Behind the Scenes of Atlanta Chef's Table: An Interview with Author Kate Parham Kordsmeier

Monday, April 20, 2015

Kate Parham Kordsmeier is an Atlanta-based freelance food and travel writer for more than 100 publications. After stints in Los Angeles, Italy, Dallas and Washington D.C., Kate returned to her hometown of Atlanta. Kate is regarded as the culinary expert for the state of Georgia and the author of the cookbook Atlanta Chef’s Table: Extraordinary Recipes from the Big Peach. We have had the pleasure of working with Kate on a few G&G projects, and are so proud to have a recipe from her cookbook on the menu! Find out more about this Atlanta food icon and the creation of a best selling cookbook.

G&G: What inspired Atlanta Chef's Table?

Kate: Funnily enough, this was a project that sort of fell into my lap. The publisher knew they wanted to do a book about Atlanta's dining scene and they literally just googled "Atlanta food writer" and found me. It was fate (and thank God for SEO!), as I had recently moved back to Atlanta after spending 5 years living in Dallas and D.C., so the timing was perfect.

G&G: How did you choose which chefs and restaurants to feature?

Kate: Honestly, a lot of it was just thinking about what my favorite restaurants in town were and then trying to convince those chefs to be a part of the book. There are certain restaurants in Atlanta that are so iconic that you couldn't possibly dream of writing a book without including them (looking at you, Anne Quatrano!). And then every time I talked to a chef, I'd ask them where they liked to eat, who they thought was doing great things, and then I'd go beg those chefs to be in the book, too.

G&G: What was it like to work with so many great Atlanta Chefs?

Kate: One of my favorite parts of writing this book was meeting all of the chefs in town and learning about what they're doing. Atlanta is really unique in that it's such a tight-knit community, one filled with people who support each other and collaborate together. That's really rare for a city of our size! And it makes my job so much easier when I get to hear from people who are passionate and talented--Atlanta has no shortage of chefs who fit that description.

_{Photo Cred: Emily d. Cameron}

G&G: How did you and the chefs choose which dish would be featured?

Kate: Likewise, once I had convinced a chef to participate in the book, I'd then think about what my favorite dishes at their restaurants were. Like, I'm incapable of going to Bocado and not getting the steak tartare (I even had my rehearsal dinner here for our wedding and we served this dish!). Every time I go to The Spence, I have to order the Thai brussels sprouts, so I knew that recipe had to be in the book. I'm addicted to Umi's black cod misoyaki, so that was another must have. But I also talked with the chefs about their signature dishes, what they were most proud of, and then of course, what would be easiest for home cooks to replicate. We worked really hard to make sure that all of these recipes were accessible and approachable for home cooks.

G&G: The book is so visually compelling. How did you decide on the layout of the book?

While this book is full of delicious recipes, it's also a dining guide to the city, so every restaurant that's featured also gets a profile, which helps the readers understand who these people are and why they should care. There are so many great stories behind every recipe and I was so glad to be able to share those. Similarly, we also had tons of sidebars to cover other food happenings in the city, like farmer's markets, breweries, food halls like Krog Street Market, food festivals, etc. I really wanted to paint the full picture of what food looks like in Atlanta-- we have so much here!

G&G: What was the toughest part of putting it all together?

Kate: Converting chef recipes into something home cooks could understand. A lot of people don't realize how differently chefs cook from us--they often don't write their recipes down, they make enough to serve 100+ people at a time, they measure things in odd increments (or not at all) and they have so much knowledge that they forget that they can't just say "make a meringue" and expect readers to know how to do that. So it was a lot of tedious back and forth with the chefs getting their recipes not only in digestible form, but also in a cohesive format to the other recipes in the books. I'm so grateful for how patient they were with me and responsive to my seemingly endless emails with questions.

G&G: Have you cooked all the recipes in the book yet?

Slowly but surely, I'm working my way through them all.

G&G: Do you have a favorite dish from the book?

I have dozens! I could never pick just one, not only because there are so many incredible dishes in the book, but also because I love variety and trying new things and learning new techniques. This book was so great in that sense because we have recipes from around the world featured here, like the Sloppy Jai from Chai Pani. That's one of my favorites, for sure--it's something you're familiar with, but it's infused with exotic spices and flavors that also make it like nothing else you've ever tasted. I love putting an ethnic twist on classic American dishes!

G&G: We've had a blast working with Chai Pani to create their G&G meal. What was your experience like working with them?

I didn't work much with [Chef] Daniel Peach, as Meherwan (the owner) took the lead on this project. But he is an incredible guy, such a kind person and a very talented restaurateur. I'm so glad to have him in Atlanta and can't wait to see what he does next at Ponce City Market.

_{Photo Cred: Heidi Geldhauser}

G&G: We know what a hoot Atlanta chefs can be. Any funny stories from working with them?

I remember that Ron Eyester was really hard to get in touch with during this time and I never understood why... until a few months later the news broke that he was filming Top Chef and had to be super secretive. That explained a lot, and was great to hear that an Atlanta chef had received such amazing national attention.

G&G: How has the book been received?

So far, people have been really supportive and excited. I love checking Amazon to read the reviews and see what people think of the book. So far, it's all been really positive and that is so gratifying!

G&G: We have similar (ok, the exact same) taste in photographers. Why did you choose to work with the fabulous Heidi Geldhauser?

If you've seen Heidi's work, you understand why there was no other choice for me but to ask her to partner up. She's supremely talented and I'm constantly amazed by her eye, the beauty she finds in the every day and her incredible attitude. Heidi is always calm and collected, the perfect partner. 

Try your hand at the Sloppy Jai from Chai Pani with a G&G meal. Order by Wednesday 4/22 at midnight. 

Want even more recipes from amazing local chefs? Get Atlanta Chef's Table in our Local Market!