Episode 26: Scott Crawford, Crawford & Son (Raleigh, NC)

It is appropriate that Chef Scott Crawford and I chatted in a courtyard with a serenely bubbling fountain. That sound is the perfect backdrop for this focused, zen-like conversation about leadership, community building, and some kick-ass cooking. Scott Crawford has approached much of his life with this kind of intense focus. He is a three-time James Beard Foundation semi-finalist for "Best Chef: Southeast" who blazed a trail of culinary prestige as he cooked across the region, from The Cloister Hotel in Sea Island, Georgia, to The Umstead Hotel and Spa in Cary, North Carolina. He's about to embark on his first self-owned project, Crawford & Son, and he's all about something he calls "the tilt."