Chefs who become ultra successful often morph into restaurateurs.
Kennesaw resident Ron Eyester said he's now a blend of both. He owns three local restaurants in Morningside - Southern favorite Rosebud, pizza joint Timone's and neighborhood bar Family Dog. A fourth eatery is on its way.
He felt at this stage in his career, it was the right time to compete on Bravo's seminal cooking reality competition show "Top Chef," which returns for a 12th season Wednesday. His approach? Down-home, approachable dishes with a focus on quality ingredients.
"My true passion is cooking," Eyester said in an interview last week, "but my responsibilities now lead me in the direction of grappling with non-food issues. I have to deal with a lot of moving parts, especially with four restaurants."
While he has embraced the challenge of owning multiple restaurants, " 'Top Chef' gave me an opportunity to rejuvenate my spirit as a cook, to reconnect directly with food."
In a strange sense, he enjoyed "Top Chef" because he was told what to do by the producers and the judges. "In Atlanta, I'm the guy everyone is looking for me for the answers. It's a position I embrace but it's nice to take on a somewhat subordinate role."
He isn't a "Top Chef" connoisseur, having really only watched season six when fellow local chef Kevin Gillespie (who just competed on "Top Chef Duels") came in third. "He's had brunch at Rosebud quite a few times," Eyester said. "The chef circles here in Atlanta are pretty close knit. He did a great job on the show."
Eyester has also run across two of the recurring judges this season with Atlanta ties - Richard Blais, a former Atlantan and"Top Chef All Stars" winner and Empire State South partner Hugh Acheson. He doubts either judge was influenced in any way by the Atlanta connections. "I think they probably were more committed to remaining as objective as possible." (Blais said he knew of Eyester and had eaten at Rosebud but they weren't close by any means.)
At age 40, he said he had spent more time in the kitchen than most of his rivals. "I don't want to say I was the wise old man but I was a good bit older," he said, noting most contestants were around 30. "I really enjoyed talking to other chefs on that level and kind of letting them know what things lie ahead. There's no substitute for practical experience."
He also said his experience allowed him to take critiques without a need to bite back. "I feel I'm grounded," he said. "I have a lot of other issues going on that superseded how well I do on 'Top Chef.' "
For one, he said he is unfortunately going through a divorce with his wife Pamela. Second, he is currently preparing to open a fourth establishment Diner at Atlantic Station, taking over most of the old Fox Sports Grille space. "Top Chef," which taped a month over the summer, held things up a bit, he admitted.
"We've definitely run into obstacles," he said, "but that's just the nature of the beast."
Eyester, who was born on Long Island, attended the Citadel in Charleston, S.C. He moved back to Long Island and pursued a masters in American literature. He then had an epiphany: he wanted to cook for a living. So he returned to Charleston and learned a lot about cooking. "I was in my early and mid 20s," he said. "I spent a lot of time smoking weed and doing mushrooms. I wouldn't say I had great direction but I felt like I somehow had a talent to do it."
Without a culinary school background, he said he felt he he needed to get serious and thought Atlanta was a good fit. He arrived in 2000 and became a sous chef at Food 101 on Roswell Road. "Everything started to fall into place," he said. He moved over to the Food 101 on North Highland in Morningside in 2004 and bought his partners out in 2008, rebranding it as Rosebud.
Besha Rodell, a writer for L.A. Weekly and former food editor for Creative Loafing, said Eyester wrote a column for her years ago and was a funny, engaging writer. She also noted his popular tongue-in-cheef Angry Chef twitter feed. In 2009, she gave Rosebud a good review.
"His strengths as a chef are all about comfort and a kind of lowest common denominator decadence," she wrote in an email last week. "There's a lot of fat and salt and stoner-kid sensibilities going into his food. I'd say that's also his weakness, especially compared to folks who have won (or come close) in the past."
Mara Davis, who works for Atlanta Eats and a long-time friend of Eyester, said she's such a regular at Rosebud, she became suspicious when he was gone for several weeks over the summer. "It seemed fishy to me," she said. When he got back, she teased him about "Top Chef." He said nothing to her.
She said Eyester does the best brunch in the city. "He uses a lot of local ingredients," she said. "He was one of the first to do those theme dinners. He's done an Allman Brothers dinner. He's done a Talking Heads dinner. It's a very homey, good food, a great neighborhood spot."
In the meantime, Blais is the first "Top Chef" contestant to become a judge on "Top Chef." He'll be recurring, which means he won't be in every episode though you'll see him in the first one this Wednesday.
Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
Blais, who moved to San Diego nearly two years ago, still operates three Flip Burger Boutiques in Atlanta plus his more upscale The Spence in Midtown. He has also become "Top Chef" regular, having been on the regular series, the all-star edition, a "Life After Top Chef" spinoff, a finalist on "Top Chef Duels" and now as a judge.
His intensity, his creativity, his competitiveness all made him a great TV personality. "I'm such a fan of the franchise and the history of the show," Blais said. "I was offended when someone called me a 'Top Chef' life. I was so upset. But then I got over it. I'm okay with it now."
He said becoming a judge feels like going to the adult table after spending so much time at the kid's table during Thanksgiving. "What do I tell Aunt Padma?" he joked. "It was amazing to get to know Tom [Colicchio], Gail [Simmons] and of course, Padma [Lakshmi]. I have so much reverence for them."
In the first episode, he blended right in, providing pointed critiques and supportive advice. He was also able to separate personality from food. "I found that easier than I thought," he said.
Although he no longer lives in Atlanta and is seldom in the kitchens of his local restaurants, he said, "they run themselves. I have great talent in my kitchens. I do miss my people. I miss being with my staff. As far as the operations, they're doing their thing."
TV preview
"Top Chef," 10 p.m. Wednesdays, Bravo, starting October 15, 2014.
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