Classic Beef Bourguignon

Chef Hugh Acheson was born and raised in Ottawa, Canada, and at age 15, began working in restaurants after school and learning as much as possible. Since then, Acheson's experience includes working under Rob MacDonald, where he learned stylized French cuisine, wine, and etiquette at the renowned Henri Burger restaurant in Ottawa, and in San Francisco, as chef de cuisine with Mike Fennelly at Mecca, and later as opening sous chef with Gary Danko at his namesake restaurant, where Acheson found a love of the simple, pure, and disciplined. Acheson has incorporated these experiences into a style of his own, forging together the beauty of the South with the flavors of Europe, opening the critically acclaimed Athens, Georgia, restaurant 5&10 in March 2000. In 2007, Acheson opened The National with fellow chef Peter Dale. From there, Acheson opened Atlanta restaurant Empire State South in the summer of 2010 and coffee shop Spiller Park Coffee in November 2015. Acheson's fresh approach to Southern food has earned him a great deal of recognition, including Food & Wine's Best New Chef (2002), the Atlanta Journal Constitution Restaurant of the Year (2007), five James Beard nominations (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011), and the James Beard Award for Best Chef: Southeast (2012). In 2007, Acheson was named a Rising Star by StarChefs.com and in 2012 he won the StarChefs Mentor Award. In 2010 Acheson competed on Bravo's Top Chef Masters: Season 3. He returned to the hit show as a judge on Top Chef: Seasons 9 to 13 as well as Top Chef: Duels. He also hosted Bravo's online complement to Top Chef Masters Season 5 called Battle of the Sous Chefs. But all of that is to everyone outside of Athens. To Athens, he is the guy who owns those restaurants, has one eyebrow, and two daughters who are the apple of his eye.

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