Kevin Gillespie (born September 30, 1982) is an American chef, author and former ''

Top Chef ''Top Chef'' is an American reality competition television series which premiered on Bravo on March 8, 2006. The show features chefs competing against each other in culinary challenges. The contestants are judged by a panel of professional che ...

'' contestant. He is a former co-owner and executive chef at Woodfire Grill in Atlanta. He opened Gunshow, a restaurant in Atlanta, in 2013 and Revival, a restaurant in Decatur, Georgia, in 2015. Gillespie also starte
Red Beard Restaurants
allowing Gillespie to expand and provide consulting services to other start-ups. Kevin Gillespie's Gamechanger opened in August 2017 on the 200 concourse western end zone of the

Mercedes-Benz Stadium Mercedes-Benz Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium located in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Opened in August 2017 as a replacement for the Georgia Dome, it serves as the home stadium of the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League ( ...

''Top Chef''

Gillespie was a finalist in the sixth season of ''

'', Bravo's cooking competition show and was voted as the "Fan Favorite" contestant for the season. As a prize for winning one of the Top Chef episodes, Gillespie was invited to compete in the

Bocuse d'Or USA The Bocuse d'Or USA is a biennial chef championship, where the winner is selected to represent the U.S. in the international Bocuse d'Or competition. Following 20 years of American representation in the competition, in 2008 Paul Bocuse asked Dani ...

cooking competition, for the opportunity to be the U.S. representative in the 2011 international Bocuse d'Or, but later withdrew due to not having enough time to prepare. Gillespie returned to television to compete on Bravo's "Top Chef Duels," advancing to the high-stakes finale. In a 2012 interview, chef

Wolfgang Puck Wolfgang Johannes Puck (born July 8, 1949) is an Austrian-American chef and restaurateur. Early life and career Puck was born in Sankt Veit an der Glan, Austria. He learned cooking from his mother, who was a pastry chef. He took the surname ...

stated that Gillespie is his favorite Top Chef alumnus.The Braiser blog
Wolfgang Puck: Young Chefs Today Don’t Know How To Cook An Egg Correctly
November 1, 2012. Accessed January 3, 2013. Gillespie also competed in the 2020 All Stars LA season of Top Chef. He was eliminated in the Restaurant Wars episode. Gillespie was team captain for Restaurant Wars. When his team lost in Restaurant Wars, Gillespie took responsibility for his team's loss and accepted elimination after being chastised by the judges for his concept, which was inspired by the “plantation South”. Following his elimination, Gillespie fought hard to return to the competition via Last Chance Kitchen. Gillespie returned to the Top Chef All Stars LA competition in episode 11 having won Last Chance Kitchen.

Awards

On November 6, 2014, Gillespie was awarded the GRACE Innovator Award by the Georgia Restaurant Association. Gillespie was nominated for

Food & Wine ''Food & Wine'' is an American monthly magazine published by Dotdash Meredith. It was founded in 1978 by Ariane and Michael Batterberry. It features recipes, cooking tips, travel information, restaurant reviews, chefs, wine pairings and sea ...

's People's Best New Chef and named Forbes' 30 Under 30. In 2014, Gunshow earned a spot on

GQ magazine ''GQ'' (formerly ''Gentlemen's Quarterly'' and ''Apparel Arts'') is an American international monthly men's magazine based in New York City and founded in 1931. The publication focuses on fashion, style, and culture for men, though articles o ...

's list of "12 Most Outstanding Restaurants" as well as Esquire magazine's list of "Best New Restaurants of 2014." Eater included Gunshow in its annual "The National 38" list of places to eat in America in 2015 and 2016. Gillespie reached the semi-final stage of the

James Beard James Andrews Beard (May 5, 1903 – January 23, 1985) was an American chef, cookbook author, teacher and television personality. He pioneered television cooking shows, taught at The James Beard Cooking School in New York City and Seaside, ...

Rising Star Chef of the Year awards four consecutive years in a row. In 2013, Gillespie was named a James Beard Foundation Award Finalist in the Cookbook: American Cooking category for his debut cookbook, ''Fire in my Belly''. His 2015 follow-up, "Pure Pork Awesomeness," was devoted to Gillespie's preferred protein. Gillespie was named a semifinalist for the James Beard Award Best Chef: Southeast in 2015, finalist in 2016 and a semifinalist in 2017. In 2022, Gillespie was named a James Beard Award finalist in the Outstanding Restauranteur category.

Personal

Kevin Gillespie married Valerie Combs on September 4, 2011. In May 2018, Gillespie was diagnosed with a rare form of

renal cancer Kidney cancer, also known as renal cancer, is a group of cancers that starts in the kidney. Symptoms may include blood in the urine, lump in the abdomen, or back pain. Fever, weight loss, and tiredness may also occur. Complications can include spr ...

. This was discovered after an unrelated back surgery follow-up in 2017, at which time the

MRI Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a medical imaging technique used in radiology to form pictures of the anatomy and the physiological processes of the body. MRI scanners use strong magnetic fields, magnetic field gradients, and radio waves ...

displayed an abnormal kidney. On May 24, 2018, one of his kidneys was removed.

In other media

* Gillespie voiced himself in the season six episode "Asbestos I Can" on the animated series ''

Squidbillies ''Squidbillies'' is an American animated television series created by Jim Fortier and Dave Willis for Cartoon Network's late night programming block, Adult Swim. An unofficial pilot for the series aired on April 1, 2005. The series later made ...

''. * Gillespie also voiced a truck driver in the animated series ''

Archer Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In m ...

''. * In 2012, Gillespie voiced Crimson Tightwad in the

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, ...

syndicated series/

Adult Swim Adult Swim (AS; stylized as dult swim'' and often abbreviated as s'') is an American adult-oriented night-time cable television channel that shares channel space with the basic cable network Cartoon Network and is programmed by its in-house ...

original ''

Aqua Teen Hunger Force ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force'' (also known by various alternative titles), sometimes abbreviated as ''ATHF'' or ''Aqua Teen'', is an American adult animated television series created by Dave Willis and Matt Maiellaro for Cartoon Network's late ni ...

''. * In June 2021, Gillespie joined the

MeatEater ''MeatEater'' is a non-fiction outdoors hunting television series in the United States on Netflix starring Steven Rinella. The show first aired on January 1, 2012 and is produced by Zero Point Zero Production. Episodes Season 1 (2012) Sea ...

hunting podcast and media group as a Culinary Contributor

References

External links

Kevin's Personal Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gillespie, Kevin Living people 1982 births Top Chef contestants Writers from Atlanta American chefs American male chefs