Chris Hastings is the owner and executive chef of Hot & Hot Fish Club, a restaurant in

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, Alabama, Jefferson County. The population was 200,733 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List ...

, and was twice a finalist for the

James Beard Award The James Beard Foundation Awards are annual awards presented by the James Beard Foundation to recognize chefs, restaurateurs, authors and journalists in the United States. They are scheduled around James Beard's May 5 birthday. The media awar ...

"Best Chef in the South" award. In 2012, Chef Hastings was the winner of this award. In 2010 he started a side business, based on his experience making

woodcock The woodcocks are a group of seven or eight very similar living species of sandpipers in the genus ''Scolopax''. The genus name is Latin for a snipe or woodcock, and until around 1800 was used to refer to a variety of waders. The English name ...

feather pins as gifts, and began producing these and other custom pins in his garage "out of materials gleaned during his hunts in Nova Scotia."Made in the South Award Winners
page 19 Dec. 2010 Garden & Gun

Childhood

Chris grew up in

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 United ...

. He spent family vacations in South Carolina where he gathered or caught oysters, clams, shrimp, flounder, crab, and spot tail bass for his family to cook. He has two brothers, David and Steven, and one sister Angelica.

Education

Chris graduated from the culinary arts program at

Johnson & Wales University Johnson & Wales University (JWU) is a private university with its main campus in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded as a business school in 1914 by Gertrude I. Johnson and Mary T. Wales, JWU enrolled 7,357 students across its cam ...

Providence, Rhode Island Providence () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Rhode Island, most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. The county seat of Providence County, Rhode Island, Providence County, it is o ...

Career

Chris moved to Atlanta in 1984 where he worked as a

sous chef A sous-chef is a chef who is second in command of a kitchen, ranking directly below the head chef in the Kitchen Brigade system developed by Auguste Escoffier. In large kitchens, sous-chefs are typically left in charge of managing members o ...

at the

Ritz Carlton The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, LLC is an American multinational corporation, multinational company that operates the Hotel#Luxury, luxury hotel chain known as The Ritz-Carlton. The company has 108 conference and resort hotels, luxury hotels an ...

. In 1989, he and his wife moved to San Francisco and helped open the Lark Creek Inn where Chris served as sous chef. Chris and his wife opened Hot & Hot Fish Clu

named for the

Murrells Inlet, South Carolina Murrells Inlet is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in Georgetown County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 7,547 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. It is about 13 miles south of Myrtle Beach, South Ca ...

epicurean club of which his great-great-great-great-grandfather was a member. In the restaurant's early days, while Chris focused on the dinner menu, Idie used her pastry experience to develop the dessert menu. Although the menus change daily, highlighting the best seasonal products available, several signature items remain: the Hot and Hot Shrimp and Grits made with Country Ham, Fresh Thyme, Tomatoes and Ver Jus is always a favorite among the locals and Elton's Chocolate

Soufflé A soufflé () is a baked egg dish originating in France in the early 18th century. Combined with various other ingredients, it can be served as a savoury main dish or sweetened as a dessert. The word ''soufflé'' is the past participle of the Fr ...

with Fresh Cream continues to be a favorite ending to many meals at the restaurant. Hastings also teamed up with Russell Lands On Lake Martin and executive chef, Rob McDaniel, as the culinary advisor of the SpringHouse Restaurant located in the

Lake Martin Lake Martin is located in Tallapoosa, Elmore and Coosa counties in Alabama. It is a 44,000-acre (178 km2) reservoir with over 750 miles (1,200 km) of wooded shoreline. Lake Martin is a reservoir, enlarged by the construction of Ma ...

development Russell Crossroads in Alexander City,

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

. Hastings opened The Side by Side restaurant in the Embassy Suites in Tuscaloosa, AL in 2015. Hastings opened his second Birmingham restaurant, Ovenbird, in The Pepper Place development. The food is inspired by open fire cooking from the regions of

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

, and the

American South The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, Dixieland, or simply the South) is census regions United States Census Bureau. It is between the Atlantic Ocean and the ...

. Chef Hastings competed and won against

Bobby Flay Robert William "Bobby" Flay (born December 10, 1964) is an American celebrity chef, food writer, restaurateur, and Television presenter, television personality. Flay is the owner and Chef de cuisine, executive chef of several restaurants and fr ...

Iron Chef America ''Iron Chef America'' is an American cooking show based on Fuji Television's ''Iron Chef'', and is the second American adaptation of the series, following the failed ''Iron Chef USA'' that aired in 2001. The show is produced by Food Network, wh ...

which aired on Food Network on February 26, 2012. The secret ingredient was sausage.

Pins

Hastings' lapel and hat pins have been described as "rugged designs" that "bring casual elegance to a tweed lapel or the brim of a hat." ''Garden & Gun'' magazine honored Hastings as a "Best of Made in the South" style runner up for his hat and lapel pins.

Awards

*2012 James Beard "Best Chef in the South" Winner *Two Time James Beard "Best Chef in the South" Finalist * "Bright-flavored seafood still stars," ''Gourmet Magazine'' Jane and Michael Stern *Four Stars and "personal favorite" ''Birmingham News'' Susan Swagler *Robert Mondavi Culinary Award for Excellence *2000 and 2001 "Best Chef in Birmingham" ''Birmingham Magazine. '' * 1985 Atlanta Culinary Show, gold meda

*Featured in publications such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Bon Appetit, Gourmet, Food Arts,

Nation's Restaurant News ''Nation's Restaurant News'' (''NRN'') is an American trade publication, founded in 1967. NRN covers the foodservice industry, including restaurant A restaurant is an establishment that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Me ...

, Santé Magazine, Coastal Living, Metropolitan Home, Executive Traveler, Cooking Light Magazine and Delta's Sky magazine as well as “Good Day Atlanta,” “Good Day Alabama,” the Food Network's “Best Of”, Top 5 and NBC's “Roker on the Road.”

Publications

*Author of Hot and Hot Fish Club Cookbook

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hastings, Chris Businesspeople from Birmingham, Alabama Living people Businesspeople from Charlotte, North Carolina James Beard Foundation Award winners American restaurateurs Year of birth missing (living people) Johnson & Wales University alumni