Growing up outside of Atlanta Georgia, Robbie Pacheco has always had a unique connection with food. Whether creating artistic menu design with diverse flavors or working with local farms and purveyors, Pacheco understands the art of the dining experience. His passion for culinary arts began with his interest in global spices and the intricate art of plating to highlight the texture, taste, and diversity of each plate.
Flash forward thru his recognition, accomplishments, and many accolades, Robbie now lives a life of sobriety and recovery. Today, his culinary creations are for the mind body and soul while embracing wellness and health. His days while not in the kitchen comprise of fitness, his two dogs, and his fiancé.
After culinary school, he began his career as an Executive Chef for the Mexico Lindo Group where he was responsible for interviewing, hiring, training, and managing 60 kitchen employees in 5 Atlanta area restaurants with an annual revenue of $8 million a year. In addition, he created innovative menus from an all scratch kitchen unique to each restaurant with an emphasis on current trends in Southwestern and Tex Mex cuisine.
In January 2012, Pacheco shifted venues and joined Cardamom Hill where he worked as a Chef De Cuisine. Cardamom Hill is well known for being one of the top 50 restaurants of 2012 in Bon Appetit magazine, being a semifinalist for the James Beard best new restaurant in February 2013, and was voted the south’s best new restaurant by Southern Living in August 2013. While at Cardamom Hill, he had the honor to work alongside George Mendez of New York Aldea Restaurant on a Tour of the Spice Route Dinner for Food & Wine Magazine. He admired George’s food, demeanor, and respectable rock star attitude. It was here at Cardamom Hill he achieved one of his most significant accomplishments as a professional by receiving a lot of recognition for the restaurant accolades. Thus, propelling him into another realm within the culinary world.
Following Cardamon Hill, he went on to work with Pampered Palate in Charleston South Carolina as a Executive Catering Chef in 2015. While with Pampered Palate, he provided private dining and boutique catering on Kiawah Island for upscale clientele.
In addition, Pacheco prepared plated and coursed breakfasts, lunches, and dinners, with an occasional buffet. Most of the prep was done off-site at a commercial kitchen using various intricate cooking techniques such as sous vide, braising, smoking, curing various meats, poultry, and seafood. Every culinary dish was made from scratch using local farms and purveyors. One of his most memorable culinary experiences was cooking for high-end clients on Kiawah Island. He was grateful for the ability to intimately interact with the guests and have them enjoy his dishes.
Pacheco then joined the Bon Appetit family as the Executive Chef of Porsche North America, headquartered at Restaurant 356 in Atlanta. In that role he oversaw catering, corporate dining hall, and the guest experience café. With multiple notable mentions in Atlanta magazine in 2018 he continued to challenge himself and his staff to greater heights of culinary excellence.
From 2019- Late 2021 Robbie was the Culinary Director as well as partner in an artisan salads, sandwich, and grain bowl concept called Wildleaf with multiple locations in the Atlanta area. He focused on bringing the highest quality; both locally and sustainably sourced to the Atlanta Market. While partnering at Wildleaf, Robbie also was both the Executive Chef and Culinary Director for Country Club of the South from 2021-2022. Additionally, Chef Robbie is involved in restaurant consulting. Working exclusively with independent restaurants such as the entertainment group Interstellar Entertainment of Apache Café fam and others in the Atlanta area.