Top Chefs 2025

Chef Cory Giaquinta came to Bella after a year at the Dancing Bear Lodge. He comes from a big Italian family in Massachusetts. His father’s side is from Sicily. “I use a lot of my grandma’s recipes,” he says. “I add more basil, garlic, and…
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Born in Athens, Tennessee, Chef Jared Martin set foot in his first commercial kitchen when he was 16, serving in an ice cream shop. Six months later he shifted to cooking food, and it seems he never stopped. Martin spent time perfecting…
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Chef John Bryant was born in Johnson City and trained at Johnson and Wales University in Charleston, South Carolina. He ran a catering business in Johnson City for eight years then joined Bistro by the Tracks two years ago. He is committed…
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“He’s artistic and cooking is his art form,” said Chef Ian Carson’s mother, Rabbi Shoshana Carson of Heska Amuna Synagogue. “At P.F. Chang’s, the head chef took him under his wing.” Chef Spence Bender graduated from Bearden High and is an…
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Born in Fountain City, Chef Robert McDonald III began cooking on his family’s outdoor grill anytime guests would come over. An actor at Central High, he had stints acting in New York and LA, then returned to Knoxville and his love of…
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Chef Alex Gass started cooking with his mom, aunt, and grandmother for church. His first job was at Big Ed’s Pizza in Oak Ridge. He opened a couple of Aubrey’s for Randy Burleson, went on the road with rock bands, returned to Burleson’s…
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Chef Darin Hoagland’s grandparents and mother ran a hunting restaurant in California. “The kitchen, with them, was my comfort zone,” he recalls. He went to culinary school at the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale in Florida, and cooked in…
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Named this year’s Grand Champion, Chef Jeff Carter is a long-time culinary talent in East Tennessee. “I cut my teeth here (at Dancing Bear), for seven years,” he says. “This was my first job after Blackberry Farm.” He was executive chef at…
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