Meet Our Participating Chefs

Raymond Hook, Capella Cheese

Raymond Hook is the cheesemonger to the stars of Atlanta. Hook has extensive experience in the Atlanta food scene, managing Star Provisions. Since managing Star Provisions, Hook moved to San Francisco to work for a national specialty food distributor. After working in San Francisco, he moved to New York to work on the business side of cheese. This wealth of new knowledge, combined with eager business partners, culminated in Capella Cheese, a cheese shop that Hook plans to make accessible to anyone with any interest in cheese. From working in his family’s restaurant at the cheese counter in Norman, Oklahoma, to owning and operating his own cheese shop, Raymond Hook has truly built a special relationship with cheese.

Main Event Chefs

Chef Matthew Basford, Canoe

Chef Matthew Basford started his culinary journey at Pear Tree Cottage in Greenock, Australia, followed by Vintner’s Bar and Grill in Angaston. After completing his four year apprenticeship, Basford was officially a “Qualified Chef”, and travelled to the United States. In December 2002, Basford moved to New Orleans, LA and began working at Dominique’s at the Maison Dupuy Hotel. When Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005, Basford was relocated to Atlanta, GA. Within a week, Basford found himself in the Canoe kitchen. He started as line cook and worked his way up the ranks from sous chef to executive sous chef, and finally, chef de cuisine. In 2013, Basford was named executive chef of Canoe and continues the legacy of the city’s longstanding bastion of fine dining. 

Anthony DiNardo, Henri’s Bakery & Deli

Anthony DiNardo, through his family, learned the art of baking and the importance of keeping family traditions. His great-grandfather, Henri Fiscus, started the original Henri’s Bakery in 1929. DiNardo took over the business from his aunt, Madeline Leonard. Leonard ran Henri’s for 43 years and truly helped to show DiNardo the ropes. Now, Anthony DiNardo taking charge of the family business has brought a modern spin, while still focusing on the traditions passed through multiple generations. The stories of DiNardo’s great-grandfather continue to influence his decisions for the business. 

Chef Tyler Haake, Indaco

With over 15 years of restaurant experience, Haake brings a wealth of knowledge and a passion for local and sustainable ingredients to Indaco’s kitchen. Haake started in the hospitality industry as a way to pay the bills during college, but he quickly fell in love with food and the camaraderie of the kitchen. Gaining experience working in professional kitchens across Atlanta, including Wrecking Bar Brewpub, No. 246, Dead End Drinks, and Argosy. At Wrecking Bar, he worked under James Beard Award-winning chef Terry Koval. At Argosy, Haake served as Executive Chef for eight years. His passion for sustainable and local ingredients has led him to build strong relationships within the Atlanta community. 

Chef Chris Hall, Local Three Kitchen & Bar

Chris Hall’s story begins right around the corner from Local Three at the Pizza Hut on Collier Road, where he worked as a teenager. After leaving Atlanta for college in Philadelphia, Hall landed at Lec Bec Fin. Hall eventually headed home to Atlanta and found work at Canoe, working at the restaurant until he finally opened Local Three in 2010 with the help of Ryan Turner and Todd Musman. His main role now is as partner in charge of day-to-day operations of Unsukay Partners restaurants, Local Three, Roshambo, Muss & Turner’s and MTH Pizza.  

Chef Eddie Hernandez, Taqueria Del Sol

Eddie Hernandez was born in Monterrey, Mexico. As a child, Eddie learned to cook from his grandmother in her restaurants. At age 16, he moved to the United States to pursue his dreams of becoming a famous drummer. He decided it was not the life he wanted to live and moved to Atlanta in 1989 and found work in a Mexican restaurant south of Atlanta. He quickly made his mark in the kitchen, laying the groundwork for his business partnership with Taqueria del Sol CEO Mike Klank. They opened the first Taqueria del Sol on Atlanta’s Westside in 2000, creating a menu inspired by Hernandez’s native country and Klank’s experiences in the American Southwest. He and Klank have been named semi-finalists in the James Beard Foundation Awards for Excellence’s Outstanding Restaurateur category for four years.  

Shirley Hughes, Sweet Cheats

Sweet Cheats was created by a National Level Figure Competitor, Shirley Hughes, along with her husband Robert Tubbs and with the help of many friends and family.  During her 3 years spent training for her NPC competitions, Shirley was only allowed to eat certain foods and wasn’t always able to have what she was craving. She began taking notes on these cravings, and turning them into little treats for herself when her strenuous dieting for each competition was over.   While in training, one “cheat” meal was allowed per week, and hers were usually sweet concoctions.  She then decided on a whim to turn her favorite treats into cupcakes not only for herself but for fellow teammates, the RocStarzz, as personal gifts.  From there, requests started coming in and the demand was on. It was an instant success! 

Chef Terry Koval, The Deer and The Dove

Chef Terry Koval moved from South Carolina to Atlanta in 2000 and worked at the famed Buckhead Diner before moving to work under Chef Gary Mennie at Canoe. There, he rose to the position of Executive Sous Chef. He then went to join Concentrics Restaurants as the Executive Sous Chef of Lobby at TWELVE and was promoted to Executive Chef at the sister restaurant Room at TWELVE. He was offered the position to conceptualize burgers for Farm Burger in 2010, eventually earning awards from Food and Wine Magazine. By 2013, Koval moved to Wrecking Bar Brewpub as the Executive Chef. In 2019, Chef Terry and his wife opened their own dream restaurants, The Deer and the Dove and B-Side. Koval has since been nominated as a finalist for the James Beard Award for Best Chef Southeast. 

Billy Kramer, NFA Burger

After a 25-year career spanning the shoe industry, radio, print, and digital media, Billy Kramer left the corporate world to follow a passion developed during business travels: burgers. Kramer’s first pop-up was in the spring of 2018 at Battle and Brew in Sandy Springs, quickly followed by pop-ups at Galla’s Pizza in Chamblee, Where’s the Scoop, Big Sky, and the TOUR Championship. In the fall of 2019, Kramer stumbled upon a newly opened cafe inside the Chevron just three miles from home in Dunwoody. After meeting with the owner, Billy got permission to launch the first NFA Burger inside the gas station. On December 3, 2019, the first burger was smashed inside NFA’s first location. Kramer recently opened a second location in Avalon. 

Chef Laura Orellana, Osteria Mattone 

Laura was born and raised in El Salvador, where she enjoyed her earliest culinary memories. By age 17, she knew she would embrace cooking as a profession. In 2004 she moved to Seville, Spain to study at one of the best culinary schools, Escuela de Hosteleria de Sevilla. In her earliest professional experience, she learned from the amazing team at El Cingle in Barcelona, a Michelin starred restaurant. She moved to Atlanta in 2009 to work with the esteemed Buckhead Life Group. Laura joined Table & Main in 2012 as a Line Cook before opening Osteria Mattone, our sister restaurant, as the Sous Chef in 2013 and serving in that capacity for eight years. When R.O. Hospitality opened "tapas and tacos" concept Casa Robles in Roswell, Chef Laura embraced her Salvadorean roots and joined that project as opening Executive Chef. She recently rejoined Osteria Mattone as Executive Chef. 

Chef Doug Turbush, Seed

Doug Turbush’s desire to learn every aspect of the restaurant business led him to a Bachelor’s degree in Hospitality and Tourism Management from the University of Wisconsin in Stout, and later to the prestigious Culinary Institute of America, graduating with honors from both universities. Upon graduating from the CIA, a move to Minneapolis opened the doors to a position at Goodfellows, a restaurant by celebrity chef Stephen Pyles. Turbush eventually joined the Buckhead Life Restaurant Group in 1999 as Chef de Tournant at Nava under Chef Kevin Rathbun. He would go on to become Executive Chef of both Nava and Bluepointe before setting off to open Seed Kitchen & Bar in Marietta, where he now cooks and owns. 

Mixologists

Matthew Watkins, The Deer and The Dove

 A former lawyer, Matthew Watkins found joy in homebrewing. Watkins eventually decided he needed a change and stepped away from the court room and decided to pick up a cocktail shaker and barspoons instead. In 2015, he joined Octane Coffee Company as a bartender and built out a beverage menu including specialty coffee and espresso drinks and alcoholic beverages. Now the Beverage Director of The Deer and The Dove and B-Side, Matthew Watkins is continuing to find joy in creating and recreating extensive cocktail lists.