Atelier Restaurant

Christian Hunter is intrigued by global flavors, sustainable food production, and nutritional anthropology. And he brings all those interests to his job as Executive Chef at the venerable Community table in Litchfield County, Connecticut. He first encountered diverse cuisines in his hometown of Lexington, Kentucky. As soon as he was earning his own money, he’d spend it checking out the newest restaurants in town from Mexican and Thai to Indian. “It was like I was searching for something,” Hunter recalls. That early childhood exposure all comes to fruition on his plate. His signature style focuses on infusing New American fare with unexpected global flavors. He adds zing to locally sourced products with chermoula, freekeh, berbere, house-made garam masala, salsa macha, locally made miso, and many more. Hunter has a culinary degree from Paul Smith’s College in upstate New York and has cooked at Relais & Châteaux’s Lake Placid Lodge and The Weekapaug Inn in Rhode Island. He spent four years in Charleston cultivating relationships with local farmers and also his own culinary identity, emphasizing global flavors. Hunter also wanted to illuminate the ability of African American chefs to cook amazing food of any cuisine or genre. Although he joined the Community table team during the challenging year of 2020, the Chef used the time to familiarize himself with area farms and shape the culinary direction of the restaurant.