Plates piled high with crispy fried chicken on Sundays and barbecue every other day of the week, Chase Green grew up surrounded by family and food in the small Eastern North Carolina town of Marshville.
From those early days of savoring southern comfort food with loved ones and getting his first job as a sandwich artist for Panera Bread, Green always had an interest in the culinary world but never thought to pursue a career in it.
That is until he took a job after college as a food runner at the Atlanta Athletic Club, where he met sous chef and mentor Matt Dwyer. Dwyer took Green under his wing and piqued his passion for cooking with lessons on how to pan-roast asparagus with toasty garlic and a copy of Anthony Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential.
“After reading this and being introduced to the work of chefs like Marco Pierre White, I wanted to be fully immersed in this culinary culture,” says Green.
Although he knew he couldn’t realistically attend formal culinary training, Green saved up, sought out and devoured the core textbooks provided to the students who attended the Culinary Institute of America in New York.
Armed with this knowledge, Green launched his culinary career. He spent some time as sous chef at a couple of different restaurants in Buckhead and worked alongside Ron Hsu and Aaron Philips on menu development for pop-ups.
“It was not a glamorous upbringing into the culinary world, but I loved it,” says Green.
Then he landed a job as a line cook at No. 246 in Decatur. But he wasn’t a line cook for long. He quickly worked his way up to helm the kitchen, where he now helps set up for dinner service, explores his creativity in designing the chef’s counter tasting menu, teaches line cooks new techniques and plays around with new flavors, among other day-to-day tasks.
“I came in as a line cook because I needed a job that, in my eyes, was going to be easier so I could focus on other things,” says Green. “And then I really found a passion.”
As for advice to those looking to enter the culinary world, Green’s biggest takeaway from his time in the kitchen is the importance of self-compassion and well-being.
“Don’t compare yourself to others, but rather to the person you want to become,” Green says. “You will have successes and failures and you will be measured, knowingly or not, by how you handle those successes and failures. So don’t compare yourself to others and stay as positive as possible.”
By Haley Harward
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Thank you to our presenting sponsor, Performance Foodservice, and table sponsors, Society Insurance and Savannah Distributing, for making this event possible:
Presenting Sponsor
Table Sponsors
Savannah Distributing and Society Insurance
