Guest Judge Hugh Acheson FROMTOP CHEFMASTER TO TOP CHEF JUDGE
Hugh Acheson is the chef and partner of Five & Ten, the National, Gos-
ford Wine and Empire State South and was a contender onTop Chef Mas- ters, the Bravo TV spin-off of the popular franchise in which accomplished chefs compete for their favorite charities. Chef Hugh has been asked to be a guest judge onTop Chef: Texas. Born and raised in Ottawa, Canada he started cooking at a young age and began working in restaurants after school and learning as much as possible. He decided to make it his career after taking a long time in college to realize that academics weren’t his first love. Today, Acheson’s experience includes working under Chef Rob MacDonald, where he learned stylized French cuisine, wine and etiquette at the renowned Henri Burger restaurant in Ot- tawa. From there, to San Francisco as the chef de cuisine with Chef Mike Fennelly at Mecca and later as sous chef with famed Chef Gary Danko at his namesake restaurant. Hugh developed a style of his own by forging together the beauty of the South with the flavors of Europe and opened the critically acclaimed Athens, Georgia restau- rant Five & Ten in March 2000. He has gone on to open Gosford Wine in 2004 with sommelier Ben Giacchino and The National in 2007 with fellow chef Peter Dale. Adding to his list of dining establishments, Hugh opened the Atlanta-based Empire State South in 2010. In addition to running three restaurants, a wine shop and opening a new restaurant, Hugh is writing a cookbook titled,A New Turn in the South: The Cuisine of Hugh Acheson. This book is to be published by Clarkson Potter this fall. When and where did you get your start as a chef?
I had part time restaurant jobs through high school and was proud to have a skill set that I could always
fall back on, a trade per se. After two years of political philosophy in college I decided my love for cooking was greater than the love for academics. Good choice.... I wasn’t
very good at the school thing.
What is your favorite part of being a chef? Butchery—love it. It’s fun precision. What was the inspiration behind the decision to shoot in Texas this season? Texas is BIG! There is so much going on in the culinary world. It’s a really exciting place to film and eat. How did the experience of competing on Top Chef Masters compare to judging onTop Chef: Texas? Judging is so much easier. Cooking the food is a lot more anxiety prone than tasting and eating it.
What are the top five ingredients that you must have in your pantry?
Great olive oil, cider vinegar, unsalted butter, sea salt and grits. Your personal all-time favorite dish? Can’t ever say no to great sashimi! Food cooking competition shows have become quite a phenomenon; why do you think? It’s a much watched industry with its fair share of drama. Chefs are a varied group and its fun to team them up and pit them against each other. People love watching that stuff.
Contestant Jonathan Baltazar 36, currently in Long Beach
Private Chef doing DBA Heights Cuisine. Business contact:
heightscuisine@gmail.com
Where are you from originally? I’m from Long Beach, California When did you first realize that you had an aptitude for cooking? I was studying abroad in Paris during college at UC Berkeley and really embraced the whole culture of food and the table. I wanted to be a part of it, so I started doing little dinner parties for my friends there. Where or how did you get your training? Most of my training I got at the restaurants where I’ve worked. I also went to culinary school. How do you describe your culinary style or approach? My culinary approach is very California rustic. We’re very spoiled here in terms of the product we can use that is grown or raised locally. I choose to let the product shine by not imposing too much chefiness on it. Why did you decide to join the cast ofTop Chef? It seemed like a great opportunity and an honor to be included. Competition shows seek out unique competitors, what do you think it was about you that brought you this far? I think my experience as both a restaurant chef and a private chef make me unique compared to the other competitors. My style of food, which is more rustic and honest, goes against the current vogue in restaurant today which is to manipulate the food to the point that it doesn’t even resemble food anymore. I think that whoever’s in charge might have liked the contrast that would provide. What has been the toughest aspect of the process? Not knowing what’s going to happen next, being in the dark until the last minute. What did you learn about yourself during the competition? I learned that I was definitely inspired by my competitors’ cooking and their passion, but ultimately it was my aim to cook my own food my way.
NOVEMBER 2011 | RAGE monthly 53
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