“Have another sip!” Michael Kelcourse encouraged me as I drank from one of his signature martinis, the same kind that he serves Patricia Altschul, often known as her “medicine.” We’re in her Charleston home, you know the one: you’ve seen it on Southern Charm. Because when I walked up and Michael opened the front door to greet me, it was maybe the most starstruck I’ve been in some time. So yes, the fact that Patricia’s butler Michael was now making me one of those infamous martinis she enjoys, was really blowing my mind — and my taste buds. I’m not a gin drinker, but damn if that wasn’t a tasty beverage.

“I could always give you a traveler but you might get to your next appointment and have yourself feeling the effect,” he offered. I took him up on that offer and he was right: not even halfway, hell, a third of the way through it, and I was feeling it. That martini is no joke.

Michael has been Patricia’s butler for 16 years now, and a sneaky star of Southern Charm, now in its sixth season. His brief appearances planning dinner parties, serving up those perfect drinks, and even massaging Cameran’s feet, have made him a fan favorite. So when I got just a few moments to chat with him after watching him, the martini master at work, I didn’t waste a moment.

Decider: What happens when Patricia decides she wants to have a dinner party?

Michael Kelcourse: We plan everything almost like a military maneuver. We go over the china, the crystal, the glassware, what part of the table we want certain people to sit. I’ll go over all the china with her to see what she wants to have the first course on, what she wants to have dessert on, if we’re gonna have special accouterments, if we’re using the gold or the silver or we’re using the bamboo, what the flowers are going to be, if she wants to have individual salts and peppers or if she wants everything to be prepared and seasoned in the kitchen. If there’s going to be a sauce I have to find the appropriate vessel. And we don’t serve certain things in certain areas, too many things that are going to clash. And we never do a sorbet course, ever. We used to at my last house, we would do those sort of things. We had 18 servants and here we’re bringing people in when you need them.

Do you live here?

I live in the tiny cottage right next door.

Do you have vacation time?

I wish! On my day off I usually come over and look after Mrs. A anyway because she’s such a nice person.

What are some of the things you have in common or bond over?

We love Bravo. We also love to do things, silly things like we love to go to antiquing and to thrift stores.

Have you worked with other people similar to Patricia?

My last employer was Mrs. Bostwick and I was with her for 13 years. Her family made it possible for Mr. Rockefeller to build Standard Oil.

We learn her McDonald’s order in this season’s trailer, but what’s yours?

Filet-o-fish and fries, no salt because then they’re always hot. Then I can put a little bit of salt on because usually they salt them so much. And I always get a water because I don’t like any of the soft drinks there.

Is there something special you prepare for Patricia that she enjoys?

She loves stir fry and so I’ll make a dozen different stir fries depending on if they want a beef one, a shrimp one, a combination one.

Have you ever recreated dishes that Patricia enjoys from restaurants?

I always tell her it’s silly for us to try to recreate something that someone else has already mastered. I’ll make shrimp and grits but Hominy Grill makes the best in the whole world. I can always do that but she’ll go, ‘Well it’s not quite like the restaurant,’ and I’ll say, ‘Why don’t you go to the restaurant?'”

What’s the most challenging thing that she’s requested?

[Thinks about it] I’m used to challenges. With Mrs. Bostwick, sometimes we would have 30 people for dinner and so you always had to be ready. We’ve never had more than 10 here.

What’s your favorite part of putting together a dinner party?

The end when I go over in my mind that everything was perfect: that I had the right glasses, that I offered the right cordials. My world is so much different than most of the world’s because my job is mainly as a problem solver. She’ll give me a problem, I’ll solve it and we go on to the next one. [At this point, at least two dogs bark from the next room] Ay! Be good. [They obey!]

Was making a martini part of your tryout for the job?

No. My tryout for the job was the fact that Mr. Buatta, who was the decorator for Mrs. Altschul and Mr. Bostwick, he’s the one that came to Mrs. Bostwick’s memorial [and recommended him]. She died when she was 100 years old and 7 days, and then I came to Mrs. Altschul directly from that.

Do you watch Southern Charm?

Only when I see Mrs. A and I. She and I will watch it continually because it’s on several times a week, but up until the time Mrs. Altschul and I started this, I had never seen Bravo.

Do you keep up with the drama between everyone?

Continuously. I’m like the worm in the apple.

You seem to have a nice friendship with Cameran especially.

She’s like a daughter. I can’t imagine anything that she would ask that I would not do to help her.

What’s your relationship like with Whitney?

Sometimes I think of him as a stepson because he’s just a nice kid and whenever he needs advice I give it to him. If we have a problem, we’ll figure it out just like two friends.

Is there a place you like to hang out in Charleston?

I hang out in my cottage. I have 5 feral cats, I have one house cat that I rescued that’s 12 years old, I have 4 dogs here. I don’t drink or smoke so it seems silly to go to bars.

What’s your favorite treat?

Tonic water. I think that’s the most refreshing thing, tonic water, lime, ice cold. Or orange juice and cranberry juice mixed together equally is quite wonderful. Cranorange.

Southern Charm airs Wednesday at 8pm ET/PT on Bravo.

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