Chef Kevin Gillespie announced on Instagram last week that he is leaving Atlanta and the restaurant industry.
Gillespie hinted at the departures in a February 2026 essay for Food & Wine. He confirmed the decision to “step away” from both in an Oct. 2 Instagram post, citing a “life-threatening personal health crisis” that prompted him to “make some serious changes, both personally and professionally.” Gillespie has been open about his health issues over the years. (In 2018, one of Gillespie’s kidneys was removed, after he was diagnosed with a rare form of renal cancer.)
Earlier this year, the “Top Chef” alum stepped down as chef of Scottish-Southern restaurant Nàdair. The Woodland Hills restaurant closed in June.
Marco Shaw, president and co-founder of Red Beard Restaurants, told Rough Draft that Gillespie will continue to retain ownership stake in Gunshow.
“[Kevin] and I are business partners, and that relationship hasn’t changed. He hasn’t had an active role in Gunshow operations in years,” Shaw said. The award-winning, Michelin-recommended restaurant opened in Glenwood Park in 2013.
What’s next?
As for Gunshow, Shaw said it’s business as usual in Glenwood Park under Chef de Cuisine Cody Chassar, who joined the restaurant in 2019. Chassar became chef de cuisine four years later, with Devan Knobloch named general manager and beverage director in 2024.
Shaw has been running Red Beard Restaurants and its operations since 2015.
“Nothing changes on the Red Beard level either,” said Shaw. “I don’t have plans to open another restaurant in 2027, so it will just be Gunshow and the Terminus City BBQ pop-up for the next 14 to 15 months.”
Terminus City pops up at Gunshow Sunday through Tuesday, from 5 to 8 p.m.
All Kevin Gillespie and Red Beard Restaurant coverage
Gillespie’s career arc
Originally from Locust Grove, Georgia, Gillespie spent 30 years in the restaurant industry. After graduating from the Arts Institute of Atlanta, Gillespie worked at Two Urban Licks and Woodfire Grill. He briefly worked at Fife Restaurant in Portland, Oregon, before returning to Atlanta and the kitchen at Woodfire Grill.
Gillespie opened Gunshow in 2013, followed by Southern restaurant Revival in Decatur in 2015. Red Beard Restaurants and Gillespie next opened Cold Beer on the Eastside Beltline in 2019, replacing it with Slabtown Public House during the pandemic. Both restaurants have since closed. Nàdair opened in 2024, taking over the space previously home to Chef Anne Quatrano’s Floataway Cafe.
In addition to restaurants, Gillespie has written two cookbooks and appeared as a contestant on season six of the Bravo competition show “Top Chef.” Gillespie was a runner-up on the show and voted a “fan favorite” by viewers. He later returned to the franchise in “Top Chef Duels” and “Top Chef: All-Stars L.A.”
Gillespie and Shaw founded the Defend Southern Food Foundation in 2020, which provides meals for families in the Maynard Jackson school cluster in Atlanta. The foundation purchases ingredients for meals from locally owned purveyors, farmers, and ranchers.
Beth McKibben contributed to this report.
