Chef Of Month September: Hugh Acheson
This month the chef of the month is one of my favorite chef’s Hugh Acheson. Hugh is a true character. I had a blast working with him on the YP #makeeverydaylocal brunch at Empire State South. His sarcasm and no BS attitude was beyond humorous and truly authentic. His passion for his craft is contagious.
Hugh Acheson is the chef/owner of 5 & 10 and The National located in Athens, GA, Empire State South in Atlanta, GA, and The Florence in Savannah, GA. Born and raised in Ottawa, Canada he started cooking at a young age and decided to make it his career after taking a very long time to realize that academics weren’t his thing. At age 15, he began working in restaurants after school and learning as much as possible. 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 Ottawa, and in San Francisco as the chef de cuisine with Chef Mike Fennelly at Mecca, and later as opening sous chef with famed Chef Gary Danko at his namesake restaurant, where he found a love of the simple, pure and disciplined.
Taking these experiences, Hugh developed a style of his own forging together the beauty of the South with the flavors of Europe and opening the critically acclaimed Athens, GA restaurant Five & Ten in March of 2000.
In 2007, Acheson opened The National with fellow chef Peter Dale. Adding to his list of dining establishments, Hugh opened Atlanta based restaurant, Empire State South in the summer of 2010. Hugh’s most recent endeavor is The Florence, which opened in June of 2014.
Hugh’s cookbook titled A New Turn in the South: Southern Flavors Reinvented for Your Kitchen published by Clarkson Potter, hit the bookshelves in October 2011 and won the award for Best Cookbook in the field of “American Cooking” by the James Beard Foundation in 2012. In A New Turn in the South, you’ll find libations, seasonal vegetables that take a prominent role, salads and soups, Hugh’s prized sides, and fish and meats, turning Southern food on its head every step of the way. Hugh’s pickling swatch book Pick a Pickle also by Clarkson Potter was published in the spring of 2014 and is a handy kitchen go-to for canning and preserving. In May of 2015, Hugh’s newest cookbook, The Broad Fork: Recipes for the Wide World of Vegetables and Fruit, was released. The book brings fresh produce to the center of the plate and offers knowledge and the inspiration to consider new directions for how we eat and support our communities through the wonderful world of agriculture.
All three of Hugh’s books offer inviting and surprising photography are full of Hugh’s personality, and the pages are layered with his own quirky writing and sometimes sketches. In each, he invites you into his community and his very creative world of food— to add new favorites to your repertoire.
Acheson’s fresh approach to Southern food has earned him a great deal of recognition including Food & Wine’s Best New Chef (2002), the Atlanta Journal Constitution Restaurant of the Year (2007), a five time (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011) James Beard nominee and 2012 winner for Best Chef Southeast. In 2007, Hugh was named a Rising Star from StarChefs.com and in 2012 he won the StarChefs Mentor Award. Chef Mario Batali chose Hugh as one of the 100 contemporary chefs in Phaidon Press’ Coco: 10 World Leading Masters Choose 100 Contemporary Chefs. Hugh has also been in Bon Appetit, the New York Times, Garden & Gun, Fine Living, Food & Wine, Gourmet, Southern Living, Better Homes & Gardens, Maclean’s, Art Culinare and SAVEUR.
In 2010 Hugh competed on Bravo’s Top Chef Masters: Season 3. He returned to the hit show as a judge on Top Chef: Seasons 9, 10, 11, and 12 as well as Top Chef: Duels. He also
hosted Bravo’s online complement to Top Chef Masters Season 5, called Battle of the Sous Chefs.
But all of that is to everyone outside of Athens. To Athens, he is the guy who owns those restaurants, has one eyebrow, a wife far better looking than he is and two daughters who are the apple of his eye.