Monday, February 15, 2010

Kevin Gillespie, “Top Chef” plans to open a BBQ Joint.

Bravo’s “Top Chef” saved Kevin Gillespie from financial ruin. Business had been so slow at Woodfire Grill that there were nights last year when just a couple of diners – and sometimes none at all – came in.

“I can’t tell you what it feels like to work all day tweaking and getting things ready to share with people and then have no one show up,” he said. Trying out for the show was a last ditch effort to save the restaurant he’d bought with two partners.

“We’re sitting there, literally, praying that Bravo would call,” he said. “We kept borrowing money, scraping by. We wouldn’t have lasted six more months.”

Now that his “Top Chef” run has ended he’s enjoyed getting back into the groove at the restaurant – and has plans to open another one. Details are still coming together, so he couldn’t reveal some of the specifics, but it’ll be a barbecue restaurant that he and his partners will operate while maintaining Woodfire.

ajc story

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