Here is the schedule for One Flew South...
Friday October 31st, 2008
private party for Department of Aviation
Saturday November 1st, 2008
staff menu training
Monday November 3rd & Tuesday November 4th, 2008
Mock Service and Election Day
Wednesday November 5th, 2008
OPENING DAY!!!!!!!!!
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Louisville Paper Article Monday October 13th, 2008
Chef takes new course
Oakroom's Todd Richards is working his magic in Atlanta
By Larry Muhammad • lmuhammad@courier-journal.com • October 13, 2008
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Todd Richards' cooking has been called "idiosyncratic," "philosophical" and "sensual."
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A winning personality and such dishes as pan-crisped lamb sweetbreads with smoked banana made him the culinary toast of Louisville, a celebrity chef at the Seelbach Hilton's illustrious Oakroom restaurant.
And when Cat Cora narrowly defeated him in a carrot cook-off on the Food Channel's "Iron Chef America" last year, a blogger on velocityweekly.com complained, "Chef Todd Richards was ROBBED!"
"Todd built a very great reputation in a very short time," Peng Looi, chef at Asiatique and August Moon Chinese Bistro, said in a recent interview.
"He is a great chef, passionate about it," said Anoosh Shariat, former Park Place executive chef whose Anoosh Bistro opens in December.
High praise in a restaurant community that Bon Appetit magazine this month designated among America's top five small-town food capitals, behind Durham-Chapel Hill, N.C.; Eugene, Ore.; Paso Robles, Calif.; and Boulder, Colo. In 2006, Esquire magazine selected Proof on Main one of the 20 best new restaurants in America.
Yet, the 37-year-old Richards, after five years at the Oakroom, left Louisville this summer and went to Atlanta to open his own place, One Flew South, in the International Concourse of Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
"It's been a long time coming," Richards wrote in his blog July 27. "Many moons ago, I set out on a mission to return to the vast and what I would call culinary unconquered city of Atlanta. It seems that illustrious day has arrived."
Richards took with him the Oakroom's chef de cuisine, Duane Nutter, and Jerry Slater, Seelbach's director of restaurants. The trio formed Lush Life Group, a management company that partnered with two Atlanta airport operators -- Jackmont Hospitality, a food-service firm that counts among its founders the daughter of former Atlanta Mayor Maynard Jackson; and Global Concessions, which runs fast-food stores, including Ben & Jerry's, Arthur Treacher's Fish & Chips and Sojourner's Cafe, on various concourses.
Richards isn't the first chef to parlay Oakroom prestige into opening his own restaurant elsewhere. Jim Gerhardt and Michael Cunha, who earned for the Oakroom a Five Diamond rating -- a major claim to fame -- left in 2003 and opened Limestone restaurant in Louisville.
But why did Richards leave the Oakroom? And couldn't he have opened the restaurant of his dreams in Louisville, where he has many fans?
"In our business, you just have to go where the opportunity lies," Richards said in a telephone interview. "When we looked at this project in Atlanta, it was more about the opportunity to get into a larger market and a more diverse group of diners."
Despite his perceived popularity in Louisville, Richards said, "The city's dining community just never really supported us. Many times people would say, 'We love what you do down there.' And you ask when was the last time they ate at the Oakroom, it would be five or six years, before we were even there."
And the purchase of the Seelbach last fall by Interstate Hotels & Resorts, a Virginia-based hotel management firm, and Investcorp International, a real estate and investment company in New York, brought alterations in the Oakroom menu that rubbed the chef wrong.
"It changed from a tasting menu, where you have multiple courses decided by the chef, to a la carte, where guests would choose what they wanted," said Richards. "We really didn't want to be a part of this change and didn't think it was beneficial to the Oakroom and what it needed to accomplish."
Before heading south, Richards and his team explored other opportunities in Louisville, speaking with investors and bankers about opening his own place.
Slater said, "We looked at several spots, considered different rent options, and just really couldn't seem to make financial sense of it in a city that seemed to not want to come down and see us in the first place. I know it sounds negative. I liked Louisville. It's a great little city. But we're talking Atlanta, 5 million people versus 800,000."
Seelbach general manager Jon McFarland said he is excited for Richards and wishes him the best, adding, "I can't wait to do some international travel out of Atlanta to go see his place."
But Richards' move was no surprise.
"January last year, Todd told me he wanted to move to Atlanta, where he owned a home," McFarland said. "He made it very clear to us he wouldn't be staying in Louisville, and I believe his driving motivation was the happiness of his family, that they would feel more comfortable in Atlanta."
McFarland has replaced Slater and Nutter -- with Mark Butcher, now the Seelbach's director of food and beverage, and new Oakroom chef de cuisine Nicole Walker, who was groomed by Richards and who worked at the Maisonette, the now-closed Five Diamond restaurant in Cincinnati.
"The Oakroom will continue to be one of the finest restaurants in Kentucky," he said. "We're fully staffed, have phenomenal cooks in all positions, but we need a leader to be thinking ahead, months down the road. With Todd and Jim Gerhardt setting such a high bar, I've had to keep looking for the right person who can keep that fine balance of managing the restaurant operations and talking high dining to the cooks and chefs. I'm hoping in less than 30 days to select the new executive chef."
He acknowledges there were menu issues with Richards, who as Oakroom chef disregarded culinary boundaries and aspired to cooking that was emphatically personal high art.
One of his creations, the Deconstructed Taco, was described by Courier-Journal restaurant critic Marty Rosen in 2006 as "a soft, flickering disc of red-gold salsa gelee framed by tiny mounds of crème fraîche, delicate grains of succulent ground beef and a tiny, perfectly carved plank of intense Gouda. Every dish … had that same synchronized feel of perfectly engineered clockwork."
The rarefied eats came in prearranged sets with price tags to match -- three courses for $72, five courses for $95 and seven courses for $110.
Slater said, "I think everybody was sort of scared about the economy, but we were making the same amount of money, just doing it on fewer diners. Management didn't want to relinquish the Five Diamond rating, but I think they were concerned about the number of people coming in."
McFarland said, "I certainly challenged Todd, asked him how do we get more people into the restaurant to experience his food, and whether his chef-driven menu was creating a barrier to entry. And I will challenge the next executive chef to make incredible food at price points the customer can better afford."
Reporter Larry Muhammad can be reached at (502) 582-7091.
Oakroom's Todd Richards is working his magic in Atlanta
By Larry Muhammad • lmuhammad@courier-journal.com • October 13, 2008
Read Comments(4)
gsl.recommendCountHrefEnabled='true';
Recommend
Print this page
E-mail this article
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Todd Richards' cooking has been called "idiosyncratic," "philosophical" and "sensual."
OAS_AD('ArticleFlex_1');
A winning personality and such dishes as pan-crisped lamb sweetbreads with smoked banana made him the culinary toast of Louisville, a celebrity chef at the Seelbach Hilton's illustrious Oakroom restaurant.
And when Cat Cora narrowly defeated him in a carrot cook-off on the Food Channel's "Iron Chef America" last year, a blogger on velocityweekly.com complained, "Chef Todd Richards was ROBBED!"
"Todd built a very great reputation in a very short time," Peng Looi, chef at Asiatique and August Moon Chinese Bistro, said in a recent interview.
"He is a great chef, passionate about it," said Anoosh Shariat, former Park Place executive chef whose Anoosh Bistro opens in December.
High praise in a restaurant community that Bon Appetit magazine this month designated among America's top five small-town food capitals, behind Durham-Chapel Hill, N.C.; Eugene, Ore.; Paso Robles, Calif.; and Boulder, Colo. In 2006, Esquire magazine selected Proof on Main one of the 20 best new restaurants in America.
Yet, the 37-year-old Richards, after five years at the Oakroom, left Louisville this summer and went to Atlanta to open his own place, One Flew South, in the International Concourse of Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
"It's been a long time coming," Richards wrote in his blog July 27. "Many moons ago, I set out on a mission to return to the vast and what I would call culinary unconquered city of Atlanta. It seems that illustrious day has arrived."
Richards took with him the Oakroom's chef de cuisine, Duane Nutter, and Jerry Slater, Seelbach's director of restaurants. The trio formed Lush Life Group, a management company that partnered with two Atlanta airport operators -- Jackmont Hospitality, a food-service firm that counts among its founders the daughter of former Atlanta Mayor Maynard Jackson; and Global Concessions, which runs fast-food stores, including Ben & Jerry's, Arthur Treacher's Fish & Chips and Sojourner's Cafe, on various concourses.
Richards isn't the first chef to parlay Oakroom prestige into opening his own restaurant elsewhere. Jim Gerhardt and Michael Cunha, who earned for the Oakroom a Five Diamond rating -- a major claim to fame -- left in 2003 and opened Limestone restaurant in Louisville.
But why did Richards leave the Oakroom? And couldn't he have opened the restaurant of his dreams in Louisville, where he has many fans?
"In our business, you just have to go where the opportunity lies," Richards said in a telephone interview. "When we looked at this project in Atlanta, it was more about the opportunity to get into a larger market and a more diverse group of diners."
Despite his perceived popularity in Louisville, Richards said, "The city's dining community just never really supported us. Many times people would say, 'We love what you do down there.' And you ask when was the last time they ate at the Oakroom, it would be five or six years, before we were even there."
And the purchase of the Seelbach last fall by Interstate Hotels & Resorts, a Virginia-based hotel management firm, and Investcorp International, a real estate and investment company in New York, brought alterations in the Oakroom menu that rubbed the chef wrong.
"It changed from a tasting menu, where you have multiple courses decided by the chef, to a la carte, where guests would choose what they wanted," said Richards. "We really didn't want to be a part of this change and didn't think it was beneficial to the Oakroom and what it needed to accomplish."
Before heading south, Richards and his team explored other opportunities in Louisville, speaking with investors and bankers about opening his own place.
Slater said, "We looked at several spots, considered different rent options, and just really couldn't seem to make financial sense of it in a city that seemed to not want to come down and see us in the first place. I know it sounds negative. I liked Louisville. It's a great little city. But we're talking Atlanta, 5 million people versus 800,000."
Seelbach general manager Jon McFarland said he is excited for Richards and wishes him the best, adding, "I can't wait to do some international travel out of Atlanta to go see his place."
But Richards' move was no surprise.
"January last year, Todd told me he wanted to move to Atlanta, where he owned a home," McFarland said. "He made it very clear to us he wouldn't be staying in Louisville, and I believe his driving motivation was the happiness of his family, that they would feel more comfortable in Atlanta."
McFarland has replaced Slater and Nutter -- with Mark Butcher, now the Seelbach's director of food and beverage, and new Oakroom chef de cuisine Nicole Walker, who was groomed by Richards and who worked at the Maisonette, the now-closed Five Diamond restaurant in Cincinnati.
"The Oakroom will continue to be one of the finest restaurants in Kentucky," he said. "We're fully staffed, have phenomenal cooks in all positions, but we need a leader to be thinking ahead, months down the road. With Todd and Jim Gerhardt setting such a high bar, I've had to keep looking for the right person who can keep that fine balance of managing the restaurant operations and talking high dining to the cooks and chefs. I'm hoping in less than 30 days to select the new executive chef."
He acknowledges there were menu issues with Richards, who as Oakroom chef disregarded culinary boundaries and aspired to cooking that was emphatically personal high art.
One of his creations, the Deconstructed Taco, was described by Courier-Journal restaurant critic Marty Rosen in 2006 as "a soft, flickering disc of red-gold salsa gelee framed by tiny mounds of crème fraîche, delicate grains of succulent ground beef and a tiny, perfectly carved plank of intense Gouda. Every dish … had that same synchronized feel of perfectly engineered clockwork."
The rarefied eats came in prearranged sets with price tags to match -- three courses for $72, five courses for $95 and seven courses for $110.
Slater said, "I think everybody was sort of scared about the economy, but we were making the same amount of money, just doing it on fewer diners. Management didn't want to relinquish the Five Diamond rating, but I think they were concerned about the number of people coming in."
McFarland said, "I certainly challenged Todd, asked him how do we get more people into the restaurant to experience his food, and whether his chef-driven menu was creating a barrier to entry. And I will challenge the next executive chef to make incredible food at price points the customer can better afford."
Reporter Larry Muhammad can be reached at (502) 582-7091.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
My dear friends...
I guess being 37 you can imagine I am still delusional in thinking I am invincible. Two friends from high school passed away this week which is surprising to us all. It seems that maybe it is time for me to take much better care of myself and quit fucking around with my life. Being an artist, I see the world different than most however dead is dead. Seeing how I am enjoying myself, dead is not a good option; however you can not control everything.
Monday, October 6, 2008
So tonight is one of those blah moments you have when you are an artist without a canvas to paint or even inspiration to color; let alone worrying about the lines. I decided to open a bottle of EOS 2007 Moscato and play some BB King cause if you got the blues you might as well listen to one of the best speak on it. After playing this same song 10 times in a row and polishing off the bottle, I had to share these lyrics in order to help someone else through a rough day...
BB King
I Like to Like the Love
My song is a serious matter
It reflects what I feel
If I say I love you, I mean it`Cause in my song
Every line is for real
Every man or woman
Enjoys going home
To a peaceful situation
To give love and receive love
Without any complications
Whether my tune is short or long
Whether my lyrics are weak or strong
I like to live the love
That I sing about in my song
I like to live the love
That I sing about in my song
Music is love
And my love is music
In perfect harmony
So when I sing
I have sung all about
The love of you and me
I never got angry with my guitar`Cause when I strike a chord
It gives me what I wanna hear
So I'm finding out that
We are quite like my song together, my dear
Outside answers
Should always be forbidden
Problems should be solved
And never hidden
I like to live the love
That I sing about in my song
I like to live the love
That I sing about in my song
BB King
I Like to Like the Love
My song is a serious matter
It reflects what I feel
If I say I love you, I mean it`Cause in my song
Every line is for real
Every man or woman
Enjoys going home
To a peaceful situation
To give love and receive love
Without any complications
Whether my tune is short or long
Whether my lyrics are weak or strong
I like to live the love
That I sing about in my song
I like to live the love
That I sing about in my song
Music is love
And my love is music
In perfect harmony
So when I sing
I have sung all about
The love of you and me
I never got angry with my guitar`Cause when I strike a chord
It gives me what I wanna hear
So I'm finding out that
We are quite like my song together, my dear
Outside answers
Should always be forbidden
Problems should be solved
And never hidden
I like to live the love
That I sing about in my song
I like to live the love
That I sing about in my song
In our efforts to buy local we hooked up with Riverview Farms. Their producing grits with the same care as Anson Mills. Here is some information about their farm.
Riverview Farms is a certified organic family farm on 150 acres in the beautiful foothills of Northwest Georgia. We grow over 50 varieties of vegetables from May-December. We also have grass-fed beef and pastured Berkshire Pork. Located just an hour North of Atlanta, we support many small urban markets and a large CSA. The farm has been in operation by the Swancy family for 30 years and has been certified organic since 2000. We always welcome new members to our CSA and love to give tours of our farm.Our endeavors are guided by our commitment to producing organic vegetables and meats using methods that are good for the land, good for the animals, and good for people, like you. Our detailed attention to soil quality, animal husbandry, grass production, and diverse crops go beyond organic. (more...)
Location
954 White Graves Rd.Ranger, GA 30734
Contact Information
Charlotte and Wes Swancygrassfedcow.com7063342926
Riverview Farms is a certified organic family farm on 150 acres in the beautiful foothills of Northwest Georgia. We grow over 50 varieties of vegetables from May-December. We also have grass-fed beef and pastured Berkshire Pork. Located just an hour North of Atlanta, we support many small urban markets and a large CSA. The farm has been in operation by the Swancy family for 30 years and has been certified organic since 2000. We always welcome new members to our CSA and love to give tours of our farm.Our endeavors are guided by our commitment to producing organic vegetables and meats using methods that are good for the land, good for the animals, and good for people, like you. Our detailed attention to soil quality, animal husbandry, grass production, and diverse crops go beyond organic. (more...)
Location
954 White Graves Rd.Ranger, GA 30734
Contact Information
Charlotte and Wes Swancygrassfedcow.com7063342926
Friday, October 3, 2008
The crew is doing the reception for FLOW movie premiere. I can not stress enough how important this movie is and will be for the future of our planet. The following is the flow website.http://www.flowthefilm.com/
NOW PLAYING NATIONWIDE
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"Water is the sleeping giant issue of the 21st Century and we all need to wake up about it. FLOW opens our eyes about the greatest threat of our time - the global water crisis. It is a compelling and passionate film. Its engaging narrative will grip the viewer."Robert Redford
"FLOW exposes the efforts of a few rapacious corporations to exploit the world's water for their own profit. It illuminates the responsibility we who consume that water at $9 a gallon bare for the devastation that ensues. It is a clarion call to action to all those who care about the future we leave our children, to oppose and end this usurpation of our planet's life blood. It is brilliant and not to be missed."James Cromwell
Irena Salina's award-winning documentary investigation into what experts label the most important political and environmental issue of the 21st Century - The World Water Crisis.
Salina builds a case against the growing privatization of the world's dwindling fresh water supply with an unflinching focus on politics, pollution, human rights, and the emergence of a domineering world water cartel.
Interviews with scientists and activists intelligently reveal the rapidly building crisis, at both the global and human scale, and the film introduces many of the governmental and corporate culprits behind the water grab, while begging the question "CAN ANYONE REALLY OWN WATER?"
Beyond identifying the problem, FLOW also gives viewers a look at the people and institutions providing practical solutions to the water crisis and those developing new technologies, which are fast becoming blueprints for a successful global and economic turnaround.
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