Of the South

A Taste Sean Brock, Eli Kirshtein, & Richard Blais Of the South March 3, 6:00 pm 7 courses, alcohol paired at Price: $125++, wine pairings available for an additional $50++, regular wine and cocktail list will be available Eli Kirstein Richard Blais Top Chef Season 6 Top Chef Season 4 Born and raised in Atlanta, Kirshtein, 25, is Richard Blais has covered a lot of ground in of 2004. The eponymous, BLAIS Restau- a self-proclaimed Gastronome. He started his rise to prominence. He began his culinary rant opened to critical acclaim both locally his culinary career at the young age of 16 as career the way a lot of teenagers do, as and nationally. From the combination of his a cook at Atlanta’s Buckhead Diner under the “poissonier” at McDonald’s. It was here unyielding passion and unique experience, Chef Kevin Rathbun. Kirshtein quickly moved where he first dabbled in deconstruction in Trail Blais was born. Trail Blais is Mr. Blais’ to restaurant Fishbone under Chef Richard cuisine; serving the filet-o-fish sandwiches creative culinary company that has consulted Blais before moving to New York to attend with no top bun. Mr. Blais attended the on, designed, and operated three and four school at the Culinary Institute of America. Culinary Institute of America (AA’98) in Hyde star restaurants in Atlanta. Currently, Trail While in New York, he spent time in some Park, New York. He nurtured a growing pas- Blais is operating Flip Burger Boutique in of the country’s greatest kitchens with a sion for French technique and soon accepted midtown Atlanta, a four star eatery redefining series of stages. After graduation, Kirshtein an internship at the French Laundry in Yount- the iconic American burger experience. Con- returned to Atlanta to reunite with Blais, as ville, California. There he honed his skills ceptual work for new ventures in Los Angeles Sous Chef at One, Midtown Kitchen. After working underneath Thomas Keller and side- and Miami is also underway. Chef Blais has two years at One, he took a year long hiatus by-side with rising stars like, Grant Achatz. In also undertaken product development and to work under Alberto Cabrera at Miami’s 1997, Mr. Blais returned to the CIA to finish endorsements for major corporations like Karu & Y as Executive Sous Chef. Eli was his formal education. He accepted a fellow- Diageo, McCormick, iSi and Quaker. Blais, a the Executive Chef at ENO, Restaurant and ship in the fish kitchen and spent the next recipient of Gayot Guide’s ‘Top Five Rising Wine Bar and has now moved onto new year teaching fish fabrication and cookery to Chefs of 2005,’ appeared on BRAVO’s Emmy endeavors in New York City. over 1000 students while working on a self- Award winning series ‘Top Chef’ and ‘Top sustainable farm in Mount Kisco, New York. Chef Masters’ and on the Food Network’s Chef Blais went on to work under great chefs ‘Iron Chef America’ and ‘Food Detectives’. at exemplary restaurants like Daniel Boulud He has been featured in numerous publica- at Restaurant Daniel. He prospered and truly tions such as Sports Illustrated, The New started to find his professional compass after York Times, and Food & Wine Magazine a brief stint at El Bulli under Ferran Adria. for his creative take on American food. He In 2000, Richard was lured to Atlanta by a resides in Atlanta with his wife, Jazmin, and group of restaurateurs to run a small seafood their daughter, Riley. kitchen, before opening BLAIS, in the winter 2 Unity Alley | Charleston, SC 29401 | mccradysrestaurant.com.

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