More than just food Though the focus of Guerrilla Cuisine is on food, it is about so much more than just a dinner. It is an experience that crosses genres to bring the audience live music and visual art. The ringleader of this organization is known simply as "jimihatt." A moniker that was coined in the kitchen of a Charleston restaurant, it suits the elusive nature of a Guerrilla Cuisine dinner. The lack of capitalization is intentional on his part; it signifies a humility that he is determined to keep, no matter how many try to make him a rock star of Charleston's underground. He surrounds himself with a tight-knit group of chefs, musicians and artists who make these events possible. Consisting of such talented individuals as John Pundt, Ishmael, Graham Worley and Kenny Lowe, this group has formed a coalition that continues to wow the diners. All of these people contribute to the idea that the events are underground; these are artists who are mainly on the fringe of Charleston. It is almost guaranteed that you will never find a marsh painting or a cover band at a Guerrilla dinner; it just would not fit. According to Ishmael, a Charleston-based artist, the members of the collaborative sees themselves as "messengers ... influencing young artists and creative people."

Similarly, in Charleston, South Carolina, a group called Guerrilla Cuisine has coordinated “experiments in collaborative dining” since the fall of 2007—in private homes downtown and on neighboring islands, in empty warehouses, and at the local muscadine vineyard. There’s always art and music at the dinners, even a between-course skit one night that involved penciled-in mustaches and canned sardines. The founder, who goes by Jimihatt (a Guerrilla alias), is in his late thirties and has worked in some of Charleston’s top kitchens. “We want to create one-night restaurants in places where there has never been one, and never would be,” Jimihatt says. “People who eat with us are adventurous…they want to try something new and maybe be taken out of their comfort zone.” To get there, an ever-changing lineup of Charleston chefs and sous-chefs cook for Guerrilla Cuisine, preparing everything from seafood and game, to a macrobiotic menu (one of the few dinners that didn’t sell out immediately), to eight courses of Spam recipes. “This is the South,” he says. “So of course, pork is a huge part of what we do.” The nights should be as much about the food as it is about building a community, says Lowe. "Sharing experiences and making new friends. To me it will be a success if I go there and I am part of helping someone experience something new, something positive, something unique."