Gunshow’s Spencer Gomez heads to Holeman and Finch Public House

The new chef de cuisine says to expect menu changes over the next couple of months
1963
Spencer Gomez
Photograph by Alessandria Struebing

Holeman and Finch Public House has a new chef de cuisine. Spencer Gomez joined the kitchen last Monday after a year-long stint at Gunshow. “I didn’t necessarily want to leave Gunshow. I knew that Holeman had this availability, and it’s just a really good fit. I’ve done a lot of charcuterie work and meat-focused dining,” says Gomez, who prior to Gunshow worked at the Branded Butcher in Athens.

Gomez says he no plans to overhaul the current menu or kitchen. “I’m trying to sharpen what we have and fold things in as we go, just to avoid shocking everybody. There are so many great things on the menu right now,” he says.

The biggest difference will be the style and structure of service. Whereas Gunshow gave each of its chefs the freedom to set the menu, Gomez looks forward to having more control over the restaurant and “building a cuisine around a whole house.”

Gomez wouldn’t say whether or not he sees his new gig as a stepping-stone to Linton Hopkins’s Restaurant Eugene across the street. Holeman and Finch’s previous chef de cuisine, Chris Edwards, is now Restaurant Eugene’s executive chef. “Holeman and Eugene are both great and completely different,” Gomez says. “Chef [Hopkins] has a saying that Eugene is a symphony and Holeman and Finch is rock and roll. They’re very different houses, and they’re both equally great.”

Advertisement