A passion for food
_{Savannah’s Chef Joe Randall has a zeal for cooking and teaching authentic regional cusine}

BY NANCY ROQUEMORE

Chef Joe Randall is right at home in his Savannah demonstration kitchen/studio, where he enjoys teaching about and preparing traditional Southern fare. (Photo by Stephen Morton / www.stephenmorton.com)

Listening to Chef Joe Randall is a feast for the ears. In fact, getting him to talk about anything other than food is downright difficult. From his studio/demonstration kitchen/classroom on Waters Avenue in Savannah, Randall seems able and eager to talk about favorite dishes, favorite chefs and memorable meals almost endlessly.

“My favorite dish to cook changes daily,” he says. “It depends on who I’m cooking for. It could be Cuban one day, crab cakes the next. Personally, I’m fond of oxtails, paella, perlou, jambalaya—dishes with big flavors, layers of flavor.”

Although he was raised in Pennsylvania, Randall, 58, has a strong affection for Southern food. “My mother was from Virginia, and our table was always blessed with Southern foods,” he says. “As a youngster, I worked for my uncle, Richard Ross, who was a restaurateur and caterer outside Pittsburgh. He gave me a taste for the food business.”

Randall served in the Air Force in flight-line kitchens and was stationed at Turner Field in Albany where, he says, “The young ladies I went out with there were always feeding me good Southern, African-American foods. That’s when I recognized there is a difference in Georgia cooking and classic Southern cooking. It was a difference I never forgot.”

After the Air Force, Randall served an apprenticeship with Robert W. Lee at the Harrisburger Hotel in Harrisburg, Pa. “From Chef Lee, I learned respect for the kitchen and the equipment,” says Randall. “He was born in Atlanta and had cooked at the Biltmore and Henry Grady hotels. He opened the restaurant at the King and Prince Beach Club on St. Simons in 1937 and also worked in Charleston. He shared his love for Southern cuisine with me and he was my mentor.”

From these beginnings, Randall went on to executive chef posts at a dozen restaurants, including the award-winning Cloister Restaurant in Buffalo and Baltimore’s Fishmarket. He has served on the faculties of four schools, sharing his kitchen crafts and enthusiasm for Southern cuisine across the country. “I think my favorite meal,” he says, “was one I cooked with Chef Patrick Clark at Cal-Poly in Pomona [Calif.] for a group of students. We served shrimp wrapped in zucchini, venison with beet sauce, mashed rutabagas and turnips, and bread pudding—all Southern.”

Randall has spent a lot of time gracing the covers and pages of magazines across the country and sharing his expertise and love for cooking on radio and television shows, including Home and Garden Television, WTOC in Savannah and Turner South. These days, he spends most of his time in Savannah and at his school where he demonstrates basic Southern cooking techniques and serves meals built around authentic African-American, Low-country, Georgia Coast and Southern cuisines.

“I guess you could say I am passionate about Savannah and the Coastal region and the authentic foods found here,” he says. “I want to share this passion with as many people as I can.”

About the cookbook: “A Taste of Heritage: The New African-American Cuisine”

“A Taste of Heritage: The New African-American Cuisine” by Joe Randall and Toni Tipton-Martin is available in paperback. Randall and Martin have pulled together more than 300 recipes—creative interpretations of new and classic African-American dishes suitable for the home cook.

Chef Joe Randall’s Cooking School in Savannah offers classes year-round for individuals and groups of no more than 20. Topics range from single ingredients—duck, chicken, meats—to complete menus like a Low-country boil or a dinner party. Techniques and skills classes are also offered. For book-ordering and class-schedule information, visit www.chefjoerandall.com.

Atlanta writer Nancy Roquemore gained five pounds while interviewing Chef Joe Randall.