Colin McGowan Named Executive Chef of Cattle Shed Wine & Steak Bar
Big Table Restaurants, the company behind HOBNOB Neighborhood Tavern and Lazy Llama Cantina, is pleased to announce Colin McGowan as the executive chef for the company’s newest restaurant Cattle Shed Wine & Steak Bar. McGowan has worked in several of Atlanta’s top fine dining restaurants including Bacchanalia and Kimball House and also founded the acclaimed 14 Seats Supper Club. He looks forward to leading the Atlanta-based hospitality group’s first chef-driven concept, which is scheduled to open in May at Halcyon in Forsyth County.
“Right off the bat, Colin shared our vision for blending a fine dining mentality with an approachable atmosphere,” says Sean Yeremyan, co-owner of Big Table Restaurants. “He has honed his technique in Atlanta’s finest restaurants but also knows how to win diners over from the comfort of his living room.”
At Cattle Shed, McGowan aims to make worldly cuisine both cohesive and fun by creating a menu of a la carte charcuterie, small tasting plates, premium steaks and other entrées that pair with the restaurant’s list of nearly 200 wines. His dishes are meant to fluctuate with what farmers are bringing out of the ground and will feature some classic steakhouse selections as well as items such as:
Pressed sorghum-glazed lamb belly with saffron yogurt, chiles and mint
Yakitori grilled octopus with white bean puree and salsa verde
Scallop crudo with charred scallion vinaigrette, shaved radish and smoked trout roe
Parisian gnocchi with wild mushrooms and ember-roasted leeks
Boneless whole trout served with toasted pine nuts, pancetta vinaigrette and grilled scallions
Steakburger with black garlic gribiche, fried shallots and Muenster on brioche
Creamed Brussels sprouts with blue cheese mornay sauce and crispy shallots
“I feel like the world is my oyster thanks to the support and creative freedom that Sean and his team have offered me,” says McGowan. “The smaller space allows us to have a finessed hand and play with our imaginations.”
Before joining Big Table Restaurants, McGowan and his wife ran 14 Seats Supper Club from their home in Alpharetta, which was praised as the city’s “most unique dining experience” in 2019. Diners delighted in his innovative 10-course tasting menus featuring local beef and produce paired with wines.
An Atlanta fine dining industry veteran, McGowan was naturally curious in the kitchen from a very young age, often following his mom around eager to jump in and help. Though his first job was as a server, he always found himself looking in the kitchen and often tinkering with dishes at home. McGowan finally decided to take the leap to the back of the house when he arrived at Foundation Social Eatery in Roswell. “Chef Mel Toledo saw something in me and changed the way I looked at food,” he recalls.
After serving as Toledo’s sous chef at Foundation Social Eatery, McGowan continued to refine his culinary skills at Kimball House, Restaurant Eugene and Bacchanalia in Atlanta. In 2017, he joined his mentor executive chef Joe Schafer to reinvent and elevate sports-entertainment cuisine as the sous chef at State Farm Arena. McGowan credits his two and a half years in this role figuring out how to apply his fine-dining techniques on such a large scale as giving him the confidence to trust his creativity and strike out on his own with 14 Seats.
“I absorbed so much from having that one-on-one time with Joe at the arena; you don’t get that experience in a typical restaurant. My input was valid to someone I truly looked up to, and it taught me how far I can push myself and what I have to offer. But my heart and soul always goes back to the art of plating and the celebratory nature of food,” he says.
At Cattle Shed, McGowan wants to bring back the sense of occasion minus the stuffiness, so guests can feel both catered to and like they are a part of what the kitchen is creating.