After 18 years in the restaurant industry, Emilee Durrett has made a home in Buckhead as General Manager and Operating Partner at THE CHASTAIN. Durrett spent the majority of her career in Los Angeles, but she has also worked with several prominent restaurants in San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, San Diego, Las Vegas and Austin. She was familiar with Executive Chef Christopher Grossman from the California restaurant community before she was invited to join the team at THE CHASTAIN.
Durrett didn’t know much about Buckhead or THE CHASTAIN when owner Andy Heyman called to ask if she would consider moving her family to Atlanta. The timing was fortuitous because of her growing family and a desire to move closer to her mother. Durrett says she was convinced to make the move once she met with Andy and his wife Melissa.
Encouragement from the top down
Durrett appreciates the way Heyman finds talented people, and provides the opportunity to apply their talent. “I feel like he’s so good at selecting people that he thinks are wonderful to invest in. And then he just creates the space for them to do what they do.” She continues, “He and Melissa both, in different ways, have a very uncanny way of connecting others and really putting the right people in the right places.”
Durrett says Heyman’s management style provides opportunities you don’t see everyday in the restaurant business. “To be able to be creative, and then also do what we love to do is challenging to find, but when you find it, you’re like, Oh, my God, this is what I want to do forever.”
“I was really inspired by the mission and who THE CHASTAIN set out to be. By Chris and by Andy and Melissa and the team, and it’s beautiful. When I got to learn the history, and I got to learn the fact that we’re in a historic space, and the fact that we were the longest standing restaurant in…
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