Meet Colin McGowan | Chef

We had the good fortune of connecting with Colin McGowan and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Colin, what’s the most important lesson your business/career has taught you?
I think the most important lessons I’ve learned from this career path and starting my own small business is the ability to adapt. The food and service industry is constantly changing and there are so many different avenues inside this industry. I have worked in family owned restaurants, corporate restaurants, arenas, hotels and run my own private chef business with each one of these rolls being surprisingly different from an operational and technical level. Especially post COVID our business climate has been a nightmare but our industry and the people inside of it truly showed just how flexible and adaptable we can be. That lesson to me is priceless.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I think the road to success in professional kitchens is paved with a lot of self doubt, hard work and in many cases lack of guidance. Learning this craft is never ending, you’ll never know everything about food with so many cuisines and different cultures it’s just absolutely impossible. However our industry is very competitive but fueled by the most passionate human beings I’ve ever met. I remember I would cry in my car leaving my first real kitchen job because I just wasn’t good enough. I wanted to be just like the guys around me who were so fast, precise and moved with this incredible grace on the line as if they were all part of a ballet. I just didn’t have it yet and there’s no real way to teach someone how to move in a kitchen it just comes with determination, care and time. However, learning to cook is about the easiest part of being a chef, lots of chefs out there are good at cooking but have no idea about how to manage people, cost recipes, place food orders within a budget, build a brand, write a schedule. etc. So for many cooks this creates an environment filled with people being thrown to the lions and owners expecting chefs to know all of this information but with the overturn in our industry for many different reasons lots of kitchens are built on the “battlefield promotion.” Thankfully I learned from some pretty incredible chefs and asked lots of question but it has still been an extremely difficult road into becoming a chef.

Back in 2019 my wife and I set out on our own taking a massive risk and opened 14 Seats Atlanta. This was 10 course chefs tasting menu for 14 people every month out of my living room. We partnered with Adam Danielson the owner of Fermented Wine Boutiques to present and pair wines with each coarse. We also partnered with Alex Sher from Stone Mountain Cattle Co. to supply local beef and pork. It became a hit pretty quickly, we were interviewed for a show on Food Network, we were recognized as the most unique dining experience in Atlanta 2019 and we were finally doing what I wanted to do all along and bring unapologetic chef driven tasting menus to areas not only in the heart of the city. Unfortunately that all came crashing down in 2020 with the pandemic. I remember hearing on the radio a man say “No gatherings larger than 10” before the actually lockdown. I thought to myself “Wow, I have the absolute workmate business name with 14 Seat.” When my business went under I had to find work, like many others I had no income, no unemployment, no health insurance, hardly any saving and none of us could have prepared ourselves for just how long this was going to take. I immediately went looking to get back on a salary position. I eventually found one job hiring in the city so I took it. Later I was offered a roll as the Executive Chef of a restaurant opening up near Cumming about 20 minutes from my home. After just under a year with that company however, I just felt that it wasn’t the right fit for me. As I left I began running private events again however this time I would offer tasting menus inside peoples homes for special occasions or just any reason really. That went on for about 6 months or so and I had a lot of fun and met a lot of great people as well. Eventually I was lead to take over as the Executive Chef of the Hamilton Hotel in Downtown Alpharetta where I currently am pushing to redefine the dining experience in hotel restaurants and catering. I still do provide tasting menus for private events when I am available though because I truly hold such a passion for the same dream I had with 14 Seat almost 4 years ago.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I think without a doubt one of the first things I would do is spend a whole day breakfast, lunch and dinner eating on Buford Highway. There is so many different restaurants there and such a culinary inspiration to many chefs in the city I believe. Depending on time of year I would definitely go to State Farm Arena for either a game or a concert. My old chef, Joe Schafer is the Executive Chef there and really helped me find my footing in this career. He and his team are constantly pushing the boundaries on what the culinary experience inside an arena looks like and it’s a lot of fun at any event.
I would definitely go get tattooed at Southern Star Tattoo in Little Five Points. Pretty much the only place I go to get work done anymore and afterwards go hangout at Elmyr for some drinks.
When it comes to dining in Atlanta I’d probably head first to Ticonderoga Club in Krog Street. Id also go to 770 Korean BBQ in Suwannee, Foundation Social Eatery in Alpharetta, Aria in Atlanta, Madras Chettinaad in Alpharetta, Circle Sushi in Roswell and Okiboru Ramen in Duluth.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I’d like to dedicate this shoutout to my family. I haven’t always been the easiest, as a matter of fact I was an absolute nightmare growing up. I always had this overwhelming feeling that I didn’t belong or that I wasn’t like everyone else so I rebelled in a lot both small and big ways. I eventually struggled with drugs and dropped out of high school and I remember a specific moment when my mother was crying to me on a bench outside of my school saying “ I just don’t know what to do..” and I told her “Mom, it’s not up to you. It’s up to me but I promise you I’ll land on my feet.” It took some of the darkest days of my life for about 4 years, drugs, begging for money in shopping malls, etc. after that day to get there but I did finally land on my feet. This shout out is dedicated to my mother and the rest of my family because they never turned their backs on me when a lot of times they probably should have.

Website: www.colinmcgowan.com

Instagram: chefcolinmcgowan

Image Credits
Andrew Thomas Lee Lauren Hubbard Colin McGowan