Participants will interact with 2025 Georgia Grown Chef Carlos Granderson, Southern National and a Georgia poultry producer while enjoying four tasting courses with wine in the Atlanta Botanical Garden’s Edible Garden Outdoor Kitchen.
The Edible Garden Outdoor Kitchen fosters plant-to-plate connections, provides learning opportunities in seasonal eating and sustainable cultivation, and highlights the important relationships between local chefs and growers. In keeping with this, the Georgia Grown Dinner Series is proudly presented.
As a unique collaboration with the Georgia Department of Agriculture, each dinner in the series is presented by a Georgia Grown Chef and focuses on one of Georgia’s important crops or agricultural categories. Each dinner features a local farmer who can explain more about farming in Georgia and answer questions. Guests will interact with the chef-grower team while enjoying four tasting courses with wine in the Edible Garden Outdoor Kitchen.
Schedule: Thursday, May 15, 2025, 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.
Fee: $100 (Member $95)
Instructor: Carlos Granderson, Southern National
About Chef Carlos Granderson
Carlos A. Granderson is the Chef d’Cuisine at the award-winning Southern National Restaurant in Atlanta, GA. He began his career early, excelling in the culinary arts program offered at his high school in Mobile, AL. He received on-the-job training through a competitive internship at Walt Disney World, Orlando, FL, where he was the first – and still only – student offered a dual internship in both Culinary Arts and Baking/Pastry.
Chef Carlos honed his skills and expanded his expertise at Virginia College in Mobile, AL, where he graduated with a diploma in both culinary arts and baking and pastry. While there, he earned accolades such as the President’s List, Dean’s List, and Perfect Attendance Award.
Carlos has focused his career on fine dining, working at highly respected establishments such as The Noble South and The Hope Farm in Fairhope, AL. He joined Southern National and was part of the opening team that gained recognition from the New York Times, Esquire magazine, and The James Beard Foundation, naming the restaurant a finalist for the coveted award.
Chef Carlos’ leadership skills were recognized early by award-winning Chef/owner Duane Nutter, who promoted Carlos first to Executive Sous Chef and then to Chef d’Cuisine. Today, he manages both the busy kitchen and the restaurant’s internship training program. Southern National is continuously recognized as one of Atlanta’s, and the nation’s leading fine dining restaurants.
He is actively involved in improving the community and has participated in numerous events to raise money for and support non-profit charities such as Feed the Gulf Coast, The Chef Daryl Evans Scholarship Fundraiser, Wholesome Wave, and Slow Food Atlanta Breast Cancer Awareness.
