Chef Kevin Rathbun Selects Atlanta For His First Restaurant

Scheduled to open in May 2004



For Immediate Release



ATLANTA, GA. February 4, 2004: Chef Kevin Rathbun has signed a lease for his first restaurant space in Atlanta. Kevin plans on opening the restaurant by May 2004.



The restaurant will be called Rathbuns and is located in an upscale urban metal works building called The Stove Works. It is surrounded by small neighborhoods like Virginia Highland, Cabbagetown, Morningside, Emory, Druid Hills, Midtown, and Little Five Points and is only one mile from the downtown hotel and convention trade.



He describes his first restaurant cuisine as, Seasonal and Globally Driven Food. Kevin says, I love this city and would not go anywhere else, Inman Park provides everything I was looking for in developing a new restaurant. A hip, urban area that is growing tremendously. I have been watching Inman Park for four years and I love the atmosphere of the small neighborhood, yet still close enough to everybody in the city.



About Kevin Rathbun: Nine Years ago, Chef Kevin Rathbun was hand-picked by Buckhead Life Restaurant Group in Atlanta, Georgia, to come to Atlanta. He arrived to open NAVA, and introduced Atlanta to southwestern cuisine. It immediately became a hot spot to celebrities, young, affluent and fashionable people across Atlanta. In 1995, NAVA was recognized in Esquire Magazine as a top new restaurant. Since its inception, NAVA has received local and national recognition. NAVA has received more than 20 awards for excellence, both nationally and locally. NAVA continues to pack guests in nightly with its green chile grits, its lobster taco and its signature snapper entrie.

Then in 1999, Kevin introduced Atlanta to Asian fusion as the opening chef for Bluepointe. Bluepointe immediately became known throughout Atlanta as the place to be for the business, finance and upscale crowd. Atlantans continue to wait for hours to dine in Bluepointe, and even longer to get into its bar. Bluepointe has received local and national recognition in Esquire Magazine as a top new restaurant as well as the prestigious Triple A Four Diamond Award. It continues to be one of Atlantas top restaurants.

From 1999-2003, Chef Kevin became the Corporate Executive Chef for the same company, Buckhead Life Restaurant Group, and oversaw many of the restaurants. He updated and reviewed the menus at Chops, Atlanta Fish Market and the Buckhead Diner. Eventually, he landed at the Buckhead Diner to overhaul the menu and bring life back into this fifteen-year old restaurant. Again, Atlantans embraced Kevins food, and soon the Buckhead Diner had its usual crowds again. The Buckhead Diner has received local and national praise for its menu and service.

Now, in 2004, Chef Kevin brings his own restaurant, Rathbuns, to Atlanta. Opening in Inman Park at The Stove Works, Chef Kevin will be involved in another exciting stylish restaurant, creating Seasonally and Globally Driven Food. On why he has selected Inman Park, Kevin says, I love this city and would not go anywhere else, Inman Park provides everything I was looking for in developing a new restaurant. A hip, re-generated area with a tremendous growth potential. I have been watching Inman Park for four years and I love the atmosphere of the small neighborhood, yet still close enough to everybody in the city.

Chef Kevin has become a local and nationally known chef personality, having worked with people such as Emeril Lagasse at Brennans of Houston & Commanders Palace in New Orleans. He was invited to become Chef at the noted Baby Routh in Dallas with Chef Stephen Pyles. While Kevin was Chef at Baby Routh in Dallas, it was named one of Americas 25 best restaurants by Mimi Sheraton of Travel & Leisure and received the DiRona award for dining excellence. Chef Kevin has also worked under Bradley Ogden at The American Restaurant in