Here at Pop Omnivore, Top Chef gives us lots to discuss. Sustainability? That’s in our wheelhouse. Regional cuisine? We eat that up! So it was with great interest that we followed finalist and pig-lover (note his tattoo) Kevin Gillespie this season as he talked about southern cooking and environmentally-minded eating. The twenty-five-year-old owner and executive chef of Atlanta’s Woodfire Grill spoke to us about those things—and about pork, of course.

We've covered some of America's regional cuisines in our magazine and blog, but we’ve never touched on Georgia. Is Atlanta known for one particular dish? If not, what do you think your city’s iconic dish should be?

We have grits and a predilection for using pork products—things people associate with the South—but I don't know how well Georgia knows its own cuisine, and Atlanta is a peculiar situation, because it’s a city of transplants.

I have a very strong opinion of what Atlanta food should be. Atlanta is a peculiarity because it’s a cosmopolitan city that exists within the Deep South. I would like Atlanta to become a place that can embrace those things. I’m striving to apply the traditions of traditional southern cookery, but elevate them because we are a city. I take the things I grew up with and remember why they're important; I’m not attempting to create new southern food. I embrace our regional ingredients but look at them in a more worldly way.

I came back [from the West Coast] because I wanted to make a contribution to the food of the area I'm from. In Atlanta I have a rare opportunity, because we don't have to placate people wanting us to be a place steeped in southern tradition, but we can't deny that it's all around us.

Let's talk about your food philosophy. What is your definition of sustainability, and why is it important to you as a chef, and as a consumer?

[Sustainability] has definitely become this buzz word. It used to be that chefs didn't focus on it so much, but we have always had sustainability as a model for what we do. I want to create an environment that takes care of itself. I don't need a place that creates waste without helping anything. I don't need food that comes from so far away that we have a gigantic negative impact on the Earth. We make decisions that make a lot of sense for us. By choosing foods that are available to us right now, we create a sustainable business. We can just throw it in the garbage, or we can throw it into this other garbage, which is our compost. It's giving back to the soil and to the world. These are our methods of sustainability. While cooking great food is always at the forefront, our food was meant to be a little bit more than that.

Isn’t it challenging to have a successful restaurant and be sustainable at the same time?

Yes, but It can be both. It is a more challenging business to operate. Our sources are not as infinite. On the other side though, we're providing a product that not everyone can provide. The key to this, and the one that’s maybe often overlooked, is that we approach most of this from a matter of taste. It comes down to the fact that we're buying better quality, but better because it's fresher and that coincides with being sustainable. It's definitely easier to buy everything you need from one big company, but it lacks something and will always lack something. We still want to be people of the moment and modern in this world but we need to realize that we modernized too many things and take a step back and focus on the quality.

Thoughts on eating seasonally?

The foods in season are so much better. People don't always realize things like citrus—oranges and lemons and meyer lemons— are all things of the winter and can make really enlivening food. They make the drudgery of the winter perk up a little. And animals, too. Striped bass and sable fish are in season right now. People don’t always think about seasonality of proteins. Fish swim certain rivers at certain times of year. And I have the last of the chickens we'll have for months and months right now. Populations won’t be high in winter—they'll stay indoors. This is what makes our menu and food dynamic. We change our menu to reflect what is truly available for us. It’s as simple as this: This is the last of the chicken, so this is the last we'll have until the spring.

Urban gardens and farmer’s markets are big in New York. How does Atlanta compare?

Urban gardening is going on in Atlanta, and farmer's markets are prolific here, too. In a couple neighborhoods in Atlanta there will be a lot between two houses and rather than building a house, we'll plant a garden and share it. We’re trying to do it with schools here, trying to connect kids to food so they’ll grow up to be informed adults. Kids will pick on taste. They don't have this agenda attached to them. The decision becomes very innate—“I would rather have this so I’ll pick it.” They end up shaping our food culture. We've done something very similar to what Alice [Waters] has done. It’s amazing how much you can teach kids.

We know of your affection for the pig. As a chef, why do you like it so much?

The animal offers a lot more opportunities [cooking-wise] than most do. Pork has the capacity to be the focal point of a dish and what everything else is centered around, but also has the ability to be the backdrop. We even use it in pastry in the South. The South has a long storied history of embracing pork fat.

Country ham is showing up on northern menus now. Can you tell us about it?

It's certainly a southern thing and speaks to our taste. Some people are like, “it's really salty,” and yeah it is. I love it. I think it's delicious. I think if given to chefs and put in the hands of people who respect and have the capacity to elevate it, it can add such incredible levels of savory qualities to food. Something that was once very much an ingredient of the Deep South has the ability to transcend barriers.

You'll be competing in the 2011 Bocuse D'Or. How are you preparing yourself for that?

I’m preparing by trying not to stress out! My food is going to be simple, seasoned perfectly—and served hot.

We asked Kevin to share one of his favorite recipes with us, and he kindly obliged. (Note, peanut oil that has not been overly refined can be substituted for grilled peanut oil in this dish.)

Slow roasted pork belly with pickled apples and peanut butter

1 whole pork belly skin off

5 Fuji apples

3 cups cider vinegar

1 tsp. pickling spices

1 cup sugar

1 cup peanuts, roasted and cooled

grilled peanut oil

peanut oil

salt

black pepper

Season pork belly with salt and pepper. Wrap in a double layer of foil and cook at 225 degrees Fahrenheit for 2 1/2 hours.

Remove from oven and allow to cool to room temperature without opening package.

Peel, core and dice apples into a medium dice. Combine vinegar, sugar, spices, a pinch of salt and a half cup of water in a pot. Bring to a boil and allow to boil 5 minutes. Cool until just warm to the touch. Add apples and allow to cool, under refrigeration for 6 hours. Add peanuts and enough peanut and grilled peanut oil to blender to make a puree. Season.

Slice pork belly into pieces and grill until warm through and caramelized on the outside. Place on top of a pool of peanut butter and top with pickled apples.

-Catherine Barker

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