Chef Ben Vaughn has enjoyed an extensive and decorated career as one of the best chefs in the state of Tennessee. However, Chef Ben Vaughn points out that being a successful chef means more than cooking tasty food. Quality cooking, says Chef Ben Vaughn, is also measured by its healthiness and heartiness. Fast food is technically “tasty,” illustrates Chef Ben Vaughn, but it is by no means quality cooking attributable to a chef.
A lot of people try dieting, says Chef Ben Vaughn, to regulate health and weight. Chef Ben Vaughn notes that diets usually entail the exclusion of certain food groups from regular meals. Chef Ben Vaughn insists that balance at the table is more valuable than obsessive dieting.
Chef Ben Vaughn offers as evidence a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine. Chef Ben Vaughn explains that this study compares the effects and results of two very popular fad diets, low fat and low carb. Chef Ben Vaughn says that both diets, studied over a 2-year period, resulted in poor weight loss, unhealthy side effects, and high drop out rates.
Chef Ben Vaughn explains that diets like those are not the answer to healthy eating. Healthy eating, says Chef Ben Vaughn, is about balancing the elements of the food you eat, including fats and carbohydrates. Eliminating natural foods, notes Chef Ben Vaughn, is not a healthy approach. He believes that people are healthier when they eat the right proportions of food groups.
Chef Ben Vaughn encourages people to learn the right daily proportion of fats, carbohydrates and proteins to contribute to optimum health. Chef Ben Vaughn reiterates that restrictive diets are not the solution. Permanent weight loss and a longer life span, concludes Chef Ben Vaughn, are easily attainable through eating a balanced diet and getting a bit of regular exercise.
About Chef Ben Vaughn
Even before Chef Ben Vaughn’s first employment, an esteemed restaurant-owning family friend used to take the eager young lad on guided tours of restaurant kitchens. Chef Ben Vaughn’s first kitchen job was a baker’s helper in South Florida. Chef Ben Vaughn was 15 years old at the time and he has been excelling ever since. By learning the restaurant business from the bottom up, Chef Ben Vaughn gained a unique perspective on creative cooking. He enjoyed a long professional apprenticeship before his formal chef experience ever began.
This foundation of hands-on learning has given Chef Ben Vaughn a welcome advantage in his career. Staying true to his southern roots, Chef Ben Vaughn grew into a position as the executive chef of Memphis, Tennessee’s River Oaks Restaurant. Chef Ben Vaughn flourished at River Oaks and shortly thereafter was named one of the top 5 Best Chefs in the city of Memphis. Chef Ben Vaughn took this support from his community to heart. In 2009, he opened a restaurant named after his daughter, Grace. At Grace, Chef Ben Vaughn brought Memphis the skill and visual stimulation of artisan French cooking while maintaining an American southern range of flavor.
Chef Ben Vaughn is committed to the future of sustainable food production. Chef Ben Vaughn builds his menus according to the seasonal availability of locally produced foods. From meat to produce, Chef Ben Vaughn has developed good relations with the growers of the great state of Tennessee. Chef Ben Vaughn acquires quality foods from local farmers and translates them into gustatory delights that have earned him great renown among his peers and diners. More recently, Chef Ben Vaughn has opened a second restaurant in Memphis, called Au Fond Farmtable. Chef Ben Vaughn’s Au Fond Farmtable provides a more rustic and informal dining experience, with all of the flavor and care that the good people of Memphis expect.
Restaurant Grace feels like Chef Ben Vaughn’s house—we love the comfortable upholstered sofas and antique love seats in the front salon. My favorite dessert is Chef Ben Vaughn’s amazing, “very good chocolate cake” – to die for!
Chef Ben Vaughn gets his food almost entirely from local farmers and producers, but that’s not the only reason we love to eat at Restaurant Grace. My husband is vegetarian and one of his favorites is Chef Ben Vaughn’s mac and cheese with goat cheese, sharp white cheddar cheese and freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.
Chef Ben Vaughn makes most of the bacon for Grace Restaurant and Au Fond Farmtable, but something you may not know is that Chef Ben Vaughn makes two kinds of bacon ice cream – Chocolate-bacon and BLT ice cream (the L for leeks instead of lettuce).
Hey people – Chef Ben Vaughn at Au Fond has started a new tradition on Wednesday nights for Burger Wednesdays. Burgers are $6.99 with cheese and pommes souffles on the side instead of fries. If you’ve never had one of Chef Ben Vaughn’s burgers you are definitely in for a treat!
Chef Ben Vaughn’s H Man is an amazing concoction of soft scrambled eggs, lox, capers, and onions over a bagel with warm cream cheese.” Chef Ben Vaughn named it after a frequent diner in the restaurant who used to live in NYC.
The oven was barely warm at Grace Restaurant when Chef Ben Vaughn opened the companion Au Fond Farmtable in Cooper-Young. If you’re going to open two restaurants inside six months, you had better have a big plan or a lot of luck. Chef Ben Vaughn seems to have both.
Jennifer Biggs (Contact), GoMemphis.com
Last month, I treated myself to dinner at Grace, an upscale restaurant from Chef Ben Vaughn. My dining experience was a very memorable one for the meal was great and the service was outstanding. I want to commend Chef Ben Vaughn and the staff at Grace for being very hospitable and helpful to my dining experience. From the time I walked in the door I was treated like a VIP. Overall, I was very satisfied with the service, so much so that I would recommend Chef Ben Vaughn’s Grace even if my meal was so-so, which it wasn’t.