Scott Peacock

Pastry was the first discipline in Scott Peacock’s career, and it set the terms for much of what followed: precision, patience, and control. He worked as pastry chef at The Golden Pheasant in Tallahassee, Florida, before moving into the chef role at Georgia governor’s mansion in Georgia, where hospitality, tradition, and ceremony carried equal weight. He then founded and chefed at Horseradish Grill in Atlanta, Georgia, before continuing at Watershed restaurant in Atlanta, Georgia, where he served until 2010.

In 2010, his work shifted again at Reverie in Marion, Alabama, where he hosted Biscuit Experience / biscuit-making workshops, bringing one of the South’s most familiar foods into a live, communal setting. Since 2009, Peacock has also served as contributing editor and columnist of Better Homes and Gardens magazine, extending his Southern food writing beyond the kitchen and into print.

Peacock is associated with American Southern cuisine, a connection grounded in practice rather than branding. He has said, “It influenced me tremendously, though it took a long time for me to realize that it had.” The remark fits a body of work that reads less like a fixed statement than an accumulation of understanding: place, memory, and repetition working over time to shape a cook’s vocabulary.

Peacock’s signature dishes and works map the range of his Southern Cooking: buttermilk biscuits, The Gift of Southern Cooking, Buttermilk Ice Cream, Cornmeal Cake with Buttermilk Ice Cream and Rhubarb Compote, and Old-Fashioned Ham with Brown Sugar and Mustard Glaze. The through line is contrast handled with restraint: tender against crisp, sweet against tangy, plain ingredients given disciplined treatment. Buttermilk biscuits sit at the center of that approach.

They look simple, but they demand judgment, timing, and a close read on texture. The same holds across the rest of the list, where pantry logic stays intact even as the work makes room for finish.

Best Chef in the Southeast is among Peacock’s honors, a recognition that reflects years of restaurant leadership, editorial work, and continued focus on American Southern cuisine.