Meet Chef Ben Vaughn
Chef Ben Vaughn was about eight or ten years old when he cooked for the first time. The menu consisted of pancakes. An old family friend was his first cooking influence. “He would take me around as a child, 12, 13 years old, to these really interesting Greek diners and restaurants in South Florida. He owned a few different ones and he would swing me back through the kitchens and I'd get to see all the stuff going on behind the scenes. It was very cool.”
The decision to become a chef was a natural one. His mother was an artist, so Chef Ben Vaughn grew up with a strong art and music influence. But his options were limited by the fact that he couldn’t sing, dance or act. According to Chef Ben Vaughn, he was about 15 years old when he decided to cook for a living. “It was definitely a drive. It was something I wanted to do.”
Chef Ben Vaughn’s first job was at a well-known eatery in Florida called Mario's. He was sixteen and found himself in the kitchen, baking. Later, he worked with award winning Mark Militello as well as the Food Network's Sara Moulton. Chef Ben Vaughn gives Sara Moulton the credit for teaching him that the key to success was to remain in the kitchen.
Vaughn's culinary influence comes from the diverse cuisine of South Florida. Chef Ben Vaughn was voted as one of the top 5 “Best Chefs in Memphis” and tied with Chef Wally Joe for the 2nd Place Silver winner.
Chef Ben Vaughn garnered acclaim during his stint as chef
and partner at the Memphis, Tennessee award winning River Oaks Restaurant. In
the fall of 2009 he opened his own restaurant, called Grace after his daughter.
Grace Restaurant serves Southern food cooked with French techniques. Soft
lighting sets the mood in a cozy dining room and patrons can relax in a salon
area on couches and antique love seats. Locally made art decorates the walls,
and an outdoor terrace is available for dinner and cocktails.
Chef Ben Vaughn has a blog at www.gracememphis.com and Grace's Facebook page has over 1300 fans in just a few short months. Grace Restaurant is open every day except Sunday.
“It’s going to be a local thing, very approachable, kind of a French technique meets Southern ingredients thing,” Chef Ben Vaughn concludes. “We just want to have a good time. It’s a platform for me to cook, really. And it’ll be a very casual but nice atmosphere.