Hi everybody thanks for tuning in today to another one of our cooking with class segments
and today we have somebody very special with us.
Kevin Rathbun is visiting today and Kevin is one of our famed JCCC alumni, he is a graduate
of our culinary program and he is currently an executive chef he owns three restaurants
of his own.
Welcome, we are so glad to have you here.
I am so glad to be here, glad to be back in my home town, my Alma Mater.
See what is going on, the place is huge now.
It is allot larger than when you were here I think we have got seventeen buildings now
and gosh it's so exciting but so you were here when you were just a young pup.
You grew up in Liberty Missouri is that right?
That's right Liberty Missouri, born and raised uh I worked all over Kansas City for some
time and came here to college, I uh started cooking at SamBo's at the early age of fourteen,
yeah right here in Liberty.
My mother was in the business, my brother was a chef or he has been a chef and uh I
just kind of grew up in it.
So your mom being a chef kind of led you into the file do you think?
She was more, she was actually more in front of the house but she was a matredee for restaurants
for places like Labona Bayer, Jaspers, Puchas Tutan and places like that around Kansas City
for years.
She did that for about forty five fifty years before she passed.
Well that is great so you went to work at a famous Kansas City restaurant.
Well yeah before the american restaurant I actually worked at the Kansas City Harra's
club, the house on the plaza or in west port actually and uh just a couple other places
around town but I got the call from Bradley Ogden to go to the American restaurant . I
went to the American restaurant at the early age of seventeen years old.
I was a sautee cook for those guys for a little while there and about six months after I was
there I was promoted to sous chef and at the same time I was still in high-school and they
told me that if I you know.
I don't know what I had, I had three years of experience and I was only seventeen years
old.
They said well why don't you uh you know why don't you go to school out at Johnson County
Community College I said great are you paying for it and they aid yeah with Hallmark cards,
why not.
So Hallmark cards payed for my schooling to come out here to Johnson County Community
College and work at the American restaurant at the same time uh directly uh actually a
semester during high-school I started so uh I went to distribute of education course before
I was in high-school and was in college before I was even out of High-school.
' incredible.
And uh yeah I got my associates degree here, graduated in 85 um as soon as I was done I
moved to Houston Texas u for the Brennan family, was offered a job there as a sous chef under
Rex Hale who has been in Kansas City for a while as well.
Uh I stayed there for about two and half years almost three years in an emeral, emeral agasse
and a corporate chef company asked me to come be an executive sous chef at commanders palace.
So in New Orleans, that's in New Orleans, that's before he really made it big.
Did he say Bam Bam back then> No he didn't say Bam Bam back them.
Uh yeah he said some other things but I wont repeat them now.
I'm sure he appreciates that . No he is a great guy, great chef, I learned a ton from
him.
I only stayed at Commanders Palace for about a year um I liked the group.
It was a big facility, I did a thousand covers a night and then I actually got an offer from
Steven Piles who ran a restaurant called Roustry Cafe in Dallas Texas and was very on the forefront
of southwestern style foods.
I said you know I think this is a place to go so I went from New Orleans to Dallas uh
ran a restaurant of his called Baby Ruth for seven years, after three months, ws promoted
to Chef at the early age of twenty two and ran his restaurant for about seven years and
uh you know I just learned a ton.
About southwestern food and about Asian inspirations and Dallas was kind of a melting pot for allot
of different cuisines.
So I really just kind of sunk my teeth into that and was offered a job and was offered
a partnership in Atlanta with Penton Cara Tossus who had a restaurant group called the
Buck Head Life restaurant group who right now has twelve restaurants uh.
One of his most famous is the buck head diner which uh you might know of.
So we opened Nava when i was thirty one which is a south western restaurant, stayed with
him for nine years as a corporate chef and came up with five different concepts with
him and finally I said at the age of forty that you know I really just need to you know
go do this myself.
Let me have the opportunity to try it so.
It sounds like you learned from allot of really good people.
I did I learned from, you know I had a great, I had great mentors, I had great chef's I
had celebrity Chef's I had uh great business people, great business minds and uh you know
just uh, you know it took me a little while, thirty one years of experience and you know
it took me a little while to kind of jump out of the nest, take the risk um at forty
one I said you know I am going to try this.
So in 2004, you opened Rathbuns restaurant in Atlanta Georgia right?
In Atlanta Georgia, downtone on the east side which was an area that was kind of a garden
district area that was kind of the first suburb of Atlanta.
It went really really bad for a long time, but now it is kind of this rebirth kind of
happening, like you will see in New York in the meat packing district kind of thing with
kind of commercial buildings and kind of old hundred year old things that weren't burnt
down and uh opened up a restaurant off of the beaten path and to ritical acclaim it
just started going well.
About two years after that I opened up a bar uh which is a spanish top.
It was an Italian empty pasta bar that is uh wine driven.
All, no domestic wines, all Spanish and Italian.
That is the one tht sounds so great to me.
If I come to Atlanta will you - oh absolutely.
You know know me now so not a problem, it's easy.
I can work that our for you.
And then seven months ago we opened up Kevin Rathbun's steak which uh is about two blocks
from Rathbun's and uh its a prime steak house uh with everything that most prime steak houses
that we all know and love have with a little bit of an edge.
A little bit more eclectic on the sides and salad's and in a setting that is very women
friendly as well.
It is not that old you know.
The old good ol' boys club.
It you know candle lit and warm wood feel.
Great now is that kind of hark back to you Kansas City roots a little bit maybe?
Absolutely, growing up in Kansas City was like Steal every day you know I mean I grew
up and my mother was in the restaurant business, my father was a Jazz musician for some time,
uh I l've to Barbecue out back and I mean we ate meat six nights a week and on Sunday's
I can't remember what we ate but it wasn't fish.
Not much of it so I knew I always wanted to have a steak house.
I think steak houses are here to stay and there is some great meat out there and uh
you know cooking great steaks at that place.
So now tell us why you have come back.
You are doing some really special things for our culinary program to benefit the students
at the college.
Well I, you know after graduating from JCCC I you know I just uh kind of fell out of touch
with Kansas City for a while.
My mother was here, she lived in north town Kansas City, she passed about three years
ago so I didn't get back too often uh even before, a couple times a year maybe and now
it has been a little while since I got that back so I was really honored to be called
by the school to come back and be a part of the master Chef program uh it's just like
giving back.
You know it has been an evolution for me and when I was at an early age you know I really
believe in um you know people having allot more experience in a restaurant filled as
opposed as coming to school.
Um I thought the school was great but I always thought that the exposure before school was
a real,l you really had to have a little bit of that.
Uh you know when I was telling somebody earlier today that I think that now with the food
network these days and the networks there are, there are so many people that are interested
young and old and trying to be Chef's and run their own restaurants and you know we
are just getting really good people and talented people out of schools and uh you know around
here to help whenever I can.
Do whatever I can so people can go out and see, some of the students can go out and see
new and exciting things.
Mhm, well for those of you out there watching, Kevin is here right now as the very first
master Chef in our master Chef series and these series of events are going to happen
throughout 2008.
We will be bringing in chef's from all over the county and what they do are special events
that raise money for the students in the culinary program here in the college.
So thanks for being here to do that again and then so that's happening tonight.
You mentioned the food network now if you are going to be on Iron Chef in February of
08.
Yeah I have done a bunch of stuff with the network, I have tried to do some pilots, my
brother and I and I don't know why they didn't take.
They took Emeral's whats up with that.
Yeah they took Emeral's I have been on a few of the shows, Sarah Multon had us on a coupe
of times.
We did ready set cook when it was happening.
So you know we are kind of friends and family with the food network and uh after a certain
period of time we got invited to be on the Iron Chef which we are happy to be there.
It has been one of those where it's just really kind of knocked the charts off.
Oh yeah, everybody watches that stuff.
And you kn ow it's a stress test for sure.
Uh those sixty minutes are probably the most stressful time of my life but uh its TV you
know and it's uh it's action packed.
It's competition, it's competition and it's all of that stuff we know and love.
I can't really tell you, I would have to kill you but.
Yeah it's a bit secret while we are taping this.
Nobody knows who you competed against but yeah I am going to be watching that night,
February 24th I think it is.
February 24th eight o' clock your time and uh look for us.
My brother and I are actually competing on one of the iron Chef's.
And uh their chef's as well.
Now your brother also is a Chef and he owns four restaurants in Texas.
One is Austin, two in Dallas and one outside of Houston in the woodlands.
Okay.
Now is he a graduate of our program.
Nope he didn't really go to school.
Oh boy.
Yeah he didn't go to school, I don't know why.
I guess Hallmark cards didn't work for him.
You had an advantage there, I didn't have an advantage.
But thank you very much Hallmark cards for you know believing in me and the American
Restaurant and every other restaurant in the city that really helped me get to where I
am today.
And uh the school was uh, you know some of the instructions is going to be nice to see
some of the faculty tonight and see some of the guys I went to class with and see them
and talk about old times and new times.
Yeah kind of a reunion for everybody, yeah it's a good feel.
That's wonderful, well thank you so much for being with us today we really appreciate everything
you are doing for us.
And for those of you out there watching, this has been Kevin Rathbun and if you are ever
in Atlanta you have got to go Rathbun's restaurant, the Crog Bar, or Kevin Rathbun's steak.
Sounds like a wonderful place to hang out.
Thank you very much it has been a pleasure to be here.
You bet and if you want to tune in again for cooking with class any time on the JCCC channel
we will see you again next time.