Chef Biography
Michael Cribb was born in Nashville, and at an early age wanted to be a drummer. As he grew up, taking lessons from the Nashville Symphony percussionist and practicing every day, he was having fun but nothing serious was happening. After graduating from college with a graphic arts degree, he then went on to graduate from a two year Culinary Arts program and he took an apprentice job with Club Corporation of America in Virginia and in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands.
Music was still in his blood, so in 1987 he returned to Nashville and began writing songs with a friend, Ken Howell, and they even went in to make a record. Things were looking up. That’s when he became ill, and the doctors gave him an 80% chance of having Lymphatic Cancer, which ultimately turned out to be negative. At that point he just wanted to know how to keep doctors from practicing their medicine on him. So he began studying Eastern Medicine, Natural Healing, and Food Science, and attended classes on Nutrition at Florida Culinary, becoming well again.
He then joined the Sunset Grill in Nashville as sous chef. Late the next year in 1988 he became a member of the Natural Foods Culinary Olympic Team and won medals as the only total vegetarian team. In 1994, he left the Sunset Grill and in 1995, he was hired by Jay Pennington and Great Chef Deb Paquette as chef for their new restaurant, Bound’ry. The Great Chefs television team showed up at the Bound’ry in 1996 to tape him for the Discovery Channel’s Great Chefs of America television series.
When the Bound’ry closed, Chef Cribb returned to his other love, music, and formed a band called CRIBB and the LAW of CYCLES that could best be described as if Edgar Casey and Edgar Allen Poe owned a club where Alfred Hitchcock was the host, Hunter S. Thompson would serve as bartender, and the Law of Cycles would be the house band with Cribb-the-Chef as the front man. In 2010, Jay Pennington opened another restaurant in upscale Brentwood, called The Local Taco and reached out to his two chefs, Paquett and Cribb, to come back to help.
Recipes
Hot Cheeks with Sweet Potatoes
Serving: 4 Print Hot Cheeks with Sweet Potatoes By Great Chefs October 3, 2015 This appetizer calls for an interesting cut of fish: the cheeks. Here the chef prefers Black Grouper; the cheeks are removed from right behind the head and marinated. Coconut flakes, bread crumbs and spices make up an unusual breading. Ingredients Black […]