Memphis' Own Chef Ben Vaughn Branches Out

June 19, 2010 - PRLog -- Memphis, TN -- Chef Ben Vaughn is most recognized as the proprietor of Grace, a Memphis dinner restaurant that has earned fair and enthusiastic praise. Of even greater significance, however, is Chef Ben Vaughn's commitment to a locally sustained business model. Chef Ben Vaughn believes that his kitchen can interact with local food producers like farmers, cattlemen and fishermen to create a more sustainable ecology. Saving the world is slow work, so Chef Ben Vaughn marks time by crafting menus that are specific to the agriculture of the greater Memphis Area.

"The days of the 3,000 mile Caesar salad are over," said Chef Ben Vaughn. "The quality food producers of the future are not distant mega-growers. They are our neighbors."

This form of local involvement through culinary channels has endeared Chef Ben Vaughn to the local community. In Memphis, this is marked by Chef Ben Vaughn's Grace restaurant. But in the days since Grace's opening, Chef Ben Vaughn has expanded his vision for a dining establishment integrated into the community it serves. Chef Ben Vaughn is committed to using only the finest locally grown ingredients on his menus. Chef Ben Vaughn so enjoys cooperating with his community of growers that he recently opened a companion restaurant to Grace called Au Fond Farmtable.

Chef Ben Vaughn's Au Fond Farmtable serves breakfast and lunch with the same attention to quality that Grace serves dinner. Au Fond Farmtable specializes in southern comfort food essentials like chicken and dumplings, pork and beans and the ever-popular shrimp and grits. But these favorites bear the unique stamp of Chef Ben Vaughn's southern cooking style informed by French principles like those that make Creole cuisine so delectable.

True to Chef Ben Vaughn's passion, Au Fond Farmtable's menu explores even more of the Memphis area's food variety. By doing this outside of the conventions of a full service dinner menu, points out Chef Ben Vaughn, Au Fond Farmtable provides fresh delicious local fare at cafe style prices. Visitors to Au Fond Farmtable order from Chef Ben Vaughn's distinctive menu at the counter. They are then invited to take a seat and have the food delivered to their table. As the year turns, Chef Ben Vaughn revises the menu periodically. So while Au Fond Farmtable will not have the same menu every season, Chef Ben Vaughn makes sure the menu provides a consistent range of flavors derived from locally produced foods.

Visit Au Fond Farmtable:
Cooper-Young next to Grace Restaurant
938 South Cooper Street
Memphis, TN, 38104
901.274.8513

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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.