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For the third consecutive year, students within the Horst Schulze School of Hospitality Management will be treated with hands-on expertise and guidance from another highly decorated chef as James Beard Foundation and Michelin Star award-winning Chef Joel Antunes, was recently named the new Chef-in-Residence for 2024-25 at 1856, the one-of-a-kind teaching restaurant located in the Tony and Libba Rane Culinary Science Center.
Antunes, who hails from Le Logis in Cognac, France, has more than 40 years of experience in the hospitality industry and ultimately plans to share this wealth of knowledge and expertise with students in the Horst Schulze School of Hospitality Management within the College of Human Sciences.
“It’s exciting to be here because it’s a beautiful campus, beautiful kitchen and beautiful university and my goal is to give what I have learned the last 40 years in the restaurant world,” Antunes said. “It’s very important to me to teach the next generation because I was lucky to learn this way and I want this opportunity for students at Auburn.”
Antunes said his love for cooking and food began at an early age because of his grandmother.
“When I was 14 years old, I liked to spend time with my grandma and she had a beautiful farm and I spent time in the kitchen with her,” Antunes said. “I thought ‘OK, this could be a great opportunity for me in the future’ and when I started working in kitchens at the beginning I said, ‘Yes, I love this.’”
That passion has led him to working in some of the finest restaurants around the world throughout his career including working as an executive chef at the Bangkok Oriental Mandarin Hotel, known at the time as the No. 1 hotel in the world, before moving to London to open Les Saveurs, where he earned a Michelin star. He then relocated to the United States to lead the award-winning Dining Room at The Ritz-Carlton, Buckhead. Ready for a new challenge, Antunes ventured out on his own in Atlanta, opening Restaurant Joel, for which he earned a James Beard Foundation Award. He was later lured away to serve as the opening Executive Chef at the historic luxury Capital Hotel and its restaurant, One Eleven, in Little Rock, Ark., which consistently received popular and critical acclaim during his tenure. Antunes returned to France in 2022 and currently serves as the Chef in Residence for Forbes Travel Guide at Le Logis, an intimate luxury hotel in Cognac, France.
Named after the year of Auburn University’s founding, 1856–Culinary Residence is a unique teaching restaurant where students work under the guidance of a Chef-in-Residence to prepare and serve an à la carte lunch menu and tasting menu format during dinner service. Antunes follows 2023-24 Chef-in-Residence Ford Fry and inaugural Chef-in-Residence Tyler Lyne.
“To have all these students to run the restaurant I think the concept of the teaching restaurant is a union because to give this opportunity to young students they are very lucky.”
Antunes described the 1856–Culinary Residence as a “union” that brings students and faculty together to create a unique restaurant concept, providing a one-of-a-kind, ever-changing culinary experience for students and restaurant guests alike.
“To have all these students to run the restaurant I think the concept of the teaching restaurant is a union because to give this opportunity to young students they are very lucky,” Antunes said. “They are lucky to work in a beautiful place like this with top-of-the-line equipment.”
For Antunes, he will dedicate some time traveling back to France but emphasized he will spend the most amount of time possible in Auburn to teach the Horst Schulze School of Hospitality Management students.
“My goal is I would like to spend the maximum amount of time as possible here because my cup of tea is to be with the staff and teach the students,” Antunes said. “If you are only here one or two days out of the month it’s difficult to give back what you have learned. It’s like when you start something from scratch. Some students may only have one or two years of experience and if you’re here every day you can see the process. The difference between good food and bad food is only a few small details. I think the best way for me to teach is to be here as often as possible.”
For more information on the Horst Schulze School of Hospitality Management
Horst Schulze School of Hospitality ManagementFor more information on 1856 and to make reservations
1856 Culinary Residence