Chef Kenny Gilbert Announces Two New Concepts at the Beach

Chef Kenny Gilbert announces two new concepts opening early this winter - Gilbert’s Southern Kitchen & Bar and Gilbert’s Hot Chicken, Fish & Shrimp. Both concepts will be located in the current Seachasers space on Jacksonville Beach. Chef Kenny has partnered with Seachasers owner, Jim Franks, to take over the space and revamp the building and menus. A third space within the building, called Seachasers Lounge, will host live entertainment four days a week. The current iteration of Seachasers is scheduled to close January 1, and the new concepts will open shortly thereafter.

Gilbert’s Southern Kitchen & Bar (located upstairs) will offer guests a menu of modernized yet traditional southern fare, with a heavy emphasis on seafood and a hint of that BBQ that Kenny has become known for out in Fernandina Beach & Jacksonville; while Gilbert’s Hot Chicken, Fish & Shrimp, will offer all that the name says it will, in addition to an array of sides, many of which make appearances on the menus at Underground Kitchen and Social. The bar program at Southern Kitchen & Bar will be heavy on moonshine, whiskey and bourbon, while also offering a selection of local and national craft beers. The same cocktail menu will be available downstairs, in addition to 20 rotating draft lines. The space as a whole will offer guests the option to dine indoors or outdoors, however all seats will offer guests the chance to dine oceanside. In addition to dine-in, both concepts will also offer takeaway.  

Chef Kenny Gilbert is best known for his appearance on “Top Chef” Season seven, where he was voted Fan Favorite. Throughout his career, Kenny has traveled the world, staging in some of the top restaurants in Japan, Spain, France and the Caribbean. He has cooked at the James Beard House, participated in wine & food festivals around the country, cooked for the Sports Illustrated Super Bowl party and appeared on the “Today Show,” “CBS Saturday Morning,” the LA Times, and as a contestant on Food Network’s “Cutthroat Kitchen” and “Beat Bobby Flay,” both of which he won. Kenny has cooked for the likes of Oprah Winfrey, Gayle King, Stedman Graham, Ava Duvernay and Jeff Bezos just to name a few. In March 2015, Kenny opened Gilbert’s Underground Kitchen in Fernandina Beach with his wife Anna, followed by the opening of Gilbert’s Social the following fall, in Jacksonville proper.

Want to learn more about Chef Kenny and his restaurant concepts? Visit him here at Gilbert's Underground Kitchen and Gilbert's Social.