It was a childhood garden filled with rows of vegetables and fruits; afternoons spent on the back porch shucking corn and shelling peas; learning the process of preservation by canning and pickling the harvest from the day; and cooking local game meats on an open fire that sparked the simple love of food for Brandi Key almost 30 years ago. Since then she has spent two decades in kitchens learning this craft and, more importantly, teaching and passing on these ideas to the young chefs around her. “I like to make things that take time. I like making things from scratch with my hands. I like to cook with my chefs next to me, talking and learning from one another. Just keeping things simple…using amazing ingredients and sharing the moment with someone is important to me.” She has spent time in both large and small kitchens throughout her career, with each one shaping the chef she is today. In 1999, she began working as a line cook at Pappas Restaurants where, over the next 11 years, she learned the business and systems needed to run multiple restaurants, and worked her way up to R&D Chef. Post-Pappas Restaurants, Key spent time in San Francisco at Tante Marie Cooking School learning the French technique; lived and worked in Napa Valley with Cindy Pawlcyn absorbing the leadership and strength needed to be a chef/owner; and has spent the last 5 years with Clark Cooper Concepts (CCC) in Houston, TX. She landed her first executive chef position with CCC with the opening of Coppa Ristorante Italiano and while there, received the My Table Awards Best Chef of 2013. With her hands busy in the cultures and traditions of Italian food, the group continued to grow, with Key constantly looking to evolve. Next up was Coppa Osteria, Punk’s Simple Southern Food, SaltAir Seafood Kitchen and, most recently, The Dunlavy where Key oversaw the construction and development of the kitchens, menus, and teams responsible for each space. Currently, she is the Culinary Director for CCC.

Tyson co-founded Uchi in 2003 as the restaurant’s Executive Chef. Before Uchi, he was a passionate student of the Japanese sushi tradition, training for more than 10 years in a variety of roles from dishwasher to head sushi chef in Tokyo, New York, and Austin, under two different sushi masters. Formative years were spent at Musashino, one of Austin’s top sushi restaurants, where he completed an intensive traditional apprenticeship under owner Takehiko Fuse. The two spent time in Japan, where Tyson experienced the food and gained technical skill. Fuse challenged him to learn the Japanese language, which helped Tyson learn more about the cuisine. He later trained at Bond Street, one of the busiest sushi restaurants in New York City. After Uchi opened in 2003, Tyson was recognized as one of Food and Wine Magazine’s Best New Chefs of 2005. In 2010, he opened Uchiko and in 2011, he celebrated the release of the Uchi Cookbook. Later that year, Tyson also received a James Beard Foundation Award for Best Chef: Southwest. When he isn’t at work, Tyson spends time with his wife and three children. He favorite restaurant in Austin not named Uchi or Uchkio is Josephine House, and ABC Kitchen in New York is his favorite spot outside of Austin.