Nashville's Rising Stars in the Kitchen

These six sous chefs represent the rising crop of talent currently coming up in the kitchens of Music City.

September 22, 2017

5:00 AM

All too often, executive chefs get all the hype. But, while it’s usually one big name that makes it into the press, often it’s an entire team working in the kitchen, grinding it out, night after night—and they’re rarely given credit. So, the next time you swoon over a tangle of ethereal house made pasta, or Instagram that umami-laden swipe of puree on your plate, consider who might have put it there.

This town is teeming with talented sous chefs, who are, in the hierarchy of the kitchen, typically the second in command. These are the women and men putting in their time on the line in order to train and gain ground for their own exec chef post one day. Here, we pin down six of the city’s finest sous to learn more about the up-and-coming class of chefs who are currently ruling the back of the house.

Tyler Saracino — Americano

His start: Cooking was never something that had been in my view or my reach; it just kind of fell in to my lap. A chef in Fort Myers, Florida, gave me a start—I was looking for a job, and he needed someone who could do some kitchen work: chopping this, trimming that. It was very much an entry-level position.

Why Americano: We have a lot of good colors, good flavors, and we use fresh ingredients, obviously. We have the availability to order whatever we want and to try out new things and play around.

A dish of his own: There are several, but people really seem to like the mussels because it’s different—it’s done with an olive oil-based sauce, made with smoked paprika, crushed garlic, and Sherry vinegar, which is very traditionally Spanish. I was looking up Spanish sauces for seafood and came across salsa bodega but couldn’t find a single recipe in English. So, I went to YouTube and watched people making it, while speaking Spanish, to figure it out.

If he had an unlimited budget to open a restaurant: My answer is probably different than most, but I would ask where the location would be, first. You have to understand that you are not cooking for yourself; you’re cooking for others. Half the reason restaurants fail is because they are trying to force a certain type of cuisine into an area where it just doesn’t fit. But you’ve got to stay open, right?

Artists you’ll find on his prep playlist: Today, I had the Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band re-release on. And, before that, some very old Drake.

Rahaf Amer — Salt & Vine

Before her start: I really wanted to go to culinary school, but my family is from Syria, so my parents were like, ‘We want you to go to a four-year college.’ They said, ‘Go to college, and, if you still want to cook, we will put you through culinary school.’ Well, I graduated college—but no culinary school. Eventually I got a kitchen job, but, before that, I applied to go on MasterChef. I made the top 100—they flew me to L.A. I did that for a week-and-a-half. We cooked once—I learned that basically everything about it was just made for TV.

Into the fire: My first kitchen, the first week—there was me, a kitchen manager, and another girl, and that was it. It was Sunday brunch, and the other girl was trying to light the burner on the oven. The flame went up and burnt her eyebrows. So, the kitchen manager rushed her to the hospital, and there I was. I remember going, I’m not trained to do this. And they said, Just make it however you would make at home. Later, it was all positive feedback. But I realized, in this industry, you learn in those ‘oh shit’ moments. You don’t have time to think. You just figure it out.

If she had an unlimited budget to open a restaurant: I was born in California, grew up in Virginia, but my parents are 100-percent Syrian. So, I would merge Middle Eastern flavors and Southern flavors to make a fusion. The only thing is, I’d want to add pork to Middle Eastern cuisine. On one hand, that could be offensive to a lot of people. But, on the other, it could be really delicious.

Shift drink: Riesling.

Luke Williams — The 404 Kitchen

On his start: I was a barista in high school and also worked at the Melting Pot in Birmingham. It teaches you some restaurant structure, which is nice—you can read tickets, you can walk up to a table and say hello. When I needed a job after college, I ended up at a place called Amsterdam Café in Auburn. David Bancroft was the chef there and picked up my résumé. I had been a bartender, a server. He was like, ‘Are you serious about working in the kitchen?’ And I said, ‘I just need a job.’

On opening The 404: This was the first restaurant I was a part of opening. You always hear about it. It’s like a mysterious period of time, when a restaurant opens, because it’s pure chaos. No one has a job at the beginning. You have a list, and it’s just things you have to run around and get done.

A dish of his own: We did a dinner with Pat Martin two years ago, and he had these bone marrow butter beans. I took that basic idea and did something similar, but lighter, so, instead of bone marrow, I make it with shmaltz and butter beans from Louisiana—these are not lima beans but speckled butter beans that are delicious and very starchy, meaty almost. All of our breadcrumbs are mixed with nutritional yeast, so they’re really cheesy and rich. So, we cap these gorgeous butter beans with our nutritional-yeast breadcrumbs. That’s probably my favorite.

Favorite staff meal: Taco day. Our dishwasher, Yuri, will stop at Plaza Mariachi and buy fresh tortillas—it really boils down to when she shows up with those tortillas. Someone will make a filling, and, then, randomly in the middle of your shift, Yuri, who we call Mama, will make you a taco and set it on your station.

Shift drink: A Jackalope beer of any rotating variety. [Editor’s note: Williams is married to Jackalope’s head brewer Bailey Spaulding.]

Abby Crossett — Butchertown Hall

Her start: I was a server in Murfreesboro, at the Stones River Country Club. A couple of years into it, I told them I was interested in going to culinary school, and they said, ‘Just work back here; we’ll tell you the basics.’

On landing at Butchertown Hall: I’ve never really worked at a smokehouse or anything like it. It was something I didn’t know anything about. Also, they needed some help getting the kitchen in order, which was a different way of me working and a different challenge.

A dish of her own: I just came up with a salad—I wanted something cold and fresh, so I thought about how cool it would be to do a vinaigrette sorbet and went from there. It’s an arugula salad, with a watermelon-cucumber salsa, blackberry-peach compote, and a honeydew-vinaigrette sorbet, with honey-roasted sunflower seeds. It’s delicious and super cold.

Shift drink: Vodka on the rocks with lemon, every time.

Favorite tool that’s not a knife: I would say my ice cream machine. You can do so many different things with it.

Dauer Ellis — Rolf and Daughters

On his start:I grew up in Charlottesville, Virginia, and I went to school and majored in music. So, I came to Nashville for an internship. But I was super bored the whole time. I sat at a desk and I worked on MySpace stuff and drank way too much coffee. But, on my days off, I would cook food and figure out recipes because I was so bored. I think it was a Mark Twain quote that goes something like: ‘You’re supposed to do what you do when you have nothing to do.’ I kind of took that to heart. Later, I moved back to Charlottesville for my last year of school and started cooking at any kitchen that would let me in the door. For free, of course, and until they started paying me.

On Nashville: I worked for this really great chef at a bed and breakfast outside of Charlottesville, and he told me he’d heard about these guys from Alinea who were opening a place in Nashville. I said, ‘Let’s go check it out.’ So, we came down when the inn was closed for a few days. The Catbird Seat had been open maybe a few weeks, and it just blew my mind. It was the best meal I’d had—ever. I begged Josh Habiger to let me wash dishes for him, so I was the dishwasher at Catbird for a year. I learned so much doing that. x93

Why Rolf and Daughters: This was the place where I ate on all my days off. Working in a restaurant like Catbird Seat, you might overlook simple food. But, here, it was that aesthetic that drew me in. The food is presented super simply, and, yet, there is a ton of thought and a lot of work that goes into the food. I really like that way of cooking. We don’t do a lot of modern techniques. It’s really old school.

If he had an unlimited budget to open a restaurant: It would definitely involve my wife, Riley. She has a really strong background in cocktails and just opened Attaboy. We always talk about opening a bar, so it would be a bar with an emphasis on natural wines and a really small cocktail list. For the food, I like to eat with my hands; I like interactive things. I also like things you can dip into other things, so there would probably be a lot of that.

Favorite tool that’s not a knife: Hands. It’s cool when you can feel something, and you know you just nailed it, and all you did was use your hands. It feels good.

Sean Sears — Rolf and Daughters

On his start: Food was always so important. We always ate together as a family, and, later, I started cooking dinner for my dad. And, by cooking, I mean dry spaghetti and opening a jar of sauce. But one thing led to another, and it was like, I could buy this jar of sauce, or I could try and make my own. It just kind of progressed like that, with me cooking every week, more and more. My dad brought home pamphlets from the local community college listing a culinary program, and he’s like, ‘I’ll pay for your intro course. I think you should check it out.’ I did, and I loved it.

On the road: I wanted to go to Italy. I searched out all of these avenues on how to get there and sent 200 emails to people asking if I could just hang out for a day or whatever—[they] don’t even have to pay or feed me. I didn’t hear back but decided to just go. Then, as soon as I booked my flight, this woman emailed me back. I ended up spending a year-and-a-half in this tiny town in Italy, cooking with this woman in a very rustic setting. There were no chefs—it was just locals who knew how to cook from their mom.

Finding his place: I wanted to learn more about Southern food. I had traveled here and there and thought, That’s the food I really want to do. I knew about Rolf and Daughters and wanted to get in here, so I came to town from Charleston and slept on my friend’s couch. Within 30 minutes of my stage, I fell in love. I hadn’t even seen the plates of food come out. But my knives were sharp, and I knew everything was in place and that they cared about what they were doing. I said, ‘Yes. This is for me.’ I flew back to Charleston, packed, and here I am.

Shift drink: Usually, Mexican beer and a fresh lime squeeze. During a shift, you look over at the cooler, and all you can think is, Man, I can’t wait until that cold beer tonight.