This week’s Spotlight is on Leonard Daniels the owner of Leonard’s Seafood and his special sauce “The King’s Sauce”.
Leonard grew up here in the low country and attended Walterboro High School. He didn’t go to college but ended up in ministry. He said, “I preached the gospel from Miami to the border of Canada. I hung out with the Spanish Ministry. They call me John the Baptist. I use my food to go out and connect. I cook and I baptize. I have baptized over 400 souls so far in the church, that’s my way of giving back.”
Daniel’s has always been interested in cooking, He Explains, “Mr. Jack Crosby was my mentor. He was a cook for the White House, and he taught me how to cook. My whole sauce was based around and dedicated to him. He also credits Mrs. Della from H and D for his training.
He moved back to Walterboro at 35 and became a commercial crabber and crabbed for William Seafood. He eventually cooked and did some of his recipes for him as time went by.
Daniel’s explains the development of his sauce, “I created the sauce and launched it during the pandemic. People got a taste of it and it went viral.” He describes the sauce, “it’s a garlic taste, but with a tad of sweet to it. No spice, but it doesn’t leave a garlic taste on your breath. And people love that. I make it with Turmeric, and we get some of the finest, olive oil and other things. People and Restaurants use it for everything from chicken and Seafood to vegetables. it’s an all-around sauce and marinade.” Daniel’s credits God for the receipt, “I prayed, and God gave me this recipe which is just garlic sauce. I do my sauce. I pray over every batch. I pray over all the food I sell.”
Daniels started his company at the commercial kitchen where he started preparing his sauces. The business grew very quickly and has now moved into a storefront on Washington Street. Daniels explains, “We started very small with our sauce. We hot in our first store and then people heard about it. It started growing and in about nine months, we are doing almost 300 grocery stores from here the Charlotte to Florida.” After his son put the sauce on Tik-Tok they picked up even more customers and outgrew the commercial kitchen. He even became the featured African American business selected by Amazon. That became our own outsource for shipping and distribution.
When he needed a larger building to support the business Leddy Smith spoke to Mr. Cone about the Washington Street space, “They gave me a chance man with this building, we remodeled and installed 120 gallons worth of steam kettles and other equipment.”
Daniel’s wife of five years Brandy is the owner of Silver Spoons Catering and will be moving her catering and take out operations into the store on Washington Street.
When asked Leonard if he any advice for youth in the area he says, “First of all, connect yourself with people who are positive, especially elders who’ve already done things that you may be wanting to do, for me that’s what helped me. My success has not come quick. It’s came by having people in my life who are going to tell me the truth. Don’t be afraid to dream big. But just know a big dream don’t come together in one day. I live every day. Like it’s my last, how I treat people today has been based about that and Jesus Christ.”
Leonard’s Seafood is located at 319 East Washington Street and held his ribbon cutting on Sunday, May the Fifth.
