Kevin rathbun - bio

Kevin gets his motivation from where he came from and with his newest restaurant KEVIN RATHBUN STEAK, he pays homage to the big league steakhouses. With the opening of KEVIN RATHBUN STEAK, he continues to bring his savvy Kansas City hospitality and his love of entertaining to the Atlanta area.

Kansas City has been widely known for its large stockyards. It has the reputation as being the home of BBQ and one of the most widely known jazz birthplaces. Its history includes stockyards being constructed as early as 1871 as well as introducing many of the jazz greats to America and beyond. This, in part, has made Kansas City an icon.

For Kevin, growing up in Kansas City brings back great memories. As a child, Kevin was raised in a household that was filled with hospitality. His mother, relocating from rural Missouri, moved to Kansas City and started her career in restaurants. She played an inherent role in his career. And for 35 years she built her knowledge of restaurant hospitality into operating fine restaurants in and around Kansas City. His father, a 20-year jazz musician, also played the role of entertaining patrons during the night. With this attention to making guests happy, there is no wonder Kevin followed in their footsteps.

At the Rathbun house, steak was an every night happening. Kevin’s father, (who was friends with one of the more talked about meat packing plants in Kansas City,) brought home the true goods from his wise guy friend. Kevin’s mother set the table, and as Kevin says, “There wasn’t a night that went by that wasn’t a production.” From the china, glass and silver, to the multiple friends that were entertained, the jam sessions would always continue into the late night hours.

Now, at Kevin Rathbun Steak, Kevin will recreate some of the memories of his youth. He is bringing the attention to detail and the best steak that money can buy. He brings the love of the table and the passion for friends and family to his newest venture. He now invites you to his house to experience the hospitality that his parents instilled within him and hopes to offer up the great food and cheer that has inspired him to open his own steak house.

With over 31 years of experience, Kevin has prided his success on what he calls a mutual fund which maintains an upward mobility of hospitality, education and an unprecedented thirst for knowledge.

He has worked with celebrity chefs and restaurateurs such as Bradley Ogden,

Emeril Lagasse, Stephen Pyles, Ella Brennan and Pano Karratossos and

he has honed not only his technique in the kitchen, but his passion for owning and operating his own businesses.

Over achieving was the drive for Kevin. While Kevin was Chef at Baby Routh in Dallas, it received the DiRona award for dining excellence. His drive and passion landed him the chef’s position at Nava in Atlanta where he brought Southwestern food cuisine to the city. Nava became an instant hit and was noticed both locally and nationally, and since 1995 has been continuously voted one of the top five restaurants in the city.

Earning Esquire magazines “Top New Restaurant” for Nava was a highlight, as was being the Corporate Chef of the Buckhead Life Restaurant Group. While at that company, overseeing NAVA, BluePointe, Kyma, and The Buckhead Diner, his list of accolades continued to add up which propelled him to go out on his own.

In May of 2004, Kevin opened his namesake restaurant “Rathbun’s” in Atlanta. It opened to critical acclaim and was voted by Esquire Magazine as one of the “Top New Restaurants in the Country”. Since the inception of Rathbun’s, Kevin has opened a second restaurant Krog Bar. It is located next door to Rathbun’s and has received local and national acclaim.

Kevin resides in Atlanta with his wife, Melissa. In his spare time, he enjoys, philanthropy, reading cookbooks, dining out, fine cigars, traveling and humbly admits that he would have a passion to restaurant designing in his next life.