OUR CHEF:
The Executive Chef, Russell Kook, has no shortage of accolades. Chef Kook hails from acclaimed restaurants including David Burke (Las Vegas), cibo matto (Chicago) and The Florentine (Chicago). While at cibo matto, the restaurant was a James Beard semi-finalist for “Best New Restaurant.” Furthermore, Kook has been featured at New York City's The James Beard House and on The Food Network's Iron Chef America. However, he is most familiar as the runner-up on FOX's “Hell's Kitchen” Season 8 where he was awarded a rare perfect score.
From the start of his culinary career as a student at Le Cordon Bleu in Minneapolis, Kook chose the accelerated route. His precision and attention to detail landed him a job at nearby bistro, Savories. Following Savories, Kook re-located to Sarasota, Florida to work in The Verona at The Ritz-Carlton, where he competed against other chefs while discovering the delicacies of the south Florida region. Shortly after, Kook was presented with the opportunity to work under up and coming chef, Todd Stein, at his restaurant Bank. The Kook-Stein pairing turned out to be a perfect fit and even took the dynamic duo to a new restaurant and city. Kook followed his mentor to the bright lights and exotic plates of Las Vegas to work in restaurant David Burke. Their next adventure brought them to the Wit Hotel where Kook served as Sous Chef for both ROOF and cibo matto. Following his stint at the Wit, Kook and Stein opened The Florentine in Chicago to national accolades. Russell Kook’s passion for quality food, adaptive creativity, and careful leadership brought him back down south to invigorate the Italian cuisine of LPC and for that…Atlanta is grateful.
