Chef Kent Rathbun has been on a mission since childhood. He discovered his passion for cooking at the early age of nine and has been on that track ever since. Kent started cooking in his first restaurant at age 14. Like most of us, food and beverage got into his blood. It wasn’t until around the age of 21 though that Kent started to realize that people were really responding to his food.
As a young chef Kent obtained a position as an apprentice at La Bonne Auberge, a five star French restaurant located in Kansas City, Missouri. It was here that Kent’s passion was really came to light as he was able to work with the finest ingredients and learned how to perfect their preparation and presentation. It was here that the skills and techniques that brought him to this level were given their edge.
Chef Kent Rathbun continued his culinary experience working in the kitchens of Mr. B’s in New Orleans, American Restaurant and Milano in Kansas City, The Mansion on Turtle Creek in Dallas and the Landmark Restaurant in the Dallas Melrose Hotel.
While at the Landmark, Rathbun had the opportunity to make annual trips to Bangkok, Thailand, which provided him the resources and research to create his own spectacular style of Contemporary Global cuisine.
It was the combination of Chef Rathbun’s Southwestern roots, American, Cajun/Creole his Mediterranean, and Pacific Rim travel that all blended perfectly to serve up Chef Kent Rathbun’s signature blend of flavors and cooking style. He calls his style of cooking contemporary global cuisine with Pacific Rim influences, but we found it to be even more complex and unique.
Chef Kent Rathbun finally decided to follow his dream, bring all of his experience and talent to the table so to speak and open his own world-class restaurant in Dallas. In 1997 Kent brought his unique style of cooking to Abacus, his flagship restaurant.
Within months of its opening, Abacus began to be recognized as a pinnacle of fine dining and has received numerous accolades including:
Mobil Four-Stars
AAA Four Diamonds
Five Stars from the Dallas Morning New
Bon Appetit’s Best of the Year 2001 issue which named Abacus’ Chef’s tasting menu a “Top Pick;”
“Best Chef” by D Magazine
“One of the Top Meals Around the World” by USA Today
The Induction Into Nations Restaurant News Fine Dining Hall of Fame was, however, the pinnacle to Kent. Abacus was a success and continues to delight the Dallas area, but Chef Kent Rathbun still had more to give and by listening to the old adage of building on success, Kent started planning his next venture.
Kent wanted to create a more casual concept coming up with Jaspers which Is a gourmet backyard cuisine concept. Jaspers offers a home cooking style with the best of the Americas regional cuisine.
From the start it was a hit, being named one of Esquires top 20 new restaurants In the country. This started the ball rolling. After the opening of its first location in Plano, TX, Jaspers recognition helped kick-start Rathbuns idea of expanding to additional locations in The Woodlands, TX and Austin, TX..
As if all of this wasnt enough, we sat down with Kent at the newly opened third restaurant concept. the Blue Plate Kitchen. Drawing influences from family recipes while focusing on the roots of cooking, Kent uses the freshest ingredients from regional purveyors to create an eclectic yet comforting menu of rustic home-cooked favorites with a touch of elegance. This new Mecca of casual, affordable cuisine has already generated plenty of positive buzz, securing its place in Chef Rathbuns family of highly acclaimed restaurants.
Signature Recipes
Grilled Pork Filet
Serves: 8
Prep Time: 25 minutes
These 3-bite pork medallions have a great “tang” from the lemon and a bite from the pepper; the kosher salt and garlic combination balances all the flavors. This preparation technique creates fork tender, deliciously moist pork.
Ingredients
- 2 to 2 ¼ lbs. – Pork tenderloin
- 1/3 cup – Olive oil
- 4 Tbsp. – Diamond Crystal® kosher salt
- 4 Tbsp. – Black pepper
- 2 Tbsp. – Granulated garlic
- 1 Tbsp. – Sugar
- 8 medium – Lemons
Directions
- Slice each tenderloin into medallions, each medallion 2″ to 3″ thick. Dip each medallion into oil, coating evenly.
- Set aside on a cookie sheet lined with waxed paper.
- Combine Diamond Crystal® kosher salt, pepper, garlic and sugar in small dish, blending well.
- Sprinkle meat with spices, covering both sides evenly.
- Place all medallions on a medium hot grill. Grill until medium rare or to desired temperature. Do not overcook these tiny medallions.
- Zest each lemon using caution to remove only the yellow peel and not the bitter, white pith of the lemon.
- Slice lemons in half and juice them.
- As hot pork is removed from grill, rub both sides of each medallion with lemon zest and sprinkle heavily with lemon juice.
- Place hot medallions on a platter, and drizzle with remaining lemon juice.
- Serve hot or room temperature.
Serving Suggestions
- Substitute lime or orange zest and juice for the lemon zest and juice.
- Serve with grilled asparagus sprinkled with lemon juice and Diamond Crystal® kosher salt.
- Tenderloin can be seared and cooked on the stove top in a large, hot skillet, if grilling is not an option.