smoked turkey, brie, avocado, smoked bacon. In some of the boxes, we’re doing an Italian sandwich,” he said.

Masone, his staff and 30 to 40 volunteers are making breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the hundreds of linemen working to restore power to western North Carolina.

“They come in for a hot breakfast,” he said. “They sit down. They eat. They grab a box lunch on the way out the door because they are about to go into the field. They are not coming back out, so they need something sustainable to get them through the day.”

The kitchen operates nearly 24 hours a day and the meals are ferried from Rock Hill to Kings Mountain to the Duke Energy training facility where crews are based.

“It’s the right thing to do,” Masone said. “I mean, somebody needed to do it. This has been really cool to watch my team be so passionate about it.”

VIDEO: Carolina Strong: Helping after Helene

Carolina Strong: Helping after Helene

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