Kelly English: Cooking for a Cause

Nationally-renowned chef Kelly English has certainly earned his reputation as one of the Mid-South’s most recognizable culinary leaders. English worked in local restaurant kitchens as a student at the University of Mississippi, and later pursued his passion for cooking at the Culinary Institute of America. After graduating at the top of his class in 2004, he continued his culinary career in New Orleans. He fell in love with nearby Memphis and went on to open his own James Beard Award Semifinalist restaurant, Restaurant Iris, in 2009. Since then, he has been featured in numerous publications, including Food & Wine magazine, Everyday with Rachel Ray, Bon Appetit, Garden & Gun and more. He currently owns and operates three restaurants in the city of Memphis and a fourth at Harrah’s Gulf Coast in Biloxi, Miss.

Chef Kelly English is not only the face of Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital’s Le Bon Appetit event, but he is also one of its founders. Over the course of its four iterations, Le Bon Appetit has raised more than $1 million for specialized medical equipment, child-specific programming and technology for the Mid-South’s first and only comprehensive hospital dedicated to kids. To Kelly English, this event is more than just a way to give back to his community; it was also born from a childhood experience of his own.  At the age of six, English spent two months in an adult hospital in his hometown recovering from a life-threatening fall; it was his memory of daunting, sterile facilities that began his dream of supporting the work of a family-friendly hospital, like Le Bonheur Children’s, that is dedicated to kids.

Kelly quickly found that he was not alone in his desire to offer his skills and time in the name of helping children. Le Bon Appetit features more than 30 of the nation’s best chefs who come together with one goal: to offer up ‘great food for a great cause.’ The event has become a weekend-long celebration, kicking off with a chef-to-chef breakfast cook-off at FedExFamilyHouse, which provides free housing and respite for out-of-town families receiving treatment at Le Bonheur. Chefs involve children in this friendly competition, using fun ingredients like candy bars and marshmallows to create tasty, memorable breakfast plates for families at the house. For Le Bon Appetit’s chefs, the event is an opportunity to not only support Le Bonheur’s mission, but to also bring joy to children and their families.

To quote English, “We all have talents, we all have skills, and that’s what we can use to give back. I get to cook for a living, so I’m going to cook for Le Bonheur for as long as they’ll let me.”

Facts about Le Bon Appetit

• Le Bon Appetit has raised more than $1 million for specialized medical equipment, child-specific programming and technology for Le Bonheur Children’s.

• Le Bon Appetit 2024 will feature more than 15 chefs from Memphis and more than 10 chefs from across the country.

• Le Bon Appetit 2024 will be the sixth culinary showcase.

• The event is held bi-annually – held in 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2022 and 2024.

• The 2020 event was a virtual Le Bon Appetit @ Home, which consisted of 11 virtual cooking classes featuring chefs from Memphis and across the country.

Eating in Memphis is an experience for the soul. Our specialty may be barbecue — Memphis is home to more than 100 barbecue restaurants — but make no bones about it: Dining out (or taking out!) in Memphis doesn’t stop at 'cue. We dish up soul food, fine dining, twists on Southern classics, authentic Italian and Mexican cuisine, burgers, wings, vegan fare and so much more. And our award-winning chefs and restaurateurs, brewers and distillers will welcome you with a dose of Southern hospitality every time. Explore what Memphis has to offer!