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Photograph by Michael Muser
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Saying Grace Three-star Michelin chef Curtis Duffy returns to Euphoria from Chicago / by M . Linda L ee
D
espite the fact that Greenville’s food scene is boiling over with new offerings, it’s not every day that a Michelin three-star chef comes to town. And it’s even more extraordinary to have one return. This month, during the Euphoria food, wine, and music festival, Curtis Duffy will be back to cook at Coast to Coast: Michelin Star Dinner at the Lazy Goat on September 24. The price tag for this star-studded meal is lofty ($350 per ticket), but consider the splurge. After all, it’s less expensive than traveling to Chicago to experience Duffy’s exquisite, “thoughtful progressive” tasting menu at his three-star restaurant Grace. Duffy—who cut his culinary teeth with no less than the late Charlie Trotter and Grant Achatz, who helms Chicago’s other three-star restaurant Alinea—began his culinary journey in Johnstown, Ohio, when he was reluctantly introduced to cooking in a sixth-grade home economics class. Surprisingly, he took quickly to the culinary arts. In high school, he worked his way through restaurant jobs, eventually landing in the kitchen at a prestigious local country club.
While Duffy’s cooking career blossomed, his personal life proved tumultuous. The boy’s parents’ had a rocky marriage, and inevitably they split up. When Curtis was 19, his despondent father shot his ex-wife, then turned the gun on himself. It was a dark time for the budding chef and his brother and sister. The story of how Duffy channeled his pain into cooking is poignantly detailed in the contemporary documentary For Grace, produced by Chicago filmmakers Kevin Pang and Mark Helenowski. Duffy opened his first restaurant Grace in December 2012, and it won two Michelin stars its first year. In 2015, Grace was awarded three stars—Michelin’s highest rating. The chef reports he is happy to be revisiting Greenville and participating again in the Kids’ Cookoff. “The best part of Euphoria 2015 was getting to meet all the aspiring young chefs and hearing how passionate and excited they were about the ingredients they were using,” Duffy recalls. As to the menu of the Michelin Star Dinner, Duffy can only hint: “A few of the dishes will be quite playful, as far as how you eat them,” he offers. No matter the menu, Michael Kramer, Table 301’s executive chef of culinary operations, looks forward to sharing the Lazy Goat’s kitchen with such exceptional culinary talent. “I have cooked with a number of Michelinstarred chefs, and it is always incredible to work alongside the masters of their craft,” declares Kramer. “It promises to be an amazing experience and an unforgettable meal.”
(B)raise the Stakes: Chef Curtis Duffy (front, right) achieved the rare feat of garnering three Michelin stars at his Chicago restaurant, Grace—one of only 13 restaurants in the United States to hold the high honor. Duffy will cook during Euphoria’s coveted Michelin Star Dinner.
For Grace
A feature-length documentary about “food, family, balance, and sacrifice,” For Grace chronicles the creation of Curtis Duffy’s restaurant Grace from the renovation of a former pickled-herring factory in Chicago’s Near West Side to its celebrated opening night. The film, which was released earlier this year, will be shown during Euphoria on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. at the Kroc Center [venue is not yet confirmed]. In case you miss it, you can stream For Grace on Netflix, iTunes, Amazon, or Google Play. Coast to Coast: Michelin Star Dinner at the Lazy Goat. Sat, Sept. 24, 7 p.m. $350. For tickets, go to euphoriagreenville.com.
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