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Chef Todd Richards knows a thing or two about cooking for travelers. Since moving from Chicago to Atlanta in the early 1990s, he’s worked at luxury hotels around the South, including the Four Seasons in downtown Atlanta, the Seelbach Hotel in Louisville, and Ritz-Carlton locations in Atlanta and Palm Beach. He also opened the award-winning One Flew South on Concourse E at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, one of the world’s most successful airport restaurants.
After years serving as the Culinary Director for Jackmont Hospitality, Richards recently departed the role and returned to the hotel circuit as the Executive Chef for Waldorf Astoria Atlanta in Buckhead. Here, he oversees all culinary operations and its French-Southern restaurant Brassica.
Chef and cookbook author
Richards arrived in Atlanta in 1992 and has lived here on and off for years. “I really got my start at Kroger on Lavista Road, and then subsequently started working at the Blue Ribbon Grill right across the street,” he recalled.
Blue Ribbon Grill is where Richards really started cooking. He progressed to the Four Seasons Atlanta and trained under the late chef Darryl Evans, before moving on to the kitchen at the Ritz-Carlton Downtown. From there, Richards worked at luxury hotels throughout the region.
In 2008, Richards returned to Atlanta to open One Flew South at Hartsfield-Jackson. Since then, he’s led the kitchens at multiple Atlanta restaurants like The Shed at Glenwood, written two cookbooks, including the award-winning Soul: A Chef’s Culinary Evolution in 150 Recipes, and opened restaurants Lake and Oak BBQ in East Lake, Soul: Food & Culture at Krog Street Market, and a second One Flew South location on the Beltline. (Lake and Oak closed in 2022. The Beltline location of One Flew South closed last year.)
“I’ve always had multiple things that feed my brain,” Richards said of his restaurant career. “I always have my own kind of places in between there.”
This spring, Richards will open Que’Riosity in McDonough, just south of Atlanta.
Coming full circle
Richards’ return to hotels, however, comes after years at Jackmont Hospitality, where he primarily focused on operating airport restaurants. The chef sees many similarities between running airport and hotel restaurants, especially in the transience of guests. Both have their regulars, he said.
“You would be surprised how many regulars you have at airport restaurants,” Richards explained. “We have people who met there and got engaged there, who developed relationships there. It tells you the lasting power of a great restaurant like One Flew South. We have people who change their flights in order to come to the restaurant.”
There’s an adage that states one can’t get to heaven or hell without passing through Hartsfield-Jackson first. Richards argues the world’s busiest airport has become a destination in its own right, where travelers opt to take long layovers to dine at Ludacris’ Chicken + Beer on Concourse D or their favorite Delta Sky lounge.
Similarly, Richards added, hotels are evolving to become part of communities. Consider, for instance, locals visiting a hotel restaurant, or remote workers logging in at an airport cafe.
“A lot of workspaces that you find on the street could be stark. They’re just practical places to work,” Richards said. “But that’s not the case in hotel spaces, where you can be pampered while you’re working.”
Southern food isn’t a monolith
As someone who’s lived around the South for more than three decades, Richards is particularly excited about bringing his own sense of the South and Atlanta to travelers staying at a luxury hotel like the Waldorf Astoria.
“The last five years, I’ve been in airport restaurants. I’ve seen travelers from a different perspective, as a person who has had a restaurant in Atlanta, where you think that people just want certain types of things when they come [in to eat],” Richards said. “There’s nothing worse than traveling to a city and not being able to experience [the culture] from a food and beverage [perspective].”
While Brassica may be a French-influenced restaurant, Richards incorporates Southern fare on his menu. And he plans to showcase what Atlanta and the South have to offer in a variety of ways.
“[Southern food] is not a monolith. [There’s] so much sophistication in Southern food, and its French influence is a highlight of what we bring [at Brassica].”
Richards stood witness to the evolution of Atlanta’s dining scene over the last 30 years. When he started in Atlanta, the city had five master chefs. He saw how Charleston influenced Atlanta’s food scene, watched sushi and Mexican cuisine grown in popularity, and followed along as local chefs expanded the definition of soul food, from Mary Mac’s Tea Room and The Busy Bee Cafe to chefs like Deborah VanTrece (Twisted Soul, Oretha’s), Robert Butts (Auburn Angel), and Duane Nutter (Southern National).
“Atlanta [does] not necessarily have a cuisine of its own, but you have great experts of interpreting what Atlanta could be and how to move [its food scene] forward,” he said.
One of the perks of living in the South as a chef, Richards said, is working with local farmers and food purveyors. He’s happy to reconnect with them, and have access to local ingredients to serve at the Waldorf Astoria and Brassica. But Richards is really looking forward to mentoring the next generation of Atlanta chefs, many of whom, like him, will get their start working in the city’s hotels.
“That, to me, is the exciting part of being the chef [at Waldorf Astoria] and being back in this environment,” Richards said.