Atlanta, Georgia – Atlanta Foodservice Expo announced today a Keynote Panel of Industry Leaders to take place on October 14th from 1:00pm to 2:00pm as a highlight to the second and final day of the 2014 Atlanta Foodservice Expo. The panel will bring together four local industry restaurant owners who will share their viewpoints on what it takes to succeed in the highly demanding, wonderful world of restaurant ownership.
The Keynote Panelists are:
Kevin Gillespie, Owner, Gunshow
In May 2013, Kevin Gillespie opened his restaurant, Gunshow, in the Glenwood Park neighborhood of Atlanta. In February 2014, Gunshow earned the seventh spot on GQ magazine’s list of “12 Most Outstanding Restaurants.” His next restaurant Terminus City is scheduled to open in 2015. An Atlanta native, Gillespie began his culinary education at the Art Institute of Atlanta and went on to hold different positions at several well-known Atlanta restaurants including chef de partie at Atlanta Grill at The Ritz-Carlton, sous chef at TWO Urban Licks and chef de cuisine at Woodfire Grill. In 2009, Nicolas Quiñones and Bernard Moussa of Five Senses Restaurants, LLC purchased Woodfire Grill and promoted Gillespie to executive chef. During Gillespie’s time at Woodfire Grill, the restaurant was featured on CNN and in Travel + Leisure, Food & Wine and Men’s Health as a dining destination for visitors to Atlanta. Additional accolades include: a spot on Bravo’s Emmy and James Beard Award-winning series “Top Chef” for the show’s sixth season, and Mother Nature Network’s top “40 Chefs Under 40” in 2009; Gayot.com’s “Top Five Rising Chefs” and semi-finalist for the James Beard Foundation’s “Rising Star Chef of the Year” award in 2010; nominated for Food & Wine’s “The People’s Best New Chef”, and named one of Forbes’ “30 Under 30” in the magazine’s listing of tomorrow’s brightest stars in 2011; semi-finalist for the James Beard Foundation’s “Rising Star Chef of the Year” award, and “Best Local Chef” by Georgia Voice in 2012.
Todd Ginsberg, Chef & Co-Owner, The General Muir
Todd Ginsberg is the chef and co-owner of The General Muir as well as Fred's Meat & Bread and Yalla at Krog Street Market both scheduled to open late summer 2014. Locally, Atlanta Magazine and Eater Atlanta both named The General Muir their 2013 “Restaurant of the Year” and Creative Loafing named it the “Best New Restaurant” of 2013. Nationally, Bon Appetit magazine included The General Muir on its list of 50 Best New Restaurants for 2013 and GQ magazine included it on its list of 25 Best New Restaurants for 2014. Todd is a 2014 James Beard Foundation semi-finalist for Best Chef: Southeast and a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America at Hyde Park, New York. He started his career at The Dining Room at The Ritz-Carlton in Atlanta under Joel Antunes and Bruno Menard, led the kitchens at Asher in Roswell, Georgia, and Madison's in Highlands, North Carolina, and spent time at Lucas Carton in Paris and at Alain Ducasse in New York. Upon his return to Atlanta, he worked for the Concentrics Restaurants group, serving as chef at both TAP and Trois, and was the chef at Bocado from its opening in 2009.
Robby Kukler, Co-Founder & Partner, Fifth Group Restaurants
The legacy began in 1993 when Robby Kukler and his partners opened South City Kitchen on Crescent Avenue in the heart of midtown Atlanta. A continued focus on innovation and growth led to the development of South City Kitchen in Vinings, La Tavola Trattoria, Ecco, The Original El Taco, Alma Cocina, Lure and one of the South’s most renowned catering companies, Bold American Events. These successful concepts make up what is now Fifth Group Restaurants – Atlanta’s award-winning chef and community driven hospitality group. Over the past 21 years, Fifth Group Restaurants’ food, chefs, business practices, green initiatives and community work have been frequent features of high profile publications such as The New York Times, Atlanta Business Chronicle, Southern Living, Food & Wine, Garden & Gun, USA Today and Esquire. Robby leads and mentors Fifth Group Restaurants’ Operations, Marketing and Recruiting teams as well as heads new concept development. He is a long-time member and advocate of the Atlanta Community Food Bank and frequent industry speaker and advisor.
Todd Rushing, Partner, Concentrics Restaurants
Todd Rushing’s presence in the Atlanta restaurant scene has been long-running. Rushing is a partner in the nationally acclaimed, Atlanta-based, Concentrics Restaurants which owns, manages and develops nationally acclaimed concepts across the U.S. Rushing is responsible for creating innovative wine programs which have received numerous awards and recognition in publications such as Wine Spectator, Wine Enthusiast, Bon Appétit, Condé Nast Traveler and more. In addition to owning Atlanta’s ONE. midtown kitchen, TWO urban licks, TAP, PARISH and The Spence, Rushing along with Bob Amick, current owner and founder of Concentrics Restaurants, offer a full-service development and management team that provides A to Z solutions to any food and beverage operational needs. Due to national hotel, corporate and individual interests, Concentrics Restaurants has partnered with Lodging Hospitality, Unicorp Development, First Hospitality, Tavistock, Sports Radio 790 The Zone, Legacy Property Group, France Developments, The Novare Group, ECD Company, and more to launch and grow nationally successful concepts under the Concentrics’ umbrella in Chicago, St. Louis, San Diego, Charlotte, Winter Park, FL and beyond. Concentrics Restaurants have been named to Condè Nast Traveler’s “Hot List”; Bon Appetit’s “Hot 50 Tables”; Esquire’s “Best New Restaurants” and has been nominated for several James Beard Awards including “Outstanding Restaurateur” and “Best Restaurant”.
To add to this impressive line-up of panelists, the keynote session will be moderated by Steak Shapiro, Founder & Host of Atlanta Eats.
With a name like Steak, it’s no surprise that he would carve out a career in food. From Atlanta, by way of Boston, Steak Shapiro has been one of the most entertaining food and television personalities for the better part of two decades. He cut his teeth on sports radio, and has been tapped by Fox News, CNN, MSNBC and ESPN to provide commentary for years. As the longest running talk show host inAtlanta, his voice is instantly recognizable. His passion for food has made him a culinary giant. When Steak noticed that his beloved city didn’t have local food programming, he took a page from his own playbook and founded Atlanta Eats in 2012. He has hosted the award winning show for 5 seasons, and guides diners through Atlanta’s vibrant food scene leaving no fork unturned. Steak is also the founder and CEO of Bread ‘n Butter Productions which creates compelling video content throughout the nation. Working with world class brands, and stars known throughout the world, Bread ’n Butter has been able to establish itself as THE premier culinary production company. This fall, Steak can be found on the Food Network show, Food Truck Face Off.
Atlanta Foodservice Expo is the only event in Georgia and the Southeast to bring together under one roof all sectors of the restaurant, foodservice, and hospitality industries with a broad range of the best suppliers. The show will be held October 13 – 14, 2014 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, Georgia.
For more information please visit www.AtlantaFoodserviceExpo.com.
Source: Atlanta Foodservice Expo
