A childhood learning disability was what turned Craig Kuhns onto the idea of cooking.
Growing up, Kuhns suffered from dyscalculia and dyslexia and was forced to repeat the first grade. His teachers encouraged Kuhns to work with his hands and this led him to the kitchen, where he learned to cook by watching his mother and grandmother.
“Everywhere I turned, somebody in my family was cooking,” says Kuhns, who spent his formative years in Easley but lived a while in Southern California and also spent summers with his grandparents in Quebec.
“I grew up on collard greens and chicken and rice and hoecakes, but I was also pate and toast,” Kuhns says of his eclectic upbringing. “I was surrounded by so much homemade food and love and international nuances.”
Kuhns, 40, spent the last decade working in some of Greenville’s most exclusive kitchens, including Devereaux’s, Soby’s, Lazy Goat and Topsoil before being hired as culinary director at The Cook’s Station in 2020.
He’s come a long way from his first restaurant job as a dishwasher at Fatz Cafe in Easley.
“The day after my 16th birthday I started and I haven’t stopped since,” Kuhns says.
Dishwashing led to Calabash chicken fry cook, then a job as a corporate trainer for Applebee’s and a degree from Johnson & Wales University.
After graduation, Kuhns lived and worked in Charleston as that city’s food scene was emerging, training under mentor Chef Ken Vedrinski of Trattoria Lucca (a three-time James Beard Award semi-finalist). He also worked at the Charleston Grill, Palmetto Cafe and Charleston’s Basil Thai Restaurant.
But eventually, Kuhns was lured back home to Easley, where the pace was slower and he could raise a family. He worked for three years as chef de cuisine at Devereux’s and then joined the team at Table 301 when Nose Dive opened in 2011.
“My culinary goal has always been to try to further Greenville’s culinary scene as much as I can,” says Kuhn.
Craig Kuhns fast-facts
Current job: Culinary director at The Cook’s Station
Previously worked at: Soby’s, Devereaux’s, Nose Dive, Lazy Goat, Greenbrier Farms, Topsoil
Mentored under: Ken Vedrinski
Passionate about: Local sourcing, knife-making, fishing
Biggest cooking failure: Combining bacon, tomatoes and curry paste
Best cooking quote: “Your failures are going to teach you more than your successes.”
