Chef Kevin, Top Chef fan favorite and founder of Red Beard Restaurants, gives cooking tips.
Chef Kevin Gillespie charmed audiences when he appeared on season six of Bravo’s Top Chef where he was voted Fan Favorite. He is a restaurateur and owner of Red Beard Restaurants. His spot Gamechanger opened up last August in the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
He has published two books: a memoir called Fire in My Belly, which is a journey into his restaurant, and the cookbook Pure Pork Awesomeness.
Farm to table is an important concept for him and there is a local item that really excites him: Vidalia onions.
This variety is known for its sweet mild flavor and represents nearly 40 percent of the sweet onion market. Vidalia onions (#OnlyVidalia) are considered to be the official vegetable for the state of Georgia and they are available only in spring and summer and are shipped all over the country. The estimated value of this crop is $150 million.
Kevin Gillespie spoke with Michelle Tompkins for TheCelebrityCafe.com about his career, his love of Atlanta, what’s next for him, some of his favorite foods and why Vidalia onions are special. Plus he offered some great recipe tips and a demonstration of how to make a refreshing Vidalia onion soup, which can be served either hot or cold.
See the full interview here:
More on Kevin Gillespie can be found here and more about Vidalia onions here at www.vidaliaonion.org
Michelle Tompkins http://www.mediamichelle917.com Michelle Tompkins is an award-winning media, PR and crisis communications professional with more than ten years experience with coverage in virtually every traditional and new media outlet. She is currently a communications and media strategist and writer, as well as the author of College Prowler: Guidebook for Columbia University. She served as the Media Relations Manager for the Girl Scouts of the USA where she managed all media and talking points, created social media strategy, trained executives and donors and served as the organization’s primary spokesperson, participating in daily interviews with local, regional, and national media outlets. She managed the media for the Let Me Know internet safety and Cyberbullying prevention campaign with Microsoft, as well as Girl Scouts’ centennial Year of the Girl To Get Her There celebration in 2012, which yielded more than 800 million earned media impressions. In addition to her extensive media experience, Michelle worked as a talent agent in Los Angeles, California, as well contracting as a digital content developer and her writing has appeared in newspapers and online. She is passionate about television, theater, classic movies, all things food and in-home entertaining. While she has lived and worked in NYC for more than a decade, she is from suburban Sacramento and gets back there often to watch the San Francisco Giants on TV with her family.