Kerry O’Connor firmly believes you can have your designer cake and eat it too. Hailing from Morristown, New Jersey (she assures us it’s nothing like Jersey Shore), O’Connor specializes in making unique works of delicious art.

When Yoshimono, owner and chef of Sushi Zen, first came to Savannah 18 years ago, the sushi climate in this country definitely wasn’t what it is now. Consequently, Yoshi, as he likes to be called, originally from Tokyo, felt a responsibility to share the Japanese culture with Savannahians and bring a new cuisine to the South.

After working with a cast of characters at Walt Disney World’s Resort and partnering with the world-renowned Le Cordon Bleu, chef Darin Sehnert has now made himself a home at the Mansion on Forsyth Park’s 700 Kitchen Cooking School. While epicureans of all skill levels can take an in-depth class on culinary creation, he gave South a few tips on how to put the soul in soul food.

Leave it to Roberto Leoci, the sizzlin’ Sicilian who specializes in homemade pastas, fresh fish and all other ingredients necessary to bring a traditional trattoria to Savannah.

Walk into Leoci’s Trattoria on a Saturday or Sunday night, or Monday or Tuesday or any day for that matter, and you’ll find the same scene: the dark, slickly appointed dining room humming from the duos and trios of diners, and the lamplit patio, lined with long tables stretching under massive umbrellas, smelling of bubbling cheese and crisping crust as the smoke from the pizza oven wafts overhead.

The city’s only Brew Master reveals his exact science

John Pinkerton has one-of-a-kind title. As the only Brew Master in the city, and partial owner of Moon River, he’s been brewing craft beer for 16 years, opening in 1999 and providing the city with quality beer ever since. In regards to being the only brewer in town, Pinkerton comments, “It’s magnificent!”

Serving on the national Board of Directors for The Brewer’s Association, Pinkerton is always looking for ways to further advance his craft. After attending brew school in Boston and working for Frederick Brewing Company (now Flying Dog Brewery) Pinkerton’s brewing talent comes from almost two decades of dedication.

Bobby Wells is a Georgia boy who knows his seafood. The Brunswick native scored an internship at Fiddler’s Crab House on River Street after college at Georgia Southern and now he runs the kitchen with affection. Affection for both the hungry patrons who pack the place and for the food he feeds them.

“We spend a lot of money to get the best seafood around,” he proclaims. “It’s as fresh as you can get.” Fiddler’s steamed seafood platter is a head-turning maritime celebration that is one of the restaurant’s signature dishes. Wells piles a tin platter high with piping hot steamed Georgia shrimp, crawfish, oysters, mussels and clams. Crowning the top of the feast are straight-from-Alaska snow crab legs. Plenty of butter and a few choice spices are all he needs to accentuate the flavors that just arrived fresh on the truck.

Two of Savannah’s most seasoned chefs take their skills to a whole new canvas.

Two artists at the Telfair Museum’s Jepson Center work under a particularly challenging set of circumstances: Their paintbrushes are sharp and made of metal, their paints are perishable and from the earth, and they create their artwork every day, in a tiny, hot studio for a set of buyers with a seemingly insatiable hunger for their work. Their names are John Deaderick and Michael Pritchard, and together they’re the chefs behind Café Zeum.
Last year, when the Jepson Center decided to open up their in-museum cafe to outside restaurateurs, Pritchard and Deaderick were high on their culinary wish list and approached the pair with the idea. Evidenced by a cult like following at their other restaurant, the Starland Cafe, the chefs were comfortable with the lunchtime setting, but had their doubts about how they would fit into the museum environment. “We walked into the meeting just to see what they had to say,” Deaderick says. “For about an hour and a half, they described our business and our philosophy. It was a perfect fit.”

Chart House Executive Chef Jim O’Connor believes good food is all about the details.

A restaurant group based in Texas can’t know much about coastal provisions in Savannah … or can it?

Chart House, overlooking River Street, is one of the few restaurants under the corporate umbrella of Landry’s that proudly allows its chef the creative freedom to build a local menu. Executive Chef Jim O’Connor started with Landry’s Restaurants in Alexandria and Annapolis before landing the Savannah location, where he has created a Lowcountry menu. And Savannahians are taking note.

The menu at Chart House changes nightly to feature such local fare as stone crabs from Hilton Head. O’Connor attributes his success in Savannah to his emphasis on consistency. “The details make the difference. It’s the little things that make food great,” O’Connor professes when the question of his food philosophy is brought up. “When a step is missed, it simply won’t come out right. I really want the details taken care of.” 

Playing with his food yields delicious results for Chef Kirk Blaine of Driftaway Cafe.

Kirk Blaine has an advantage over most chefs. Every evening, he walks through Driftaway Cafe’s dining room and knows what customers will order even before they open a menu. “Our customer base comes in here five to seven times a week,” Blaine says enthusiastically. “We pack the house every night—not many restaurants can say that.” But there’s another reason Blaine knows all of the hungry faces lining Driftaway’s mural-painted walls: he’s been working there since he was 16 years old. He left for a short time to attend the Culinary Institute of America in New York City, but before long he was back in Savannah—mostly because he hated the cold, but also because of his loyalty to Driftaway owners Robin and Michelle Quartlebaum. “They are amazing owners who have given me the opportunity to explore with food.”

A large part of his success is due to his fascination—obsession, even—with food. A visual artist by nature, Blaine finds himself playing with his food in the best possible way.

Kevin McPherson of Belford’s Seafood and Steaks hastens the way to delectable dining.

After 27 years in the restaurant business, Kevin McPherson wastes no time laying down the facts. “I’m not an actual chef,” he says, referring to the absence of an official culinary education in his extensive career. “I started out in Charleston as a busboy,” McPherson explains. “I learned a lot, but didn’t do much cooking.”

After eight and a half years of learning the ropes in a French restaurant, McPherson moved to Savannah, gained some confidence in the kitchen, and ended up at Belford’s Seafood and Steaks in City Market, where he’s been sending out scrumptious dishes for the last 10 years. While McPherson primarily focuses on expediting these days (making sure dishes transition from the kitchen to the servers’ trays cleanly and quickly), he can still relate to the food. “Our Shrimp, Greens and Grits entree is my favorite,” he says of the award-winning dish. “I didn’t create it, but I feel connected to it.” With local shrimp and apple-smoked bacon resting on top of buttery grit cakes alongside wilted collard greens, all soaking in a Chardonnay butter sauce, one can’t help but wish to be connected to this dish too.