Winner – Innovator of the Year
Chef Matt Cohen, Chef / President, The New South Café & Catering
As a fifth generation Savannah native, Chef Matt Cohen, owner of The New South Café & Catering, is a culinary expert who has worked in big name restaurants throughout New York and Atlanta. A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, Cohen trained at one of the top rated culinary schools in the world. He earned a degree in Hospitality Management at Florida International University, one of the top three hospitality universities in the country.
Chef Cohen has been honored with numerous awards throughout his career. Earlier in 2008 Cohen was voted the 2008 Best Chef of the Year by Connect Savannah magazine in their annual Best of Savannah Readers’ Poll. The New South Café was also awarded the Small Business Chamber’s New & Emerging Small Business Award. In 2006, Cohen made the prestigious Savannah Business Report & Journal’s “40 Under 40” list.
Chef Cohen’s advice to someone just starting in this industry is if you don’t love what you are doing and you don’t love the people you are doing it with, then you should stop. He says his greatest personal accomplishment is “becoming happy with myself and becoming the person I always wanted to be by simply acting correctly and treating people well.” He recalls his best job was as the Food & Beverage Director of the Jockey Club in Miami Beach, Florida. He was just 28-years-old, had been in management a few years and had the “dream job of a lifetime”.
Chef Cohen feels that as a southern state, Georgia has strong roots connected to food. “Food has always offered a reason to gather and been a catalyst for great conversation. I love that the south is all about hospitality.” Chef Cohen thinks the Georgia restaurant industry represents a gathering place where people can celebrate friends, family, spirituality and food. From a business perspective the Georgia restaurant industry “creates revenue for the state, jobs for the people and a destination for tourists.”
Chef Cohen is passionate about the GRA and feels the organization must be a united voice for the many small business owners – independent restaurants and caterers – who have little say in the Georgia legislature. Chef Cohen thinks the future of the restaurant industry will lend itself to less competition and more camaraderie and cooperation among independent small businesses. He feels by uniting as fellow restaurateurs and chefs they become a greater force, elevating everyone in the process. Chef Cohen attributes his success to the performance of the team surrounding him and relies on his strong religious faith. Chef Cohen without a doubt would like to be remembered as a person who helped other people change their lives by giving them the opportunity to succeed, grow and progress in life.
Finalist – Innovator of the Year
Chef Patrick Gebrayel, Executive Chef, Dunwoody Country Club
Chef Patrick Gebrayel discovered his career path early in life, when at the age of 6, he made a birthday cake for his mother from scratch. Although the cake was inedible, he had found his calling. With his mother’s Dutch ancestry, Gebrayel recalls food always being cooked at home and eating out as a rarity. He has wonderful memories of amazing smells coming out of the kitchen. Throughout his career he has worked in Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Salem, Oregon; Washington DC; Palm Beach, Florida; Amelia Island, Florida and has made Atlanta his home for the past eight years. He loves the city and its people.
Chef Gebrayel is incredibly proud to be a member of the GRA and feels very fortunate to be involved with the Green Foodservice Alliance (GFA). He says “the GFA are an amazing group of people that are really redefining what it means to get involved.” He hopes everyone in the industry gets a chance to be a part of such a great organization with such hard working people.
It is that hard work which Chef Gebrayel attributes to his success, especially during these hard economic times. He relies on his great team – who he calls loyal, supportive, and hard working. He also says he is not afraid of trying new things, keeping customers entertained and hopefully coming back for more. He also thinks he’s successful because he never cuts his quality standards. He understands that by doing so you kill your reputation much faster than you earned it.
Chef Gebrayel believes the best job he’s ever held is his current position at Dunwoody Country Club. He says the club has been very supportive of his involvement in the GRA, allowing him a chance to be involved with a number of groups, especially the American Culinary Federation Atlanta Chapter and the GFA. He says he has met so many wonderful people and feels like the work he and his team are doing now will have a lasting benefit to our state and our industry. Chef Gebrayel says ” in addition I have made a ton of friends and feel very fortunate to be able to learn so much from these people, which ultimately has made me a better chef.”
Finalist – Innovator of the Year
Chef Linton Hopkins, Executive Chef / Owner, Restaurant Eugene / Holeman & Finch Public House and HF Bread Co.
Linton Hopkins never dreamed of becoming a professional chef. While growing up in Atlanta, he rarely went out to eat in restaurants. Food was something his family enjoyed at home. After attending the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, Hopkins worked in kitchens in New Orleans and Washington DC before moving back home. It was in DC that he met his wife Gina, with whom he owns several restaurants, including Restaurant Eugene and Holeman & Finch.
His first job in the restaurant industry was as a dishwasher in a small gourmet food store in Buckhead called the Easy Way Out. He was 15 at the time, and worked his way up to prep cook. Chef Hopkins sees his greatest accomplishment is building the family he has with wife and partner, Gina. He is very proud that in this busy industry they can have a strong family relationship, yet still build their professional dreams.
Hopkins says his current role has to be his favorite, because of the ability to focus completely on what he needs and wants to do. He enjoys building and training teams in the way that he feels cooking and thinking about cooking should be done. He also enjoys the development of strong business practices, which give him the freedom to engage in cooking.
Chef Hopkins thinks the GRA has become a voice and partner in shared goals and vision for restaurateurs.  From quick response to water cut offs to labor law, Chef Hopkins has found the GRA responsive to his needs. He calls its leadership on sustainability practices exemplary and says “it brings together leaders from allied organizations, governments and industries to help shape the restaurant industry for many years to come.”
Chef Hopkins also believes Restaurant Eugene, Holeman & Finch Public House and HF Bread Co are an integral part of their neighborhood. He sees major industry trends for 2009 as a continued increase in organic and sustainable farming and ranching and a more concerted recycling effort, eliminating costs on fats and paper as key in the industry.