Top Chefs

It's About Thyme It was a magical evening. Seven great chefs, eight wonderful wines, a delightful three-piece jazz ensemble, and close to 300 happy guests sampling it all. Representatives of The Chairman’s Club, in their brightly colored…
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Anthony Ploof – The Drawing Room at The Tennessean With 15 years of culinary excellence, Anthony Ploof is already setting the bar high in Knoxville.  His former position as chef de cuisine at a luxury resort and spa in Vermont prepared him…
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Warren Weiss – Knox Mason Warren Weiss, chef de cuisine for Knox Mason, grew up in Indiana. He’s been in the Southeast for about 14 years now and says he’s loved every minute of it. He made a stop for several years in Alabama learning…
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Jason Hayes – Kitchen 919 Chef Hayes’ formal education came from Sullivan University Culinary School.  Cooking, he says, has some commonalities to his favorite pastime of skateboarding. They’re both abstract art forms without a lot of…
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Andrew Milne – Seasons Innovative Bar & Grille Andrew Milne, Executive Chef at Seasons Innovative Bar & Grille in Turkey Creek, says there are two things he tells people about his cooking. First, his heart and soul go onto every…
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Danny Wilhoit – Bistro by the Tracks Danny Wilhoit grew up with his hands in the dirt. A native of Campbell County, the family’s 47-acre farm had multiple gardens. They grew everything imaginable and canned and preserved what couldn’t be…
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Mark Davis – Connor's Steak & Seafood Davis started working in the restaurant business when he was in college. He enjoyed his experience in the front of the house and says that enjoyment took him to the back of the house where the…
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Jeff Carter – Sunspot “I got my inspiration from my dad,” says Jeff Carter. “He loved to cook and thankfully took time to teach me. . He got off work earlier than my mom and we spent the afternoons cooking together. We lived in Mobile…
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Nearly 300 guests braved a chilly, rainy evening in late March to arrive for the 11th annual Top Chefs event. The wine was flowing, the food was prepared to perfection, and silky jazz from the Larry Vincent Trio filled the venue. For the…
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Entrée: Pork Two Ways, with gumbo and traditional potato salad. Dessert: Guava Turnover, with cream cheese ice cream and guava sorbet. Danny Wilhoit grew up on a farm in Campbell County, where at an early age family members were…
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