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A table setting at the home of Douglas Powell.
Photo courtesy Douglas Powell
View a slide show of Douglas Powell entertaining here.
Start with the tapenade-stuffed quail eggs and pissaladière tart, paired with a glass of Clairette de Die, a sparkling wine from France.
Next comes bouillabaisse and a salade Niçoise with a Cassis rosé.
Then ratatouille with goat cheese croustillant and a Vin de Pays du Val de Montferrand Blanc.
On and on the night will go, 10 courses ending with cheese and dessert.
No worries if you don't know pork crépinettes from a tarte Tropezienne. You've got a lawyer to guide your way.
That would be Douglas Powell, a partner at Hinton & Powell who knows his way around a kitchen and loves to share his talents with hungry friends. Last Saturday night, Powell and some gifted assistants made and served the dishes and wines mentioned during one of his "Table One" dinners at his home in Brookhaven, Ga.
Powell says he "tries to create the highest culinary experience" for up to a dozen guests who sit at his table. "We serve only fresh, locally grown, certified organic food. Our guiding principle will be flavor, health and sustainability."
It was a cancer scare that took Powell's interest in cooking from a simmer to a boil. He talked to the Daily Report about a passion for food passed on by his mother.
When did you first get interested in cooking?
Several years ago I was diagnosed with and successfully battled prostate cancer. My son and daughter were off at college and my wife Beth and I decided to go back to school for something fun. She studied creative writing and I looked around for something I would love.
My mother was a great cook. I always had a love of cooking and so I looked into culinary school. I applied to the International Culinary School of the Art Institute of Atlanta in Dunwoody. I attended classes at night for three years and graduated second in my class.
How did you make the jump to wanting to become a real chef?
In the third year of culinary school there's an internship requirement. All through culinary school I continued my full-time litigation practice. I needed to find a restaurant where I could have an internship that would fit around my full-time law practice.
