Sharpshooter Coohill rides into City Grill

Nation's Restaurant News, June 26, 1989 by Jack Hayes

Sharpshooter Coohill rides into City Grill

ATLANTA -- Peasant Restaurants Inc., in its resolve to operate one of the nation's most prestigious luxury dining establishments, is planting a culinary sharpshooter in the kitchen of the 6-month-old City Grill here.

The hiring of 25-year-old Tom Coohill -- who quickly became one of Atlanta's most sought-after culinary stars after sweeping four medals, including a U.S. Chefs Open Grand Award while he was executive chef at The Abbey here -- marks a gain for Peasant Restaurants.

And it marks a loss for The Abbey, which had grabbed Coohill shortly after his return from L'Oustau de Baumaniere in Les Baux, France, where he'd studied briefly under legendary chef-owner Jean Charial, who trained Wolfgang Puck.

Coohill also brings with him Tom McEachern, his sous chef and "backbone" at The Abbey and a former classmate at Asheville Bouncombe Technical College. McEachern was hired from Occidental Restaurant in Washington, D.C.

"Tom Coohill becomes the finishing touch to one of the most beautiful Old World restaurants in the country," said Steve Nygren, founder and president of the 14-unit Peasant Group, whose fame can be ascribed not to luxury but to a hybrid notion of "casually elegant" dining with operations like The Pleasant Peasant.

"He's already winning lots of awards, and we're going to support his quest for fame in the chef's world," Nygren added. "In the doing we'll fulfill our city's quest for a restaurant that is talked about from coast to coast."

In fact, the Peasant Group, which recently ventured into the contemporary cafe-diner arena with its Mick's neighborhood restaurant concept and now boasts four units, has never had an executive chef in its greater-than-1,000-employee organization.

Some of Coohill's other credits include a year and a half of pastry and tournant service under Jean Banchet at Le Francais in Wheeling, Ill., and the executive chef's position at Turbot and Toulouse in Chicago from 1986 to 1987.

"It's a loss is all you can say," confirmed George Gore, operations vice president at The Abbey, which is searching for Coohill's successor. "We're a top restaurant, hunting a new chef. But this sort of thing happens all the time."

The Abbey, which, during its 21 years, has won more dining awards than any other restaurant in Atlanta, had given Coohill virtual free rein in the kitchen since his arrival last July, when he introduced stovetop-smoked fish -- a fresh and immediate signature hit.

Coohill, who is now expert with a smoker, has since developed other Abbey signatures -- like Fresh Poached Snails, Warm Goat Cheese Salad, and Ginger Wafers with Lime Mousse -- for conventioneers and regulars.

"Tom had something to give, and we put him out front where he could do his thing," said Gore, attesting to the talents of the young Coohill, who is 1989 Georgia Seafood Chef of the Year and winner of a silver medal at the 1989 American Seafood Challenge.

For City Grill, Coohill becomes the missing link in an operations team that Nygren calls "award-winning."

City Grill general manager Brian Zurawel was food and beverage manager at Chicago's Park Hyatt, whose freestanding restaurant, La Tour, won the 1988 Ivy Award. And sommelier Michael O'Neal swept Sommelier of the Year honors at the International Wine Show here last year.

But Coohill's talents also include his ability to translate fine dining into a high-volume operation. While many experienced chefs go sour at the notion of cooking 400 fancy covers a night, Coohill had been doing just that, a hundred dinners an hour during a good convention rush, at The Abbey.

"I never thought you could do that much quality food," admitted Coohill, who employed about 15 American Culinary Federation apprentices on his 25-person staff at The Abbey. "But all it takes is organization."

"I think of a hundred covers as a snap," explains Coohill, who sits ice cold in front of paperwork, although he catches fires under a toque. About a hundred covers, in fact, was the most he ever did at Turbot and Toulouse.

A believer in change, Coohill in a recent interview said he was planning to throw out The Abbey's seasonal menu and move into the age of weekly specials, built around four salads, three soups, five hot and five cold appetizers, seventeen entrees, and 11 desserts.

Coohill is bound to face the same conservatism at City Grill, whose menu reflects the atmosphere of luxury, elegance, and tradition. However, observers are anxiously awaiting Coohill's inevitable attack.

"I'll keep a veal chop and a couple of steaks, but the baked potato will have to go," said Coohill, who claimed he'll have considerable freedom in the City Grill kitchen. Discarding a la carte vegetables is another of his plans.

"The food is going to be classic, modern, and provocative," Coohill added. "There will be special vegetable varieties for every plate. And the desserts? Well, I take desserts very seriously."

Although Nygren did not mention it, Coohill's arrival in a way becomes the token rebuttal to local dining critics, such as Elliott Mackle at the Atlanta Journal & Constitution, who suggested that City Grill -- with all of its front-of-the-house grandeur -- was worthy of a better food statement.