Online store owned by SC chef and NC singer makes Oprah’s favorite things list for 2023
If it hadn’t been for God giving April Robinson the idea that she needed to go to Walmart in New York and buy a toaster oven, her honey cornbread and Southern Line biscuits probably wouldn’t have been on this year’s list of Oprah’s favorite things.
In May, the Goose Creek native was taking part in the Field + Supply arts and crafts fair in Kingston, New York, representing Hamilton Cornerstore, the business she and singer Anthony Hamilton started two years ago.
She hadn’t intended to cook anything. But then came the feeling. She headed to Walmart and snatched up an oven, the Emeril Lagasse model to be exact.
A chef trained at Johnson and Wales University, Robinson whipped up some drop biscuits and honey cornbread.
As it turns out one of the people she served was a woman working for Oprah.
Sales have already increased since Oprah’s favorite things list was released Wednesday. Their offering — a cast iron skillet with biscuit and honey cornbread mixes — is one of 16 food items listed..
“You cannot go wrong making biscuits or honey cornbread — reminds me of my grandmother’s home — with these Southern recipe mixes and the pre-seasoned skillet,” the Oprah website says.
Reminding folks of their grandmother is precisely how Robinson and Hamilton dreamed up Hamilton Cornerstore, an online business selling an array of kitchen items such as seasonings, hot sauces, utensils and, of course, the mixes.
They both fondly remember their grandmothers’ cooking.
A 17-time Grammy nominated musician, Hamilton grew up in Charlotte and lives there still. His breakthrough platinum-selling second studio album was “Comin’ from Where I’m From” released in 2003.
He says on the Hamilton Cornerstore website that when “he’s not on the road performing or busy in the studio, you can find Anthony at home with his children cooking.”
He remembers waking to the smell of buttered grits on Saturday mornings. Shrimp and grits. Fish and grits. Grits are for the soulm he said.
Robinson remembers summers at Gramommy’s, where the rules were meals at a certain time and you eat all of what’s provided.
“Core memories,” she said.
Robinson has a long and varied career in the food industry in the Charleston area and beyond. She’s worked as a personal chef for former Carolina Panther linebacker Thomas Davis and his family, cooking several meals a week.
She sold cupcakes for a month or so in Derickus Crawford’s hair salon in Charlotte where she gets her hair done (Fantasia does too). The cupcakes were such a hit she went home to Charleston and opened Butter Cupcakes in 2012.
She found acclaim being featured in the Grand Tasting at the 2017 New York City Wine and Food Festival.
In 2018, cupcakes morphed into small bites when she opened Butter Tapas in North Charleston. She did it all: front of the house to chef. When she decided to close the restaurant in 2020, she cooked charbroiled oysters, garlic crabs, ribs and shrimp for friends, family and regular customers on New Year’s Eve to tell them.
Sometimes she misses the energy of a restaurant kitchen, but does she want to go back? A resounding no.
Hashing out items to sell with Hamilton and trying out new recipes is where she knows she needs to be.
With Hamilton Cornerstore, the business partners want to recreate what they experienced at their grandmothers’ tables, most especially for the younger generation.
As far as teaming up with Oprah, Robinson said, “It’s a wild ride. If you have a vision, stick to it and ride out the storm. I’m going with the flow and doing whatever God tells me.”
