Chef and Co-Owner

Carlo Gan

Chef and Co-Owner, Kamayan ATL

Discipline: Chef and Co-Owner
Venue: Kamayan ATL · Restaurant

Portrait of Carlo Gan

i. Biography

Carlo Gan is chef and co-owner of Kamayan ATL in Doraville, Georgia, and the work there is defined by a disciplined focus on traditional Filipino dishes. The point is not nostalgia for its own sake, but upkeep: a kitchen that treats familiar food as something to be held in circulation, not diluted into a trend. Gan has said, "there are no Filipino restaurants. People have tried to open them, but they never last." Taken plainly, that reads as a market observation and a working premise. The restaurant’s identity depends on memory, repetition, and the decision to keep those dishes visible.

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Coming Up

Carlo Gan is chef and co-owner of Kamayan ATL, a role he has held since 2022. In practice, that means the cooking and the business are tied together; the kitchen is part of how the restaurant defines itself. Since 2022, he has been helping steer the place with a focus on continuity, keeping the project anchored in Filipino food rather than letting it drift toward whatever is currently easier to sell. It is a slower kind of restaurant-building, one that privileges heritage and consistency over churn.

Where They Are Now

At Kamayan ATL in Doraville, Gan works from a menu centered on traditional Filipino dishes, and that focus gives the restaurant its shape. The name, the role, and the cooking all point in the same direction: a place built to serve food with cultural weight and everyday use, not as an abstract concept. Under Gan’s direction, the emphasis stays on dishes that read as recognizably Filipino, with the kind of steadiness that comes from cooking something meant to endure.

Career - Chef and co-owner — Kamayan ATL, Doraville, GA (2022–present)

Signature

Carlo's signature dishes include Lugaw, Squash-Coconut Curry, Kare Kare, and Ginataang Bilo Bilo. Each one marks a different point in the same range. Lugaw sits at the restrained, comforting end of the spectrum; Squash-Coconut Curry brings body and softness; Kare Kare carries depth and weight; and Ginataang Bilo Bilo finishes with a sweet profile that still reads as rooted in the same tradition. Together, they show a kitchen working in clear Filipino terms, with enough variety to move across savory and sweet without losing its line. Carlo Gan is a chef and co-owner of Kamayan ATL in Doraville, Georgia, where he and Mia Orino launched Filipino pop-up dinners in 2018 before opening a brick-and-mortar restaurant in Asian Square on Buford Highway. Where he and Mia Orino launched Filipino pop-up dinners in 2018 before opening a brick-and-mortar restaurant in Asian Square on Buford Highway. he and Mia Orino launched Filipino pop-up dinners in 2018 before opening a brick-and-mortar restaurant in Asian Square on Buford Highway.

FAQ What is Carlo Gan's current role? Carlo Gan is Chef and Co-owner. What is Carlo Gan known for? Traditional Filipino dishes. What recognition has Carlo Gan received? James Beard Award semifinalist, Best Chef: Southeast.