Chris Hastings

The Climb

Technique at scale starts with repetition, and that is what Johnson & Wales University set in place for Chris Hastings before hotel and restaurant kitchens tested it. At the Ritz Carlton in Atlanta in 1984, the sous chef role demanded timing, polish, and consistency as routine work, not style points. That kind of kitchen does not reward loose ends; it rewards control. Movement between markets can sharpen a cook’s range, and the 1989 shift to Lark Creek Inn in San Francisco did just that for Hastings. The sous chef post extended a career already built on accumulation rather than leaps, with each kitchen adding another layer of discipline. The throughline is clear: classic ideas handled with a lighter, more contemporary touch, without losing their structure. The range of roles shows a working profile that moves between day-to-day kitchen leadership, advisory work, openings, and a separate line of personal production.

Today

At Hot & Hot Fish Club in Birmingham, Alabama, the work is organized around clarity. Hastings’ own shorthand for the kitchen — “We take dishes from the past and make them more modern and healthier” — points to a method of revision rather than reinvention. The past remains legible; the adjustment is in how the dish is handled for the present. Composition matters as much as flavor balance in that approach. His description, “We cook the ingredients separately to make a composed salad,” lays out a plate built component by component, with each ingredient kept distinct before it is assembled into the final dish. It is a restrained way to cook, one that values order, proportion, and the individual character of each element.

Signature

Hot and Hot tomato salad sits squarely in the register Hastings works in: ingredient-led, composed, and built to read cleanly on the plate. The dish reflects the same preference for precision that runs through the rest of the kitchen, where freshness and structure carry the weight rather than ornament.

In Their Words “We take dishes from the past and make them more modern and healthier.” “We cook the ingredients separately to make a composed salad.”