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Chef Linton Hopkins
Iron Chef With a Heart Of Gold
By Amy Meadows
Last October, Linton Hopkins, native Atlantan, renowned chef and owner of the acclaimed Restaurant Eugene, entered Kitchen Stadium in New York City ready for battle. A gaggle of gleaming appliances beckoned him as he prepared to spend 60 intense minutes cooking fast and furiously, concocting five delicious dishes that shared a secret ingredient specially selected for his “Iron Chef America” showdown with one of the culinary world’s biggest names. Did he face off against Bobby Flay, Mario Batali, Masaharu Morimoto or Cat Cora? What did he cook for the panel of persnickety judges? Did he walk away triumphant?
We all have to wait until the episode airs on Food Network in April to learn the outcome. But in the meantime, what we can do is get to know the man behind the food, a man who never thought of pursuing a career in the culinary arts but ended up being named one of “5 Chefs to Watch” by Bon Appétit Magazine in 2005. A man who dedicates as much time to his community as he does to creating spectacular Southern dishes at Restaurant Eugene. A man who is as inspired by the local farmers who provide him with the ingredients he uses daily as the culinary giants who have influenced him over the years.
Take, for instance, his trip to Benton’s Smoky Mountain Country Hams, where he met famed smokehouse guru Allan Benton. “I got to stand in his smokehouse and see the pan where he actually salt rubs bacon; it just gave me goose bumps,” Hopkins recalled. “Here’s a man who’s devoted his entire adult life to salting and curing bacon and hams, and I have the opportunity to cook with these items. What he does makes what I do more authentic and better. That’s really what gets me fired up.”
And that admiration extends to everyone who plays a role in the menu Hopkins is able to create for the patrons at his restaurant. “Sitting down with the farmers and going over catalogs, I just can’t believe my good fortune that these farmers want to sit down and talk with me,” he continued. “These people work one of the hardest jobs out there, an almost thankless job. And they grow these vegetables that I get to use. That continually blows me away.”
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A Eureka Moment
Whether it’s testing his skills against an Iron Chef or poring over seed catalogs with local suppliers, Hopkins never expected to have the chance to do what he does today. Food was always a major part of his life, but he didn’t think about being a professional chef. For him, it was simply a part of his culture.
“I come from a family where we had home-cooked meals most of the time. Sunday was a day that we all sat together at the table and ate,” he explained. As a boy, he was drawn to cooking shows and cookbooks, including his mother’s copy of Julia Child’s “Mastering the Art of French Cooking.” By the time he was in high school, he was experimenting in the kitchen, coming home from wrestling practice at Westminster to cook up chicken Kiev or scallops Marsalis. And for two weeks each summer, he spent time with his grandparents in Nashville, watching them cook Southern-inspired food and listening to his grandfather Eugene Holeman, a chemist who also happened to be president of the Tennessee Food and Drug Administration, tell stories about his dealings with the food service industry.
“He inspected restaurants, and I remember he would talk about cleanliness in the kitchen,” Hopkins said. “He would talk about the quality of food.” And he was an avid gardener and fantastic cook at home, to boot. These attributes had a great impact on young Hopkins, who listened intently to his grandfather and tucked away everything he said in the back of his mind.
Clearly, Hopkins’ childhood experiences laid the foundation for his foray into the culinary arts. He never regarded them that way as a young adult, however, and instead, decided to follow in his physician father’s footsteps as a pre-med student at Emory. While studying anthropology and preparing for medical school, Hopkins realized one day that he just didn’t have the passion for a life in the medical field. So, after receiving his undergraduate degree, he changed course and entered the Culinary Institute of America, graduating in 1993.
“I felt like I got knocked on the head when you have one of those eureka moments,” he asserted. “I thought, ‘Wow! You can do this for the rest of your life as a career.’ But since then, I’ve felt so behind in my professional career. I feel like I’m in a hurry-up kind of [state] because you’ve got these European chefs who started at 14. I could have opened my first restaurant by the time I was 30, but I guess it’s good when you find your way at your own pace.”
Hopkins certainly made up for lost time. He started with an externship at Mr. B’s Bistro in the culinary mecca of New Orleans. From there, he moved on to The Grill Room of New Orleans’ Windsor Court Hotel, where he worked as a banquet cook and eventually a saucier. “The restaurant community there is unique. There’s the whole idea of independently owned restaurants, owned by people that live in your town and that are part of the city. And the influence of hospitality was so critical. You learned that it’s not about the chef at the restaurant, it’s about the way you take care of your guests,” Hopkins said about the wisdom he ultimately would use in the future.
When he moved to Washington, D.C. in the late 1990s to help open DC Coast Restaurant, he not only got to experience a restaurant community that was distinctly different from New Orleans, but he also met Gina, the woman he would marry. While he worked his way up to Chef de Cuisine over a four-year period, Gina, a sommelier, made her own name in the industry. “She knew everything about the front of the house; she worked in every position there,” Hopkins said. So, when the couple decided to move back to Atlanta in 2002 to open their own restaurant, they found themselves to be a perfect match in a professional sense as well.
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A New Spin On Southern Comfort
Linton and Gina Hopkins opened the doors to Restaurant Eugene, named for Hopkins’ beloved grandfather, on April 2, 2004. With their establishment’s entrance into the local restaurant scene, the team brought a unique concept to Atlanta’s fine dining community — reinterpreted “Georgian” cuisine that is as innovative as it is comforting. “I believe that Southern cooking belongs in white-tablecloth restaurants,” Hopkins contended. “Having a great grilled cheese sandwich is just as good as having the best filet of sole in Paris.”
“What I love about Southern cuisine is that it is a true fusion cuisine,” he added. “It is a cuisine based on this great melting pot of cultures. And with food, you always want to strive for something different, something better. It’s that journey that makes it so pleasurable.” At Restaurant Eugene, this means that one patron might be feasting upon delectable fried chicken, while the person at the next table could be eating bay scallops in caviar sauce.
Of course, the makeup of Restaurant Eugene’s menu depends greatly on what the local suppliers provide daily, putting it in a constant state of change. But that freshness of seasonal foods is key to Hopkins, who also flies in fresh seafood from as far away as Hawaii to ensure that he is using the finest ingredients possible. Yet, while the food is paramount, he acknowledges that he and Gina, who serves as director of operations, place great emphasis on other aspects of the restaurant as well, from the warm and inviting interior design (which Hopkins refers to as Casablanca sensual that’s contemporary without being trendy) to the full bar complete with an outstanding selection of wines handpicked by Gina from small artisanal winemakers that pay strict attention to detail. They also have incorporated a number of special touches, like starting the Cheese Eugene club and instituting Sunday Supper, which offers customers Southern staples like fried green tomatoes, country fried steak and red velvet cake with Hopkins’ distinctive twist on the classics. The culmination of these efforts has earned the restaurant rave reviews, including being recognized as “A Place to Eat Now” in October 2005 by Gourmet magazine, one of the “Best Restaurants 2004” by Esquire and one of the city’s “Top Ten Restaurants 2004” by Atlanta Magazine. It also has helped build a loyal following of diners from around Atlanta.
“We’re here to please and take care of our patrons,” Hopkins stated. “If you have excellence in your product and kindness in your hospitality, people will continue to come back. That’s what’s so fun about it.” But Hopkins also gives a lot of credit to his staff members, many of whom are locals, for making Restaurant Eugene what it is today. “These young Atlantans come through my kitchen and make it a better place,” he said. “The team we have is the best team I’ve ever worked with, and that goes from the utility workers all the way to the general manager. They are passionate, inspiring people, and they raise me up and make me better. Gina and I founded the restaurant, but these other people are carrying the torch.”
“I believe that Southern cooking belongs in white-tablecloth restaurants. Having a great grilled cheese sandwich is just as good as having the best filet of sole in Paris.”
Chef Linton Hopkins
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A Commitment To The Community
According to Gina, she and her husband picked Atlanta for their restaurant not only because five generations of Hopkins have called it home, but also because they wanted to live in a community in which they could become involved on many levels. “We wanted a greater connection with our community,” she revealed. “And we wanted to play a role in the healthfulness and wellness of young people.”
Fortunately, both of them have found outlets to achieve their common goal. After having lunch with his son at E. Rivers Elementary School, which his daughter also attends, Hopkins saw a need for an improvement in the cafeteria food that young students are being served. So he joined forces with 11 other parents to participate on the Atlanta Public Schools (APS) Local School Wellness Council, which allows him to work with APS chief nutritionist Dr. Marilyn Hughes to implement wellness plans in schools throughout the area. Through his involvement, he has done everything from attending meetings and workshops to bringing locally contributed produce to schools to educate children about different types of fresh fruits and vegetables. Gina complements this work as a member of the Atlanta Chapter of Les Dames d’Escoffier. The organization’s Green Table Initiative is designed to inform children about how food gets from the farm to their table, a concept close to her and Hopkins’ heart, especially considering the relationships they have with local growers. “That food comes from somewhere; it comes from someone in a sustainable way, and we need to teach that to our children. That’s a big part of what we’re trying to do,” Hopkins noted.
In addition to other food-centric associations, such as the Slow Food Movement and the Southern Foodways Alliance, Hopkins devotes time to working with the March of Dimes and cancer research organizations. After surviving Hodgkin’s disease at the age of 29, Hopkins is grateful to be able to use his notoriety in the food industry to bring awareness to such a wide array of important causes. “We believe in charitable works, and as a business, you’re really able to be much more of a champion for these causes, more so than as a private citizen,” he commented. “It makes you much more effective because people will listen to you. It’s been one of those great added benefits.”
The Journey Continues
There are other bonuses too, like having the chance to represent Atlanta as an Iron Chef challenger. Hopkins earned the opportunity after local restaurant critics were asked to nominate the city’s top four chefs to compete in the contest. Hopkins, along with Aria’s Gerry Klaskala, Bacchanalia’s Anne Quatrano and Rathbun’s Kevin Rathbun, received a case of corn in late August and was told to prepare eight to 10 dishes using the ingredient. Then six judges descended upon Restaurant Eugene to taste his culinary creations, which included a poached lobster with corn and corn ice cream. On Aug. 28, at a Taste of Atlanta media event, “Iron Chef America” host Alton Brown announced Hopkins as the winner of the local competition.
“It was just as much of a surprise to me as to everyone else,” he reminisced. “And to have the opportunity to go to New York and compete — it was just really wonderful. It’s one of those icing-on-the-cake kind of experiences.”
In his mind, he said, “I’m just a cook trying to be a better cook. I’m just a restaurateur trying to be a better restaurateur. I still feel there’s so much for us to do and to learn. I guess what I love about the industry is that it’s so open-ended; you’re always learning.”
But there’s also some inherent talent and skill that has helped lead Hopkins to success. As Gina affirmed, “He’s a true chef with integrity. He’s classic in his technique, but he’s also playful.” And that combination has created fans all across Metro Atlanta, fans who look forward to seeing what he’s going to do next.
“It’s hard to think about your legacy, but for me, I’d like to be remembered as a loving husband and caring father who was there for his family. From a business aspect, I’d like to be someone who helped make the world better, not only in a culinary way but also in a charitable way,” he declared. “I know there’s always more to do, but I’m very happy with where I’ve been, what I’m doing now and what I look forward to. And that’s a fun, fascinating, humbling journey in this business.” v
For More Information
Restaurant Eugene
2277 Peachtree Road
Atlanta, GA 30309
404-355-0321
www.restauranteugene.com
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