Southern Proper Hospitality, the team behind Atlanta-based restaurants Milton’s Cuisine & Cocktails, The Big Ketch Saltwater Grill, Osteria Cibo Rustico, Smokebelly BBQ, and Tin Lizzy’s Cantina, is pleased to announce Randy Lewis as executive chef of its two new restaurant endeavors, Gypsy Kitchen and The Southern Gentleman, both opening September in the Buckhead Atlanta luxury shopping district.

Chef Lewis will serve locally sourced Southern cuisine at The Southern Gentleman and Spanish-inspired cuisine at Gypsy Kitchen. He is inspired by his hometown of New Orleans, a city known for infusing both Southern and colonial Spanish influences into its cuisine.

“This new position gives me the amazing opportunity to create food inspired by my home in the Deep South,” says Chef Lewis, a fourth generation Louisianan.

His culinary experience spans from New Orleans to the California Bay Area, where he spent the past 13 years, before returning to his roots in the South to begin his undertaking with Southern Proper Hospitality.

“Randy is a high-caliber chef who brings more than 20 years of experience cooking Southern cuisine that focuses on fresh, regional ingredients,” says Guido Piccinni, chief operating officer of Southern Proper Hospitality. “We look forward to partnering with him on these two restaurant endeavors coming to Buckhead Atlanta.”

Lewis’ career highlights and accolades include:

• Trained at the acclaimed New England Culinary Institute in Montpelier, Vermont.
• His New Orleans restaurant, Indigo, was named “Best in New Orleans” and “Most Splurge-Worthy” by Bon Appétit magazine.
• Honored as one of the "10 Best New Chefs" by Food & Wine magazine, a cover feature.
• His Sonoma County restaurant, Popina, earned him a three-star review from Michael Bauer of the San Francisco Chronicle. Bauer called him "one of the best chefs in the Bay Area." He also earned a perfect four-star review from Wine County’s Jeff Cox.
• Awarded a Bib Gourmand from the MICHELIN Guide, San Francisco Bay Area & Wine Country.
• Named one of five “American Chefs re-defining America’s regional cuisine of the future” by Food Arts magazine.
• Featured at the James Beard House and featured chef in the James Beard Celebrity Chef Tour Dinner Series.
• Filmed and appeared in four episodes of “Ready, Set, Cook” on the Food Network.