Kevin Gillespie

Coming Up

Kevin Gillespie trained at Art Institute of Atlanta before becoming co-owner and Executive Chef at Woodfire Grill in Atlanta, a position that put his work into one of the city’s central dining rooms. The throughline in his career has been range without drift: restaurant leadership, television competition, and editorial work, each handled in the same register of public scrutiny. He appeared as a contestant, finalist, and Fan Favorite at Top Chef, then as a contestant at Top Chef Duels, and later as a contestant at Top Chef: All Stars LA (2020), where the format tested the same discipline that defines service in a live kitchen. He also served as owner and Executive Chef at Revival in Decatur, Georgia (2015–2023), carrying a consistent standard across those years and into a room that bore his name. Today, Kevin is owner and Executive Chef of Gunshow (since 2013), founder of Red Beard Restaurants, owner and Executive Chef of Gamechanger (since 2017), owner and Executive Chef of Nadair (since 2024), and culinary contributor of MeatEater (since 2021). The list shows a career built across formats: independent restaurants, a stadium project, a newer opening, and a contributor role that extends the work beyond the pass.

Where They Are Now

The kitchen remains the center of gravity in Kevin Gillespie’s work, but the dining room is where his attention broadens to the full mechanics of hospitality. “I’ve come to believe that few places offer a more intimate study of the human condition.” Read plainly, that means service is also observation: appetite, habit, hesitation, and expectation all show up at the table. In that setting, the exchange between chef and guest is not decorative; it is part of the craft.

In Their Words “I have stood in some of the most celebrated dining rooms in the country, earned awards I once thought out of reach, and seen my name carried farther than I ever imagined.” “For most of my life, the rhythm of my days has been set by the predictable beats of the kitchen.” Taken together, those lines describe a working chef’s measure of progress: time in the kitchen, recognition earned in public, and a practice shaped by repetition rather than pose. The work is presented as routine, and the routine is what gives it weight.

Honors

Kevin's honors include James Beard Award finalist, Outstanding Restaurateur, James Beard Award finalist, Best Chef: Southeast, James Beard Award semifinalist, Best Chef: Southeast, James Beard Foundation Award finalist, Cookbook: American Cooking, and GRACE Innovator Award. The awards map a career acknowledged in more than one lane: cooking, authorship, and the long work of building restaurants that hold up over time.