Sullivan University honors Lemaire Restaurant chef Walter Bundy

Sullivan University’s National Center for Hospitality Studies (NCHS) honored Richmond, Va. chef Walter Bundy of the Jefferson Hotel’s Lemaire Restaurant with the prestigious Distinguished Visiting Chef award on Thursday, May 19. As recipient of the award, chef Bundy performed a series of cooking demonstrations and question and answer sessions offered exclusively to Sullivan University students.

L - R: Sullivan University NCHS acting director David Dodd, Lemaire executive chef Walter Bundy (middle) and NCHS culinary arts department chair Allen Akmon (photo credit: Estes Public Relations)

Bundy’s farm-to-table philosophy stems from his childhood experiences on the family farm where his appreciation for garden-fresh ingredients and wild game was cultivated. During college, Bundy helped open The Blue Point Restaurant – well known for its use of fresh local ingredients - on the Outer Banks of NC and later accepted a position at Mark Miller’s Coyote Café in Santa Fe, NM. After completing a degree in culinary arts at the New England Culinary Institute, Bundy worked with renowned chef Thomas Keller at the legendary French Laundry. Bundy has been featured at the James Beard House in New York, the Chesapeake Bay Wine Classic Gala dinner in Virginia Beach, and Food Network’s Food Nation with Bobby Flay.

In 2001, he joined the Jefferson Hotel as the executive chef of Lemaire. His farm-to-table menu continues to showcase his commitment to creating upscale Southern cuisine and features produce from local purveyors and the hotel’s urban garden. Bundy’s urban garden is in its third season of providing ingredients for daily specials to the restaurant, furthering his vision of creating a fresh, sustainable menu. Under his culinary guidance, Lemaire was named one of the country’s “Best New Restaurants” in 2009 by Esquire magazine.
 
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