Chef Spotlight: Seven questions with Chef Meghan Gill
Chef Meghan Gill, Hell’s Kitchen Season 14 winner, joined Dormie Network as Executive Chef on June 7, 2019. She’s spent the last couple months refining menus and serving as proxy for a Chief Culinary Officer, on-site at Victoria National, and moved to her ongoing post at Hidden Creek on September 10.
What got you started in the culinary arts?
I’ve been in this business since I was 19 - I was very lucky in knowing what I wanted to do, and doing it, when I was young. After studying classic French techniques at L’Academie de Cuisine, I worked at 2941 Restaurant, one of the top five restaurants in the DC metro. That experience definitely made me strong enough for Hell’s Kitchen in 2015, and made Gordon Ramsay looked like a kitten.
How was your Hell’s Kitchen experience?
Very intense, and I’d do it again in a heartbeat. I believe that when you are a cook, your mindset is that you’re competing and trying to win. But when you become a chef, you instead think about bringing others to your level. While I was on the show, I found that I was teaching others and wasn’t focused on the competition aspect. My natural tendency is to share my knowledge and show others how to do things the right way. I get joy from those teaching moments.
How did you hear about the executive chef role at Dormie Network?
Through an Instagram message. I met Tony at my second-ever job in the culinary business - it’s funny how things come full circle. When I left DC for Roanoke, Va., I had two interviews: one with Tony at Le Bistro and one, ironically, with Ballyhack. Ten years later, Tony didn’t know how to get ahold of me, so he messaged me on Instagram. I called him, we started talking like no time had passed at all, and he sold me on his vision. We’ve got a great balance of strengths, good communication, and we read each other very well. It’s been a solid partnership.
What attracted you to Dormie Network?
The fact that it was a network. That word has so many positive associations in my life: I know a lot of people now thanks to the Hell’s Kitchen network, I got onto the show thanks to a lamb purveyor I used to work with at Le Bistro, and the chef community is its own network. Making the most of your network is all about knowledge exchange and learning from each other; chefs have similar experiences, but we all see things from different angles.
What’s unique about the network’s approach to menus?
The network is supporting food and beverage like something I’ve never seen before, and it really is elevating the experience. The really cool thing that differentiates a place like Dormie Network how we can operate differently than a regular restaurant. At a restaurant, you can do volume but not be able to cater so personally to the guest. Even at a smaller restaurant, you still can’t cater as well to the guest because you don’t have the support staff. With Dormie Network, there’s a beautiful in-between space: we’re not doing volume, so we’re able to do these special menus and take the time to listen to the guest. Maybe they don’t even know what they want, but we can run with it and knock it out of the park. It’s really fun for me as a chef to get creative and make people happy.
Here’s an example: recently, we had a member that really like the Rolling Stones, and wanted to know if we could do a theme. So I went out and bought some of their vintage albums and had the menu printed on the records. The menu-records were sitting at the table, surrounded by other Rolling Stones memorabilia, and we served a three-course menu of Scotch eggs and other English food. But the real surprise was when the guest returned to their cottage to find a turntable, so they could listen to their souvenir menu-records!
What’s your food philosophy?
As a chef, you go through periods of growth. If you’d asked me this five years ago, I’d say my focus was Southwestern flavors, citrus, herbs, and lots of sauces. Right now, what I enjoy is elevating the classics. If you do something familiar like a lobster roll or a fish dip, but use pickled watermelon rind and pea shoots as garnishes, you bring that surprise element.
How are you settling into your new role?
I’m excited to be here and have so much support–it’s been incredible. I tell my mom all the time that this is the best job I’ve ever had. I’m being trusted to do what I do best, and it’s been a lot of fun.
