7 LGBTQ+ culinary rising stars transforming Atlanta’s food scene
Atlanta’s food scene is built on community and culture, with LGBTQ+ professionals at the forefront. From creating inclusive spaces to building innovative restaurants, bakeries and pop-ups, these visionaries are transforming the way Atlantans experience food.
Here are seven to watch.
1-2. Jess Gorsuch and Sara Siv, owners of Hapa Kitchen
The stars have aligned for every moment of Jess Gorsuch and Sara Siv’s relationship. In fact, the two met via an accidental Instagram follow.
What started as a mistake eventually turned into a conversation, then a friendship, then a partnership. With Gorsuch as an army brat who moved around a lot and Siv having deep roots in Hawaii, food become their cultural meeting point as they developed a long distance relationship over FaceTime. The pair eventually met in person in 2021 in Oahu.
Since 2022, that shared foundation has became Hapa Kitchen. The name “hapa” means “to mix,” and this philosophy translates into their menu, being a blend of Hawaiian staples and Southern comfort.
Siv describes her transition to Atlanta’s cultural landscape as unexpectedly familiar, reminding her of the melting pot of Oahu.
“It’s so diverse here,” Siv said. “People are just super nice, you just feel like you belong here.”
There are exceptions though. With both women being of color and members of the LGBTQ+ community, there are spaces where they don’t feel welcome. Those moments of discomfort and feeling as if they don’t belong directly influence the kind of environment they want to create for others.
“One of the things that we train all of our staff on is everybody matters,” Gorsuch said. “We talk to every person that walks up, no matter what, and so it’s really important for us.”
The commitment to visibility and inclusion shows up in how they serve customers.
“I think it’s just really important in general to be able to represent our communities, and people can see that reflected back to them, so they know that it’s a safe space,” Gorsuch said.
3. Sebastien Gaudin, owner of Inches
It was July 4, 2020, and Sebastien Gaudin was working a corporate job he hated. While working from home, he stepped out on his break to grab a hot dog for the holiday.
“The experience was lackluster,” Gaudin said.
So he created Inches.
The pop-up prides itself on gourmet, 100% beef hot dogs topped with homemade sauces and organic ingredients. From the chili on the “Slob On The Knob” chili-cheese dog to the signature Jack sauce, everything is made in-house. For customers with dietary restrictions, Inches also offers a vegan “raw dawg.”
Gaudin said the playful menu was inspired by watching straight men shy away from eating foods like hot dogs and bananas in public. Combined with his background in marketing, the concept became a way to grab customers’ attention.
“I’ve learned that sex, of course, sells, but it also gets people’s attention,” Gaudin said.
Today, Inches operates as a pop-up, hosting culinary experiences and themed events around Atlanta. When Beyoncé brought the Cowboy Carter Tour to Atlanta, Inches hosted a hoedown complete with games, photo opportunities, cocktails and hot dogs. Gaudin hopes to open a brick-and-mortar location in Midtown eventually.
Representation remains central to his vision. After feeling stifled in the corporate world, Gaudin said Inches has given him the freedom to embrace his creativity and show other LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs that ownership is possible.
“The vision of LGBTQ+ ownership that is Black — I haven’t seen enough of that,” Gaudin said. “I really would love to change the narrative.”
4. Jett Kolarik, sommelier at Koshu Club
Jett Kolarik talks about wine the way some people talk about travel or music, not as a product, but more as a living archive of stories, places and people. That sense of connection is what pulled them into the industry and continues to shape their work as a sommelier in Koshu Club.
Before wine became their full-time career, Kolarik was working in a very different creative space as a photographer and videographer by trade. They moved to Atlanta 10 years ago to pursue it but found it very isolating.
“I do wine full time because it is an ever-evolving, like you never are done learning,” Kolarik said. “Being a photographer is kind of lonely, so I get to interact with people more, and you get to share stories from across the world.“
The shift into wine happened almost accidentally, but stuck after they found themselves at Iberian Pig in Decatur.
“They would bring winemakers in to talk to us,” Kolarik said. “I had never learned anything about wine before then. I remember being like, ‘I can’t do wine, this is so cool, this is so nerdy, there’s so much to learn.’”
However, a coworker saw their potential and challenged them directly.
“He poured me three different wines from three different regions in Spain, and he was like, ‘Try these, prove to yourself you can do it,’ and I did,” Kolarik said.
After becoming a sommelier, the aspect they love most about wine is how rich the field is with stories. Ultimately, they see wine as something deeply human.
“For the entirety of humanity, people have gathered around taverns and tables with wine or meat or beer and told stories or schemed,” Kolarik said. “Humans are such storytellers. I think wine helps with that, so to me it’s just a never-ending way of learning about history, geography and people.”
That storytelling impulse extends beyond the restaurant floor into Spooky Wine Society, a personal project built around horror, community and shared experience. The project is Kolarik’s way to share the niche wines they have been collecting and spooky stories with like-minded people.
“I am a huge horror fan,” they said. “It’s random people from all over sharing scary stories or just talking about whatever spooky stuff is on their mind, and it’s been really fun.”
For Kolarik, representation in the wine world also matters. At Koshu Club, there are three queer sommeliers, which is uncommon in the fine-dining space.
“To see three (sommeliers) in a like super-fine dining setting, it inspires me,” Kolarik said.
5. Liv Hurst, executive chef at Cattle Shed Steak and Wine Bar
Thirty minutes after Cattle Shed Steak and Wine Bar opened at 11 a.m., two regulars walked through the door. Waiting to greet them was executive chef Liv Hurst.
“Hey, you guys came to visit me today,” Hurst said before leading them to their booth.
In five years at Cattle Shed in Alpharetta, Hurst has become the restaurant’s most recognizable face. The menu is entirely her creation, reflecting both her Southern roots and her willingness to experiment with bold flavors.
The Atlanta native has worked in restaurants since she was 15, starting with tableside guacamole at the now-closed Uncle Julio’s before moving through kitchens across metro Atlanta. She eventually became a sous chef at Kyma in Buckhead.
Hurst arrived at Cattle Shed in 2021 after learning about an opening through her then-girlfriend, whose mother worked at the restaurant as a server. She was hired as a sous chef and promoted to executive chef just two months later.
The transition was not easy. Hurst suddenly found herself leading in a male-dominated industry while battling her own self-doubt.
“I was always doing what somebody else was telling me to do,” Hurst said. “So when somebody said, ‘Do you trust you?’ I felt like I didn’t deserve it.”
It wasn’t until she won an episode of Food Network’s “Chopped” that she fully trusted herself. When the episode aired in 2022, about 70 family members, friends and regular customers packed neighboring restaurant Hobnob for a watch party. As she won, the room erupted in cheers.
In that moment, Hurst said, her imposter syndrome disappeared.
“I knew that I did it for myself, and that I’m the one who did it,” she said. “The personal chains that I had on myself went away. I promised myself to just keep striving and doing better after that, and that’s what I try to do every day.”
Today, most of Hurst’s staff are women or queer people, representing what she describes as people from “all sides of the rainbow.” She has intentionally built a workplace where employees can feel safe, valued and supported as they grow in their careers.
“To be able to be at the table, have a voice, and to be heard and my opinions and words be appreciated was honestly life changing for me,” Hurst said. “Then, to also be gay just adds an even better reason why I love being where I am and doing what I am, and to be who I am with no apologies.”
6-7. J. Blake and Nick O’Ryan, owners of Scrumpt
It’s always sweet treat o’clock for partners J. Blake and Nick O’Ryan.
Scrumpt does not shy away from sugar, as the bakery in Decatur is known for its over-the-top cakes and desserts, and its very own “big back coalition,” his social media following paying homage to the popular Gen Z slang for large appetites.
Blake’s love for baking started in his childhood kitchen in North Carolina, where he learned recipes rooted in Southern tradition and family gatherings. In his adult life, he opened Top That Dessert Bar in Lumberton, North Carolina, building it into a successful bakery that earned national attention and landed him on Food Network. It was also where he met O’Ryan.
“We met at my bakery and kind of kicked it off,” Blake said. “We were at a mutual friend’s event two nights later, and then we kind of kiki’ed all night, and then went on our first date three days later.”
But the success came at a cost. After years of running the bakery, Blake found himself burned out and ready for a fresh start. The couple moved to Atlanta and took traditional jobs, but it wasn’t long before baking called him back to the kitchen.
That led to the creation of Scrumpt, a bakery centered on quality over quantity and Southern nostalgia.
The business began as a ghost kitchen inside Oak Street Eats before growing a devoted following through social media.
The bakery’s popularity quickly expanded beyond Atlanta. Scrumpt collaborated with local creators and businesses, attracted celebrity customers and even baked a cake for rapper GloRilla during her Atlanta tour stop.
“We’ve worked with a few celebrities, which of course would have never happened back home,” Blake said.
In 2025, the pair celebrated another milestone when Scrumpt opened its first storefront in Decatur, transforming a side venture into a permanent home for their growing brand.
For Blake, visibility is just as important as the desserts. As a Black gay entrepreneur from a small town in North Carolina, he said he rarely saw people like himself owning businesses when he was growing up. Through Scrumpt, he hopes to show others that success is possible.
“I think anyone with a platform could change anybody’s life,” Blake said. “I think it’s super important for a little J. to see somebody like me.”
By prioritizing representation, accessibility and authenticity, they’re not only satisfying hungry Atlantans but also creating spaces where everyone feels seen, welcomed, and celebrated. Supporting these LGBTQ+ owned businesses means investing in a more diverse, dynamic, and delicious food culture, one plate at a time.