/ Leon Brunson stands proudly before the former K.B. s Kitchen where he will soon open Leon.
He says the experience will be a fusion of many flavors prepared by a best friend who also happens to be a master chef.
The coronavirus pandemic has especially been brutal on the restaurant business. But a Tallahassee chef plans to stake his culinary claim in his former employer s stone cabin on the shores of Lake Ella.
Leon Brunson insists he didn t start out wanting to become a master chef. I was never around food until I worked at Waffle House. And when I started working at Waffle House, I realized it was kind of like a game; how quickly could you put things together and assemble them delicately and make the people happy? So I had a lot of appeal from Waffle House from it being an open kitchen so you could interact with the guests and you had regulars.
New restaurant coming to Lake Ella
and last updated 2021-04-06 22:53:07-04
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) â A Tallahassee Restaurant will soon be open on Lake Ella offering walkup and dine in service. Chef Leon Brunson said he hopes to open Leon s by the end of the year.
Brunson spent the pandemic teaching people how to cook online, but said he was ready to take the next step and offer more personalized menu options to the Lake Ella area.
Although Leon s isn t open yet, Brunson said he couldn t open a restaurant during the pandemic without his support system. So it s very unreal, like I think opening the restaurant, people then saw another side, they understood that I love cooking, but this is like he s going all in, so I think they really admire that and they re really showing support, said Brunson.
If you’re a fan of TV cooking shows, chef Geoffrey Zakarian is probably a household name. Outside of his kitchen and restaurants, he’s either a co-host, judge or competitor on top cooking shows including The Kitchen, Chopped and Iron Chef America. He’s also on the QVC channel with his Pro for Home, a line of more than 120 gourmet foods and culinary tools for home cooks.
But this week in Tallahassee, Zakarian was the headliner for a different production Cleaver and Cork 2021, the premier culinary fundraiser held annually by the Tallahassee Community College Foundation. Proceeds from the event will go to TCC’s athletics department and help elevate educational opportunities, scholarships and learning facilities at the college.