TRADD NEWTON
Owner
A native of Charleston, Tradd entered the family grocery business Piggly Wiggly Carolina Company in 1991 where he served in a variety of positions including new store development and advertising. In 1998, the Piggly Wiggly Carolina Company purchased McCrady’s restaurant. The four-story brick building, erected in 1788 by Edward McCrady and located in downtown Charleston, had been the site of several celebrated but financially challenged restaurant ventures since the 1980s. The turn-around project was assigned to Tradd. With McCrady’s, Tradd made an indelible mark on the Charleston restaurant landscape—bringing the failing historic establishment out of obscurity and into the national limelight. Under Tradd’s direction, McCrady’s garnered the prestigious AAA Four Diamond Award and received rave reviews from magazines such as Wine Spectator and Esquire.
With the success of his initial foray into the hospitality industry, Newton established himself as a young restaurateur to watch. Fleet Landing Restaurant marks the first solo project for Tradd, in what he anticipates being a series of exciting restaurant projects in the years to come.
Tradd has served on the boards of the MUSC Children's Hospital, the Lowcountry Food Bank and the Lowcountry Children's Center. Tradd is a graduate of Porter Gaud and the College of Charleston.
WEESIE NEWTON
Owner
Also a native of Charleston, Louise "Weesie" Warren Newton is an equal partner in Fleet Landing alongside her husband Tradd, Weesie plans to return to her primary occupation as a full-time real estate agent once the restaurant operations are fully established. She began a career in residential real estate in 1992 with the Daniel Ravenel Real Estate company, where she has twice set the in-house record for most sales. In 2002, Weesie formed Women Making a Difference, a grant-making organization that provides financial assistance to local organizations with a mission aimed at assisting women and children. Weesie attended Ashley Hall, the Madeira School and she holds a B.A. in English from Tulane University in New Orleans, LA. She and Tradd have three children.
DREW HEDLUND
Executive Chef
A native of Naples, Florida, Drew Hedlund has been working in restaurants
since his youth. "I’ve done it all," he shares, "from
working as an expediter to serving tables to working behind the scenes in
the kitchen." After graduating from Johnson and Wales University in
1999, he served as the Resident Chef of Dewees Island and as the Chef de
Cuisine at the former 101 Pitt in Mt. Pleasant. Hedlund teamed up a second
time with 101 Pitt’s Jim Epper at Fleet Landing just after its opening,
and now fills Epper’s shoes as Head Chef. What is Hedlund’s favorite
thing about working at Fleet? "You can’t beat the view—our
restaurant sits right on the water."