Getting to Know Chef Rick Paul:
Background & Training
In the beginning, my mom was the cooking teacher. At the early age of 7, I found myself with my brother, Joe and sister, Joan in the kitchen helping my mom fixing supper. Brother Bruce would join us later in this assignment.
I cooked on and off through my early years. My father would take me fishing and he would cook while I fished, once again learning a new way of cooking, over open flame along the creek bank.
I joined the navy in 1966 and reported for active duty in 1968. I wound up cooking for the chief petty officers mess and really enjoyed this duty as I continued to learn about my future profession.
After the Navy I went to the Culinary Institute of America, Hyde Park, New York in 1973 for 2 years of intense studies. Looking back, I realize I was being taught by the best chefs in the business. I graduated in 1975 and headed off to Lexington, Kentucky, my hometown, knowing I knew all in the profession of being a chef!!! WRONG, I really knew very little!!
Culinary Endeavors
In 1978 I went to work at the Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, W. VA. I learned much about cooking in quantity while keeping my focus on quality. In 2001 I shut down my diner and went to Ocracoke Island in North Carolina with a travel trailer and became chef/manager of the Pelican Restaurant. I have owned and operated many restaurants, diners and night clubs through the years, including the following:
- Rick’s L & N Dining Car, Richmond, Ky
- J Sutter Mill, Richmond, Ky
- The Fig Tree, Lexington, Ky
- The Bishop House, Frankfort, Ky
- Ricks City Cafe, Frankfort, Ky (2 locations)
- Ricks White Light Diner, Frankfort, Ky
I have also provided catering services for many years- catering a variety of small to elaborate events and to the rich and famous. I was chef at Idle Hour Country Club, Frankfort Country Club, Lanes End Farm, Calumet Farm, Lt. Governors mansion. My catering has included work for Brown Foreman in Louisville, Kentucky. I have had the privilege of working with Chef Susan Carson Lambert of Frankfort, Kentucky and South Carolina.
Claim to Fame
In 2009, The Food Network contacted me about being on Guy Fieri’s Diners Drive ins and Dives. We recorded the show in March 2010 and it premiered in July 2010. To say the least, this rocked my world. Business increased considerably and people from all over the