Chef du Jour: Tyler Brown inherits passion for food
Executive Chef at the Capitol Grille at The Hermitage Hotel
Cooking is in his genes
The love of fine food was transmitted into Tyler Brown's soul in the family kitchen. Growing up with a mom who trained at La Varenne in Paris, taught cooking classes and ran a catering business, he learned to appreciate fine ingredients and good food. He went to Johnson & Wales University when it was in Charleston, S.C. His passion for food grew as he excelled and eventually landed a job at Charleston's Peninsula Grill and later the Fearrington House, an award-winning inn near Chapel Hill, N.C. He arrived in Nashville four years ago to work at the Capitol Grille, where he serves an approachable menu of upscale Southern foods.
Favorite food
Pasta. Anything with noodles — Chinese, Thai, Italian.
What he cooks at home
Soul food, including made-from-scratch shrimp and grits, collards, green beans, fried chicken and homemade mac-and-cheese. "They make me happy," he says.
On the nightstand
The Best of the Barefoot Farmer, a book on biodynamic gardening by local author and television personality Jeff Poppin, and The Devil in the Kitchen, by London chef Marco Pierre White.
Trend he's excited about
Thanks to the Slow Food movement and concerns for planet sustainability, people are more aware than ever of food stuffs available to them locally. "Networks make the community stronger so we can come together as a group and rally around people who are local farmers. The farmers support us and we support them," he says. His new fall menu reflects his philosophy of food from farm to table by highlighting locally grown foods in the dishes offered.
He shares a recipe for succotash, which he serves at Capitol Grille with American red snapper, cornbread and peach relish.
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