For more information:
Emily Connolly or Morgan Lanier
Melissa Libby &
Associates
404-816-3068
ATLANTA CHEF KEVIN GILLESPIE ANNOUNCES GAME-CHANGING GRILL:
KUDU SAFARI BRAAI TO DEBUT THIS FALL
Gillespie Joins Founding Partners for South African-Inspired Live Fire
Cooking System
ATLANTA (Nov. 3, 2016) – Few are better qualified to blow
the lid off the American barbecue experience than Atlanta chef, restaurateur,
speaker and cookbook author Kevin Gillespie, a guy who titled his first
cookbook “Fire In My Belly.” Beginning today, Gillespie has joined founder Stebin
Horne and his business partner, Stewart Vernon, as owners of the brand new,
innovative KUDU Safari Braai outdoor
live fire cooking system. The KUDU is a multifunctional grill, griddle and fire
pit combined; a heavy gauge steel dream come true for backyard fire
enthusiasts.
“I love cooking over live fire,” Gillespie explains. “With
the KUDU, you are cooking without a lid and regulating the heat by creating
distance from the heat source. You can cook on multiple surfaces
simultaneously. From a culinary standpoint, I have yet to discover something I
can’t do on it!”
A few months ago, Kevin was introduced to KUDU creator Stebin
Horne and the two entrepreneurs immediately bonded over barbeque. Horne
explained that after spending six months with his South African-born wife in
her native country, he learned firsthand the communal cooking technique called braai.
Local farmers weld a cooktop to their old disc ploughs to cook for friends and
family in the backyard. Returning home inspired, Horne, a University of Georgia
and Mercer Law graduate, was awarded a fellowship from the Mercer Innovation
Center to introduce the cooking concept in the United States. After partnering
with Vernon, Horne’s dream came alive.
“Stebin had a great idea and brought it to life,” says
Gillespie. “Then Stewart stepped in and made it even bigger. They realized that
they needed an expert in the grilling arena. That provided me with the
opportunity to join up with this Georgia-based company and help create my
ultimate cooking system.”
“We began with a $75,000 Kickstarter campaign,” notes Horne.
“We raised that money and then exceeded the goal, thanks to the enthusiastic
grilling community we reached. Our first supporters have already received their
KUDUs and are raving on social media and in notes to us!”
Horne, Gillespie and the KUDU team will use their access to
Mercer’s engineering students and faculty to create new add-on accessories for
the grill so patio chefs can fry, boil, steam and roast their favorite foods as
well.
“Being part of the
creative evolution of this product really appeals to the engineering nerd in
me,” says Gillespie. “The users and the developers will be on the journey
together. As novice cooks become more skilled on the KUDU, they can simply add
on to their existing grill without trading it in for a new one.”
Made of heavy gauge steel, high-temp powder coating and
stainless steel fasteners, the KUDU is designed to last a lifetime. While
similar professional grade wood-burning grills can cost as much as $5,000, the
KUDU is being introduced at the affordable price of $750.
For Gillespie, a guy who created a backyard beer garden
called Communion, inviting your friends to be a part of the grilling fun was a
huge selling point. “As fast as it is, the KUDU will never cook your food as
fast as a gas grill, and that’s the point,” he says. “Sometimes the journey—that
time spent with your family and loved ones—is more important than the
destination.”
The KUDU experience will include a tremendous amount of
online content, such as videos of Gillespie showing everything from initial
setup to firing up as many as six cooking surfaces on the grill simultaneously
before transforming it into a late-night fire pit for guests. There will be tutorials,
recipes, KUDU accessories and gear, along with an interactive KUDU Nation to provide
consumers a place to interact with other KUDU users.”
“At first glance, the KUDU can look a little intimidating,”
Gillespie concedes, laughing. “This is definitely not for the
set-it-and-forget-it home cook. This is for a patio griller who wants to enjoy
that cinder smoke, the scent of wafting wood burning across your backyard and
how that results in a phenomenal flavor profile. I don’t put my name on a lot
of products, but I’m proud to attach my name to the KUDU.”
About Kevin Gillespie
Kevin Gillespie is a chef,
restaurateur, speaker and cookbook author. He was a finalist and voted “Fan
Favorite” on the sixth season of Bravo’s “Top Chef” in 2009. Based in Atlanta,
Gillespie’s restaurants include Communion, Gunshow, Revival and his BBQ pop-up Terminus
City. Red Beard Restaurants was
created in 2015 to oversee all of Gillespie’s restaurants and merchandise. Gillespie was named a 2015 semi-finalist and 2016
finalist for the James Beard Foundation’s Best Chef: South award. Eater included Gunshow in its annual “The National 38” list of
places to eat in America in 2015 and 2016.
In 2014, Gunshow earned a spot
on GQ magazine’s list of
“12 Most Outstanding Restaurants.” Revival was included in Southern Living’s list of “The South’s Best New Restaurants” in
2016. Gillespie released Pure Pork
Awesomeness in 2015, a follow up to James Beard Award Finalist Fire in My Belly. chefkevingillespie.com
###
