Meet the New Executive Chef at Grand Cru Food & Wine

Gary James Walker Jr

 

         I was born in Long Island, New York. When I was eight years old, I Moved to the small country town, Loris, South Carolina, right outside Myrtle Beach. When I graduated high school I moved to Charleston, South Carolina to attend Johnson and Wales University and graduated with an executive chef degree. I loved the culture in Charleston, South Carolina and all the different types of diverse food available in Charleston. I wanted to find a place similar to the feel of Charleston, so I moved to Wilmington in the fall of 2010, and fell in love with everything Wilmington had to offer. From the wonderful culinary scene to local music, and all of its community.

 

        Over the course of the next 12 years I've made my way through a lot of Wilmington's staple restaurants, and had the fortune to work with some of the best this town has to offer, in my opinion. All of whom I still look up to today for helping me become the chef I've wanted to be

 

      My daughter just turned two, so I’m also very excited to show her all these awesome things we can cook together. Being here in Wilmington, and having the ability to serve this amazing community with its own amazing local products has been such an awesome experience, it makes me that much more excited to see where and what this wonderful place has in stock. We have so much local goods just waiting to be used, and I want to use everything this town has to offer, from field to sea. I want to be part of this culinary movement that's going on in Wilmington and keep trying to impress and excite this community that stands around it.