Chef Troy N. Thompson has been named executive chef for MAD Hospitality, the Madison, Ga.-based hospitality company. Chef Thompson is returning to Georgia, where his career first began, to oversee MAD Hospitality’s collection of chef-driven concepts, including The Dining Room, Hart & Crown Tavern, Betty Gene’s, The Sinclair, and Buggy Works. He will collaborate with Executive Pastry Chef Edouard Fenouil to create weekly three-course, four-course, and a la carte menus at The Dining Room.
Chef Thompson began his culinary rise as Executive Sous Chef at The Dining Room at The Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Buckhead, under the tutelage of legendary Michelin chef Gunter Seeger. It is also where he met and formed connections with MAD Hospitality founder Preston Snyder, Chef Shaun Doty, and Michael McNeil, Master Sommelier and Director of Wine for Georgia Crown, who curates the MAD wine lists with Snyder and his team.
Chef Doty recommended Thompson for the full-time executive chef position while serving as Chef in Residence for MAD Hospitality during the search. Doty has served in and will remain in a consulting role with MAD Hospitality.
Chef Thompson’s inspirational approach to cooking is well-suited to MAD Hospitality’s concepts, especially The Dining Room, according to Snyder. Chef Thompson describes inspirational cooking as “a pure moment when the ingredients on hand blend in my mind into a finished dish.”
“The Dining Room, particularly, requires an extremely creative chef,” said Snyder. “We are also finding more ways to use the Buggy Works space for pop-up events where Chef Thompson’s ‘inspirational’ approach can have a strong impact. Having worked with Troy, I’ve seen the impressive arc of his career, and that gave me an immediate comfort level that this was a unique and extraordinary fit.”
The relationship and common history between Thompson and the company, which spans decades, also came into play in his hiring decision.
Chef Thompson’s career in Georgia also included two years at Fusebox Restaurant in Atlanta as executive chef. His experience at The Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Buckhead led him to several positions with the hotel company, including chef de cuisine at The Ritz-Carlton Reynolds, Lake Oconee and Executive Chef roles at The Ritz-Carlton Hotels in Philadelphia, Seoul, South Korea and Marina del Rey, including its extraordinary and award winning Jer-Ne Restaurant + Bar.
His extensive hotel and hospitality experience includes executive chef positions at The Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills and the Kimpton Rowan Hotel in Palm Springs. Chef Thompson’s diverse experience in the culinary world also included serving as executive chef at a private restaurant in Osaka, Japan, a regional corporate chef for Aramark’s Western National Parks, as well as an interim executive chef during the pandemic for leading hotel restaurants in San Francisco, Seattle, Nashville, Houston and other markets.
Under the direction of founder Preston Snyder, a visionary real estate developer and historic preservationist, MAD Hospitality has developed culinary concepts that have spurred Madison’s fast-growing food scene, just an hour outside of Atlanta. The company is focused on creating unique and stylish culinary concepts in restored historical spaces.
