A new restaurant partnership has geared up in Sandy Springs between Anderson and Pendleton and, so far, word of mouth is growing. it’s called The Lettuce Shop, and the model is a little different than the way most eateries begin. But that’s par for the course for owner Deshawn Reid and her partner in the project, Tavish Traynum.

Reid never really had a passion for food in the traditional sense. The Upstate South Carolina native got her degree in child psychology and, by 2000, was living in Chicago. By 2008, President Barack Obama was in office and not long after, Reid heard First Lady Michelle Obama talk about her passion for children and healthy eating.

“I never worked in restaurants and never really had a passion for food,” Reid said. “But I had a passion for children and doing anything I could to help them and their parents eat better.”

It was then that Reid started her first Lettuce Shop project. It was pretty much just making unique salads in her home and bringing them to work for her co-workers. Each week different co-workers would ask for different salads and Reid would oblige for a donation to the cause.

This continue through 2010 when she returned to Pendleton for good after a decade in the big city. Upon that return, Reid was working her job, but still had a drive to provide salad for the community. She would sell the salads at production plants in the area and even went so far as to open a restaurant for a year in the heart of Pendleton.

Business ebbed and flowed, but never really caught on there and she shut it down within a year. That lasted for about two years, however, and demand for her salads grew at the plants that really started the business in the first place.

“We had so much interest from the plants that we needed to open a shop we could make them in,” Reid said. “That’s where this new one came from.”

On Jan. 28, the new Lettuce Shop opened at 5911 US 76 in Sandy Springs. It’s a small, eight-seat dining area with a kitchen that can pump out salads, sandwiches, hot dogs and bird dogs six days a week. The building came courtesy of Reid’s uncle, Carl Anderson. But the success will be thanks to her unique salads and sandwiches and a partnership with Traynum that is generating a whole lot of buzz.

“A friend told me about Tavish and how awesome his wings were,” Reid said. “So, I messaged him, asked him about these wings and we all thought it would make a good fit for The Lettuce Shop.”

Traynum had been holding down a full-time job as a supervisor at Clemson University’s dining halls and doing catering pretty much since graduating from culinary school and spending six years in the Army. His wings had reached legendary status among the his employees, his Army compatriots, his community and his clients, but he wanted to take it further and to more people.

On Saturday, Feb. 3, Traynum offered up wings and loaded fries to customers of The Lettuce Shop on a trial basis. And what happened was something neither he nor Reid could have expected.

“That first day was crazy,” Traynum said. “I think I made up about 500 wings and had to run out for another 200 before the night was over. And people were still looking for more.”

Traynum only sells the wings on a pop-up basis from The Lettuce Shop. He plans to do another round on Feb. 25, but said that the only way to really know is to follow his JETS Wings and Catering page or The Lettuce Shop page on Facebook. His flavors are what sets him apart, he explained, especially his signature TeriHennessey sauce that blends Hennessey right into the sweet and spicy teriyaki sauce.

It’s a great combination, Reid said, because her salads are so unique with blends like the Joy’s Greek Salad with red onion, tomato, cucumber and feta cheese or the Dumyu’s Salad with tomato, black bean, corn, avocado and cheese. Each of her salads are named after the children in her life including Rashawn, Shakeshia, Tyleah and Brayden.

For the wings and loaded fries, it’s something different that pops up and boosts business every time Traynum decides it’s time. In fact, since the Feb. 3 trial, the phone has been ringing off the hook at The Lettuce Shop asking when the next chance to get those wings would be. In the meantime, regulars and new customers have been checking out The Lettuce Shop to see what sandwiches and salads they can enjoy.

Reid is still doing sales at production plants five days a week often visiting two different plants each day. She couldn’t do it without the help of Vanessa in the kitchen and even then Reid is at the shop from 4 a.m. to 9 p.m. each and every day.

But it’s all worth it right now. After all, there are goals to open a Lettuce Shop in Atlanta down the road using this very same model including salads, sandwiches and, of course, the wings.

“I see doing this as big as it will go,” Reid said. “It’s something not done in this area and, really, just about anywhere.”

The Lettuce Shop is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. It’s located at 5911 US 76 in Sandy Springs. For more information or to order in advance, call 864.245.7476.