Chef Biographies

CHEF/OWNER FRED NEUVILLE

Chef Fred Neuville has been the founding Chef / Partner of some of Charleston's favorite restaurants. In 2007 Chef Neuville left to go out on his own with his family and open Fat Hen (Low Country French). Neuville spent his days in the restaurant fast lane making an indelible mark on the Charleston food scene. Ready to fuse his passion for food and family, Neuville opens Fat Hen as an outpost for culinary delights and domestic enjoyment.

A native of Roanoke, VA, Neuville graduated from The Culinary Institute of America. Immediately following graduation, he was recruited to support in the start-up of Linwood’s Café & Grill in Baltimore, MD. With his skills honed after five years in a restaurant kitchen he became Chef Garde Manager for The Willard Intercontinental in Washington DC.

Satisfying his wanderlust, in 1992 Neuville ventured to Colorado to work for Aspen’s Milan’s Greenhouse restaurant. It was there that he was recruited as a senior instructor and, later, assistant director, at the School of Culinary Arts in Denver, CO.

After five successful years in the mountains of Colorado, Neuville longed to return to the Southeast. In 1997, he accepted a job as Executive Chef at the Jasmine Porch Restaurant located within the celebrated Kiawah Island Resort in South Carolina and later moved to serve as Executive Chef for “Events by Stephen Duvall” in Charleston. Along the way, Neuville received several coveted industry awards from the American Culinary Federation, the Southern Bridal Show, the Celebrity Pro/Am competitions and the Western Regional Conference. Neuville was recognized by national publications such as Bon Appetit and National Geographic Traveler. Fred Neuville serves as Chef Chair for the Charleston Food & Wine Festival and Darkeness 2 Light.

Not only has Neuville opened two restaurants and a catering company, but he and his wife, Joan, are parents to four amazing adopted foster children, who will each play a role at Fat Hen. “I couldn’t be happier with the diversity of my work and home life,” says Neuville. “Or busier!”

CHEF DE CUISINE RICK PAWLAK

Rick Pawlak graduated from the Art Institute of Atlanta with an Associates Degree in Culinary Arts in 2003 and worked at the the Ritz Carlton Buckhead in the Cafe' Kitchen.  After working in the Cafe' under Chef Christope Le Matey, Rick was asked to work in The Dinning Room, the Mobile 5 Star 5 Diamond restaurant.  After working in The Dinning Room for Chef Bruno Menard cooking French cuisine, Rick went back to the Cafe' as a cook 1.  In 2005 Rick went to work at the Sanctuary Hotel on Kiawah Island in the Ocean Room Restaurant.  Chef Pawlak was then promoted to Chef de Cuisine of Loggerhead Grill and then to Chef Garde Manger which he was the chef for two years.  Rick joined Fat Hen in fall of 2008 and is currently the Chef de Cuisine.

PASTRY CHEF LINDSEY COOKE

Taking inspiration from her family, Lindsey Cooke began her culinary career with an appointment with academic honors to an externship in France during culinary school and through the study of artisan baking with Chef Imondi. Upon graduation, Lindsey worked under Pastry Chef Kerri Scherrer a the Watercolor Resort's Fish Out Of Water in Seagrove, FL, and under Pastry Chefs Dominique Olver and Celine Plano at the Ritz Carlton in Atlanta, GA. Lindsey relocated to Charleston, SC to become the Assistant Pastry Chef at The Sanctuary at Kiawah Island under Pastry Chef Claire Chapman. Upon starting a family Lindsey joined Chef Fred Neuville at Fat Hen as Pastry Chef.