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Her voice — Southern drawl almost undetectable — sounds a little like butter with honey melting over a hot biscuit, and when she speaks, rarely is there a stray word or unended thought. Lauded culinarian Virginia Willis has the good habit of keeping a conversation focused.

She runs a kitchen the same way, and her résumé reads like a foodie's feverish dream: Starting in Atlanta, she worked as an apprentice to megamaven Nathalie Dupree through four PBS series and cookbooks, including the James Beard Award-winning "Comfortable Entertaining." From the southern United States she traveled to the south of France, spending several years as an editorial assistant with culinary authority Anne Willan on various projects, including "Cook It Right" — Willan's meticulous tome of how-tos that many consider an industry benchmark.

LOUIS FAVORITE / lfavorite@ajc.com (ENLARGE)
Veteran chef-TV producer-author and regular AJC contributor Virginia has several dates scheduled to sign copies of her latest book, 'Bon Appétit, Y'all: Recipes and Stories From Three Generations of Southern Cooking' (Ten Speed Press, $32.50 hardcover), for her Atlanta area fans.
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Ask the chef: Virginia Willis demonstrates an easy fish fillet recipe and answers reader questions on EveningEdge.com • www.eveningedge.com/dinnerdare RELATED LINKS: • Steamhouse Lounge moves to Midtown • Best of the Big A: Atlanta's top BBQ joint? • For 'old school', try Stout Sports Bar • Check out Atlanta's hot new eateries

Augusta-born and brought up for part of her childhood in Louisiana, Atlantan Willis has a knack for getting gigs with the hardest-working women in the culinary industry. As the kitchen director for Martha Stewart Living Television, she supervised the food segments for the Emmy Award-winning television show, then moved on to produce Turner South's "Home Plate" and the DVD "Shirley O. Corriher's Kitchen Secrets Revealed!" Full yet? She also was executive producer for "Epicurious" on the Discovery Channel, traveling the world taping fantastic stories about food — from harvesting capers to making Dijon mustard.

And now, after 12 years and a lot of elbow grease, she's written "Bon Appétit, Y'all: Recipes and Stories From Three Generations of Southern Cooking" (Ten Speed Press, $32.50 hardcover). In addition to goodies such as Coca-Cola-glazed baby back ribs and bourbon sweet potatoes, the book also explores Willis' deep roots in France, where she graduated from acclaimed cooking schools L'Academie de Cuisine and École de Cuisine LaVarenne. Alongside the refined Southern cuisine, the book includes recipes for French classics like coq au vin and a modernized version of boeuf bourguignon.

"I knew the recipes needed to be a part of my life experience — nothing too crazy or new," says Willis, who, in addition to helping write "Home Plate Cooking," is also a regular contributor to the AJC's food pages.

Willis signs copies of "Bon Appétit, Y'all" on Aug. 21 at Borders in Athens' Beechwood Shopping Center at 7 p.m.; and Aug. 23 at Alon's Bakery and Market on Ashford Dunwoody Road, including a demo, at 1 p.m.

• Michael Tuohy has successfully sold his restaurant, Woodfire Grill, to restaurant veterans Nicolas Quinones and Bernard Moussa, under the name Five Senses Restaurants. Quinones and Moussa have worked together as manager and assistant manager, respectively, at Midtown's Loco Luna for four years. The sale was effective Aug. 8, and Tuohy's last day as chef-owner was Aug. 12.

• City Grill has a new executive chef, Shan Holler, replacing Sean Pruitt, who left to pursue other interests. Holler, 27, has been filling the exec position for the past three months and has no plans to change the downtown eatery's upscale Southern offerings.

• Joël is offering 30-minute lunch rush specials on a new bistro lunch menu from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday through Friday. Yummies like croque-monsieur, croque-madame and fregola pasta are available in 30 minutes or less, and all for under $10.

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