Chris Coleman: The Goodyear House, Old Town Kitchen & Cocktails (Charlotte, NC / Rock Hill, SC)

Chris Coleman was never far from Southern food. He spent summers on his grandparents farm in Mississippi, and was 14 when he started his first industry job at a local fish camp in a suburb of Charlotte, NC, working his way up through the ranks from busser to kitchen expediter. While a culinary student in Central Piedmont Community College's =, Chris took a job as a line cook at the McNinch House, one of Charlotte's most storied fine dining restaurants. He was quickly promoted to head chef at the age of 21, and he's continued to build on that success in the Charlotte region, now the chef and a partner at The Goodyear House in Charlotte's NoDa neighborhood, and the recently opened Old Town Kitchen & Cocktails in nearby Rock Hill, SC. He brings technique and creativity to a local food sensibility, has supported area farmers and food producers throughout his career, and his cooking is familiar yet always with a twist, like the deviled egg toast topped with smoked NC roe I mention in this episode. I'm always interested in what he's going to cook next.