Chef Lindsay Autry isn’t necessarily what you think of when you think “celebrity chef.” Her steady, serene demeanor, topped with a delightful Southern drawl, begins to make sense as you learn of her North Carolina roots. This three-time James Beard Award nominee for “Best Chef: South” and Bravo TV’s Top Chef finalist has earned the moniker “celebrity chef,” but she’s more like the fascinating, gracious neighbor you want to invite for dinner every week. Meet this month’s FACE of the South, Chef Lindsay Autry!

Chef Lindsay Autry, smiling in a white chef's uniform, stands in a lush green vegetable garden, holding a freshly picked beetroot.Pin
Chef Lindsay’s lauded West Palm Beach restaurant recently shuttered, but she’s got fresh things on her plate. Image: Jordan Villona

Tell me a little about your childhood as it relates to food.

I grew up in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Both sides of my family had peach orchards and farms, and that’s where I spent most of my time, especially my summers. We had a roadside stand, and I opened a little ice cream shop because we had so many leftover soft peaches.

Our farm was my grandfather’s retirement hobby, but it grew into 60 acres and 3,000 trees, so it was a big operation. We worked around the clock, and food was integral to my life. As we say in the South, we “put up” things, so we canned, preserved, froze, and then ate off them.

Chef Lindsay Autry, in her chef's uniform, stands in a field surrounded by greenery and white flowers, looking into the distance.Pin
This summer, Chef Lindsay is partnering with the Westin Jekyll Island to unveil three new restaurant concepts to Georgia’s Golden Isles. Her menus will lean into the abundance of local seafood on Jekyll Island and her background of Southern cooking with a Mediterranean influence. Image: Jordan Villona

When did your love of cooking begin to simmer?

My grandmother’s family immigrated from Greece when she was a child, so I grew up with this weird mix of Greek and Southern food. I didn’t know that was weird until I was about nine, and someone came to our boisterous weekly Sunday lunch. We had Spanicopita and fatback and biscuits and dolmas on the table, and they were like, “What is this?”

All the women in my family were tremendous cooks. I enrolled at Johnson & Wales when they had a campus in Charleston. After two years, you had to transfer to get your bachelor’s degree. So, 19-year-old me chose Miami instead of Rhode Island. While in school, I worked in various restaurants and eventually started working with Michelle Bernstein, a celebrity chef out of Miami. We worked on and off together for 13 years. I’ve lived in Mexico, up and down the East Coast, and in Palm Beach, where I’ve been based for 15 years.

A young girl guides a crossbreed pig with a stick at a livestock show. The headline reads "Barbecue Bound?" and the caption discusses the pig's performance at the event, mentioning Chef Lindsay Autry's interest in prime livestock for her renowned Southern cuisine.Pin
Chef Lindsay showed livestock as a kid, “kind of like in Charlotte’s Web,” she says, and started entering cooking competitions before her tenth birthday. Image: submitted

Tell me about your journey with The Regional and the decision to close the restaurant.

For most of my career, I was a hotel chef in the luxury sector and traveled around opening big hotels. But I wanted to open my own restaurant. As a Southerner, I’m always a little more vocal that [Palm Beach] is not the South. It’s my little corner of the South, but the South, in my opinion, kind of stops in Jacksonville.

There was no representation of any Southern food here, and I felt that was an opportunity. I’d never cooked Southern food professionally. I was more classically French-trained. So, I opened The Regional in 2016, and we were nominated for three James Beard awards and several Wine Spectator awards.

Three people, including Chef Lindsay Autry, are standing in a kitchen. The woman on the left is holding a microphone, the man is in the middle, and the woman on the right is holding a brown clutch. Several people are in the background.Pin
At The Regional, Lindsay cooked with Martha Stewart. “My mom is kind of like my mini version of Martha Stewart. She always had an herb garden and crafted and did all the things. So, that was a bucket list thing,” she tells us. Image: submitted

We closed about six months ago, and even though it’s strange to say, it was a prolonged effect of Covid. Palm Beach loses 60% of its population in the summer, so you have to run two very different business models. I struggled through as long as I could. Closing was heartbreaking. I joke that I’ve had my heart broken more by restaurants than by men. I’m proud of what I created, and we went out on top.

Chef Lindsay Autry is garnishing a dish in a kitchen, with several plated meals in front of her. She is wearing a white chef's jacket and a light pink apron. The kitchen setting includes tiled walls and shelves.Pin
Although The Regional chapter is over, Lindsay helms Honeybelle inside a luxury hotel in Palm Beach Gardens. Image: Honeybelle

What’s on the horizon with your work at Westin Jekyll Island?

The Westin is undergoing a complete rebranding, and it’s been fabulous working with the team. Jekyll is such a quaint, historic little town — or, I guess you’d call it an island — and I’ve fallen in love with it. It’s a unique place, with its natural beauty, the Georgia State Park, and fascinating history and people.

To remain a nature preserve, it has to remain 65% uninhabited, so there are only a handful of restaurants and hotels. The Westin wanted to update the resort and all of its concepts and lean into a more sophisticated Southern coastal feel. I worked with their team on the branding, graphics, and design. I love to shop, so we picked out all these stunning pieces — utensils, plates, and serveware — for the restaurant.

I wrote the menus for the launch of their breakfast, lunch, dinner, room service, and pool menus. The executive chef is immensely talented. They’re all excited to see something new — even all the new furnishings they’re adding right now.

A person smiles while holding a bag of frosting. They are wearing a striped apron and standing in a kitchen setting. A mixing bowl and whisk are visible in the foreground.Pin
Lindsay is part of Westin Jekyll Island’s reinvention, which aims to connect guests more deeply with the Georgia coast (the history, the wildlife, the seafood, the quiet and secluded location) and turn the hotel into a true leisure destination and beachfront resort. Image: Annaleise Kondo

What’s a common misconception people have about being a professional chef?

That all chefs are raging Gordon Ramsey lunatics. There are some — I’ve worked for some — and it is a high-stress environment. But it’s not a productive approach to leadership. People will meet me and say they’re surprised I’m not crazy. There’s a big misconception that we’re all just wild people.

Chef Lindsay Autry, in a blue uniform, concentrates as she plates food in the kitchen. Various kitchen utensils and dishes are on the counter, while the background displays shelves with culinary equipment.Pin
Chef Lindsay knows fierce competition. She was a finalist on one of the most competitive televised cooking shows, Top Chef. Image: submitted

If you could cook and enjoy dinner with anyone, who would it be?

My late grandmother Betty was an incredible cook who never wrote a recipe. I remember calling her in college, asking, “Can you please walk me through how you do your biscuits?” And she’d say, “Yeah, it’s just flour and buttermilk and butter.” She was so sweet and such a fantastic cook that an opportunity to cook and eat with her again would be a bucket list thing for me.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever received, and from whom?

My grandfather was a public speaker and educator. He always said, “Stand in your own shoes.” When I was younger, I felt that saying meant “stand up for myself.” But as I got older, I started to interpret it more as “be your authentic self.” That has guided me in my success as a chef a lot.

Where can we find you on your days off?

We have a four-year-old, so we’re busy keeping him entertained with gymnastics, soccer, and a lot of time at the library. Growing up, my family also had an auction company, so I love to hunt and thrift. I think that’s embedded in us as Southern women. We’re always on the hunt.

Chef Lindsay Autry waves with a smile in the bustling restaurant kitchen, with plates of food lined up on the counter and a rack of dishes in the background.Pin
A pet peeve of Lindsay’s is the question: What’s your favorite thing to cook? “As chefs, we make the same thing over and over,” she says. “But we’re also creative people looking to do something different. Cooking can be mundane work, especially in a restaurant where the menu never changes, so that’s a difficult question to answer.” Image: submitted

What’s something that people are often surprised to learn about you?

I’m fluent in Spanish but still have a thick Southern accent. I worked as a chef in Mexico for four years, so I speak with a Mexican accent, and it’s entertaining to people.

Aside from faith, family, and friends, name three things you can’t live without.

Espresso. A silly fiction murder novel to keep me from thinking about cooking. Pilates.

Lightning round!

Favorite “hidden gem” in the Southeast: Dorothy’s Cocktail & Oyster Bar on St. Simons Island, GA

Favorite place to go on vacation: Okracoke Island, North Carolina

What’s on your bedside table: My stack of books, my four-year-old’s stack of books

Go-to birthday present (to give): If I’m traveling, I love to find a local artist and buy a gift for someone from them. Especially pottery.

Thanks for chatting, Chef Lindsay!

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Southern women are doing inspiring work. Meet more of them over at our FACES archives!

Zoe Yarborough
About the Author
Zoe Yarborough

Zoe is a StyleBlueprint staff writer, Charlotte native, Washington & Lee graduate, and Nashville transplant of eleven years. She teaches Pilates, helps manage recording artists, and likes to "research" Germantown's food scene.